The Best Old School Sci-Fi Movies
Science fiction has always been a popular genre of movies. While today’s movies are a far cry from what we saw on the big screen some twenty or thirty years ago, many of them are still considered classics that every sci-fi fan is guilty of watching a few times a year. Of course, this list may not include everyone’s favourites, but it would be hard to argue that they are true classics that changed movie making forever.
Alien – This was a movie that blended science fiction with slasher effects and introduced a whole new group of fans to the movie genre. It may not have been a favorite of true sci-fi fans, but there’s no denying the film’s success. All the people who saw the film endorsed Ripley and hoped that she would somehow get out of this “sticky” situation.
2001: A Space Odyssey – No “classic” sci-fi list would be complete without this film. In 1968, this movie hit the big screen, and fans across the country were truly amazed. This was not a movie, but a real adventure in the world of science fiction. It laid the foundation for movies like The Third Kind and created the format that many movies would follow for decades.
Road Warrior – World, meet Mel Gibson. Some will argue if this falls under the category of science fiction, but we’re going to give it a thumbs up. There’s little argument here that this movie is action-packed and could find its place in a number of different genres, but we think it’s a better fit here. This was another groundbreaking movie that would introduce different aspects to science fiction that would be found in hundreds of movies that followed it to the big screen.
Planet of the Apes: Every sci-fi franchise out there probably has this movie to thank. Planet of the Apes was introduced to science fiction fans in 1968 and has never looked back. In all, there were five Apes movies on the big screen and fans flocked to see every one of them. Instead of just cashing in on the brand, the filmmakers used each sequel to deepen the plot. This is a true classic.
Star Wars – Who is going to argue this choice? Is it the best science fiction movie of its time? That will depend on who you ask, but it has to be at the top of everyone’s lists for the most influential movies. Much of the technology used in this film was introductory and took movie making to a whole other level. Would we have movies like The Matrix if it weren’t for this movie? Probably, but who knows how much longer the techniques would have taken to find their way into filmmaking.