ew's sci-fi 25 list

[GL]

entertainment weekly recently published "the sci-fi 25" list.

here it is in order:

25. v: the miniseries (1983)
24. galaxy quest (1999)
23. doctor who (1963-present)
22. quantum leap (1989-1993)
21. futurama (1999-2003)
20. star wars: clone wars (2003-2005)
19. starship troopers (1997)
18. heroes (2006-present)
17. eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (2004)
16. total recall (1990)
15. firefly/serenity (2002-2005)
14. children of men (2006)
13. the terminator/terminator 2 (1984/1991)
12. back to the future (1985)
11. lost (2004-present)
10. the thing (1982)
09. aliens (1986)
08. star trek: the next generation (1987-1994)
07. e.t. (1982)
06. brazil (1985)
05. star trek ii: the wrath of khan (1982)
04. the x-files (1993-2002)
03. blade runner (1982)
02. battlestar galactica (2003-present)
01. the matrix (1999)

thoughts?

 

[gsdx]

Battlestar Galactica made the list but Stargate SG-1 didn't?

I can't stand that Battlestar Galactica. Too much damned whispering and totally destroyed the essence of the original programme.

 

[davy]

i liked most of that list, but i got a couple bones to pick with it.

they have to include star wars animated series just because it's there? they admit that they would have chosen the iv'th or v'th movies, but they felt that had to vote to for something star wars, so they went with the animated series.

i TOTALLY agree with what they say about "back to the future." 1985 really is just as foreign as 1955. i remember last week, making jokes at how retro 1985 was when i saw back to the future.

for star trek, the next generation, they say

As time went on, the writers and producers erected a sci-fi gold standard, tackling subjects as varied as homosexuality, euthanasia, and slavery — all while flitting around the cosmos doing battle with Romulans, Klingons, and the Borg.

euthanasia and slavery i can easily see; but homosexuality they stay away from as much as possible. the closest they ever got to homosexuality was in the episode "the outcast" where people who were attracted to the same sex were the bad guys who persecuted the people who were attracted to the opposite sex.

a part of me wonders if entertainment weekly even watched it star trek. after all, they chose star trek ii (kahn) over star trek iv (whales)

they should of chosen the december 2007 release of blade runner. it was done over again, and this time, AMAZINGLY well. oh well, they chose to go with the director's cut and that one wasn't so bad.
the matrix as number one sci fi movies of the last 25 years?!?!?! it's god, but it's deffinately not number one

 

[falconfan]

I'm not even gonna begin but have to say this is a pretty sorry list...

How can you put can you Star Wars prequels on a list and not put the original amazing movies on there. Total Recall? Both Terminators? It's way to premature to put LOST on that list, everything hinges on it actually turning out to make sense which I (and a number of people) aren't clear that it will. And a complete mix of TV and Movie... it's just ill conceived and ill constructed


And um Twilight Zone anyone? Really this is a list that doesn't seem to care about roots.

 

[cityboy-stl]

Was this supposed to be the top 25 of the last 25 years or something?
It certainly seems many of the best films were left off.

A few that come to mind:

2001: A Space Odyssey
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Silent Running
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Dr. Strangelove
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Fahrenheit 451
Fail Safe

 

[GL]

i do believe that the intent of the list was 'the last 25 years' hence the omission of some stellar pics.

i for one think bsg should have been number 1. the matrix was great and all (one of my fave movies) but i think bsg's ongoing story line and the fact that it was one of the first programs to address the world post 911 made it much more relevant than the matrix.

to me the most glaring omission from the list was ghost in the shell. the whole story is wondering about whether machines, or cyborgs in this case had a soul or a 'ghost.' not to mention it greatly influenced the matrix!

 

[falconfan]

i do believe that the intent of the list was 'the last 25 years' hence the omission of some stellar pics.

i for one think bsg should have been number 1. the matrix was great and all (one of my fave movies) but i think bsg's ongoing story line and the fact that it was one of the first programs to address the world post 911 made it much more relevant than the matrix.

