
Ask HN: Great science fiction movies? - galfarragem
What sci-fy movies do you recommend and why?<p>Beyond the mainstream classics &quot;Terminator I &amp; II&quot;, &quot;Blade runner&quot; and &quot;2001: A Space Odyssey&quot; I don&#x27;t know many more.
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arethuza
Gattaca - a beautiful moving film with wonderful music (by Michael Nyman)
about genetic engineering, discrimination and sheer determination.

~~~
NathanWilliams
A great movie, and come to think of it, I haven’t watched it in a few years.
Thanks for the reminder!

~~~
numbsafari
It really holds up. The visual design, the subject matter... the mix of
"future" and "past" make it really timeless. Well worth the rewatch.

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softwareman
'Contact (1997)' is good. One of the best alien movies. Since we are on the
topic of fiction, let me add one more, Man From Earth (2007).

~~~
ElCapitanMarkla
I really like the Man From Earth. Terrible acting but good story

~~~
lowry
The story was written by a famous screenwriter and the film was produced by
his family and friends once he passed away.

I actually liked the acting as well. It's more exaggerated than usual american
acting, closer to the theatrical acting.

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Jare
Some random categories:

\- Classics: Forbidden Planet, Solaris, Stalker

\- Dystopia: Brazil, Gattaca, Children of Men

\- Action: Verhoeven's trilogy of Robocop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers

\- Space: Gravity, Sunshine, The Martian

\- Robots/AI: Ex Machina, Her

\- Time travel: Looper, Primer, 12 Monkeys

~~~
drcongo
Random, but an excellent list. Worth specifying that Solaris should be the
Tarkovsky one, not the dreadful remake.

~~~
zapperdapper
Yep, the Clooney version was a bit hit and miss IMHO. I really am not a fan of
Natascha McElhone's style of acting, but I thought Jeremy Davies was brilliant
as Snow.

~~~
test-accout-0
For me it was 10/10.

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numbsafari
‘Strange Days’ is a great movie that I feel captures some of the Sci-Fi
zeitgeist around the millennium, the burgeoning internet, and a bit of
cyberpunk. The subject matter is rather dark and disturbing, which I believe
has led it to be rather obscure. But it makes a powerful and prescient
statement about how tech empowers and dehumanizes us, porn, addiction,
exploitation, and fandom. It’s an incredibly powerful statement that is quite
relevant.

~~~
ftrc
Black Mirror should do a modern take on this one day.

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rangibaby
Akira is one of the greats. It’s essentially the story of post-WWII Japan
retold as a sci-fi story.

Idiocracy (2005?) was a cult film for years and has recently become less
obscure.

Anything with Sharlto Copley in it is going to be good. Or at least his role
in it will be good. What a great and under appreciated actor.

~~~
krapp
My personal opinion is that Akira is something any fan of cyberpunk or anime
has to watch.

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mtmail
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primer_(film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primer_\(film\))
with a budget of $7000.

~~~
Udik
I suggest watching "timecrimes" or "predestination" for those who like their
temporal paradoxes done right.

~~~
IronBacon
Take my vote for Timecrimes.

Another little movie that I liked very much is "Frequently Asked Question
About Time Travels", and the two "Hot Tub Time Machine". OK, the second was
really weak, but the leads are hilariously funny...

Last one, I promise, "Time Lapse".

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onion2k
Danny Boyle's "Sunshine" is excellent. It strays away from scifi in to horror
a bit occasionally, but the premise is great and the science is accurate. Dr
Brian Cox was scientific advisor to the film.

~~~
Udik
I know it's pointless to discuss about personal taste, and movies are a great
example and reminder of that. But to me Sunshine characters looked like a
bunch of Big Brother contestants, spending their time in petty arguments,
making trivial mistakes, and dealing with mostly imaginary physics, until
Freddy Krueger shows up. And how do you solve an existential threat like the
sun shutting down? But with a huge bomb, of course. As usual.

~~~
huhtenberg
+1

There's no "sci" in Sunshine's sci-fi. That was massively distracting and not
something that could've been saved by the pretty visuals.

