Ask HN: Good sci-fi movies? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Good sci-fi movies?

18 pointsnowayyeah56 comments

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Going to repeat a lot of what has been said so far:

- Minority Report (The TV show isn't bad either)

- Ex Machina

- District 9

- Elysium

- Oblivion

- Edge of Tomorrow

- Looper

- I am Legend

- Her

- The Martian

- The Matrix (Only 2 & 3 if you're super bored)

- Basically any of the Mad Max series

- Firefly (TV show, movies are OK)

- Dark Matter (TV show)

- Snow Piercer

- American Ultra

- Last Witch Hunter (more fantasy than SciFi)

- Riddick

- Dredd

- X Files (I mean, it's not NOT scifi...)

- Treasure Planet (Yes, the animated one)

- Atlantis: The Lost Empire (Gets a bad rap for being animated, but it has it's own language and everything)

- Serial Lain Experiments (anime)

- Watchmen

- The Dark Knight

- Inception

- The Prestige (technically SciFi)

I can go on for hours

I am officially too old apparently when this is the top comment and it lacks Blade Runner at the top of the list (let alone even on it). Wow.

Great choices though...for like the last 10 years maybe, I'll give you Matrix and X Files beyond that and that is it.

Would anyone like a real list from a 40 year old?

1. Blade Runner 2. Star Wars 3. 2001 4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind 4. E.T. 5. Star Trek 6. The Last Starfighter 7. Alien 8. Superman 9. The Empire Strikes Back 10. Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi

It's an unpopular opinion, but I didn't love Blade Runner. Don't get me wrong I like Phillip K. Dick as much as the next guy, the movie just wasn't there for me.

Same here. I loved the book (Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?) but didn't care for the movie version at all as I felt it missed the magic of the book completely. Maybe as in most such cases what got read/seen first mattered.

Well as a 25 year old I added to the above list because I thought a lot of classics were missing. But I'd like to hear the 40 year old list too.

While we're listing anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion?

If it's to angsty for you, go watch Rebuilt, but the angst is part of the charm/insanity IMHO.

I agree with all of these but have to add some, because you are missing a lot of the classics.

- Alien (talk about classic Sci-Fi Horror)

- Westworld (watch the movie before the show. Trust me)

- 2001 A Space Odyssey

- The Thing (I've only seen the old one)

- Moon

- Children of Men

- 12 Monkeys

- Gattaca

- Blade Runner

- Dark City

- Akira (anime)

- Primer (my favourite time travel film)

- Interstellar

- Black Mirror

- Psycho-Pass (anime)

And of course everyone needs to watch - The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

Solid list. Im not a big anime fan but I also enjoyed Akira. Have you seen Paprika? Another great Sci-fi anime (on a short list for me), which Inception may have stolen ideas from (don't quote me on that).

Paprika was great. I'm not a big anime fan, but I'm also not opposed to watching them. I'm just not a fanboy. I do also really recommend Psycho-Pass if you are into Sci-Fi psychological thrillers.

Planet of the Apes (1968), Forbidden Planet (1956), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Brazil (1985), Contact (1997)

Came here to suggest 'Forbidden Planet'. Happy to see someone beat me to it.

Monsters...Monsters from the ID!

Forgot about that one... Not a movie, but besides the very well known TV shows (ST:TNG, BSG, Firefly, etc.) I can really recommend The Expanse.

Alien, Blade Runner, Minority Report, 12 Monkeys, Primer, Tron

Minority Report was okay, but I really recommend reading the short story it was "based on". Very different experience.

Event Horizon.

I am fascinated with the concept of evil existing outside of the context of humanity and this movie is what planted that seed.

Oh god, I thought that movie was so bad. I don't even remember it well enough to say why, I just remember remembering it being bad...

Go watch it again. It ages well.

I'll throw another one in there for you as well: Starship Troopers.

> I'll throw another one in there for you as well: Starship Troopers.

Yeesh, we are clearly going to have to agree to disagree.

I thought the same when I watched it the first time, but you should read some analysis' of that film and watch it again. It's surprisingly deep.

Are you talking about Event Horizon or Starship Troopers?

