Well, we have now come to the end our fourth Reader Top Ten series, and I suspect this exercise has been the most difficult yet for many of us. Certainly, after reading all of your fine top ten catalogs, I realized I wish I had twenty slots to play with.
There are many more great films from this recent time period, I think, than I had remembered or reckoned on when I composed my list at the beginning of this enterprise.
Great job to everyone who passionately argued their cases, and especially those who turned me on to new titles that I can watch and then review here on the blog...
So without any further delay, here are is our Reader's List of Top Ten Greatest Science Fiction Movies of the Era 2000 - 2013.
Tied at numbers 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 are:
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Pitch Black (2000)
Ghosts of Mars (2001)
Sunshine (2007)
Cloverfield (2008)
Cloverfield (2008)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Pacific Rim (2013)
Pacific Rim (2013)
At number #8 is:
Star Trek (2009)
Children of Men (2006)
At Number #6 is:
Minority Report (2002)
At Number #5 is:
Wall-E (2008)
At number #4 is:
At number #3 is:
In second place is...
And the number one ranked movie by readers for 2000 - 2013 is:
Prometheus (2012)
At number #3 is:
Serenity (2005)
Moon (2009)
And the number one ranked movie by readers for 2000 - 2013 is:
District 9 (2009)
Well, what do you think?
Despite all the ties, I'm satisfied with the list. There are only five titles here that ultimately overlapped with my own tally (Ghosts of Mars, Minority Report, Prometheus, Wall-E and District 9). That's my lowest average so far on these lists!
I suppose this result could suggest that there is less consensus about recent films than there is about vintage films, a point that I believe Simon Pegg made recently. Newer films, perhaps, we haven't had as much time to absorb and process.
Despite all the ties, I'm satisfied with the list. There are only five titles here that ultimately overlapped with my own tally (Ghosts of Mars, Minority Report, Prometheus, Wall-E and District 9). That's my lowest average so far on these lists!
I suppose this result could suggest that there is less consensus about recent films than there is about vintage films, a point that I believe Simon Pegg made recently. Newer films, perhaps, we haven't had as much time to absorb and process.
Other top contenders -- just 1 vote each outside the tally -- were Dredd (2012), A.I. (2001) and Primer (2004).
It might be fun to revisit this topic in five years and see how the list holds up. In the meantime, be sure to come back next month, late September, for the next Reader Top Ten!
I could live with this list just fine. Another great reader top ten, John.
ReplyDeleteThis is only my second post here, why not disagree about the #1 choice?
ReplyDeleteI'll just come out and say it...I've watched this three times and it's just not for me. The mock documentary style of the film is interesting at first, but as the movie continues, the style keeps flipping between documentary and straight up action flick. It gets annoying quickly.
I felt little sympathy for the aliens, which is the desire of the filmmakers. There was not enough time given to portray the aliens as sympathetic creatures because they have basically devolved into savages by the time we enter District 9. The implication made about why this occurred was because they were forced into slums, but we never see them as anything but savages.
The main character named Wikus is an unintelligent stooge. The story is structured around him and he's not likable. He's a racist, pencil-pushing bureaucrat who eventually learns what it's like to be an alien. Then, once his life-changing event occurs, we are expected to feel sympathy for him. He has done nothing to deserve it. Only his depressing decent into the horrors of District 9 earns him any. We learn pretty early on that Wikus was being used by the agency that he works for. He's so stupid that he's the only one that doesn't realize that something stinks about his promotion. Later, Wikus discovers cruel experimentation being performed on aliens by his company, but I'm not buying that he didn't know about it even though that's what the story hints at.
The relationship between Wikus and his wife was barely developed and there was even less chemistry between Wikus and the primary alien. The military agents were portrayed as the typical gun-toting, murderous freaks. They showed no restraint in gunning down aliens, who weren't exactly avoiding violence-free conflicts themselves.
The special effects were interesting but they were certainly not groundbreaking. There was no more than about a 30-second period that went by without someone yelling "F@*k!". I am not offended by the word, but I don't think it's a stretch to say it loses its impact when used 300 times during a movie. If you have any issues with copious on-screen gore, you'll want to stay away. "District 9" ranks right up there with "Robocop" and "Starship Troopers" in the bloody Sci-Fi category.
I have to agree District 9 was not for me. What I find interesting is the lack of superhero titles in the top ten.
ReplyDeleteGiven all the franchises that have run over the last few years, I expected them to appear more. I have to say, they are not my cup of tea, but I have friends who rate them very highly.
I genuinely think I am the biggest John Carpenter fan in the whole world, but Ghost of Mars didn't work for me. Didn't look or sound right, even though the ingredients should have been irresistible, even thought the thrust of the plot was ideal for Carpenter.
I am not sure, perhaps some of it is just taste, the pseudo punky heavy metal 'ghosts' seemed from another era, and too rock video for me and despite all the hype, desolation was no Napoleon...
That said, I will defend the Ward against all comers! A warm glow of happiness washed over me as I watched that film.
Prometheus, well I have a blind spot where Scott is concerned, I have issues getting past the pomposity and posing, and the retrofitting of Alien was just too much for me. That and an over staged Zombie attack.
As I said, Serenity is great, but Firefly gets watched more than Serenity.
Wall-E was great fun too, but the film never seemed to recover it's momentum once they arrive on the space ship.
Cloverfield nearly made it on my list, yet to see Pacific Rim.
Some great lists though, and several films on my to do list... which is always a great thing.
Great list. I'm actually not too surprised to see "District 9" at the top. Like you said, i'd love to do this again in 5 years and see if it is still there.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised once again that "Avatar" and/or the Star Wars prequels didn't make it on the list even as runners up. Both raked in a ton of cash, most folks have seen them, and you ask most folks on the street about big sci-fi in the past 10 years and I'm guessing those will come up.
And yet, it seems that us sci-fi fans just didn't connect with those films (and yet the "Star Trek" reboot made it higher on the list). Very interesting to say the least.
All of the films on this list are deserving (I haven't seen "Children of Men" or "Ghosts of Mars") except "Wall-E". I really liked the first 30 minutes of "Wall-E" and then it fell into the old "Man is evil, fat and lazy" cliches...so overused and easy.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to quibble with your list, or anyone's list really when dealing with taste. I didn't care much for Sunshine, District 9, or Ghost of Mars that much. Ghost of Mars & Sunshine didn't seem go anywhere for me (ending rather anticlimactic), and with District 9 I had problems with the logic of the film and the spineless goofiness (for most of the movie) protagonist. I enjoyed the efx however. I would have put A.I., John Carter, and The Road on my Top Ten List, and then added some that you included: Prometheus, Moon, Star Trek, Children of Men, Pacific Rim, Minority Report, Wall-E. Serenity was good, and it's hard to buck the fandom around the show, but I don't know why a civilization would revert back to western times--I find that funny and odd. Cowboys and Aliens was a fun. I enjoyed The Host more than Cloverfield, which I just found annoying with the shaky camera, and uninspired plot. The 6th Day, Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow, Slither, Splice, A Scanner Darkly, The Thing prequel deserve some mentioning too.
ReplyDeleteGoshdarnit! I wish I had participated.
ReplyDeleteThese lists and their results are so interesting. This blog is an authoritative place for the genre and its readers must be, therefore, just as invested and knowledgeable.
And it is so great to find a place where Prometheus is NOT misunderstood - not least by the owner of the place.
Anyway, had I voted, Prometheus and A.I. would've topped the two first spots on my list.
Cheers!