10. Arrival
I didn’t intend to have three Denis Villeneuve films in a row but happy accidents do happen sometimes. It’s always an exciting prospect when a film attempts to take the well worn alien invasion idea and transcend tropes of the subgenre to make something not just unique but in the case of Arrival, something that feels unprecedented. Rather than making the alien visitors hostile or Spielberg-friendly, Villeneuve and writers Eric Heisserer and Ted Chiang made them vulnerable, mysterious and in many ways, desperate. They see the importance of our species and with their distinctive understanding of time, they can see our potential if we can only get out of our own way. So much in-fighting and divisiveness has stunted our growth as the supposed alpha species on planet Earth.
The newfound visitors see potential in us and want desperately to help us. And in return to one day return the favor. Beyond the massive scale however is a very personal story of loss and facing a decision knowing full well it will absolutely lead to tragedy, but in the interim, will bring utter joy; do you stay on the path that leads to this or do you circumvent? It is a tale of morality, mutual respect and understanding people so diametrically opposed to your own personal concept of what it means to be human. For the sake of our continuance on Earth, can we come together when it counts most? Talk about timely, huh. Arrival is a profound experience.
In 2006, Alfonso Cuarón gave us Children of Men. It’s hopelessly dystopian and grim. But it never holds the door closed to an idea of future possibilities. There is a sliver of hope but the obstacles between their present and potential future are seemingly insurmountable. Infertility has spread like a disease affecting every woman on the planet. When births stopped, so too did mankind’s aspirations for a better tomorrow, or any tomorrow at all. When a once insignificant soul miraculously becomes pregnant, she finds former activist Theo, and he is tasked by her protectors to discreetly escort her to a sanctuary at sea where her and her miracle will be allowed to flourish. Should anyone discover her condition, all could be lost. Suddenly Theo, misery’s company, is responsible for the future of mankind. No pressure. This is Orwellian, replete with nonsensical violence, tragedy and mankind at its lowest. There isn’t much to hope for here, extinction approaches with fervor and contrasting ideologies threaten the one thing that could save us all. What Children of Men never does however is attempt to justify our existence. We are what we are, take us, save us or let us perish. It may just be the best thing for our home, deteriorating in its own way. Earth will be just fine without us. Maybe the rampant infertility is nature’s way of asking for the check, please.
8. Star Wars
I don’t know that I really need to explain why this is in the top ten. Its influence will likely be felt for the rest of time. It’s a classic tale of good vs evil and tells this timeless story with an unimaginably creative aesthetic featuring laser swords, spaceships and glorious space battles. It has elements of politics, religion, brotherhood and family. It has betrayal and vengeance, moral quandaries and mysteries abound. It has moments that have seeped into the collective zeitgeist that have influenced cinema ever since. It premiered in 1977 and has never lost momentum in popularity, relevance or unfair scrutiny. Of course with all the positives come the toxicity of a terrible, so-called fandom. For every genuine fan of Star Wars seems to be ten virgin fanboys that demonstrate it's perfectly possible to loathe something you claim to love. I bring this up because only something as game changing as this franchise could create such polarizing opinions. Star Wars is, in a lot of ways, the quintessential sci-fi blockbuster.
7. The Matrix
It’s safe to say that anything in the top ten is likely something that has altered the very genre of science fiction itself. The Matrix saw the beginning of technology that was developed during production and like Jurassic Park, changed how computer generated imagery is produced and utilized to this day. It saw the transcendence of Keanu Reeves from silly surfer dope to heroic leading man. It would dictate his career for decades to come. It contemplates a reality intelligently designed and orchestrated by artificial intelligence, something we all know is more prevalent than ever before. We were introduced to the Wachowski sisters who understood the viability of CGI better than most. It’s been lost in modern cinema that computer effects are meant to enhance rather than completely take over and the Wachowski’s showcased this perfectly balancing practical effects with state-of-the-art digital effects. The imagery is iconic, the terminology is world wide, bullet time, the red pill/blue pill dilemma and innate religious implications all elevate The Matrix into masterpiece territory.
6. Aliens
After Ridley Scott terrified us in space, James Cameron took over and decided it was mankind’s turn to give those pesky Xenomorphs their proper comeuppance. Of course that ended up being easier said than done. This time it’s not just one, but several with threats of more to come. These tough space marines are tested like never before. While it provides moments of horror, Aliens takes a more action oriented approach creating genuinely thrilling sequences pinning man against an impossible force. It ends up taking every ounce of their ingenuity and tenacity to survive an alien species evolved to decimate and conquer with unmitigated hostility. It proved that Ripley wasn’t just a survivor, but a full blown warrior. She is in the highest echelon of cinematic heroes and rightfully so. Game over man, game over! (Rest In Peace, Bill.)
If any title on this fifty movies long list has influenced everything that came after it, it’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. If you want to demonstrate the brilliance of Stanley Kubrick by playing one of his films, make it this one. Its visuals are kinetic, lively and mind-bending. The villain, a self-aware supercomputer named HAL 9000 discovers the astronauts’ plot to disconnect its cognitive circuits when they realize HAL may be malfunctioning. Facing its own mortality, HAL decides to kill them to protect and continue its program directives. According to the novel, HAL is motivated by an inability to “resolve a conflict between its general mission to relay information accurately and orders specific to the mission that it withhold from the astronauts the true purpose of the mission.” 2001 is a transcendent experience that explores themes of technology, evolution, human frailty, creationism, destruction and unconventional film techniques like a unique movie score acting as one giant experiment in film still examined to this day. It is all at once ethereal and tangible, creating scenarios unimaginable to the everyday human experience and on a grander scale, it contemplates the complexities of evolution and what may be involved in our transcendence from homosapien to a great new beginning in the form of the star child. It is depicted as a fetus in utero naked and ungirded, its eyes wide open implying a new phase of humanity that is far more open than our form ever imagined.
