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The 15 Best Hard Sci-Fi Movies That Define the Genre (movieweb.com)

submitted 10 months ago by AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world to c/sciencefiction@lemmy.world

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We took a trip through decades of the genre and came up with a list of the most important and best hard science fiction movies of all time. They are the essence and the foundations of the book of sci-fi rules that's still being written as we, the audience, become much more self-aware of our relationship with technology, the future, and whatever those two will bring.

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[-] Rolando@lemmy.world 87 points 10 months ago

Their list:

 15 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

 14 Interstellar (2014) 

 13 Gattaca (1997) 

 12 Solaris (1972) 

 11 Ex Machina (2015) 

 10 Coherence (2013) 
 
 9 Sunshine (2007)  

 8 Primer (2004) 
 
 7 Stalker (1979) 

 6 Gravity (2013) 

 5 THX 1138 (1971) 
 
 4 Ad Astra (2019) 
 
 3 Contact (1997) 
 
 2 The Martian (2015) 

 1 Blade Runner (1982)

doesn't contain Arrival (2016) wtf.

[-] heavyboots@lemmy.ml 45 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Doesn’t contain Moon, 12 Monkeys, The Arrival, Alien, District 9… there are quite a few movies I would out ahead of Ad Astra and Sunshine at the very least. And possibly Gravity and Solaris too. Also, listing 2001 in 15th place???

[-] mateomaui@reddthat.com 25 points 10 months ago

doesn’t contain Arrival (2016) wtf

I agree, that was one of the most thought provoking scifi films I’ve seen in a long time.

[-] heavyboots@lemmy.ml 7 points 10 months ago

Doesn't contain The Arrival either. Or Moon, or Alien or Twelve Monkeys… Basically there are a lot of more deserving candidates then Gravity, Ad Astra and Sunshine.

[-] MamboGator@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Or The Arrival (1996)

[-] grahamja@reddthat.com 9 points 10 months ago

Lol I saw that movie this year and it was a valiant effort, but I thought it was ridiculous to see Charlie as a crazy astronomer.

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[-] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

Great movie, but I'm not sure it's considered "hard SF." There's no real basis to anchor much of the science in it.

[-] toddestan@lemm.ee 22 points 10 months ago

I'd say the same thing about "Sunshine" and "Interstellar".

Some movies I might consider including, in no particular order:

Moon (2009)
2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984)
Silent Running (1972)

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[-] Rolando@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

Both the book and the screenwriting required the invention of a form of alien linguistics which recurs in the plot. The film uses a script designed by the artist Martine Bertrand (wife of the production designer Patrice Vermette), based on scriptwriter Heisserer's original concept. Computer scientists Stephen and Christopher Wolfram analyzed it to provide the basis for Banks's work in the film.[32][33] Their works are summarized in a GitHub repository.[34] Three linguists from McGill University were consulted. The sound files for the alien language were created with consultation from Morgan Sonderegger, a phonetics expert. Lisa Travis was consulted for set design during the construction of the scientist's workplaces. Jessica Coon, a Canada Research Chair in Syntax and Indigenous Languages, was consulted for her linguistics expertise during the review of the script.[35]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrival_(film)

[-] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

If you're trying to say that the fact that they invented a realistic language for the film makes it hard SF, I think that's quite a stretch. What's the basis for

spoiler

a language changing a human's concept of time and allowing them to remember the future

[-] Rolando@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

Sure, good point, I think of the movie Arrival as two parts:

For most of the movie, a scientist is struggling with a novel interesting scientific problem with guidance from subject matter experts who have established environmental knowledge but not theoretical insight, with a great deal of interference from funders, with inter-team rivalries and a collaborator / competitor tension with similar teams around the world. The problem in question is based on linguistics with the type of thoroughness that is never shown on screen and rarely in print SF. (Compare it to the "Shaka when the walls fell" episode of TNG. I like that episode! But it's cartoony by comparison.) So both the practice and the principle of the research shown has a scientific basis, and if the movie had ended with the lead scientist solving the problem then I think we'd all agree it's Hard SF. However, we also have the last part of the film.

You question the scientific plausibility of the last part of the film. Regarding the story the film is based on, apparently:

In the "Story Notes" section of Stories of Your Life and Others, Chiang writes that inspiration for "Story of Your Life" came from his fascination in the variational principle in physics. -source

but I don't know enough to judge that and though it was kind of uplifting, the last part of the film was qualitatively different from the first, and I agree seems a lot less "Hard SF".

To recap, I argue that at least the first part (a majority?) of the movie is Hard SF. Now the question is: does the last part disqualify it from a) being on this list and b) being Hard SF? Regarding a), the authors of the list say "Contact is hard sci-fi by association because it's not a very realistic film" so they are taking a very forgiving definition of Hard SF. Therefore I stand by my assertion that Arrival is qualified to be on that list. By virtue of the quality with which the first part of the movie proceeds, I argue that it also deserves to be on that list. Regarding b) whether Arrival is Hard SF beyond the definition used by that list I am less certain.

