I felt a bit betwixt knowing which motion pictures to focus on whilst I created my Top List for SFN! On the same vein of thought as my previous Top List for Sci-Fi Serials, as I always struggle to denote which selection I am making would belong placed on a “top list” of recommendations!! You see, I tend to love more than I dislike when it comes to these things, and I’m always worried I am inadvertently going to leave something ‘off the list’ that I had meant to include! Therefore, in absolute no particular order here are my ‘most beloved’ science fiction motion pictures! A lot of these films I would see over and over again on “VHS” not! “DVD”!! Yes, I am that young to remember videotapes! :)
- Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country – As previously stated, this particular motion picture is held in rather high esteem for me, as my journey towards become an appreciator of Trek is shown in my first feature for SFN. As much as my declaration of why this particular Trek film holds a special place in my heart was outlined directly in my previous Top List for SFN! I will simply say, I could never tire of seeing this film!
- Star Trek: The Voyage Home – Long before I watched “7th Heaven“, I knew of Catherine Hicks in her role as a marine biologist who helped save the whales (and humanity!) in this installment of Trek on the silver screen! My heart swelled with emotion during this film as I have a soft spot for marine mammals! I love every inch of this film and it will always be in my top 2 as I cannot help but watch this before &/or after The Undiscovered Country!
- Star Trek: Insurrection – Technically speaking, I’m a big fan of all three of the Next Generation films under Roddenberry’s vision (Generations, First Contact, & Insurrection), however, this one stood out to me from the pack (even though I tend to watch them back-to-back!) due to the unique story-line and the fullness of the heart behind the characters. You get to see the crew of the Enterprise in a new light, as well as in a whole new setting! I truly loved this start to finish!
- Star Wars: (Original Trilogy) – I honestly cannot separate the original trilogy, because each of the films is half of the story you find in the next one that comes after it &/or before it depending on your preference of viewing! I inherited my love of Trek & Star Wars, and equally for me, both film series are over. I will always re-watch everything that has been made thus far without feeling I need to move forward.
- Avatar – I could not literally take my eyes off the screen when I was in the theater watching this première! The fullness of the depth of story was simply awe-inspiring! I have come to realise that my favourite fantasy are epic story arcs and this is a prime example of how readily that is true! Pandora left quite the impression on my heart and I could seriously take up residence there! I am forever hopeful the next installments will be released as their ready for an audience because I am hopeful this was non a one-off but rather the first of either a trilogy or a sequence of films!
- Superman (Original) – Christopher Reeves is ‘my’ Superman, I must confess! Aside from Dean Cain and George Reeves of course, on the small screen! In motion pictures, hands down there is no one who can compare to Christopher’s version of Clark Kent! At least for me this is true! Again, this is case of where I am not following the crowd nor the film into its new incarnations but rather opt instead to see the original(s) indefinitely!
- Somewhere in Time – Could there be a more heart-breaking romance ever made than this one!? I had not one dry eye watching this film originally! The science involved was pristine as well, because at first your not even sure what is happening! I won’t spoilt it if you haven’t yet seen it, but for me, Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour did a fantastic job of turning me into a ‘believer’ that love can be found anywhere in time!
- Back to the Future – I nearly put all of the trilogy in this spot, but truthfully, Part II isn’t my favourite one if I had to pick between Part II & III, the third one will win hand’s down! However, without Part I, we wouldn’t have had any of the sequels, which is why I sided with Part I! I cannot even begin to explain how important this film was for me, as it started to get me thinking about special effects as much as Star Wars first encouraged me too! In another lifetime, I would have become a special effects artist, for sure! I love the time travel aspects of this film, as much as the connection between Marty & Doc Brown! It served as an introduction to Lea Thompson as well, and I continued to follow her career afterwards.
- Titan: AE – This was a rather inventive film for its time, as I went to see it with my Da! It was one of the few times where we could steal away some father and daughter time together due to his hectic schedule with work! What impressed both of us was the format in which the story was told as much as the clarity of the story as it was told! I always earmarked this one as a film a bit ahead of its time!
- 2001: A Space Odyssey – I am not entirely sure how I stumbled across this tape in our media library at the young age that I had (I was in middle school), but I remember being enraptured by the sounds of it and the storyline in general! Not that I fully understood everything until my second viewing, because it was unlike any other film I had seen up until that point! The sequel was seen after I felt I had a handle on the first one, and the two combined became ready favourites! Although, I must confess, I have never come across another who claims the same!? Usually I get the response, ‘you actually liked them?’ Sighs.
