The Sci-Fi 25: The Genre's Best Since 1982

Let the arguments begin...

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Who decided 1982?

Well, at least they mentioned my favourite X-Files episode.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

I like how they put each of the 25 entries on a separate webpage, to maximize advertising space.

And of course by "like" I mean "didn't make it past page two, and officially couldn't care less about this list".

Did I miss Farscape or was it simply not on there?

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---"Why do things have to suck so bad?" a friend once asked me.
"Because space is a vacuum and that's a lot of suck." I replied.
(Actual quote)---

Why do these things always include "ET"? I thought it was rubbish when I was in its demographic (i.e. a kid) and I still think so now.

I got to 19, saw "Starship Troopers", and couldn't take it seriously after that.

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Yes, that's bad, but overall this is a lot better than the Yahoo list from my point of view. This only goes back to 1982, so it isn't an issue that some of the great examples from before that aren't there, and I didn't see a bunch of superhero/comic book movies. I actually agree with a lot of the selections here (if not the order).

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The Leif Ericson Cruiser

It's 25 years ago.

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"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
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they did leave a lot of good shows off the list- but they did put up this link where they showed some shows that got left off.
seems that being a pop culture-centric magazine, the list they wound up with was full of shows that were the most popular and not necessarily the best. everyone remembered the early 80's Cheese-fest that was "V", but who in the mainstream culture admits to being addicted to a show that had funny looking Muppets in space (Farscape)?
but they had enough complaints to make a second list to satisfy the nerds and geeks that were angered by their favorite show getting omitted...

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The.. Best.. Thread..Ever...

Twenty-six.

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Well, at least they mentioned my favourite X-Files episode.

Great minds think alike!

And ditto Jay's comment on E.T.--didn't like it as a kid, and still don't.

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Actually, I rewatched ET the other day (because it starts with "E"), and while it didn't age well, it's still not, in my opinion, that bad. It's a crying shame that both Tron and Blade Runner lost Oscars to it (apparently, it was a pretty good year for sci-fi), but I think of it as starter sci-fi. How many little kids d'you suppose got into the alien then and started watching better, more complicated sci-fi?

Of course, it's not the best movie out there, and it's working too hard on the ol' heartstrings, but it's not bad.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

I don't know if I've mentioned this elsewhere on this forum, but Math is my worst subject.

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I want to go back to the moon.
I don't care which rocket you use, whichever one you pick, I'll like it, I swear.
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek

Not there, Farscape is a bit cultish & EW's taste is a bit weird at times.

The top 2 completely jumped the shark, I used to enjoy battlestar but I quit the show somewhere around S3. It's not the political, loveboat or religious stuff which made me tune out from battlestar it's just the writing got so bad the show became unwatchable, looking online recently I feel the current producers owe much of their early momentum to uncredited efforts from Richard Hatch and Singer. I think the Wachowskis really flopped after what they did with Neo in the Matrix movies, the SpeedRacer turkey was the final confirmation the Wachowskis lost their touch. "Firefly" should never be ranked behind "Lost", I don't care how many watch that J.J. Abrams series it ain't nothing compared to the gem that is Firefly.

Happy with "some" of the choices
Blade Runner deserves it spot in the top 3 IMHO

I dont think they did a very good job. Only one of the top three that I thought should be there was Bladerunner. Matrix definitely should be on the list, but I never liked Crapplestar Galactica.

SG1 should have been on the list. If they were looking for genre best, then DS9 should beat out TNG.

At least Firefly was on the list

I do have a question. Does Lost even qualify as Sci-Fi? I never got the impression that it was sci-fi, but I have never watched a show. I thought it was more a mystery type sho.

I felt it was more of a “25 films me and my mates really enjoyed” type list. The sort of thing where someone challenges a choice (e.g. the execrable “V”) and the list-maker replies, “Yeah, I know it’s cheesy, but me and my mates really enjoyed it.” In short, it’s a random mix of good and bad.

Given that they refer to Heroes being still in the midst of the first season, I'd guess it was 25 years ago when the article was written.

I was a little disappointed not to see The Last Starfighter in the bunch.

