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50 Science Fiction Films To See Before You Die

The greatest works of futuristic cinema as voted for by Film4's critics

The Fly


50. Things To Come
HG Wells and producer Alexander Korda show us what the future looked like in 1936 with this celebrated work of science fiction cinema.

49. Le Voyage Dans La Lune
From 1902, cinema's first science fiction film, from French director Georges Melies, inspired by the writings of Jules Verne.

48. Tron
The film that trailblazed both notions of virtual reality and the use of digital special effects. Villainous David Warner traps a digitised Jeff Bridges inside a videogame world, where he joins forces with Bruce Boxleitner's titular game hero.

47. Westworld
Michael Crichton makes his feature film writer-director debut with this tale of technology gone mad (what else?) set in a futuristic holiday park where punters get to play out their fantasies with lifelike androids.

46. Quatermass And The Pit
Hammer film based on influential BBC TV series (50s precursor to 'The X-Files' and 'Dr Who'). Inventive and genuinely chilling, it sees the titular professor investigating an ancient, other-worldly horror unearthed in the London Underground.


45. Jurassic Park
Steven Spielberg's trailblazing special effects epic. Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern visit the island theme-park of Richard Attenborough, who has been breeding dinosaurs.

44. The War Of The Worlds (1953)
Fifties Hollywood gets its teeth into HG Wells' classic of Victorian sci-fi, transposing the alien attack to contemporary America.

43. The Fifth Element
Luc Besson's big budget sci-fi extravaganza set in the 24th century. Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm and Chris Tucker star.

42. Silent Running
A virtuous science-fiction classic in which Bruce Dern's lone astronaut champions the last remnants of Earth's plant life. The elegiac directorial debut of FX man Douglas Trumbull, co-scripted by Michael Cimino.

41. The Fly (1986)
When a scientific experiment goes wrong, the DNA of a man becomes spliced with that of a house fly. Horror drama starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis, and written and directed by David Cronenberg.



Next page • 50 Science Fiction Films To See Before You Die - from Minority Report to The Day The Earth Stood Still









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  1. Great to see Donnie Darko so high up the list, the film is a classic. After watching it with friends (my choice) many came to the conclusion it was "weird" or "I don't get it" Phillistines !! Am i allowed to say that nowadays or am i offending phillistinians??
    Posted by Naughty Rascal on 17/04/2009 21:11:16
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  2. Blade Runner!! Where is it? Good to see the matrix so high though.
    Posted by ScottyBoy on 15/03/2009 11:35:26
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  3. ...and while i think about it George Pal's The Time Machine from 1960 also deserves a mention. But people are never happy with these 'Best of' lists so I'm not gonna complain!
    Posted by satchmobob on 14/03/2009 21:42:15
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  4. Ok, not a bad list but E.T. should be on there and also where the hell is Independence Day, Demon Seed, Saturn 3 and i guess The Faculty could go on there too...
    Posted by satchmobob on 14/03/2009 21:36:47
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  5. Can't believe 'Total Recall' isn't in there!
    Posted by pete on 12/03/2009 14:54:06
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  6. Also, Aliens > Alien? Naah. But I'm glad to see E.T. didn't make the cut. And I applaud your #1 choice.
    Posted by Gort on 28/12/2008 01:54:54
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  7. So... Alien comes in 11th on the "50 Films to see before you die" list, but only 36th on this list. Does this mean that the following 35 films are equivalent to the top 10 in the "50 Films to see before you die" list?
    Posted by Klaatu on 28/12/2008 01:53:02
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