- Batteries Not Included – Who can not fall in love with this film!? No seriously, who cannot fall in love with this film!? Breaks my heart but I always return back to it after a time has passed because of the endearing quality of the story! I am going to be reviewing this film for SFN, so stay tuned!
- Gattaca – Unfortunately, I remember very little about this particular film, as unlike the others on this list, I only saw this one ‘once’! Imagine!? I know! Which is why I marked myself down to review this for SFN! I wanted to re-visit this film for such a long time, and it felt like it would be right to do it for this event! I can say, that despite the uniqueness of the story (at least to me, I remember this being true!), I was able to get into the heart of it and could not take my eyes off the screen!
- Tron: Legacy – I honestly should have seen Tron prior to seeing the sequel (as not only is that logical, but it would have helped!), yet, off I went to see the sequel because this was seriously one of the most spoken about films during my childhood! I’ve always been surrounded by sci-fi geeks which is probably why I haven’t used that term to describe myself until SFN popped up and I noticed a few of the participants were saying we’re the SFN Geeks! Laughs. I heard the story of Tron so vividly that I suppose I always felt like I had seen the original! Therefore, I was so wrapped up in this sequel you wouldn’t have been able to pull me out of the theater unless the power went out during a freak thunderstorm! Thankfully, that was not the case! I saw it in full when it premiered! For a gamer, who wouldn’t like Tron!?
- The Rocketeer – I am not even sure if this will be considered a sci-fi film but for me, it has a major element that border lines the ‘science’ into the ‘fictional realm’! How else do you describe being able to strap a rocket onto your back and fly!? This was always one of the endearing classics my parents and I liked to watch every so many years due to the uplifting nature and spirit of the story overall! It has its dramatic bits yes, but ooh, the ending is the best!
- Memoirs of an Invisible Man – This is another film that my Da first introduced me too, as he had shown it to Mum who had completely fallen in love with the premise! I remember when I read the backside of the tape to see what it was all about only to have Da whisk it away from me saying the allure of watching it is not knowing what it involves! I couldn’t surmise much from the title, but after the story started to unfold before me, I sort of ‘fell into’ the mystery of the Invisible Man as much as his heart! Loved it instantly at that point!
- Coneheads – This is another family classic for us! Enough said!
- ET: the Extra-Terrestrial – I believe next to Annie, this is seriously one of the first motion pictures I went to see and it was beloved from the very first showing!
- Flight of the Navigator – I remember flipping channels on tv one day as a young child and stumbling across this strange silver ship with a kid on board! It took a few random viewings on tv to see it from start to finish, but I had already appreciated it enough to know I liked it! The odd bit is that no one ever talked about it!?
- Honey, I Shrunk the Kids – Again, I am not sure if this is straight up sci-fi or not, but for me it has enough science elements inside of reality to make it as such! I cannot even tell you how many times I have seen this film! Laughs.
- I-Robot – I was torn if I wanted to see this film when it first premiered or if I wanted to wait to see it on dvd after I could read through the books that inspired it! My curious heart won out and I saw it on the silver screen! I was taken with the sincerity of the story and the manner in which everything was revealed! It made me want to read Asimov’s works evermore readily!
- Independence Day [I-D4] – Yes! I really was one of those millions of people who crowded into a theater the opening July 4th weekend this film premiered! And, what a blast it was to see it at that particular moment! I even remember the I-D4 advert campaign and all the excitement that was swirling around this film leading up to seeing it live in person! It was the sort of film you ‘experience’ with the audience as everyone is reacting and being vocal about certain scenes and moments all at the same time! The fact we all were standing, clapping and celebrating at the end was icing on the cake! I love being in an audience like that!
- Contact – I cannot remember how I first saw this film, but I was entranced with the story to the brink that I knew I wanted to add Carl Sagan onto my TBR List! It is one of the stories that leaves you museful after you watch the film as well!
