My Top 5 Favorite Science Fiction Movies (OF ALL TIME!)

I had to throw in that "OF ALL TIME" bit just for kicks (imagine the cavernous echo as you say it). The reality is, my top fives change with my mood, so don't hold me to this forever. After watching the fiasco that was the Oscars last night, I've decided to write my own lists of top five movies, by category. To start off, I'm listing my top 5 favorite SCI-FI movies- OF ALL TIME.

I'm intentionally leaving alien movies off my list for another category: Alien Movies. (Well, duh!)The same is true of '50s sci-fi movies, time-travel movies, apocalyptic movies, and one-guy-kicking-everybody-else's-butts movies. These all warrant their own categories.

Now, keep in mind that these are MY top five, not yours. So I really don't want to hear about how I couldn't possibly leave "Star Wars" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" off my list. I did, because they simply don't make my top five. I like them, but quite frankly, I think they are two of the most over-rated movies, OF ALL TIME.

So here they are, in reverse order, of course, with a brief description and rational as to why they made my list.

WARNING: SPOILERS may exist beyond this point! (Darth Vader is Luke's dad and Spock dies.)

5) Blade Runner (1982) Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, M. Emmett Walsh, Daryl Hannah, Edward James Olmos, Sean Young, Joanna Cassidy, William Sanderson, and the late, but great Brion James.

"Blade Runner," based on Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" is the tale of Rick Decker, an L.A. cop in the future who is hunting down and terminating a group of genetically-engineered "humans" who have returned to earth to meet their creator after having escaped from a deep-space work colony and having killed their keepers.

A lot of people say this is the greatest sci-fi movie of all time. I will admit, at the time it was released, it forever changed the way we would imagine our future. Of course, Ridley Scott changed the way we looked at space travel with 1978's "Alien," too.

My only real criticism of this film is, like 2001, it has some really tedious moments where the pacing is just a little too slow. Also, the studio ruined the film by adding Decker's ridiculous narration to help people who "didn't get it" understand what was happening. I won't watch any version other than the director's cut for that reason.For just about everyone in the cast, this film showcases their best performances on film. (Excepting Walsh and Olmos who have done other work that is even better.)

One more thing- Ridley said it: Decker is a replicant. Get over it. (When you stop and think for a moment, he had to be, or the unicorn at the end doesn't make sense!)

4) The Matrix (1999) Directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski. Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano.

The Matrix tells the tale of a future Earth that has been over-run by machines. Unawares, most humans are tied into a giant network where the energy their body innately generates is used to power the machine world. These humans live out their lives in a computer program where they believe life goes on as it always has.

This movie blew me away the first time I saw it, and it still does. I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this film, except that the sequels which followed it were far beneath the same level of story-telling that this first film achieved. The special effects in this film are awesome, too, but the story is unparalleled in science fiction movies.

3) The War of the Worlds (1953) Directed by Byron Haskin. Starring Gene Barry and Anne Robinson.

Based on H.G. Wells novel, this remains my favorite film version of this story. I loved Steven Spielberg's version, too, but it still takes a back seat to this 50's sci-fi classic. (Yes, it will be on my list of top 5 favorite 50's sci-fi films OF ALL TIME. Sheesh.)

The story basically revolves around a Martian invasion of Earth. All of mankind is doomed as the Martians move from one city to the next in indestructible hovering machines, destroying everything in their path. Man can do nothing to stop them. Even our most powerful weapon - the atomic bomb - has no effect on them and cannot penetrate their defensive shields. In the end, as our heroes are huddled in a church awaiting their own death, it is the microbes and the Viruses on earth to which the Martians succumb.

The acting in this film is over the top, but there are some indelible scenes and the story - which gives a nod to the Divine as the ultimate savior of mankind - is just great. Even the special effects still stand up to today's scrutiny. Great- and chilling - stuff.

2) The Fifth Element (1997) Directed by Luc Besson. Starring Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Brion James, and Chris Carter.

Without a doubt, several of the reasons I love this film are the art direction, production design, soundtrack, and the costuming.

I've always been a big fan of Bruce Willis, too, who puts in a great performance as Korben Dallas, former space marine turned cab-driver who is down on his luck. Leeloo, played by Milla Jovovich lands in his cab, literally. Dallas must help Leeloo, the Fifth Element, complete her mission: to save Earth from a fast-approaching moon-sized ball of evil.

Jovovich is terrific in this role, having created a never-before heard language for her character, adding to her overall believability. Chris Carter adds the comic-relief as an over-the-top radio personality, and Oldman puts in another great bad-guy performance as Zorg, the guy in league with the approaching evil.

I love the sets, the costumes, the music, the special effects, the story- shall I go on? This is simply one of the greatest sci-fi films OF ALL TIME.

1) Planet of the Apes (1968) Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. Starring Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, and Linda Harrison.

Deep-space pioneer Captain George Taylor finds himself stranded in the distant future (the 36th century or so) on a planet where humans are primitive and mute, and the Apes (Chimps, Orangutans, and Gorillas) are the higher-evolved beings who treat humans like animals. Of course, we learn in the end that Taylor isn't really so far from home, but that he is actually still on Earth, just in a distant and twisted future.