4. Blade Runner
(Jimmy, it’s on the list, get over it.) 2001 influenced Blade Runner. Blade Runner took the torch and carried it forward with a fully realized dystopian Los Angeles in 2019 where man and technology have combined in true cyberpunk fashion. Deemed illegal on the planet, bioengineered humanoids known as replicants are used for off-world colonies utilized for their superhuman strength and intelligence. Any replicants discovered on Earth are dealt with by the Blade Runners. Rick Deckard is a seasoned runner tasked with finding four replicants who have returned to the planet to find their creator. A mystery ensues and Deckard is forced to question everything he believed to be true about the replicants and their place in the galaxy.
It is considered to be a foundational work of the cyberpunk genre as well as neo-noir cinema. Its influence is found throughout pop culture including many of the science fiction movies on this very list. It has impacted video games, anime and television. The production design alone is mirrored repeatedly throughout cinema. It is a perfect fusion of cyberpunk and noir storytelling carried by beautifully grim science fiction imagery. When you think of the future steeped in technological advancements, a future of toxic air and pollution, a future of unprecedented artificial intelligence, you imagine the fully realized world of Blade Runner.
3. Alien
Ridley Scott did for space with Alien what Steven Spielberg did for the ocean with Jaws. He created a truly harrowing force that at first encounter feels every bit unkillable. He then incorporated otherwise normal people who would much rather stand by but are forced to step up and face an impossibly formidable foe. Despite their reticence they dig deep, they find their courage and ingenuity and press forward simply because they have to. The Xenomorph lurks in the shadows, it hangs from the ceilings and moves with an alarmingly fast pace only to scream in its victim’s face and then obliterate them with a rigid, phallic tongue that brutally breaks through skin and bone decimating their insides. Even when the creature is wounded it retaliates in the form of acidic blood toxic enough to melt through virtually anything man made, including man himself. If creating the iconic Xenomorph wasn’t enough, brought to life by the masters Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett, this legendary space horror gave us one of the greatest cinematic heroes with Ripley, tough and formidable herself, embodied perfectly by Sigourney Weaver. In space no one can hear you scream.
The thing about these kinds of lists is that the closer you get to the top ten the less interesting it gets simply because top tens for lists like this are usually pretty universal. So seeing Back to the Future in the top three probably isn’t much of a shock. But that’s because it belongs. Undeniably. Unquestionably. It belongs. What isn’t iconic about this movie at this point? The DeLorean, the flux capacitor, the time setting display, Doc Brown, Marty McFly, Einstein, Biff, Lorraine Baines, George McFly, Mr. Strickland, Mayor Goldie Wilson, the clock tower, the red lifejacket, the calculator watch, the ever-changing newspapers and photographs. Just saying these words and names without context and you can picture every second of it. It also doesn’t hurt that it spawned two more excellent sequels creating one of the greatest trilogies of all-time. It is the perfect adventure movie. It is the perfect family film. It is the perfect science fiction movie. It is the perfect comedy. It is the perfect fantasy film. It’s just… perfect.
I put this here fully understanding the audacity of it. Full disclosure, this is my favorite movie, full stop. Was this whole list thing just one big excuse to put this movie at the number one spot? Maybe. Sue me. It is Denis Villeneuve at the height of his powers creating something that somehow lives up to, if not surpasses, the original which was said to be impossible to follow properly with a sequel. Well it only took thirty-five years but it finally happened. At the helm is Villeneuve, with the greatest cinematographer that ever lived, Roger Deakins, at his side. Scoring the movie is Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer who perfectly encapsulate the feeling and mood of a future dystopian Los Angeles.
Through brilliant computer imagery, a foggy, polluted metropolis is reclaimed from a decades long slumber when we last visited the world of the replicant and their hunters, the Blade Runners. Harrison Ford returns to his iconic mystery man, Rick Deckard. On the lookout for the retired replicant hunter is K, played subdued but pained, by Ryan Gosling. Virtually present only, Ana de Armas plays Joi, who may only be a representation of the ideal companion, she is every bit as alive and fragile as her human counterparts. Playing the megalomaniac to perfection is Jared Leto in a role absolutely written in his image. Along with an amazing supporting ensemble, Blade Runner 2049 is cinematic artistry of the highest order. It is a morose, somber affair with brilliant moments of science fiction action and violence set within a fully realized dystopia. And at the core of it all is a mystery threatening the very stability of their reality.
From the depths of a darkened L.A. to the impossibly orange tinged wasteland that was my hometown, Las Vegas, it is unbelievably visually stunning. Add in a story that is somehow incredibly human despite so much artificiality and you have a concoction for cinematic magnificence. This was the peak of the 2010s and I don’t care what anyone says. I can’t get enough of Blade Runner 2049, a film I consider to be the quintessential science fiction masterpiece.
Well, there it is. The end. We finally got here. What do you think? I’m sure you think I’m crazy and stupid and so completely wrong it boggles your mind. Tell me about it. Tell me your top ten. Or just criticize like the rest of the internet. I’m just happy it’s finished. On to the next! Oh and remember, if you like my stuff, my name is Chase. If you loathe everything about my writing, the name is Jimmy Palmquist.
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