101 Science Fiction Films I Must See Before I Die

Way back in 2003 the first edition of Steven Jay Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die was published, much to the delight of many lovers of film and particularly those with sufficient OCD to obsessively make and/or complete lists. Blogger Chip Lary has done film and list fans a great service by producing exquisitely detailed spreadsheets that allow anyone to not only check off which films they've seen on the main list of 1001, but also the various genre lists (much shorter at 101 films each) Schneider and company have released over the years.

Since I'm already tracking the movies I watch each year, it seems logical to see if the curators of these lists have included films that I haven't seen, but might enjoy. So as I'm watching movies, I'll pick a few from each of the lists each year. I don't necessarily intend to complete them all, but it seems like a good way to catch some good movies I might otherwise have missed.

Since science fiction is my number one genre interest, I'll start with it first. Movies I've already seen are listed in bold.

A Trip to the Moon
A Trip to Mars
Aelita
Paris Asleep
Metropolis
The Invisible Man
Things to Come
The Thing from Another World
When Worlds Collide
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Invaders from Mars
It Came from Outer Space
The War of the Worlds
Them!
Gojira
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Forbidden Planet
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
The Time Machine
The Amphibian Man
La Jetee
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
Alphaville
The Tenth Victim
Fahrenheit 451
A
Fantastic Voyage
Who Killed Jessie?
Quatermass and the Pit
Planet of the Apes
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
THX 1138
Silent Running
Slaughterhouse-Five
Solaris
The Fantastic Planet
Sleeper
Soylent Green
Westworld
Dark Star
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Logan's Run
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Star Wars
Stalker
Time After Time
Alien
The Empire Strikes Back
Flash Gordon
Scanners
Escape from New York
The Road Warrior
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Blade Runner
The Thing
Tron
Videodrome
The Last Battle
Return of the Jedi
Repo Man
The Brother from Another Planet
1984
The Terminator
Dune
Starman
Brazil
Back to the Future
The Quiet Earth
Aliens
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Predator
Robocop
Akira
The Navigator
Tetsuo
The Abyss
Total Recall
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Jurassic Park
Ghost in the Shell
12 Monkeys
Independence Day
The Fifth Element
Men in Black
Gattaca
Starship Troopers
Open Your Eyes
Pi
The Matrix
Galaxy Quest
Signs
Code 46
Primer
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
I, Robot
The Host
Children of Men

So even in my preferred genre, I haven't seen 21 out of this particular list of 101 important examples of the form. To my delight there are films on this list I've never heard of: Paris Asleep, A, Who Killed Jessie?, Stalker, The Last Battle, Tetsuo, Open Your Eyes and Code 46. Others I've meant to see for a long time and just haven't gotten around to it: Aelita, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Fantastic Planet, The Brother from Another Planet, Brazil, 1984, The Host, Children of Men and Akira. Others I'm aware of but I'm not that excited about them - The Navigator, I, Robot.

Of all the lists to come, this is the one I'm most likely to finish. We shall see...