- The Postman – Here’s a more unique story of how to see a film! At the time I saw this film (late 90s) we had a sat dish that would get feeds from both the West Coast and the East Coast, so in theory, you would never miss ‘any show or film’ you wanted to see as long as you could handle the time differences and air dates! I was up late one night unable to focus on whichever project I was working on at the time, so around 9p or so, I came across this film! Although I didn’t realise it was this particular film until a full hour and a half had gone by and I realised it myself! When the credits rolled I was feeling as though I had missed out on the best bits of the film! I quickly scanned to see if it was going to re-air and sure enough! It was! Clearly not the most logical idea I ever had as the end-time for the re-airing was well past 3am! I simply could not think straight afterwards, I was that inspired and intrigued! Loved it! Which was a bit of a surprise, really!
- Bicentennial Man – I knew going in that this was going to be a highly emotional film for me to see and I was not disappointed!
- Galaxy Quest – I honestly shouldn’t love this one as much as I do because I am into Trek, but what can I say!? They handled it well and the cast play off each other in such a clever and fun way, that I find myself wanting to watch this on a rotation to where it’s never far from sight! Except to say the last several years I haven’t seen it as readily as I had in the past! Laughs.
- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within – I consider this a landmark film on so many levels, which is why I am reviewing it for SFN! A friend of mine gave me the dvd for Advent Children which is the sequel as she didn’t like it at all. I couldn’t understand why until she told me how she felt about the original. Clearly we were not matched in the film department! Oy! I am going to be watching both of them and doing a double-feature review! I cannot wait!
- Clockstoppers – What can I say!? I adored this film! Cheeky humour and all!
- Zathura: A Space Adventure – Loved the creative edge to this film, but then, I adored Jumanji!
- The Last Mimzy – I could not literally stop thinking about this film after I saw it in the theater! When I found a copy of it on dvd at a library bookshop on sale for less than $3 I nearly thought my vision field was misreading the label! I couldn’t sort out how no one appreciated this film!? Maybe it was too sophisticated!? Not sure. If I have time, I want to review this for SFN!
- Wall-E – Simply one of the best films ever for creating such a positive representation for being a steward of the environment as much as being a community rather than a numbing society where no one knows anyone else! Loved it!
I look forward to seeing comments populate to see if I have selected any that are warmly regarded by you, dear hearts! At least we have been given a wide choice of what we can watch, eh!? IF you would like to create your own blog post that speaks about your own Top 10 or Top 20 List of Favourite Science Fiction Motion Pictures of All-Time, I encourage you to drop back and share the link of your post here on Jorie Loves A Story! As always, I encourage you to remember to link directly to your post and not your homepages! :)
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of which is a compliment to this feature: Favourite Top 20 Sci-Fi Serials of All-Time!
{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! Post lovely provided by Shabby Blogs with edits by Jorie in Fotoflexer.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.
That’s a great list of movies. I have seen some and there are many that I have not seen. I am bookmarking this post so that I can catch up on those.
So many movies on here that I love!
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and E.T. were two of my favorites growing up. I probably loved Honey, I Shrunk the Kids more though, because of the sequels and then when I went to Disney World they did a really great job of incorporating it into the park. Plus, E.T. makes me cry so so much!
And I’m glad to see you’re revisiting Gattaca. I haven’t seen it in a number of years now, but I do remember enough of it to say it’s a wonderful film and the actors did an amazing job! In fact, I should probably rewatch it too at some point…
Also, Clockstoppers! <3
Christine,
Ooh you made me ever so happy when you ended your note with some ‘love’ for Clockstoppers!! Ooh boy that was lovely to see! :) I know, right!? About Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, I thought it would be quite extreme to say I saw the sequels & went to the exhibit at Disney, but hey! I did and I loved every second of it! :) We’re akin on this level! :) :) Ohh, did you get to ride the ET ride at Universal or the Back to the Future ride!? I cannot remember ET (sighs) but the Back to the Future one was a bit dangerous as you had to make sure you didn’t hit your head accidentally! I was the only one in my ‘cab’ who sorted that out! :(
Gattaca always felt like a film that deserved more attention and I am thankful that I can give it the time it deserves now! :) You’ll have to let me know if you liked it when you get around to seeing it again yourself! I am always curious about things like this! :)
Yes, Clockstoppers always seems so underrated! haha, never too extreme :D
I definitely went on the ET ride, though all I remember is riding around a bend in a “forest” and seeing a lost ET standing there. I can’t remember if I went on the Back to the Future ride or not but I’m pretty sure the DeLorean was on display! I blame not being able to remember because I was scared out of my wits by the King Kong and Jaws rides my brother made us all go on….
