Your top 10 favourite Sci-fi and Fantasy films

[Beloren]

Curious, for favourites, I'm looking more with regards to most enjoyed, not necssarily which you thought was best done(there is a difference if subtle). I'd like you to also factor in whole franchises or movie series, so don't feel you have to pick say Star Wars V, It’s okay to pick just Star Wars, even if you hate the Sequels unless one particularly stood out.

Also what would help is some comments about your choices, I'd like to know what you found enjoyable about them, and feel free to be as brief or comprehensive as you desire.

Frankly I'm looking for new material, and there are some films I've really enjoyed, but would never make my top 10 best, but they'd make my favourites also who knows maybe there's something good i've missed that i can watch.


Top 10 Sci-fi


Top 10 Fantasy


Please do 2 separate lists

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Sci fi

• Star Wars (particularly the OT, the PT, and the EU. Everything after 2012 never happened.)

• Star Trek (up to the end of DS9. After that, there is a significant decline in quality with each entry. Star Trek after Nemesis doesn't exist.)

• Battletech (up to the end of the Clan Invasion. Dark Age never happened.)

• Gundam (I particularly like the IBO timeline.)

• Stargate (Stargate after Atlantis doesn't exist.)

• Warhammer 40k (I like the Dan Abnett novels.)

Fantasy

• Warcraft (up to the end of MoP. After that there is a significant decline in quality with each entry. Warcraft after Legion never happened. The heroes banished Sargeras and everyone lived happily ever after. The end.)

• Final Fantasy (my favorite being XIV)

• Trails (particularly the Trails of Cold Steel games. Excited to see what Calvard brings.)

• Fullmetal Alchemist

• Lord of the Rings

• The Banner Saga

• Naruto (up until the end of the Pain arc, but there are still good stories after.)

• One Piece

• Pokemon (up until BW. After Gen 5, there is a significant decline in quality as the franchise went on.)

• Fate (particularly Zero, Stay Night, Hollow Ataraxia, and the cooking show. Don't care about the spinoffs.)

[Thelxi]

I'm not going to make a list but I'll give a couple of recommendations.

I Am Mother (2019)
Just a solid sci-fi movie. It looks and sounds great, and has a very genuine, unpretentious and highly intelligent way of exploring the AI debate that most people who were a student in recent years are familiar with. Very few people watched this, so I like bringing this movie to people's attention.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001)
Hard to describe a perfect movie. Highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.

[A Princess From Norway]

Sci-Fi (Although it's a space opera, not a sci-fi movie, but whatevs)

1. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
2. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
3. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
4. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
5. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
6. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
7. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
8. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
9. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
10. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Fantasy

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

There are more fantasy films ? :P

[Zyrinx]

Two Towers and RotK are not good movies, though they look gorgeous. Faramirs character assasination, fangorn the fool, and the helms deep debacle ruin TT, RotK is ruined by Gollum making frodo turn on Sam, and the Dead purging minas tirith, and the stupid Sauruman death (bad probably other terrible changed I've forgotten). Just terrible and totally unneeded changes in all cases.

Fellowship on the other hand is near-perfection.

[BloodyAngel12]

In order
Contact
The Man From Earth
Aliens
Bladerunner
Gattaca
Interstellar
Arrival
Europa Report
Sunshine
Mission to Mars

[Lindon]

Sci-Fi Although it's a space opera, not a sci-fi movie, but whatevs

Space opera IS Sci-fi.

[Kyphael]

Top 10 Sci-fi

1. Jurassic Park
2. AI: Artificial Intelligence
3. Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith
4. War for The Planet of the Apes
5. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
6. Planet of the Apes
7. District 9
8. The Fly
9. Predator
10. Star Trek: Into Darkness


Top 10 Fantasy

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring
4. Hook
5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
6. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
7. Edward Scissorhands
8. Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory
9. Wrath of the Titans
10. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2

- - - Updated - - -

Sci-Fi (Although it's a space opera, not a sci-fi movie, but whatevs)

1. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
2. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
3. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
4. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
5. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
6. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
7. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
8. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
9. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
10. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Fantasy

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

There are more fantasy films ? :P

This list is all kinds of awesome.