~~~
Joeboy
I'm not 100% sure it was intended, but to me it's in the category of "films
that contain dizzying genre shifts". Other examples would be From Dusk Till
Dawn or Kill List. I actually really enjoy this trope, I think the fact it
starts off looking like "conventional" sci-fi and then goes somewhere
unexpected is a plus-point (although maybe not for people who really like sci-
fi).

~~~
Udik
It didn't seem to be intended or self-conscious in any way, instead it seemed
to take itself very seriously: there wasn't an ounce of sense of humour in it.
While "From dusk till dawn" is obviously a humorous genre cross-over. I
haven't seen Kill list but Ben Wheatley is an interesting director with a
passion for the grotesque- his Sightseers and Down Terrace are pretty funny.

------
cooper12
Here are my recommendations:

* _Sunshine_ : I'll second this one, about a crew on a mission in space, turns into a different kind of film in the second half, which many people didn't like; has breathtaking visuals and a strong soundtrack.

* _Her_ : A guy falls in love with an AI; has a wonderful atmosphere

* _Gattaca_ : Set in a future of genetic engineering and how the protagonist fights against class discrimination

* _Ex Machina_ , this was pretty hyped I'd say, but takes the opposite approach of _Her_ and shows us the dangers of AI

* _The Day the Earth Stood Still_ : a representative of aliens arrives on earth to tell humans to knock off their douchebaggery; still highly relevant today

* _Metropolis_ : a silent film with a powerful score, set in a future with a large class disparity where the workers rebel

Honorable mentions that I'm not sure are really sci-fi: _Brazil_ , _The
Prestige_ , _Watchmen_

------
anotherevan
12 Monkeys - Travelling back in time to try and track the outbreak of a virus
that wipes out most of humanity.

The Abyss - Survival and discovery on a deep water mining platform.

Apollo 13 - Look at the rescue efforts of this historical NASA moon mission.
(Does it count as sci-fi?)

The Dish - Also not quite sci-fi, but a comedy about Australia's involvement
in the first moon landing.

Battle for Terra - Surprisingly good animated movie about invading aliens.

District 9 - Alien refugee camp in Johannesburg.

Gravity - Astronaut stranded in orbit, trying to get back to Earth.

The Martian - Survival and rescue of a lone astronaut stranded on Mars.

Moon - After a serious accident, a solitary worker on the Moon discovers a
conspiracy.

Oblivion - A veteran assigned to extract Earth's remaining resources begins to
question what he knows about his mission and himself.

Predator - The classic that launched the franchise.

Predestination - Faithful adaptation of Heinlein's short story, "All You
Zombies."

The Prestige - Some minor sci-fi elements. At the end of the Nineteenth
Century in London, two stage magicians engage in a battle to create the
ultimate illusion whilst sacrificing everything they have to outwit the other.

Source Code - Using limited time-travel to try and get information to stop a
second, larger terrorist attack.

WALL E - In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently
embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.

------
AndrewDucker
Arrival.

Great, thoughtful, science fiction. Based on an excellent short story.

~~~
mcphage
> Based on an excellent short story.

The short story "The Story of Your Life" almost brought me to tears I loved it
so much. I highly, highly recommend it to everyone.

------
baq
There are a couple TV shows that every sci-fi fan should see: Firefly and more
recently The Expanse.

~~~
wiredearp
There is a German sci-fi series on Netflix called "Dark" [1] that I would also
grab the chance to recommend while it is online. I figured that it would have
to be above average for Netflix to broadcast it internationally and it turned
out to be quite superb (even if it is perhaps only tangentially science
fiction).

[1]
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5753856/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5753856/)

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vassilevsky
Inception (2010)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/)
is an epic mind-bender

~~~
osullivj
If you like Inception, check out Interstellar. They're both directed by
Christopher Nolan.

------
simulate
World on a Wire (Welt am Draht) - German movie from 1972 similar to the
Matrix.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_on_a_Wire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_on_a_Wire)

Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky film from 1979 on the indifference of aliens and
humans' inability to comprehend alien intelligence. Somewhat like Solaris.

