By Sandrider vocalist/guitarist Jon Weisnewski | sandrider.bandcamp.com
11. The Last Starfighter
I had to give a #11 off-list honorable mention to this movie. Made in a time when video game arcades were a legitimate competitive scene, nothing speaks more to the nerd fantasy of being recruited for real intergalactic space fighting because you hold the top score on an arcade machine. Scene for scene the pacing is not the most riveting thing in the world, but holy god does the Death Blossom scene make the whole movie worth it. And while I’m doing honorable mentions, quick shout out to The Running Man.
10. War of the Worlds
First of all, haters can take a hike. The Spielberg remake of War of the Worlds is top goddamn notch, with the only pain point being Cruise’s dumb angsty son who thankfully volunteers for military service and runs off to get killed half way through the movie. It’s an awesome spectacle of big budget sci-fi eye candy mixed with frantic boots on the ground panic. Give it a shot if you passed it up!
9. Starship Troopers
There’s just enough unintentional campy acting from the young “talent” in this movie to make it “fun,” as well as awesome. Say what you will about the lead characters and their ability to deliver lines (and hey, Clancy Brown and Michael Ironsides are actually really good), but Paul Verhoven has a gift for blood soaked visceral action. Just enough mix of CGI and real creature FX, and CGI (mostly) holds up. Let’s all agree to forget about Jake Busey playing a neon green electric violin and instead remember that they had space ship escape pods colliding with dead bodies as they fled exploding star fleets. Would you like to know more?
8. Big Trouble In Little China
I think I was 10 years old when I first saw this movie. I could not believe my eyes when the street fight scene started. Someone had made a movie JUST FOR ME. Good ninjas fighting bad ninjas with sub-machine guns, sticks, throwing stars, nunchucks, cleavers, and bandoleer belt dual pistols… And that’s BEFORE the magic ninjas in straw hats show up and electrocute everyone, all in the first 20 minutes. This film is the reason I was able to stomach my wife’s Sex in the City obsession as an adult, quietly reveling in a childhood crush on Kim Catrall.
7. The Terminator
If you look past the Schwarzenegger fanfare and just watch the story, this movie is so good it gives you chills. The Terminator is so brutal and emotionless when he kills, and the fights between it and Kyle Reese feel genuinely desperate. The dystopian combat sequences in the future with giant robot tanks driving over piles of human skulls still make me yearn for a movie about THAT story. Plus, who doesn’t want to ram their fist through Bill Paxton’s stomach?
6. Total Recall
Despite my love for Paul Verhoven movies and his sweet tooth for extreme violence, Total Recall is a legit sci-fi story powered by Phillip K Dick’s “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale.” The open-ended finale is one of my favorites, leaving everyone wondering and theorizing whether the whole thing was real or if Quaid was just left a vegetable on life support. Plus that chick had three boobs.
5. Ghostbusters
Not traditionally considered a “sci-fi” movie but definitely fitting the definition, Ghostbusters is one of my favorite movies of all time. To this day, when anyone asks me if I “want some coffee,” my answer is always “Yes, have some.”
4. Robocop
Probably Verhoven’s masterpiece of violent sci-fi. Completely timeless and unfuckwithable. Not only an action packed gore fest, but also a pretty introspective look at technology’s cross over with humanity that was relatively ahead of its time. Not to mention top shelf acting that has you phenomenally invested in the protagonist and seething with hatred for the bad guys. I think the top 4 on my list all deserve #1.
3. Aliens
I don’t think anyone would argue that this film is one of the best sci-fi movies ever made. Alien obviously deserves its own special throne in its own special castle giving people their own special stress tumor, but the sequel is just unstoppable. Not only is it a crusher of a movie, but it went on to be a massive influence in sci-fi culture. How many movies, comics, video games, etc have embraced and/or aped the space marine drama since 1986? Hella. That’s how many.
2. The Thing
A perfect movie. Carpenter at his absolute best, Kurt Russell at his absolute best, and real creature effects that still hold up as the undisputed king of the hill when it comes to visual FX (and I include all contemporary CGI movies in this as well). Perfect soundtrack. Perfect support cast. Some of the most creative monster imagery in film history. What else can I say? From the opening helicopter chase across the snow, to the final moments of MacReady and Childs freezing to death in the blizzard, the tension is relentless. No love interest or romantic side plot. 100% isolated suspense. PERFECT. FUCKING. MOVIE.
1. Predator
This is a top contender for my favorite movie of all time, not just in the sci-fi genre, so it was a shoe in for #1 on this list. Schwarzenegger is a dud as usual, but does some of the better acting in his career. Carl Weathers, Sonny Landham and Bill Duke however, completely make up for his inability and actually have some very engaging performances. Pacing wise the movie is flawless, seamlessly darting between action, tension, and plot development. The Predator monster is a fantastic concept and the effects make it believable and almost an anti-hero that you’re rooting for by the end. So many great moments: the handshake, finding Hopper’s skinned-alive troops, Predator holding the dead scorpion and watching it die in heat vision, Billy’s stand-off on the log bridge… All the character deaths are memorable and potent. I’ve seen it literally hundreds of times. It is one of the greatest action sci-fi movies ever made, packaged up with a phenomenal orchestral soundtrack.
