Who is the greatest Sci-Fi Filmmaker of the last 50 Years

[Warhammer]

Even though I loathe Avatar as a film, I can never knock it for it's technical achievements. With that said, James Cameron wins this hands down and it's not even close.

 

[redhawk23]

Avatar's story is cliche but I would argue that it is well told. Character's motivations make sense and the events of the film follow from them.
It provides a pretty solid backbone for some pretty great world building.


Many stories of its type have a mystical Native American-type culture. Avatar goes further by establishing that their "Mother Earth/Mother Pandora" actually is a living entity, the natural world of Pandora being neurologically linked. The film doesn't get horribly bogged down in explaining this and does plenty of showing rather than telling.

Though simple and obvious, Avatar's story of an uprising against colonialism hit home for a lot of people around the world.

The science fiction aspects of Avatar are actually pretty great all around.

 

[flickchick85]

nolan only has one scifi flick...interstellar

I don't know how The Prestige and Inception are not sci-fi, but whatever. Even if he were on here, Spielberg and Scott would still be my top 2 picks. I just thought it was strange he was left off.

 

[Black Narcissus]

I think a better topic thread would be for best sci-fi flick, and then only make it in the past 20yrs or so. lol

 

[hellified]

Star Wars is fantasy, not SciFi. There's a princess, wizards, knights, magic, epic quests, etc.

SciFi films almost always put heavy emphasis on the inner workings of technology, like how time travel is possible and how were the robots made. Star Wars never puts any of their iconic machinery under a microscope.

I'll say Cameron or Scott is the top SciFi guy.

James Cameron.

The others are great, particularly Spielberg, Lucas and Scott. However, I have to give Cameron the edge for Aliens, Terminator (1 and 2) the Abyss, and Avatar (even though the plot is pretty much just Dances with Wolves in space).
Hell, I'd give him the edge just for Aliens, which is just about a perfect sci-fi action film - it's a tough job to follow on from Ridley Scott, and then do one better !


Lucas is the a serious contender (although technically Star Wars isn't sci-fi). The problem he has is that for every great film he's made, he's made a mediocre (or actually bad) one ( I'm thinking the original SW trilogy against the prequels, although revenge of the sith was okay, but Attack of the Clones was beyond awful).


As for Scott, Alien and Blade Runner are simply magic, but Prometheus is decidedly average ( I havent' seen the Martian though, so this might change)

I would put Spielberg at a close second because ET and Close Encounters were pure magic, as was the first Jurassic Park (while War of the Worlds is spectacular, I don't really rate it ).

Just IMO of course.

While star wars mainly has fantasy elements there are scifi elements as well...if its a percentage I'd say that its 70% fantasy 30% scifi

there are robots and computers and things that run on mechanical principle. There is a certain level of techno-babble tho the words power coupling and motivator seem to be the most used terms.

They may not explain how hyperspace works but the term itself is rooted in science fiction and theory.

Remember the key element in interstellar that saved mankind and reunited the principle characters was...love Ann Hathaway was given a whole monologue dedicated to the scientific quantification of...love

[YT]MiEJjx4YCZU[/YT]

while that movie is 95% science fiction/fact the idea that love is the missing element thing was pure fantasy

 

[hellified]

I don't know how The Prestige and Inception are not sci-fi, but whatever. Even if he were on here, Spielberg and Scott would still be my top 2 picks. I just thought it was strange he was left off.

if theres a way to redo the poll and add nolans name I'd be up for it..


mods??

 

[weezerspider]

I would not consider Clockwork Orange or Dr. Strangelove sci-fi, so I won't pick Kubrick even though he's the best director listed. Spielberg has been the most consistent, so I'll go with him, but the sheer impact of Star Wars makes Lucas worthy and the combination of Alien and Blade Runner make Ridley Scott a solid choice, too.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Cameron doesn't come into your thoughts?

 

[AnneFan]

Spielberg, for me. But there are other very worthy directors on the list.

 

[4thWallBreaker]

Lotta James Cameron fans. I almost went with Ridley Scott, but Spielberg films just flooded my mind.

 

[hellified]

wow the matrix did score any love for the wachowskis??

 

[Fallen Angel]

because the sequels were rubbish. Jupiter Ascending is rubbish, Cloud Atlas is okay but not on par with the first Matrix. All in all they've made one great sci-fi movie and the rest sub par or abysmal.

 

[Gort Baringa]

Robert Wise did:
...The Day the Earth Stood Still
...The Andromeda Strain
...Star Trek The Motion Picture
...The Haunting

 

[Johnny-Oh]

James Cameron by far

 

[weezerspider]

Cameron doesn't come into your thoughts?

I've always been fairly lukewarm to the Terminator films and hated Avatar, so not really. Aliens is fantastic though, and if I'm speaking unbiasedly, Cameron's impact is unquestionable, but for my personal tastes, not really.

 

[Majik1387]

Robert Wise did:

...The Haunting

Sci-Fi.....?

 

[redhawk23]

I would not consider Clockwork Orange or Dr. Strangelove sci-fi, so I won't pick Kubrick even though he's the best director listed. Spielberg has been the most consistent, so I'll go with him, but the sheer impact of Star Wars makes Lucas worthy and the combination of Alien and Blade Runner make Ridley Scott a solid choice, too.

I wouldn't count Dr. Strangelove but A Clockwork Orange certainly is. It was set in a "Dystopian Near Future" featuring not yet existent youth culture and brain washing technology. It used the setting and and circumstances of this future to examine its themes and comment on the politics of its own time.

 

[Majik1387]

Nah, I wouldn't count A Clockwork Orange anymore Sci-Fi than I would The Haunting.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

J.Cameron.

 

[:eek:]

Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) deserves to be mentioned, Sure, he hasn't done a real blockbuster yet, but his movies (so far) are certainly better than anything from guys like Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich.

 

[TalismanRing]

A toss up for me between Scott and Spielberg. Spielberg has more quality but the 1-2 punch of Blade Runner and Alien is hard to ignore.

 

[Rocketman]

It's between Spielberg and Cameron for me.

Scott is overrated.


I would think Nolan is a candidate, albeit not a winner.

- The Prestige
- Inception
- Interstellar

 

[Galactus10]

Gotta say James mother ****ing Cameron.

Terminator is probably my favorite movie concept of all time and I'm a HUGE fan of Aliens.

Those three movies for are the most enjoyable, most re-watchable sci fi movies ever for me and they happened to be done by the same guy. Add in stuff like Abyss and Avatar which were respectable and it jsut gives more stat padding.

I like Spielberg sci fi movies but they don't really present any harrowing, dark ideas of space or the unknown. In his movies, the 'from beyond' creatures aren't as effective as Cameron does or Ridley Scott. The humans are the most threatening part of Spielberg's movies which aren't as scary or unsettling. The only time Spielberg's sci fi creatures were something unapologetic and elemental was when they were resurrected, overgrown animals.

 

[Fallen Angel]

This man knows what he's talking about.

A toss up for me between Scott and Spielberg. Spielberg has more quality but the 1-2 punch of Blade Runner and Alien is hard to ignore.

This man never has known.

Scott is overrated.

 

[hellified]

anymore votes?