The Incident (El Incidente) - a nightmare time-loop movie and possibly the
most disturbing movie I've ever seen written and directed by Mexican director
Isaac Ezban. You can watch it on Netflix.
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3528756/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3528756/)

Speaking of Ezban, Cosas Feas / Nasty Stuff is a disturbing sci-fi short he
did in 2009 available on Vimeo:
[https://vimeo.com/65601847](https://vimeo.com/65601847)

One more: They're Made of Meat is available on YouTube and only 7 minutes
long:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfPdhsP8XjI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfPdhsP8XjI)
starring the guy from Cash Cab.

------
wslh
I added my own sci-fi ranking (159 movies) in a spreadsheet here [1]. You can
sort it based on IMDB or my score. Many movies include the ranking from the
first time I have watched the movie (e.g. Star Wars).

[1] [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FDg-
yMsHjIHRmZy60v-N...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FDg-
yMsHjIHRmZy60v-NU5U4KgmgZvyk0VlgAQT9ycQ/)

------
zapperdapper
The Black Mirror series is worth watching, although they seem to focus mostly
on 'digital consciousness'. The USS Callister episode is not only gripping but
very funny too. So many great episodes though - hard to pick a real standout
although I would have to say if I had to San Junipero is one of the best
things I have ever watched.

Then there's the really cheesy old "so bad it's good" stuff, for example: \-
When Worlds Collide (1951) \- The People That Time Forgot (1977) \- Swamp
Thing (1982)

Have you seen the original War of the Worlds?

Then there is the Alien franchise, Aliens (Alien 2) being my personal
favourite - Bill Paxton is sooo funny in that and of course it's directed by
James Cameron. Some other great actors like Michael Biehn too.

Have you watched the series Firefly? Also the (related) movie Serenity.

There is soooo much great stuff out there!

------
Gallicium
\- Clockwork Orange \- Dr. Strangelove (brilliant!) \- Strange Days \- The Day
the Earth Stood Still (version from 1951!) \- Edge of Tomorrow \- Equilibrium
\- Arrival \- District 9 \- Chappie \- Predestination (i recommend to read
Heinleins novel first)

------
clarents
Interstellar

~~~
Jare
C'mon I didn't like this movie at all but downvoting it is rather unfair.

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Joeboy
Not necessarily sure it's the sort of thing HNers will like, but I have a bit
of an obsession with Hardware (1990). It's strange, trippy, violent and lots
of fun.

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tomsuchy
Coherence (2013) is very enjoyable.

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2866360/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2866360/)

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blahstan
Surprised to see no one mentioning The Matrix. Definitely a classic that can
be enjoyed by anyone. Your mileage may vary with the other two sequels
however...

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krylon
Silent Running - brilliant (for its time) special effects

~~~
arethuza
I think the ending of Silent Running was the first part of a movie to make me
cry (I was 15 or so).

~~~
eps

      - You've seen Titanic?
      - Sure.
      - Did you cry at the end?
      - Of course!
      - Why?
      - She threw the diamond away!

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ainiriand
The Timecrimes, brilliant piece of art.

------
hguhghuff
Moon

Alien

The Thing

Dune Directors Cut

Gattaca

~~~
jacobkg
Loved Moon!

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newscracker
Timecrimes (Los Cronicriménes) — a mind bending Spanish movie with time travel
and paradoxes

AI (Artificial Intelligence) — about a little android boy who develops
feelings and emotions

Gattaca

Summer Time Machine Blues (Japanese) — a hilarious movie with time travel (and
all its paradoxes)

Moon

Europa Report

[I've avoided mentioning the more recent mainstream movies.]

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vassilevsky
The Anomaly (2014)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2962726/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2962726/)
is a surprisingly good mind-bender

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elthran
Event Horizon - a wonderful blend of sci-fi and horror.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_Horizon_(film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_Horizon_\(film\))

~~~
krylon
I second that motion picture! After the first time I saw it, it took me hours
to fall asleep.

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dbcooper
Colossus: The Forbin Project

Before Skynet ...

~~~
bambataa
I enjoyed this but its ending really let it down.

~~~
dbcooper
I thought that was the best part. Chilling.

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Hates_
Predestination

~~~
xjwm
I'd second this, and would recommend looking up the Heinlein short story "All
You Zombies," that the movie was based on. The film was a very accurate
adaptation.