[Pakheth]

In no particular order:

-Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Great world building like all the prequels have and amazing visuals. General Grievous is a favourite of mine. Duel of Fates one of the best moments in Star Wars history.

-Lotr trilogy
What can I say that haven't been said before? Extended editions ofc.

-The first and second Harry Potter movies
They are just so cosy okay? Perfect for a cold winter day. They also have a whimsical magical feel to them that sadly the rest of the series lack. The fumbling child actors can be ignored if you focus on the charm they movies and at this point they don't bother me.

-Tron: Legacy
Amazing visuals, style and music(It's Daft Punk so how can it be bad?). One of my favourite movies to binge or just watch on the side while I work. Better than the original imo in almost every way.

-Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole
Beautiful visuals, amazing CG realism on all the owls and a really good soundtrack. One of the few 3D movies I felt actually did something with the medium. Also got really good voice acting with some great names like Hugo Weaving. Made by the same 3D artists(Animal Logic) that did the Lego Movie so you know they know their stuff.

-Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro's masterpiece. One of the few movies that can make me cry like a little baby. Love the designs of all the creatures and the music can be heartbreaking.

-Hellboy 2
Fun fantasy/steampunk action with a lovable cast and great creature/monster designs. Also Ron Perlman was the perfect Hellboy. The last good Hellboy movie as the next one wasn't even by the same people and it shows.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm not going to make a list but I'll give a couple of recommendations.

I Am Mother (2019)
Just a solid sci-fi movie. It looks and sounds great, and has a very genuine, unpretentious and highly intelligent way of exploring the AI debate that most people who were a student in recent years are familiar with. Very few people watched this, so I like bringing this movie to people's attention.

Thank you for reminding me of this movie. Remember watching it and was impressed by it as it was really good. I had also just finished Horizon: Zero Dawn not long before and the movie resonated well with me because of it.

[munkeyinorbit]

Two Towers and RotK are not good movies, though they look gorgeous. Faramirs character assasination, fangorn the fool, and the helms deep debacle ruin TT, RotK is ruined by Gollum making frodo turn on Sam, and the Dead purging minas tirith, and the stupid Sauruman death (bad probably other terrible changed I've forgotten). Just terrible and totally unneeded changes in all cases.

Fellowship on the other hand is near-perfection.

People are allowed to like things you don't. Take all the people who like the star wars prequels. This is a thread about what people like not what you don't like.

[khazmodan]

In order
Contact
The Man From Earth
Aliens
Bladerunner
Gattaca
Interstellar
Arrival
Europa Report
Sunshine
Mission to Mars

Great list, totally agree with Contact, and "The Man From Earth" is a vastly under recognized and under watched movie. Sunshine is also an under the radar great sci fi film that deserves to be watched more.

[Zyrinx]

People are allowed to like things you don't. Take all the people who like the star wars prequels. This is a thread about what people like not what you don't like.

Fair enough. Just make sure you read the books ������

[Beloren]

Two Towers and RotK are not good movies, though they look gorgeous. Faramirs character assasination, fangorn the fool, and the helms deep debacle ruin TT, RotK is ruined by Gollum making frodo turn on Sam, and the Dead purging minas tirith, and the stupid Sauruman death (bad probably other terrible changed I've forgotten). Just terrible and totally unneeded changes in all cases.

Fellowship on the other hand is near-perfection.

From the perspective of the original book, which I also quite liked, I 100% agree with you, but as it's own standalone adaptation, following it's own course as a cinematic piece, it was pretty darn good, both of them, at last for me. And while I do like films to match books, I understand their differing needs and focuses allow films to be a lot more restrictive even though they show much more than books. They have to attempt to convey the same information with less time to do it, so have to make changes to achieve that. And I think from that perspective, they did a very good job. Although I'm sure if you were working there you coudl have helped them perhpas do those bits even better? Although sometimes what works for books doesn't quite work for films and sometimes I think the temptation to add extra drama or action is too great to resist.

Sometimes directors and makers over tinker, they don't need to, and do it anyway, but then i think western movies have a certain pace and and run through to sustain you through their duration and a maker has to factor all this.

[khazmodan]

People are allowed to like things you don't. Take all the people who like the star wars prequels. This is a thread about what people like not what you don't like.