[-] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

I'm with you on the first part, but the fact that the whole conclusion to the story - the solution to the mystery - ends up being as close to fantasy as to SF to me makes it not a hard SF film. But we're talking about terms for things that exist on a spectrum, not crisply defined black and white. I don't begrudge your take on it, I just feel differently.

[-] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

I think there is a large gap between Contact and Arrival. Contact involves creating a giant machine that allows ftl communication. Arrival involves the idea that we are born with our neurons already physically imprinted with every memory we will ever save. This is already known to be wrong because we have observed change in neurons.

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[-] ikidd@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

Haven't heard of half of them. And no Alien? What silliness.

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[-] Landmammals@lemmy.world 37 points 10 months ago

Gravity is on this list? That movie had the most ridiculous physics.

[-] DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe 9 points 10 months ago

And a ghost

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[-] zeekaran@sopuli.xyz 29 points 10 months ago

Gravity and Ad Astra don't belong on this list. Also they suck.

[-] nodimetotie@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

I hate Ad Astra so much. I was so hyped for it and then almost left the theater when we were watching it.

Gravity is not too terrible. Rewatched it recently. It’s a fun watch the first time but it’s too shallow for subsequent views.

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[-] Lath@kbin.social 25 points 10 months ago

That site is awful. Has a nice little "Accept all" button for its popup, but you gotta go through thousand partners it sells your data to in order to even try to reject.
This is some serious malicious intent shit.

[-] sndrtj@feddit.nl 8 points 10 months ago

1506 partners. Insane.

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[-] scarabic@lemmy.world 21 points 10 months ago

I enjoyed Big Hero 6 but one of the top defining “hard” sci fi movies of all time, in the same list as Metropolis?? All because of its supposed sophistication in portraying AI? “AI is good for once!” Uhhh it’s totally a case of green light means good robot and red light means evil robot. Cute movie but this list is hot garbage.

[-] kalkulat@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Hard to define 'hard', a few more I liked: (no ranking)

The Time Machine (both the Pal and the Wells films; quite different)
Dark City (1998, Pryas)
Forbidden Planet (1956, Wilcox)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951, Wise)
Fifth Element (hilarious, Besson, 1997)
Alien (Scott, 1979)
13th Floor (Rusnak, 1999)
Stargate (1994, Emerich)
Steamboy (2004, Otomo)

Movies made from famed series I'd REALLY LIKE to see:

Ringworld (Niven, a crime noone's DARED to try).
Some setting of Riverworld. (Farmer)
ANY of Neal Stephenson's SF books, esp. Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, Diamond Age, Anathem.

(Not even the BBC? I mean, who expected Doctor Who to get THIS far?!)

[-] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

Dark City is an amazing movie!

[-] kalkulat@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

One of the rare examples of sci-fi mixed with a skillfully unfolded mystery. Even when you know 'the answer', there are plenty of 'how did they do that' film-making mysteries.

I forgot to mention his entirely 'I, Robot', VG 2004 film ... maybe because robots don't don't seem so science-fictionish these days...

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[-] thoro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I know Internet lists and opinions and all that, but I'm sorry but any list that puts 2001 behind Interstellar is one to ignore, at least the rankings.

All good movies on the list, though.

[-] DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 10 months ago

2001 is so hard to watch. I've started so many times but keep getting distracted. Interstellar, while not perfect, kept my interest better.

[-] Agent641@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

The long, slow scenes in 2001 are fairly unique. Unlike long scenes filled with action like you get in, say, Children of Men, the long slow scenes in 2001 - the space shuttle dockong, the moon landing, the scene at TMA-1 excavation sites, not much is happening, or if it is, you understand whats happening fairly quickly. I like them personally, and I compare them to being on an airplane waiting to taxi - inherently boring with nothing to do, but unique and exciting for some and being exposed to all sorts of interesting things out the window like luggage carts, pushback tractors, other jets milling around. Boring, but fascinating. Its a very different style from modern fast-paced films though.

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[-] Pancito@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago

This is just a SciFi Movie list rather than a hard SciFi one.

I agree that The Martian is hard SciFi tho.

[-] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Solid first few, then it went to kid’s films? Really not impressed by the list at all, like the furthest they reached back was Blade Runner and only mentioned it because it’s popular, not because it was a genre defining film.

[-] c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

Blade Runner absolutely brought cyberpunk to the big screen, it was absolutely genre defining for a lot of people. Prior it was just Neuromancer that imagined it.