It really does, which is I’m so glad my high school Biology teacher made the class watch it! And I will definitely let you know! :D
Christine,
You know, something about your memories of ET: the Ride clicked with me! Yes, I do vaguely remember it now! :) Wow. I think the reason I had difficulty initially is I’m now remembering I was a bit miffed that the ‘bikes’ were all conjoined together and it didn’t quite have the effect I was hoping for whereas I was never disappointed by the Peter Pan ride! :) :) You too!? Kong freaked me out as well, but I as a glutton for punishment — I kept going back on it! Jaws however really tempted my fears on overdrive — I never could handle the film, and yet, I stand in line to climb into the boat!? Oh, yes, that makes perfect sense! I literally JUMPED when Jaws made his appearance! I’m not sure if I screamed,…
I’m trying to remember now if any of those rides allowed photography of any kind, because if they did, my mom just may taken some that I could use to help piece together my memories of them! Yes both were awful, but especially Jaws! Not only because of Jaws popping up without you knowing where, but also the heat from the ‘fire’ and everything else. After that, I’m sure I would have been happy to take a trip back to Disney World and go on the It’s A Small World ride! Yes, it’s another ride where you have to get in a boat, but at least it’s calm! XD
Alas, not always, Christine! :)
I was one of the fortunate souls who was on the Small World ride where they had to get out of the boats and actually help those who somehow had become in dire need of assistance! I’ll never forget it as I had ridden that ride numerous times per visit and yet, one of those last times I rode thinking nothing out of the ordinary would occur – I end up front row and center of a ‘rescue mission!’ :) Oy!
The only other times that happened to me is when someone freaked out during Figment (@ Epcot) as well as at the Haunted Mansion — sort of saw ‘behind the curtain’ on those rides and it nearly wrecked my enjoyment because I really love the illusion!! :)
I’m not sure if flash photography was allowed but I’m quite sure regular photography was allowed! :) I cannot remember if we ever took pictures in the rides either, but I know we always had our cameras with us! :) Ooh, did you ever go down the raging rapids and be the only *two!* who weren’t soaked!? Mum and I had that privilege! I felt sorry for the bloke who had his Nikon around his neck which sort of became an artifact in spilt seconds! :( :( So, so tragic!
I nearly had forgotten about the fire during Jaws! The worst bit for me was seeing clips of the movie — or rather ‘listening’ to clips of the movie! I think I fared much better on Kong, even if I was sort of freaked out by Kong — why do we like to be scared!? So, so illogical! :O
Oh, wow, I cannot imagine having to deal with something like that on a ride like It’s A Small World! It was scary enough having a tour being hijacked as a part of one of the rides at MGM!
My mom was one of those people who took pictures on a number of rides. I know for sure that we have pictures from It’s A Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean as those are the ones I’ve looked at most often – because I loved both those rides so much – but I’ll have to check what other ones she took pictures on.
*Laughs* I had a similar experience a few years ago at Disneyland when I went on The Pirates of the Caribbean ride with my aunt and cousin – they got soaked and I didn’t even though we were in the same row XD
Please tell me that man’s Nikon was a point and shoot and not a SLR camera! I think I would have wept for him had I been there!
I think with King Kong that he was farther away than Jaws and the fire, wasn’t he? And Jaws could pop up right next to or in front of the boat but Kong was always on the side, if I recall correctly. Plus, you know, shark versus giant gorilla – which are you more likely to encounter in real life?
Christine,
It was one of those top of the line Nikon’s with fully detachable lens, filters, zooms, the whole nine! Its prior to SLR but the top of the line in still photography is still a tragic loss! :( :( I have no clue why he thought he should take that down a raging river! :( :( We couldn’t even formulate a proper reply because quite literally everyone was soaked to the absolute bone… yet Mum and I were dry as if we had just walked in the desert! :( :( Beyond tragic!
Hijacked!? Who hijacks rides!? Oyyy vie. OH! I re-read your note – it was ‘part of the tour’, okay. I was going to say, hijack a ride!? For what reason!?
