Tell me your top 3 favourite sci-fi movies

Yeah, DC is fantastic. It’s like a twisted cyberpunk neo-noir fairytale and personally I think very few movies can match it in terms of atmosphere. It’s probably not one of my all time favourite scifi stories but it’ll always be one of my favourite scifi movies because it’s a kind of movie that makes people fall in love with cinema.

Came here to say contact. Glad someone said it first.

I read PHM when it came out since I’d previously read The Martian. I admit I didn’t actually enjoy reading PHM but I appreciated the story and suspected I’d enjoy a movie adaptation. For me it’s a better watch than a read and I think I feel that way about both of Weir’s books. (I have not yet read Artemis.)

I agree that I wouldn't quite count it as a sci-fi movie (even though, like, it definitely is? so what's wrong with me) but also nobody has any obligation to agree with George Lucas on anything

George Lucas also people would love Jar Jar Binks.

Star Wars won the 1977 Saturn award for best SciFi movie. In 1980 The Empire Strikes Back won for best SciFi movie, and in 1983 Return of the Jedi won for best SciFi movie. I don't doubt that Lucas called it a fantasy, although I've never heard it before. I have heard him call it a Space Opera, but that would just be where it takes place. I also think the latest installments have tried to move the stories out of the fantasy genre and into the science. First, the force was a great fantasy element, but then in Phantom Menace, they scientifically explain it as a symbiotic relationship with midichlorians, then kyber crystals explainlight sabers, the mechanics of how to blow up a death star is an engineering fluke. [Clarke's Third Law](https://www.google.com/search?q=Clarke%27s+Third+Law&rlz=1C1ONGR_enUS1159US1159&oq=what+is+the+scientific+law+about+seeing+advanced+technology+as+magic&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRiPAjIHCAIQIRiPAtIBCTIyNjkzajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ved=2ahUKEwjlxrynmLmTAxV8LTQIHW_CCfgQgK4QegQIARAB), formulated by Arthur C. Clarke, states: **“**Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” Star Wars is an excellent example of one persons fantasy is another persons science.

haha Cube would've been my 4th pick honestly, big Natali fan. Splice/Cypher are just as good.

Absolutely agree, and I don't think that the second restoration on Blu-Ray is pretty much flawless. There are some effects that may look dodgy given their age, but I'm also very much of the mind that it is the most Star Trek of all the Star Trek films. I wrote a fairly brief review that I'll share here as I think you would enjoy it. The emotional motion picture about life, the universe and everything. Star Trek’s first foray onto cinema screens mirrored many of the difficulties encountered in during the abortive run of the original TV show.  The film project underwent several drastic changes and despite being a financial success upon its theatrical debut, Star Trek: The Motion Picture has long been lambasted as “The Motionless Picture” for its slow pacing, muted color palette and somewhat stilted acting.  However, as the decades passed and more information was revealed about the frantic production, a lot of those criticisms bear less weight, especially upon viewing this second and even more complete restoration of director Robert Wise’s vision of the film. The Director’s Cut was first completed and released on DVD in 2001, and for many fans, it was a revelation.  The production schedule for The Motion Picture was so short that many sequences and special effects were never finished.  Over 20 years later, a team of very talented and devoted special effects technicians worked directly with Robert Wise to complete many of the missing elements and produce a new version of the film that Wise had always wanted.  The additional scenes increase the scope of the story, further develop the characters, and finally reveal V’Ger in all its astounding glory. One of the most impressive aspects of this new version was that the effects company understood that film grain would need to be digitally added to these new special effects so that they would blend in better with the filmed elements from the late Seventies, a pitfall rarely avoided in other cinematic revisitations and revisions!  Despite the multitude of new effects, the film no longer looks like a patchwork of disparate parts and has instead become a fully integrated and seamless piece.  It’s a truly gorgeous restoration and also a removal of an ancient thorn from Robert Wise’s side! However, that 2001 version was produced for the DVD market, and so it did not have the HD resolution that would take full advantage of what Blu-Ray and 4K can bring to home viewing, nor did it have a proper sound mix.  With the launch of the Paramount Plus streaming service, Paramount decided to revisit the Director’s Cut and update it a second time to ensure that it would be its absolute best for home viewing as a visual piece of art and as a sound experience.  Many of the visual effects from the 2001 edition have been further improved, and a new Dolby Atmos mix made the sound and music elements worthy of modern home theater systems. That’s all well and good, but what about the movie?  Does it still have a slow and plodding pace that’s about as exciting as watching paint dry?  As always, that will depend on the viewer.  For myself, I LOVED it.  Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a ***mood*** and I am here for it!  While the franchise has done very well overall with its more action-oriented sequels, this first film has become my favorite Star Trek film because it’s the only one with a truly cosmic idea that just goes for it!  It’s philosophical, introspective, and surreal in ways which few science fiction films have been able to achieve. Not many are familiar with Robert Wise’s filmography these days, but he was also the director of the original version of “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, another classic and iconic science fiction film that also takes its time to set the stage before the story gets going.  However, that firm foundation is critical to its thematic success, and this methodical approach is replicated in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.  The film does move slowly, but the attention to detail elevates the heady atmosphere while the complete commitment to the concept propels the movie toward a wondrous climax of transformation whose roots are deeply anchored within a timeless love story of soul mates reunited. Despite having watched the film many times over the decades, it had never really clicked for me that the relationship between Decker and Ilia is the heart of the story.  Although Ilia is a Deltan and sworn to celibacy, her history with Decker suggests a feeling between them far greater than mere sexual attraction.  While we don’t get the details on how they bonded so deeply, the film does a superb job of establishing that their mutual connection is on a deeper level that thankfully reaches a triumphant and achingly romantic conclusion. The iconic impact of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” and Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” were clearly an influence upon Robert Wise's visualization and stylistic approach, and those choices beautifully evoke the cosmic notions, philosophical ponderings, and eye-goggling scope of the universe, reminding us of what is possible beyond our limited vision.  After waiting over 40 years, Star Trek: The Motion Picture is finally able to show us that the human adventure is just beginning, and there are always possibilities. Possibilities in evolution, in artificial intelligence, and in the human heart.

Wholeheartedly agree! It's become my favorite Trek film because it's a more measured and philosophical film with great ideas and themes, and it delivers on all of them. I wish Trek would be more like this. More focused on curiosity, discussion, and moral quandaries rather than explosions, personal trauma, and more fiction than science.