100 Essential Science Fiction & Fantasy Films

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Early in 2004 I supervised the assembly of a list of 100 "essential" science fiction and fantasy films over at the Classics Film Board on the IMDb. These are the films in the order they were finally ranked, from "best-liked" on down.

The ranking here was done through a preferential ballot system (the kind usually called "Australian balloting"). This produced a more consensus-oriented list than the crime & mystery list I’d supervised a few months earlier (which can be found at www.listsofbests.com/list/59241). Some of the odder choices may be attributed to the Classics Board regulars’ affinity for historic, foreign and/or arty films. ("The Orphic Collection" appears at #35 in lieu of an American stand-alone DVD release for "Orpheus". Also, "The Matrix" and "Superman" were actually tied for #60 in the original ranking. Finally, the 1932 version of "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" is the one at #69 and "Village of the Damned" is the film at #82.)

After I finish a second crime & mystery film list, I hope to create a new one of sf/fantasy films as well!

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  1. 1.
    2001 - A Space Odyssey (Two-Disc Special Edition)
    by Stanley Kubrick

  2. 2.
    King Kong (Two-Disc Special Edition)
    by Ernest B. Schoedsack

  3. 3.
    Beauty and The Beast (The Criterion Collection)
    by Jean Cocteau

  4. 4.
    E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (Widescreen Edition)
    by Steven Spielberg

  5. 7.
    The Wizard of Oz (Two-Disc Special Edition)
    by George Cukor

  6. 9.
    It's A Wonderful Life (Two-Disc Collector's Set)
    by Frank Capra

  7. 10.
    Solaris (The Criterion Collection)
    by Andrey Tarkovskiy

  8. 12.
    The Terminator
    by James Cameron

  9. 14.
    Kwaidan (The Criterion Collection)
    by Masaki Kobayashi

  10. 15.
    Ugetsu (The Criterion Collection)
    by Kenji Mizoguchi

  11. 17.
    Metropolis (Restored Authorized Edition)
    by Fritz Lang

  12. 18.
    Kiki's Delivery Service
    by Hayao Miyazaki

  13. 19.
    Invasion of the Body Snatchers
    by Don Siegel

  14. 20.

  15. 21.
    My Neighbor Totoro
    by Hayao Miyazaki

  16. 24.
    Alien (The Director's Cut)
    by Ridley Scott

  17. 28.
    Fantasia (Special 60th Anniversary Edition)
    by James Algar

  18. 29.
    Wings of Desire (Special Edition)
    by J.M. Kenny

  19. 30.
    Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Special Edition)
    by Steven Spielberg

  20. 31.

  21. 32.
    Blade Runner (Two-Disc Final Cut)
    by Ridley Scott

  22. 33.
    Excalibur
    by John Boorman

  23. 34.
    Throne of Blood (The Criterion Collection)
    by Akira Kurosawa

  24. 37.
    Aliens (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
    by James Cameron

  25. 38.
    The Invisible Man
    by James Whale

  26. 39.
    Invaders from Mars (Special Edition)
    by William Cameron Menzies

  27. 40.
    The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
    by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

  28. 43.
    The Iron Giant (Special Edition)
    by Brad Bird

  29. 44.
    Mary Poppins (40th Anniversary Edition)
    by Dave Bossert

  30. 45.
    The Birds (Collector's Edition)
    by Alfred Hitchcock

  31. 49.
    The Abyss (Special Edition)
    by James Cameron

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Created by RobT2 on Sep 18, 2008.
 

Comments

The DVD's at Nos. 69 & 82... — 4 years ago

…actually do contain two films each, but they both stand for a single film on the actual list (the 1932 version of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and the original “Village of the Damned” respectively). Also, the DVD set at No. 35 contains three films, of which only one (“Orphee” a.k.a. “Orpheus”) is on the actual list.


Untitled — 4 years ago

Nos. 69 and 82 are really two films each?




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