101 Sci-Fi Movies You Must See Before You Die [Paperback]

I collect books which claim to contain The Best 100/1000 of film, so believe me when I tell you that this is a good one. Created by the people who did 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (which I own and have reviewed), this version avoids many of the problems that claim the bigger version:

Unlike 1001 Movies, this one does not only appeal to cineastes. Instead of seemingly including every foreign film that was ever made regardless of quality, it strikes a balanced chord between American and international pictures. It also has an appropriate ratio of edgier artistic films (2001: A Space Odyssey, La Jetee, Alphaville, etc.) and mainstream successes (Star Wars IV-VI, Independence Day, Them!) without condescending to the latter.

Artistically and aesthetically the book is also a success. Each film gets the same amount of space (one of the problems with 1001 movies was that some films got 2 pages worth and others a paragraph or two) as well as a beautiful color poster and screenshot, making it not only informative but really quite pleasant to look at. The different authors use radically different tones (from intellectual discussion of reactionary vs. progressive to less scholarly examination of riveting chase scenes) which can be jarring at times, but it always makes for interesting reading, whether you agree or not.

The people who wrote this book clearly love movies (something that oddly cannot be said for all such works) and mainly avoid the lazy errors that often plague the genre. My only real complaint is I wish they had listed the running length of each film, but that's hardly a major concern. Basically, for 10 dollars you get a beautiful, full color illustrated (I actually washed my hands before reading it to avoid smudges, and I'm not a fastidious person) well-written treatise on 100 great Sci-fi movies from Voyage to the Moon to Children of Men, and that's really quite a good deal. You won't agree with or have seen all 100, but then again it would be quite a boring book if you had.

I am a major film buff and received 101 SCI-FI MOVIES YOU MUST SEE BEFORE YOU DIE as a gift from a friend. The 101 movies covered in the book are listed in the order of their initial theatrical release: the first movie discussed, VOYAGE TO THE MOON came out in 1902, and the last movie talked about, CHILDREN OF MEN came out in 2006. The first page for entry contains the movie poster for the film. That's followed by a two-page discussion of the movie with the discussion containing at least a brief a synopsis. The last part of each entry is a screen shot from the film. The movies chosen come from just about every sci-fi branch: there's a nice balance between American and foreign films, between big budget Hollywood blockbusters and low budget indies, between old and new. There are at least a couple sci-fi animated pictures, some of sci-fi comedies, a few sci-fi horror films, lots of sci-fi dramas, and all kinds of sci-fi action films. The book strikes a nice balance between movies everyone's heard of (e.g. STAR WARS) and pictures that even a longtime film buff like myself never knew existed (e.g. TETSUO). There are some movies that will make you scratch your head and wonder why they were included but it can make for a good discussion. For instance personally I thought THE FIFTH ELEMENT was a disaster of a film and though I enjoyed STARSHIP TROOPERS and I, ROBOT, I wouldn't list them as being one of the 101 Sci-fi films you should watch before you die.

The movies listed in the book are:
VOYAGE 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 CENTER OF THE EARTH*THE TIME MACHINE*THE AMPIBIAN MAN*LA JETÉE*ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS*ALPHAVILLE*THE TENTH VICTIM*
FAHRENHEIT 451*SECONDS*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*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.*
STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN*BLADE RUNNER*THE THING*TRON*
VIDEODROME*THE FINAL COMBAT*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*TETSEO*THE ABYSS*TOTAL RECALL*
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY*JURASSIC PARK*GHOST IN THE SHELL*
12 MONKEYS*INDEPENDCE DAY*THE FIFTH ELEMENT*MEN IN BLACK*
GATTACA*STARSHIP TROOPERS*OPEN YOUR EYES*'*THE MATRIX*
GALAXY QUEST*SIGNS*CODE 46*PRIMER*ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND*I, ROBOT*THE HOST*CHILDREN OF MEN*

Overall, 101 SCI-FI MOVIES YOU MUST SEE BEFORE YOU DIE is a great movie book that film buffs and those who like sci-fi movies will enjoy reading.

Well I can't say that there aren't 101 films listed here. This is a quick and easy read. I am disappointed that it picked so few films from the 80's and seems to have a hazy line between horror and sci-fi. Village of the Damned is a huge misfire!