Top Ranked Science Fiction Films

© 2009, William L. Sinclair

The top ranked science fiction films from our survey of films on the internet. We increased it to include some comedies (Eternal Sunshine) and horror (Alien) that had a major science fiction element in the story.
[Updated: 8.18]

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey [Kubrick, Stanley, 1968] #2
2. Star Wars [Lucas, George, 1978] #4
3. Blade Runner [Scott, Ridley, 1982] #13
4. Metropolis [Lang, Fritz, 1927] #23
5. Clockwork Orange, A [Kubrick, Stanley, 1971] #69
6. Alien [Scott, Ridley, 1979] #98
7. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back [Lucas, George, 1980] #126
8. Aliens [Cameron, James, 1986] #159 [photo rt]
9. Back to the Future [Zemeckis, Robert, 1985] #176
10. WALL-E [Stanton, Andrew, 2008] #182

11. Terminator, The [Cameron, James, 1984] #187
12. Brazil [Gilliam, Terry, 1985] #189
13. Terminator 2: Judgment Day [Cameron, James, 1991] #195
14. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial [Spielberg, Steven, 1982] #205
15. Matrix, The [Wachowski, Andy & Larry Wachowski, 1999] #226
16. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind [Gondry, Michael, 2004] #227
17. Solaris [Tarkovsky, Andrei, 1972] #267
18. Close Encounters of the Third Kind [Spielberg, Steven, 1977] #270
19. Incredibles, The [Bird, Brad, 2004] #300
20. Day the Earth Stood Still, The [Wise, Robert, 1951] #323

21. Voyage dans la lune, Le (Trip to the Moon)[Méliès, Georges, 1902] #335
22. Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Siegel, Don, 1956] #348
23. Dark Knight, The [Nolan, Christopher, 2008] #398
24. Stalker [Tarkovsky, Andrei, 1979] #407
25. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi [Marquand, Richard, 1983] #531
26. Mad Max 2 [Miller, George, 1981] #590
27. Eraserhead [Lynch, David, 1977] #601
28. Thing, The [Carpenter, John, 1982] #639
29. V for Vendetta [McTeigue, James, 2005] #643
30. Twelve Monkeys [Gilliam, Terry, 1995] #669

31. Man Who Fell to Earth, The [Roeg, Nicolas, 1976] #679
32. Alphaville [Godard, Jean-Luc, 1965] #727
33. Superman: The Movie [Donner, Richard, 1978] #748
34. Thing from Another World, The [Nyby, Christian/Howard Hawks, 1951] #790
35. Edward Scissorhands [Burton, Tim, 1990] #839
36. Iron Giant, The [Bird, Brad, 1999] #1035
37. Man in the White Suit, The [Mackendrick, Alexander, 1951] #1125
38. Planet of the Apes [Schaffner, Franklin J., 1968] #1144
39. Starship Troopers [Verhoeven, Paul, 1997] #1164

Stanley Kubrick [photo] also had the #1 war film (and comedy), Dr. Strangelove

[Note: La Jetee would have been 11th here, but as its a short film of 15 min of still photos with the story read by a narrator, I didn't feel it to belong in a traditional SF film list]

To These I Would Add
Minority Report [Spielberg, Steven, 2002] - terrific future crime film based on a Philip K. Dick (Blade Runner author) story; exciting, w great effects, one's of Spielberg's best

Outland [Hyams, Peter, 1981] - even though it's just High Noon in space, it's gripping and action filled w good special effects; Hyams also filmed 2010

Silent Running [Trumbull, Douglas, 1971] - eco-conscious film about the last remaining gardens of earth, in a giant roatating spaceship, with Bruce Dern and some robots keeping them alive; Trumbull did the special effects for Kubrick's 2001

2010: The Year We Make Contact [Hyams Peter, 1984] - action filled sequel to 2001, with Roy Scheider and John Lithgow with a team of Russians captained by Helen Mirren, all headed to Discovery spaceship in orbit around Jupiter I mean, if you're gonna even mention Starship Troopers and Planet of the Apes (argh!) - who are these critics?