In addition to the incredible make-up effects created by John Chambers and his team, this film is raised to a level all its own by the social commentary, the great time travel story, and Heston's incredible performance. I never tire of this movie, or its sequels that expand on and explore the paradoxes of time travel like no other films have ever done before. They also deal with a post-nuclear apocalypse that, at the time, fed on my fears of nuclear war being a real possibility.

Admittedly, the sequels aren't as good as this first film (although I consider "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" to be the second half of the first film), but they do build on the mythology and raise the ultimate question of, "What came first, the chicken of the egg?"
And I love the dialog: "Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!" How can you beat that?

So that's my top 5 sci-fi films OF ALL TIME. Next up: My top 5 war movies OF ALL TIME.

Thank you, Mr. Moxey, wherever you are.

It’s rare that you find a director who is behind more than one or two films that you consider to be your favorites. For me, there are a handful of directors responsible for more than one film in my collection. Terry Gilliam is a personal favorite, having directed four films in my collection: “12 Monkeys,” “Brazil,” “Fisher King,” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” (“Time Bandits” is on my wish list.) I own seven of Spielberg’s films: “Duel,” “Raider of the Lost Ark,” “Hook,” “Jaws,” “Schindler’s List,” “Saving Private Ryan,” and “War of the Worlds.” Oh, I also own the Night Gallery pilot of which Spielberg directed one of the segments. I own four of Robert Rodriguez’s films: “Spy Kids (1, 2, and 3),” and “The Adventures of Shark-boy and Lava-girl.” My kids love those movies. Or how about Christopher Nolan’s work, “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight,” “Memento,” and “The Prestige,” of which I own three and have a fourth on my wish list.

But how often is it that you own several of a director’s works, admire and wish to own several others of his catalog, and not even know the guys name or realize you liked his work? I discovered such a director this week and am ashamed to have not been aware earlier of this master’s volume of work. Maybe it’s because most of his work was for television?

John Llewellyn Moxey has 92 directorial credits on IMDB dating from 1955 to 1991. Some of those credits are for numerous episodes in a series. So in reality, he has well over 100 director credits. He has directed nearly 20 episodes of “Murder She Wrote,” six episodes of “Magnum P.I.,” 10 episodes of “Mannix,” (one of my all-time favorite series, by the way), seven episodes of “Mission Impossible,” (another favorite), seven episodes of “The Saint,” and one or two episodes for numerous other television series including, “Hawaii Five-O,” “Charlies Angels,” “Jake and the Fatman,” “Matlock,” and “Miami Vice.” There are many others, too many to mention here, but if you are interested, check out his IMDB entry.

I am certain that I’ve seen several of the episodes he’s directed. In fact, I’m collecting the “Mission Impossible” series. But it’s not his serial work that has drawn my admiration. Growing up in the Philadelphia area, we had some great Saturday afternoon movies, many of them old sci-fi movies. I have only recently discovered that several of those great movies – movies I either now own on DVD or am looking to purchase on DVD – are the work of Mr. Moxey.

In 1971, American households were entertained with the ABC Movie of the Week. There were some great movies that came out of this – all discussion for another entry. But one of them was a film called, “The Last Child,” starring Michael Cole of “Mod Squad” fame. This Moxley-directed story is about a fascist America in the near-future where families are limited to one child per household. A young couple is pregnant with their second child – the first having died – and they are on the run from the authorities. “The Last Child” is a great film in the tradition of all great sci-fi chase movies. I am desperate to find this on DVD somewhere.

The following year, Moxey was credited with directing the fantastic television pilot movie, “The Night Stalker.” This remains an all-time classic featuring Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak, the unrelenting reporter who stumbles across the most bizarre and creepy stories imaginable. The pilot has Kolchak in Las Vegas where he follows the clues to discover a real live vampire preying on the young women of Vegas. I own this on DVD.

Moxey's next directorial milestone was 1973’s Genesis II, a new Gene Roddenberry production about a scientist preserved in suspended animation who awakes in the distant future. There he discovers two warring cultures, each claiming to be the good guy. It’s up to him to discover which side truly holds the hope for Earth’s future, and which hopes to enslave Earth’s remaining inhabitants. I own this on a bootleg DVD and I hope, someday, it will be released professionally.

Another favorite directed by Moxey, that I also own on DVD, is “Where Have All The People Gone?,” a great sci-fi film made in 1974, starring Peter Graves, best known for his role as Jim Phelps on “Mission Impossible.” In this film, a family on a camping trip is protected from a cosmic event while exploring a cave. The unexplained event kills most of humanity, and the family is left to investigate what happened while they try to get home. Along the way are gruesome discoveries, crazed survivors, and ravenous wild dogs. It’s just great!

So, in terms of my level of appreciation for his directorial work, Moxey’s a guy who’s right up there with Spielberg, Gilliam, Rodriguez, and Nolan. I already own three of his films, several of his television episodes, and seek to own more if I can find them. I’m also going to go back and see which of his other films I can find on Netflix, etc. It is very likely that I will discover some other films he’s directed that I will like as much as the one’s I’ve already seen and own, or desire to own.

Before yesterday, I never knew Moxey's name or had any idea that he had directed so many of my all-time favorite films. I’ve had hours of enjoyment watching the product of his work and have never been able to acknowledge him – until now.

Thanks, Mr. Moxey, for your great film work.