Well,
it’s all over except for the crying.
The
votes are counted, and I can now present to you -- drum roll, please -- the readership’s top ten science fiction films
of all time.
Before
you tab down to the results, I just want to note that, mea culpa, I could have
been far more organized at the beginning of this exercise.
The lists were not in any kind of universal order, so therefore they can’t be weighted (with a number one slot equaling 5 points, a number two rank equaling 3 points, etc.)
The lists were not in any kind of universal order, so therefore they can’t be weighted (with a number one slot equaling 5 points, a number two rank equaling 3 points, etc.)
In
other words, some lists went in chronological order, some lists went in
favorite order, and some were completely random.
So,
that said -- for counting purposes -- a vote is a vote is a vote.
When
I do my next Reader Top Ten later this month (on Top Ten Sci Fi Shows? On Horror Movies?
On Favorite TV character? ) I’ll make certain to specify top to bottom lists, for
example, so the results can be weighted.
More
important than any of that boiler-plate, however, I want to say how excited
and gratified I feel about the remarkable turnout for this series. I was inundated with lists all through
the week, and great lists at that.
My
sincerest thanks to -- and admiration for -- everyone who contributed this week. I always I knew the readership here was
brilliant and knowledgeable, but I learned a thing or two (or ten…) this week
about SF movies that I really need to see.
Now,
without further ado,
Top Ten Science Fiction Films of All Time As Selected by the Readers
10.
Tie: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
(1982)
The
Empire Strikes Back
(1980)
9.
Gattaca (1997)
8.
Metropolis
(1926)
7.
Tie: The Matrix (1999)
The
Day The Earth Stood Still
(1951)
6. Alien (1979)
5. Forbidden Planet (1956)
4. Star Wars (1977)
4. Star Wars (1977)
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
2. Blade Runner (1982)
and in first place...
and in first place...
1. Planet of the Apes (1968)
Breaking
down the data a bit:
2001:
A Space Odyssey
appeared in first place on the most lists, six times. Blade Runner came in first on three
lists. The Day The Earth Stood Still,
and Planet
of the Apes each came in first place on two lists.
Metropolis
actually beat
both of those latter titles by placing first on 3 lists. Now again, this can’t be indicative of too
much, in all likelihood, because some lists were chronological which means that
Metropolis
would place as first because it was (usually) the earliest film produced in terms of list-worthy films.
In
eleventh place was Close Encounters of the Third Kind ((1977), and in twelfth-place was a six way tie between Solaris (1972), Brazil (1985), Soylent
Green (1973), Star Trek: The Motion Picture
(1979), Westworld (1972), and Starship Troopers (1997).
So,
what do you think? Where did we miss
the boat? Where did we get it
right?
Sound
off in the comments section below, and please come back in June, when we’ll do
another round of Reader Top Ten.