Starship Troopers

Hmm, I would be surprised. I found the book quite interesting (despite mixed feelings about the politics) but the movie seemed pretty thin (and the grafted on drama really poor).

Europa report, I liked interstellar, most didnt... I love me some good sci-fi. 13th floor is pretty good too, it got overshadowed by the matrix though.. I'm pretty happy sure they came out around the same time...

Dark City, 13th Floor, Pi, Gattaca, Time Crimes, The Jacket, Moon.

Timecrimes was great. I should rewatch it.

Time Crimes and The Jacket are the only two movies in this thread I haven't seen. Thanks!

The Thing (1982), Slither, Dark Skies, Intacto (spanish), Another Earth, Coherence

Primer is on here a bunch, but really worth watching if you like time travel conundrums.

Surprised nobody has mentioned "Moon" yet.

1. Total Recall

2. Blade Runner

3. Starship Troopers

4. Superman 2

5. Aliens

6. Predator

7. Mad Max: Fury Road

8. Return of the Jedi

9. Star Wars

10. Empire Strikes Back

11. Dark City

12. Matrix Revolutions

13. Matrix

14. Matrix Reloaded

15. The Fifth Element

16. Robocop

17. Gravity

18. Godzilla (2014)

19. Terminator 2: Judgement Day

20. Jurassic Park

21. The Thing

22. Europa Report

23. THX-1138

24. Repo! The Genetic Opera

25. Santa Sangre

(.. ok this list could go on forever)

Yes, the big 80's/90's action-sci-fi, especially the ones with Arnold, were so god-damned entertaining. There are obivously lots of smaller sci-fi that's cool & entertaining as well, but with the big 80's/90's action-sci-fi, you get your money's worth.

I think this may be the first list ever to contain Santa Sangre and Jurassic Park. Well done.

That kind of juxtaposition is also in Repo! The Genetic Opera. It stars the singer of one of my favorite industrial bands - Ogre of Skinny Puppy - alongside Paris Hilton.

=^D

2001: A Space Odyssey

Sunshine

Blade Runner, gattaca, the matrix, alien etc.etc. basically just google "best sci fi movies of all time"

Moon, Ex Machina, The Matrix

The Matrix Terminator Terminator Genisys Inception (2010) Iron Man 3 (2013) Mad Max Fury Road (2015) Captain America Civil War (2016) The Dark Knight Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice 2016

A few others that I don't think have been mentioned, in no particular order.

- Guardians of the Galaxy

- Back to the Future series

- Men in Black

- Groundhog Day

- Elysium

- Planet of the Apes (old & new)

- Ender's Game

- Independence Day

- The Island

- John Carter

- I Robot

- The Day the Earth Stood Still (old & new)

Stargate. District 9. Inception. Equilibrium. Mad Max: Fury Road. Moon. Edge of Tomorrow.

Edit: The Man From Earth if you can dig independent cinema.

I really enjoyed Galaxy Quest, as parody with a lot of heart. Not exactly hard sci-fi, of course.

It depends on how low your bar is. Last few that I've seen that I enjoyed:

Source Code Pacific Rim The Martian Pandorum

I thought I was the only person that liked Pandorum. Everyone I suggested it to hated it.

* Star Wars, * Ex Machina, * The Matrix, * Inception, * Alien, * Tron, * The Fifth Element

Not a movie, but Stranger Things. Can't believe it hasn't been mentioned yet.

Star Wars - but not the prequels.

Watch The Matrix. Again. It is very well made. And it's pretty deep.

I watched a video essay on youtube the other day that presents the argument that Mr. Smith is the One and not Neo. It was quite convincing.

Ex Machina.

Primer.

Ex Machina, The Matrix, Star Wars, Doctor Who

Short Circuit

Dune

I remember liking the Sci-Fi miniseries much better than the David Lynch movie. And the book much better than either.

Ex Machina

Primer

Her

Upstream Color

Robot and Frank

Stalker

The book, [Roadside Picnic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadside_Picnic) it is based on is equally amazing and both the movie adaptation and the book stand great on their own even though the movie was an artistic interpretation.

The Abyss

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