Top Science Fiction Films

Wonders In the Dark is going to be starting a Top 50 Science Fiction films countdown this summer. The following is my ballot for the top 50, which ended up being a difficult decision considering the huge number of stellar science fiction films that have been made over the last few decades.

Top 50 Sci-Fi Films

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick)
2. Stalker (1979, Andrei Tarkovsky)
3. Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)
4. World on a Wire (1973, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
5. Ikarie XB 1 (1963, Jindrich Polák)
6. Dark City (1998, Alex Proyas)
7. Solaris (1972, Andrei Tarkovsky)
8. Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang)
9. Brazil (1985, Terry Gilliam)
10. Children of Men (2006, Alfonso Cuarón)

11. Under the Skin (2013, Jonathan Glazer)
12. Videodrome (1983, David Cronenberg)
13. La Jetée (1962, Chris Marker)
14. Gattaca (1997, Andrew Niccol)
15. The Matrix (1999, the Wachowskis)
16. They Live (1988, John Carpenter)
17. Enemy (2013, Denis Villeneuve)
18. District 9 (2009, Neill Blomkamp)
19. Donnie Darko (2001, Richard Kelly)
20. Abre los ojos / Open Your Eyes (1997, Alejandro Amenábar)

21. Interstellar (2014, Christopher Nolan)
22. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978, Philip Kaufman)
23. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, Steven Spielberg)
24. 12 Monkeys (1995, Terry Gilliam)
25. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982, Nicholas Meyer)
26. The Host (2006, Joon-ho Bong)
27. Akira (1988, Katsuhiro Ôtomo)
28. Alphaville (1965, Jean-Luc Godard)
29. 2046 (2004, Wong Kar-Wai)
30. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, Michel Gondry)

31. The Box (2009, Richard Kelly)
32. Inception (2010, Christopher Nolan)
33. Ghost in the Shell (1995, Mamoru Oshii)
34. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977, George Lucas)
35. The Fly (1986, David Cronenberg)
36. Moon (2009, Duncan Jones)
37. Primer (2004, Shane Carruth)
38. Wall-E (2008, Andrew Stanton)
39. Paprika (2006, Satoshi Kon)
40. A Clockwork Orange (1971, Stanley Kubrick)

41. The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976, Nicolas Roeg)
42. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, Don Siegel)
43. Fahrenheit 451 (1966, François Truffaut)
44. The Fountain (2006, Darren Aronofsky)
45. Fantastic Planet (1973, René Laloux)
46. Scanners (1981, David Cronenberg)
47. Alien (1979, Ridley Scott)
48. Timecrimes (2007, Nacho Vigalondo)
49. Godzilla (1954, Ishirô Honda)
50. 1984 (1984, Michael Radford)

Top Childhood films

The Top Childhood films countdown has begun at Wonders in the Dark. Essays of the Top 83 films will be posted from June - October 2015.  As per the ballot rules, films where the character's age fell between 1 - 18 years were eligible for consideration. Such a broad age gap certainly made for some challenges in coming up with a list because a like for like comparison is not feasible between films where the main character is under 10 years of age compared to films where the main character is a teenager. Therefore, I came up with my own criteria when submitting a ballot of the Top 60 films. I decided to place films where the main character was a teenager near the end of the list and opted to have films with younger characters closer to the front. There were some exceptions but I tried to maintain this distinction.

Here is my Top 60 Childhood films ballot submitted to Wonders in the Dark:

1. The 400 Blows / Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959, France, François Truffaut)
2. Pather Panchali (1955, India, Satyajit Ray)
3. The Red Balloon (1956, France, Albert Lamorisse)
4. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962, USA, Robert Mulligan)
5. I was Born, But... (1932, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)
6. The White Balloon (1995, Iran, Jafar Panahi)
7. The Bicycle Thieves (1948, Italy, Vittorio De Sica)
8. Naked Childhood / L'enfance nue (1968, France, Maurice Pialat)
9. Where is the friend’s home? (1987, Iran, Abbas Kiarostami)
10. The Kid with a Bike (2011, Belgium, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
11. Mouchette (1967, France, Robert Bresson)
12. Cinema Paradiso (1988, Italy, Giuseppe Tornatore)
13. Good Morning (1959, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)
14. Yi Yi (2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang)
15. The Night of the Hunter (1955, USA, Charles Laughton)
16. Kes (1969, UK, Ken Loach)
17. The Kid (1921, USA, Charlie Chaplin)
18. A Brighter Summer Day (1991, Taiwan, Edward Yang)
19. The Spirit of the Beehive (1973, Spain, Victor Erice)
20. Hope and Glory (1987, UK, John Boorman)
21. Cria Cuervos (1976, Spain, Carlos Saura)
22. The Long Day Closes (1992, UK, Terence Davies)
23. Crows (1984, Poland, Dorota Kedzierzawska)
24. My Childhood (1972, UK, Bill Douglas)
25. Rosetta (1999, Belgium, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
26. My Neighbour Totoro (1988, Japan, Hayao Miyazaki)
27. Germany, Year Zero (1948, Italy/West Germany/France, Roberto Rossellini)
28. An Inn in Tokyo (1935, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)
29. Zero for Conduct (1933, France, Jean Vigo)
30. Aparajito (1957, India, Satyajit Ray)
31. Nobody Knows (2004, Japan, Hirokazu Koreeda)
32. Fanny and Alexander (1982, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
33. The Tin Drum (1979, West Germany, Volker Schlöndorff)
34. The Last Picture Show (1971, USA, Peter Bogdanovich)
35. Ghost World (2001, USA, Terry Zwigoff)
36. Lord of the Flies (1963, UK, Peter Brook)
37. Pixote (1981, Brazil, Hector Babenco)
38. The Childhood of Maxim Gorky (1938, USSR, Mark Donskoy)
39. Los Olvidados (1950, Mexico, Luis Buñuel)
40. Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987, France/West Germany, Italy, Louis Malle)
41. The Apple (1998, Iran, Samira Makhmalbaf)
42. Ivan’s Childhood (1962, USSR, Andrei Tarkovsky)
43. Spirited Away (2001, Japan, Hayao Miyazaki)
44. Blood / O Sangue (1989, Portugal, Pedro Costa)
45. Mon Oncle (1958, France/Italy, Jacques Tati)
46. Aniki Bóbó (1942, Portugal, Manoel de Oliveira)
47. I Killed My Mother (2009, Canada, Xavier Dolan)
48. Let the Right One In (2008, Sweden, Tomas Alfredson)
49. Fat Girl (2001, France/Italy, Catherine Breillat)
50. Beijing Bicycle (2001, China, Xiaoshuai Wang)
51. Grave of the Fireflies (1988, Japan, Isao Takahata)
52. Dead Poets Society (1989, USA, Peter Weir)
53. Taare Zameen Par (2007, India, Aamir Khan/Amole Gupte)
54. Halfaouine: Child of the Terraces (1990, Tunisia/France/Italy, Ferid Boughedir)
55. Mon Oncle Antoine (1971, Canada, Claude Jutra)
56. I Wish (2011, Japan, Hirokazu Koreeda)
57. Show me Love (1998, Sweden/Denmark, Lukas Moodysson)
58. A Summer in La Goulette (1996, Tunisia/France/Belgium, Ferid Boughedir)
59. Rebels of the Neon God (1992, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang)
60. Kids (1995, USA, Larry Clark)