Why thank you, I didn't realize that it was limited to the past 25 years. And yeah BSG should've taken the first spot. I also personally think Supernatural should've made the cut if we're limiting ourselves to current pieces. It may not be as high profile as some other stuff but it's a very solid show. I'd say Buffy but she's not sci-fi enough and As appose to "V" which I've never heard of I'd love to see Steven King's The Stand" miniseries

 

[justsimon]

I don't even know where to begin. The new Star Wars (ep. 1-3) make Plan 9 from Outer Space look like genius.

What about The Abyss, Gattaca, 12 Monkeys, Dark City, Donnie Darko, City of Lost Children? I could go on.

 

[RobinGoodfellow]

I can see The Matrix being where it was simply because of the effect that the movie has had on pop culture. It's interesting that the list is obvious American based, because a number of great foreign sf didn't make it (Ghost in a Shell, Farscape, Torchwood, and Solaris being glaring exceptions). SG1 should definitely have gotten higher on the list, especially considering the sheer fun that they had with the series, both dramatically and comically.

As for BSG: Proof that if you make anything dark enough, it will make the list...

RG

 

[provenlogic]

EW sucks ass. They hold grudges against shows they don't like, and refuse to publish material about them, the Stargate franchise would be a good example. A producer of SG-1 and execs at EW got into it once about an article EW did, now EW refuses to post anything positive about the Stargate franchise, and refuses to put them in any "top" lists.

So in short, you can't trust their list, it's completely biased.

 

[Corny]

battlestar galactica? lol they could have also put in bionic woman, since it has as much in common with the original million dollar woman as bsg has in common with the original series. and obviously they seem to count everything in the future as sci-fi? like children of men? yes it is a VERY good movie .. but not sci-fi ..

@davy: i also don't understand this, but many people call the wrath of khan the best star trek movie ..

 

[RobinGoodfellow]

Re: Wrath of Khan

It's considered the best because it has everything you would ever want in a sf movie: Great heroes, incredible villains, nasty critters, and a homage to a great movie (in this case, the Battleship Potemkin, with arguably one of the best chases ever).

Oh, and did I mention that it actually has this thing called a plot?

Re: Children of Men

Although I wouldn't have put it on a list, it definitely deserves to be called sf, if for no other reason than the toy and how the advertising worked; it showed how technology could advance and some of the potential for that technology.

RG

 

[TygreBryte]

I'm sort of in with the "vintage" voices (The Day the Earth Stood Still, 2001: Space Odyssey, Forbidden Planet) -- the list displays downright ignorance of anything before about 1979.

I don't know, off the top of my head, what I would put in #1, but I'm fairly convinced "The Matrix" wouldn't be it. (2001? Maybe.)

Leaving the original STAR TREK series totally off the list?

THE ETERNAL SUNSHINE is there AT ALL....?

 

[GL]

^ they purposefully listed the last 25 years so the vintage stuff was left off.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

I'm not sure they did mean this for the last 25 years. doctor who is listed from the beginning to now (1963) that's over 40 years.

star wars clones wars i've never even seen nor have i seen brazil. i think Stargate should have been on there if not the series, then at the very least the movie. i mean come on the movie spawned a series that lasted 10 seasons and it spawned a second spin off series. lost...um pretty early to have it on there and honestly heros and BSG is also, but heroes is really good and so is BSG. lost i've only seen a couple 1/2 episodes and have no idea what it's about.

children of men i'm not sure really is SciFi, but whatever, plus i didn't like it. doctor who, the longest running SciFi show in history is down at 23? i guess i should be happy then even knew what doctor who was

thanks for posting GL it's cool to see it.

edit: with the exception of doctor who it does appear all of the stuff on there is about 25ish years old. so maybe they did mean that.

 

[RobinGoodfellow]

I'm sort of in with the "vintage" voices (The Day the Earth Stood Still, 2001: Space Odyssey, Forbidden Planet) -- the list displays downright ignorance of anything before about 1979.

Er...duh! 2007-25=1982. The list is ONLY FOR THE LAST 25 YEARS! So I would really be interested to see any movies done before that...Yeesh...

Oh, and keep in mind that there has been a current Dr. Who...How can you even claim to be a scifi fan if you haven't heard of it? Silly...

RG