People are also allowed to disagree, Zyrinx is not sending the Gestapo over to your house because he doesn't like what you liked. I don't completely agree with him that TT and Return of the King are bad movies but I do agree with him that the Fellowship is near-perfection, and i'm willing to listen to his reasons for saying they are bad then do some thinking and either back up a different argument or agree with him. At the end of the day It's all meaningless opinions about meaningless entertainment to distract us from the world burning down because of forest fires, covid and riots.

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

Well if we're keeping it just to movies and not TV series....

Scifi

1. Star Wars
2. Star Trek - TOS movies, each one has its charms to me. TNG are worth watching the first 2.
3. Stargate
4. Event Horizon - Maybe a bit more horror, but its in space.
5. Predator - First three movies.
6. Serenity
7. Jurassic Park
8. Pacific Rim - Only the first film.
9. Dune - I find this film a guilty pleasure.
10. Equilibrium

Fantasy

1. Lord of the Rings
2. The Hobbit
3. Ferngully
4. The Neverending Story
5. Blade II - Technically probably a superhero film, but GDT is a great director, with a rather unique vision.

[A Princess From Norway]

Space opera IS Sci-fi.

But Sci-fi films aren't Space Operas ^^

[Zyrinx]

From the perspective of the original book, which I also quite liked, I 100% agree with you, but as it's own standalone adaptation, following it's own course as a cinematic piece, it was pretty darn good, both of them, at last for me. And while I do like films to match books, I understand their differing needs and focuses allow films to be a lot more restrictive even though they show much more than books. They have to attempt to convey the same information with less time to do it, so have to make changes to achieve that. And I think from that perspective, they did a very good job. Although I'm sure if you were working there you coudl have helped them perhpas do those bits even better? Although sometimes what works for books doesn't quite work for films and sometimes I think the temptation to add extra drama or action is too great to resist.

Sometimes directors and makers over tinker, they don't need to, and do it anyway, but then i think western movies have a certain pace and and run through to sustain you through their duration and a maker has to factor all this.

Hey listen, to each their own but consider what actually happened at the gates of minas tirith:

Gandlaf alone stands against the morgul lord, but instead of a green mass of goo doing the work, in the distance the sun comes up, the cock crows... And the horns of the rohirrim are heard as they arrive just in time to save the city, the kingdom... Man I get chills just writing out this poor man's version.

Peter jackson was amazing at painting the pictures but, imo, everything he changed was just for goofs and always worse. The material didn't need it.

Again, peace and love, like what you like.

[Darththeo]

Sci Fi
1. Empire Strikes Back
2. Return of the Jedi
3. Jurassic Park
4. A New Hope
5. Revenge of the Sith
6. Stargate
7. Independence Day
8. Avatar (I enjoyed the movie, don't ask me to quote it)
9. Rogue One
10. Solo: A Star Wars Story

Fantasy:
1 to 3: Lord of The Rings
4. Secret of NIMH (it is classified Dark Fantasy)
5. Warcraft

Not much else in Fantasy that I can say

[Beloren]

Hey listen, to each their own but consider what actually happened at the gates of minas tirith:

Gandlaf alone stands against the morgul lord, but instead of a green mass of goo doing the work, in the distance the sun comes up, the cock crows... And the horns of the rohirrim are heard as they arrive just in time to save the city, the kingdom... Man I get chills just writing out this poor man's version.

Peter jackson was amazing at painting the pictures but, imo, everything he changed was just for goofs and always worse. The material didn't need it.

Again, peace and love, like what you like.

Ah seen, good points, if you feel his versions were worse every time than the book, then that's grounds to be pissed. I hate it when that happens. I don't think I've compared in detail or recently enough to notice, I watched the films well after I first read the book, and i did listen to an audio version of the books, sometime after the films, and made me appreciate the book a lot more. I guess while the book was a better narrative and the film probably didn't need to change the things it did, i enjoyed it.. You're right about the Gandalf scene.

[Lindon]

But Sci-fi films aren't Space Operas ^^

Your point being what?

Space opera is a subgenre of sci-fi which means that it is sci-fi. That is not even debatable.