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ttam
Can I recommend a tv series? Travelers
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5651844](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5651844)

~~~
timbit42
And Timeless:
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5511582/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5511582/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1)

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tangue
THX 1138 : George Lucas's first film as a director, just before Star Wars. I
wish the guy had a little less dazzling success so we could have seen more of
his personnality

~~~
asteli
Believe you missed American Graffiti. (1973)

THX1138 is pretty special. I'm still trying to find a version without the
typical Lucas retroactive CGI spliced in.

Fun fact: there's a scene in the movie (no spoilers) that was filmed,
sideways, in the then-unfinished BART transbay tube. If you've seen the movie
I bet you'll know which scene.

~~~
tangue
Yep I always forget that Lucas made American Grafiti. And didn't knew that
this post-apocalypse tube was indeed BART. Indeed I was remembering this part
when I recommended the movie.

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kitd
I thought the recent film "Arrival" was really good.

~~~
ovi256
I found Arrival great, until the second part, where things stopped making
sense. That part felt badly written. The ending was a let down because of
that.

~~~
Vaskivo
Arrival is a great movie that I didn't enjoy. I think it's because it's a
drama with a bit of sci-fi. And the movie explains "the thing" way too much. I
felt it thought I was stupid.

~~~
Udik
> I felt it thought I was stupid.

It probably did. I suspect contemporary blockbusters are intentionally dumbed
down to make them meet the bulk of the bell curve. And think of all those
emerging markets with their hundreds of million of poorly educated youth,
those can pay their tickets too.

You might say that it's always been like that. Well, it might just be that I'm
getting older but I think it's become worse. Either the world is more global
today and therefore the expectations about the viewers are more generic, or
the equation "more people = more money" has become more compelling, or the
producers have found more convincing and subtle ways to get from directors
what they want. Villeneuve is a great director, yet Arrival felt shallow and
formulaic.

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lostmsu
I'll add Transcendence and Lucy. Despite having relatively bad rating, they
have unique plots, that in my opinion are a bit closer to what could actually
happen.

~~~
krapp
>they have unique plots, that in my opinion are a bit closer to what could
actually happen

But the entire premise behind Lucy (that humans only use 10% of their brains)
is a myth[0]. And the consequence that somehow one would get supernatural
powers by "using the other 90 percent" is silly.

[0][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_percent_of_the_brain_myth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_percent_of_the_brain_myth)

~~~
lostmsu
Will not deny that. But there are not many plots involving superhuman
intelligence at all.

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xjwm
Primer, if you want a bit of a mind-bender.

~~~
arethuza
Possibly the only movie I have seen where diagrams help!

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DoofusOfDeath
I really liked "Passengers". I never understood why it rated so poorly on
Rotten Tomatoes.

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rabboRubble
Late to this game...

Galaxy Quest

V, but the original miniseries from the 80's

Close Encounters

Dune, this is controversial I'm sure!

Starship Troopers

The Day After Tomorrow

The Fifth Element

Terminator I

Alien

Aliens

Tron, oh god I nearly forgot this one from the 80's!

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sjclemmy
Dark Star. Same writer as Alien I think. You can see some proto Alien ideas in
there.

~~~
Gallicium
Yes! Excellent SciFi comedy.

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jacknews
The first Planet of the Apes

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ghosthamlet
The leftovers，though it is TV，but is better than many movies.

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partisan
Logan's Run - Ever more relevant in our current times.

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bjarne92
No one mentioned eXistenZ yet. Really loved that movie.

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cholantesh
Metropolis, the Thing, Starship Troopers,Dark City

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lostmsu
Another really good one is Animatrix.

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wudu
The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

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sparq_beam
Enemy Mine

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rlmflores
What happened to Monday ?

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lostmsu
Also Westworld.

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billdhn
fahrenheit451

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lowry
None mentioned "The man from Earth" yet. It is unusual, but exceptionally well
made.

~~~
Garvey
And now there's a sequel! :D

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5770864/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5770864/)

