by Ray Peters

Created on: December 30, 2009

What makes a great science fiction movie? 

Why, out of the hundreds of films in this genre produced since the 1930’s are some considered successful or deemed benchmarks, while others are largely forgotten? 

An outstanding sci-fi film should have an engaging plot, interesting characters, a refreshing or thought-provoking story, and decent special effects.  Many films meet these criteria and any limited listing will necessarily be subjective and should not be construed as representing the only great representatives of the genre. 

With that said, here follows a list of five notable and successful examples of the best of cinematic science-fiction (warning:  some plot spoilers are mentioned): 

Forbidden Planet (1956):

This modern-dress retelling of Shakespeare’s Tempest was one of the earliest examples of an “epic” science fiction film.  Despite being produced over a half-century ago, the story holds up remarkably well – although some of the acting is a bit dated.

The film did have cutting edge special effects for its time (the scene where the crew of the C-57D battle the “Id” monster was particularly well-done), and was influential to later efforts.  For example, it was cited by Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry as one of his inspirations, while the visual style of the Great Machine of the Krell later inspired an episode of Babylon 5.  Despite its age, Forbidden Planet is still worth a look and richly deserves its place in the sci-fi movie lexicon. 

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968):

This film, based on the short story “The Sentinel” by sci-fi master Arthur C. Clark was revolutionary for a number of reasons.  It was a deeply cerebral and thought-provoking movie with visually powerful special effects – particularly the final journey of astronaut David Bowman through the alien “Monolith” he discovers near Jupiter.  This climatic period of the film is filled with wild, borderline psychedelic, imagery which largely leaves the film’s conclusion to the personal interpretation of the viewer.

The visual effects for the rest of the film were very well done and even today, are very realistically portrayed and believable (for example, this is the only major sci-fi movie to consistently show a lack of sound in the airless environment of space).

2001 is another film, still quite watchable today that advanced the art of the modern science fiction

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