Sci Fi Movies Episode 2: Too many movies.

Following my eagerness to slag off an 'expert' panels fave Sci Fi movies, I was left with the realisation that I should at least publish my own top 10.

So, ignoring advice from the ever shrinking intelligent part of my brain, I opened up the can of worms that is the Sci Fi genre... and... got very stuck. After a brief brain dump, I managed to cut my shortlist down to 31 movies. Realising that this was going to take longer than the 10 minutes I had allotted I locked myself in my office turned the Donnia Darko soundtrack up loud and promised myself I wouldn't emerge until finished.

6 hours later, My glorious Japanese Samurai had conquered the Romans, Egyptians, Aztecs and Germans. With only one superpower left (plus the minnows of England and Zululand), my strangle hold on Civilisation: Conquests was all but complete.

But I digress... rather than jump straight in and just tell you my fave movies, I thought I'd drag this out as long as possible in an effort to get my blog count up. Shameful... but hey, I'm low on inspiration.

So, in the first round I managed to axe 9 movies from my shortlist of 31. They are listed below.

Round One

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Alien (1979)
Dune (1984)
Event Horizon (1997)
Fantastic Voyage (1966)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Logans Run (1976)
Pitch Black (2000)
The Terminator (1984)

Possibly the most notable casualty here is Alien. The movie that launched Sigourney Weavers career deserves its place in everyones DVD collection. However, every movie has its genre. And this one belongs more on the Horror shelf than the Science Fiction one. It may be set in the future, but change the backdrop to the modern day and make the alien a monster on a deep sea oil rig and it would still retain it's essence.

The same could be said of, the under-rated, Event Horizon and Pitch Black.

Meanwhile, the likes of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Fantastic Voyage and Forbidden Planet will always be viewed by me with a certain sense of wonder. They where amongst the first to stir my love of Science Fiction. Long before the advent of CGI and $100M budgets, these were films that explored the impossible and the magical, but in the end just cannot justify a place at the top table.

Coming Soon - Round Two: The Curse of the Black Knight.