Plus they had "Metropolis" from 1927, did you read the whole list? Lol

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[+] Badeendje@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

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[-] mrnarwall@lemmy.world 18 points 10 months ago

Okay, your comment is at the top, so here is my take on the list:

There is a lot of overlap on this list and other "best (whatever) scifi" that pop up every so often. Yes Blade Runner was iconic and influential, but I already knew that.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) | Good start. great visuals. lacks some context in the ending that are half explained in interviews and such. Personally, I like the book's take on it more.
Interstellar (2014) | A Nolan film. Also great visuals. This is one of the first movies I saw that somewhat accurately portrays what black holes are supposed to look like. It has a bunch of scenes where space or relativity or physics, etc, things are explained to experts that should already know what is being said. It works to get that info the viewer, but I found it a bit jarring
Gattaca (1997) | Anything produced by Danny DeVito (yes that one) gets my money. This is a big "What If" movie where the question is "In a world where most everyone can select the genetic makeup for their children, how does someone born naturally fit in and live?".
Solaris (1972) | Never seen it, but I've heard good things. I tried to watch the remake with George Clooney, but I couldnt get in to it.
Ex Machina (2015) | Great movie on the idea of an actual concept call the "Turing test". I will point out there are some trigger warnings
Coherence (2013) | never seen it. I added it to my list
Sunshine (2007) | I couldnt get in to this one. It may be because I just wasnt in the mood for some hard space scifi (They are trying to re-start the sun, how cool does that sounds?), or it could be because of the content. I've heard of a lot of people liking it, so check it out if it sounds interesting to you.
Primer (2004) | This is a great take on how suddenly having the ability to time travel might affect someone. There are some nested time line stuff that could be hard to follow, but overall great
Stalker (1979) | Haven't seen. it sounds intriguing though
Gravity (2013) | This is science fiction in the sense that this story is fictional and takes place in space. Without being a nasa expert, everything seems to be within today's level of technology. You could think of it as a disaster movie, but set in space. Overall fun, but in a different way than some of the other movies on this list
THX 1138 (1971) | I hated this movie. I find it derivative of Ayn Rand's Anthem, or Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451. Those books, plus THX 1138 feature a protagonist who is a cog in their own dystopia who breaks free and goes on a massive escape, eventually finding that the world is not as destroyed as they were told to believe. I felt like it suffered from all the same criticisms that George Lucas was given during the original star wars trilogy, but without anyone to refine his idea into something more unique or appealing.
Ad Astra (2019) | Great visuals, boring story about a man who cant move on from his deadbeat dad
Contact (1997) | Carl Sagan's story about humanity being contacted by an alien race and given further instructions. It does an interesting exploration of science vs faith when confronted by aliens
The Martian (2015) | Silly space action where a botanist figures out how survive on Mars and contact Nasa who have no idea that he is alive
Blade Runner (1982) | Humans have created manufactured clone robot people. they dont like being slaves by default and revolt. Now they are hunted to extinction. Harrison Ford is the type of officer assigned with tracking down some on Earth. Amazing visuals, weird narrative. There are like, 5 different cuts of this movie and I dont find any of them particularly good. I like the sequel more.

[-] voluble@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

Sounds like you're interested in sci-fi movies with a deeper philosophical story to tell. For that reason, definitely watch Tarkovsky's Solaris. From what I understand, it bears literally no resemblance to the 'remake'.

I know Stalker often gets put in the sci-fi category, but I'm not sure it will satisfy someone setting out with typical expectations of the genre. It's a great film though, and the dream sequences are peerless in film history.

Tarkovsky's films very much run against the grain of Western cinema - they are often experimentally slow, to offer an extended exploration of a philosophical or aesthetic idea. They're extremely strange and unique movies. I would say, essential viewing, when you have the time and mindset to be taken on a journey that at times will feel painful. Though, I think that's Tarkovsky's intent to some degree.

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[-] RagnarokOnline@programming.dev 9 points 10 months ago

Really excited to see Coherence on a list with so many other greats. It’s a great thriller movie and one of my favorites to watch with others. Provokes fun conversation about “what would you do in that situation?”

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[-] suchwin@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

District 9? Thoughts welcome

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[-] Shurimal@kbin.social 6 points 10 months ago

No Europa Report, probably the hardest of sci-fi movies ever (~9.5 on Mohs scale)? Most movies on that list are somewhere around 5...6 on the Mohs scale, with some (GATTACA, 2001, Ex Machina) around 7...8 and only Martian at 9. Sunshine, Stalker and Coherence are not hard scifi at all, ~2...3.

[-] ISuckAtGaemz@lemm.ee 5 points 10 months ago

Sweet, I added Solaris and Stalker to my list of movies to watch. Still need to see Primer at some point too.

[-] guyrocket@kbin.social 4 points 10 months ago

Thanks for sharing this.

What an interesting list. I am very surprised at how many of these I've never heard of and how good those look.

I own some of these but I think I'll try to buy the rest.

[-] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

I had the same reaction: the ones I've seen are excellent, but some I've never heard of, so I've got some things to watch!

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this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2024

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