The "bullet time" comment shows that they don't know good sci-fi, though. Battlestar's first TV episode, "33," was the best hour of sci-fi TV I'd seen in a decade. (And for the record, that puts it against the last half of Deep Space Nine.)

For those who want to see the list but hate to click...

25. V: THE MINISERIES (1983)
24. GALAXY QUEST (1999)
23. DOCTOR WHO (1963-Present)
22. QUANTUM LEAP (1989-1993)
21. FUTURAMA (1999-2003)
20. STAR WARS: CLONE WARS (2003-2005)
19. STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
18. HEROES (2006-Present)
17. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004)
16. TOTAL RECALL (1990)
15. FIREFLY/SERENITY (2002/2005)
14. CHILDREN OF MEN (2006)
13. THE TERMINATOR/ TERMINATOR 2 (1984 /1991)
12. BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)
11. LOST (2004-Present)
10. THE THING (1982)
9. ALIENS (1986)
8. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION (1987-1994)
7. E.T. (1982)
6. BRAZIL (1985)
5. STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982)
4. THE X-FILES (1993-2002)
3. BLADE RUNNER (1982)
2. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (2003-Present)
1. THE MATRIX (1999)

I'd have maybe half of them on my list of 25.

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Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by ignorance or stupidity.
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I watched Eternal Sunshine not long ago ('cause, you know, "E"), and I didn't like it at all. Was that just me?

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

I drew a blank on Eternal Sunshine, and had to look up details. I usually try to keep track of science fiction movies, but this sounds like one where the SF elements are underplayed. Also, it has Jim Carrey, and I usually avoid him.

As far as the list goes, there are maybe five in the list that I really like. I notice that Doctor Who is somewhat grandfathered in. Yes, it has been on since '82, but they are apparently counting all of Doc. Who.

Anyway, there are about another five that I think are fairly decent, so I might pick 10 out of the 25 total. There are quite a few I wouldn't pick at all, and others that would have to go on my list (Babylon 5, for example).

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I say there is an invisible elf in my backyard. How do you prove that I am wrong?

Disclaimer: Avatar is not an official NASA image and does not imply any specific interplanetary or interstellar capability.

The Leif Ericson Cruiser

Starship Troopers...Brazil...

No Babylon 5?

No Farscape?

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

I liked "V", but I only saw the earlier episodes. I've read that the series went severely downhill in the later seasons.

I would not put Total Recall in such a list.

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"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire.
"All your bias are belong to us" Ara Pacis.

You heard incorrectly. "V: The Series" went severely downhill in its first (and only) season.

You may be thinking of the two mini-series that preceded the weekly series...

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SeanF

"Ask to understand, but don't challenge unless you have the knowledge."--NEOWatcher

The contents of this post are ©2009 by SeanF and may not be copied or retransmitted in any form without the express written consent of SeanF

I think you're right. It was the two miniseries that I watched.

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"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire.
"All your bias are belong to us" Ara Pacis.

Starship Troopers Good Lord...in the best of anything list? and not at at least 25 on such a list of 25?

It ranked Higher than Dr. Who ? Huh?

What about Babylon 5, I mean what about Carl Sagan's Contact? or Deep Space 9?

I would accept 2010 or Starman before I would accept Starship Troopers.

How is it Lost is ahead of Firefly??

At least Blade Runner made the cut to the single digits but Im sorry I like NuBSG but there is no way it should be higher than Blade Runner on such a list.

and the Matrix as number one? Good Lord.

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I would have put Firefly ahead of several that are listed. What about Contact with Jodi Foster? Any fans of that movie here?

I am, I wondered the very same thing myself.

I guess not enough 'bullet time' or giant bugs to make the list.

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Mission Control : "Please don't kick the robot Bill. "

Present!

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I want to go back to the moon.
I don't care which rocket you use, whichever one you pick, I'll like it, I swear.
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek

Way ahead!

The movie and Jodie. Contact was far too cerebral with no strange looking aliens, no large scale battles, and only a couple of "action" (that is, "things going boom") scenes.

Don't forget, this list came from Entertainment Weekly, not exactly a bastion of science fiction appreciation.

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