Sci-Fi 25
The resident journalists for Entertainment Weekly have chosen their 25 greatest science fiction films and television series from the past 25 years. The results are far more intelligent than anything left in the hands of fanboys and girls who vote for their favourites rather than the best.
So we get fascist lizards from outer space, parodies, old warhorses brought back to life, time travel, stylish animations, head-fucks, space operas, dystopian nightmares, merciless killing machines, metamorphosing monsters, and bleeding-edge special effects.
One thing that is clear is that as genres go, science fiction, rather than be relegated to escapist fantasies, is a legitimate breeding ground for heartfelt human drama.
The fully illustrated list, with information on each entry, their greatest moment and pop culture legacy, can be found on the Entertainment Weekly website.
If you can’t be arsed to flip through their individual pages and just want to know the results, here they are.
01. The Matrix (1999)
02. Battlestar Galactica (2003-Present)
03. Blade Runner (1982)
04. The X-Files (1993-2002)
05. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
06. Brazil (1985)
07. E.T. (1982)
08. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
09. Aliens (1986)
10. The Thing (1982)
11. Lost (2004-Present)
12. Back to the Future (1985)
13. The Terminator/Terminator 2 (1984/1991)
14. Children of Men (2006)
15. Firefly/Serenity (2002/2005)
16. Total Recall (1990)
17. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
18. Heroes (2006-Present)
19. Starship Troopers (1997)
20. Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003-2005)
21. Futurama (1999-2003)
22. Quantum Leap (1989-1993)
23. Doctor Who (1963-Present)
24. Galaxy Quest (1999)
25. V: The Miniseries (1983)
So, did they get it right?
posted by Good Dog @ 7:27 pm
6 mouthy comebacks
6 Comments:
That really is a fine selection of stuff.
"Central Services - we do the work, you do the leisure..."
And good that it's got so much current stuff in there. Does go to show that the genre's still got fresh blood in its veins.
Still, no Krull, or Battle Beyond the Stars? Hehehe...
Well Battle Beyond the Stars was 1980, so it wouldn't have made the list. Stretch the boundaries by a couple years and it would have been in the number one spot.
I liked the way Star Wars: Clone Wars was chosen because "There's an abundance of style and storytelling economy here that was, sadly, absent from the George Lucas-directed prequels." Spot on.
The one film I think should have made the list is Gilliam's 12 Monkeys - the best time travel head-fuck there is.
After The Matrix was sullied by two utterly spastic sequels, although the film is very important in terms of its impact, I'd swap the number one and two positions. But then I'm biased.
'The Matrix' position suits me just fine...
Too soon to tell about 'Heroes' IMHP, and is 'Eternal Sunshine' sci-fi? Could swap either of those for '12 Monkeys' (not to belittle 'Sunshine'. thought it was terrific).
I suppose Eternal Sunshine is sci-fi in that it deals with mind-wiping, which puts it in the same box as Total Recall.
With the recent Watchmen reference and the excellent X-Men Days of Future Past episode, Heroes is turning out to be a terrific drama. But, yeah, it depends on how the next seasons shape up.
Kind of them to back-date to 1963 just for Dr WHO!!
Brian, it is big of them to do that. When they talk about Doctor Who it's mainly the new version with Eccleston and Tennant.
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