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Monday, July 20, 2015

Top 25 Sci-Fi Movies: Part 2

Part 2 of the Top 25 Science Fiction Movies list continues with several more entries in the list! If you missed Part 1, click here.


21: Pacific Rim
Japanese mecha anime brought to life, Pacific Rim is the definition of a fun popcorn flick! Sure, it might be a ripoff of Evangelion and the plot contains some holes, but that’s not the point. The robots, referred to as Jaegers, have a real sense of height to their movements, and not just CGI objects created to sell merchandise *coughTransformerscough*. 

Love it or hate it, Pacific Rim knows exactly what it is, a ridiculously fun action packed summer popcorn flick. It takes a genre that has been relegated to corny Japanese films and anime, and gives it the big-budget Hollywood treatment. In many ways, it is a first of its kind, for western media at least, and let’s hope that the sequel will be even better! 

20: The Thing (1982)
After repeated requests from fellow reviewer, Matthew Birkhofer, to watch and review John Carpenter's The Thing, I finally watched, and I was not disappointed. In the same vein of Ridley Scott's Alien, The Thing is a sci-fi horror thriller that you put you on the edge-of-your-seat at points. The film is also a remake of The Thing from Another World (1951), which makes The Thing one of the best remakes of all-time.

John Carpenter's direction might lack the sustained tension of other horror thrillers of the era, but when it tries to shock the viewer with gruesome violence and a few jump scares, it definitely succeeds. What appealed to me most are the practical effects used to portray The Thing. Sometimes it might look a little corny by today's standards, but as a fan of the art, the FX crew did excellent work on the film. A full review of the film will come eventually.

19: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
"KHAAAAN!" Of the many Star Trek films, The Wrath of Khan is, unquestionably, the iconic one in the franchise, and according to many, it is the best. For me, First Contact and the 2009 Star Trek might be the most fun for me, but The Wrath of Khan will always be the most memorable. It captures the core aspects of what makes Star Trek, Star Trek, whereas the 2009 film, as fun as it is, is closer to a Star Wars rip-off.

As for the film itself, the pacing a little slower than necessary, but it makes up for it with an engaging battle between Kirk and Khan. The battle contains many allusions to Moby Dick, which is referred in the film. An interesting fact is that Kirk and Khan never meet face-to-face, which mirrors a battle between two submarine captains. The most iconic and memorable part for me is in the climax, and if you have not seen film, I will not spoiler. I reference the scene when I am in front of a glass door with my brother, so you should know what I am talking if you have seen it. 

18: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
The film that launched the famed Studio Ghibli, and Hayao Miyazaki's second feature film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind remains one of the best works by the Oscar winning director. Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where humanity survives on the remaining habitable land. However, unlike most post-apocalyptic films, Nausicaä takes a more optimistic approach as it conveys themes of environmentalism without being terribly overt.

At times the animation shows its age, but it is certainly on par with the Disney films of the era, except much more mature, yet still appropriate for most older children. It is the type of film that truly appeals to audiences of all ages.

Have you seen the movies in this part of the list? What do you think of the list so far? Please comment below, and check back tomorrow for my review of Interstellar!

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

8 comments:

  1. Woo 'The Thing' baby! Glad to see it made the list, I love it so much lol. Those practice effects are amazing, even by today's standards. Plus I love the ambiguous ending (even though the director shed light on it a few years ago).

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    1. I am glad that you continually requested; otherwise I would never watched it. It was a great film though. It almost made me jump out of seat with the scene where he tests the samples; that never happens for me! If you don't mind, what did he say the ending meant? I am curious.

      -James

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    2. Well it ends with Childs and MacReady ya know sitting around the burning debris at the end debating that one of them could be the thing or not and then just ends. Well the director came out and said that Childs is the thing! He said that during the scene with the two of them you can see MacReady's breath when he talks and you cannot see Childs' (implying he isn't human). (Though if you look closely you can actually see Child's breath but it is way less obvious than MacReady's).! Pretty clever stuff!

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    3. Thanks for telling me! That's very interesting. Movies like this, Blade Runner, and Inception are great because the ending have the perfect amount of ambiguity to keep you thinking about it years later.

      -James

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  2. Cool continuation of the list! :) Nausicaa is definitely a great film and one I enjoyed. I've heard a lot of good things about Pacific Rim and the Wrath of Khan is definitely a movie I want to watch eventually.

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    1. Thanks! :) Nausicaa is really underrated in the west; it is so good though. Yes, I highly recommend both of those movies.

      -James

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  3. I've seen Wrath of Khan, along with all the other original series Star Trek films, but beside the big iconic part, can't really remember what exactly happened or how well I liked it compared to the others. They've all kinda blurred together. I would like to see The Thing, though, and this is probably a terrible thing to say, but I'm more interested in the 2011 version because of Joel Edgerton. I suppose if I ever do watch one or both, I should watch the good one first...

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    1. Yeah, I know the feeling about things getting blurred together sometimes, especially with movies that I watched before writing the website. From what I know, the 2011 Thing is like a prequel to the 1981 version, so I recommend watching the 81 and then the 11 one.

      -James

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