You know, I became enraptured with Pirates of the Caribbean motion picture series BECAUSE of my love of the RIDE!? Ooh yes,… I’m like a super diehard pirate fan!! Laughs. Is there such a thing!?
Yes, yes, Kong was set back from the ride whereas with Jaws it was like he was stalking you, circling round your dingy boat, and striking for the kill as though you were on the high seas and the whole ordeal was REAL! :( I totally agree with you — the fear was as real was the ride! Aye. Hmm,.. wells, the Silverback Gorillas sort of freak me out at zoos to tell you the truth because they are like the worst to encounter if say they jumped their enclosures!? No direct eye contact. NO direct eye contact.
I still remember the upsurge in shark attacks off the coasts of my state. Did not implore me to return to the beach! :( And, yet then again, did you know they have Great Whites off the coast of New England?! I thought for sure the North Atlantic was too far North!?
Yeah, that’s when I’d probably have taken a cheapo camera with me or kept the camera inside a highly protective case.
*LAUGHS* Yes, it was part of the ride, no need to worry. I can’t remember what it was called but it was like you were in Hollywood and visiting some of the different sets and different things happened – the hijacking, an earthquake, etc.
Yes, that is the same reason why I watched the first Pirates movie! I still haven’t watched the third or fourth though because I wasn’t a very big fan of the second : There probably is! Especially since Talk Like a Pirate Day exists!
Thankfully the zoos I’ve gone to that have had gorillas keep it so you can only see them from behind glass, so I haven’t been very worried about that. HOWEVER I do still tend to run past the shark tanks when visiting aquariums…. XD
Sharks are one of the main reasons I do not like going to the beach. Or at least, I don’t like going during beach season and I tend to stay far, far away from the water. I have gone on a few water tours, and during one of them the tour guide said it was possible, though highly unlikely, that we might see a shark because of all the seals hanging around and I was just like “WHY WOULD YOU TELL ME THIS?!?!” :( That was in Massachusetts.
I love, love, love Tron! And I tried watching the original afterwards…I couldn’t do it. The graphics are so bad compared to today’s technology, even though back then it was groundbreaking. I’m just too spoiled with all the special effects capabilities that we have today =P
Hallo Maggie!
:) Great to see you stopping by! Really!? I decided that I couldn’t not wait any longer to see the original so I borrowed it from my local library as soon as I could and then, borrowed Legacy as well! I was impressed with the continuity and the tech changes didn’t bother me, but then again, I still adore watching Star Trek: TOS!! :) I guess I’m not as spoilt on the new fangled tech! LOL
Did you see my review of “Virtual Blue”!? If you love games you might want to check it out!
I do love Star Trek TOS! But I’ve grown up around Star Trek so I’m used to the older technology (and actually, I love the outdated effects!). I didn’t become familiar with Tron until the new one came out a few years back.
And I am heading over to check out your review of Virtual Blue right now!
Hallo Maggie,
Seriously!? That’s wicked sweet! :) I think I misunderstood then your previous comment, so I do apologise! Its lovely to hear more love for TOS!
Aah Pandora, I’d love to live there too. And an Avatar 2 is definitely in the works, don’t worry ;) I liked Tron: Legacy too, but mostly for the visuals and music – the story/plot itself was pretty slow and sort of dragged. But it looks BRILLIANT – all that neon ;D
E.T. TERRIFIED me as a kid and I’ve still never seen it all. I’ve seen about half, and it was in German. Bicentennial Man, however, was a childhood favourite and we rented it from the video rental shop so many times.
I’ll be sharing my favourite films later on in the month =)
Hallo Rinn,
Ooh I am delighted to hear this about Avatar 2, do you know if they kept the original idea of having a trilogy or if its going to spin-off into more installments!? Really!? Hmm,… I didn’t find that at all with Legacy. Then again, I saw ET when I was either four or five years old and thought I had found a new ‘best friend’ whereas you said you were plumb freaked out of your skull! :( Poor dear! I’m not sure how that happened!? The ones I would rent from the rental shops to the brink of them nearly asking me to purchase them would be “The Neverending Story”, “Pete’s Dragon”, and all the Disney ones like “Shipwrecked”, “Chitty, Chitty Bang Bang”, “Herbie”, and of course “Pippi Longstocking” (the live action)!!! I’m a bit older though as “Bicentennial Man” came out when I was 19!
I look forward to your list! :)