I would have to say for me it is definitely the "Matrix."

I think Star Wars is right up there, and if sheer volume of watchers, or length of time it has been around is considered the definition of influential, then perhaps Star Wars would win. It actually has many of the same elements that the Matrix does, but I think in overall impact in how some of us view the world, the Matrix has it.

Star Wars easily wins this one. EVERYONE knows what Star Wars is, even if they don't like it. It became more mainstream than any other science fiction story in any medium (books, movies, games, etc). 33 years later it's still going strong.

Many of the other suggestions given are also good ones, but they're more geared towards scifi nerds (like me!) and/or are cult classics that influenced only a small segment of the population, while Star Wars had a much broader appeal and influence, even outside science fiction. For instance, a few months ago, I was watching the movie Eragon with my family, and even though none of us had seen it, we kept accurately predicting what was going to happen next because it was so close to Star Wars. I kept referring to the hero and villain as Luke and Darth :p

Hmhmhm I'd have to go with either 'Voyage dans la Lune' for setting some pretty fundamental themes onto celluloid...

..or Metropolis for pretty much the same reason!

*Mutters about how long it's been since I last watched Metropolis..*

whoops

[edit on 28-7-2010 by woodwardjnr]

Personally, Star Wars had a huge influence on me, I'm still buying the new figures for my nephew, who is as obsessed with Star Wars as I was. It's amazing how long it's been going, despite Lucas's best efforts to destroy Star Wars with The Phantom Menace and Clone Wars.

Star Wars is hands down the most influential FILM ever, regardless of genre. It redefined the whole movie-going experience, and was the first film to make use of merchandising on a large scale.

Many of today's moviemakers grew up and went into the business because of this movie. There is even an official Jedi religion (in at least one nation)...

Now THAT is influence!

matrix, all the way. it has done more to wake people up than most sci fi. the sequels were a bit meh. but the original was quality.

1. "Star Wars"
2. "2001"
3. TIE- "The Matrix" / "Blade Runner"

sorry, I am a bit late to the party, but for me the sci-fi movies with the most influence were :

1. Blade Runner
2. Matrix
3. A Scanner Darkly.
3. 2001
4. Pitch Black
5. Avatar
6. Contact (but the end was a let down from the Novella version)
7. The Lawnmower man.
8. Tron
9. Quest for fire

and then fantasy films that most serious sci-fi buffs love to hate (but still love in secret )
1. Lord of the RIngs, etc.

there is also a difference between a film that entices the true sci-fi lover, and one that tries to entice the non sci-fi lover.... those are esp. the films based on P.K Dick's stories (Blade runner and A Scanner Darkly excluded)....
in that category I would place Terminator, Alien, Star Wars, Star Trek, Total Recall, Next, and then all these silly movies based on comics like Flash Gordon, Superman, Spiderman, the fantastic 4, etc...... I guess for the bunch that are not into sci-fi, these are the most influential.

as some previous poster comment, I also think that P.K. Dick was the most influential serious sci-fi author who made it to the movies, but I still wish for Asimov's foundation series to make it to movies, but then, it might turn out to be a disaster, like "Dune", which I liked, btw.

I also think that "Ender's game" would make a fantastic movie, if they can pull it off.

which is not quite the same as the most popular, in which I would rate Star Wars as #1.

I am a big sci-fi fan, but I must admit, most sci-fi movies based on fantastic novels were a total let-down.

Examples at the top of *my list:

Movie: Star Wars series, Matrix series

Book: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Fahrenheit 451

Originally posted by LadySkadi
Examples at the top of *my list:

Movie: Star Wars series, Matrix series

Book: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Fahrenheit 451

yes, I have forgotten all about Fahrenheit 451, but the movie was totally crap. Thinking about Fahrenheit 451 another great book popped up in my mind, "A Brave New World", by Aldous Huxley..... maybe we should start a separate thread about great Sci-Fi Novels, to refresh our minds, and make us re-read those fantastic works .....
now that my mind is working in that direction, I remember all the great Robert Heinlein works, Stranger in a Strange Land, Orphans of the Sky, Michael Moorcroft's work, Harry Harrison, etc, etc, etc ....

...and the most UNinfluential film ever was ......


Independence day ...... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ...... I hated that film so much, trying to insult my intelligence that a person can just plug his mac into their computer, and quickly write a virus and upload it to their system .... that spoiled everything for me ....

Logan's Run

I'm surprised no one has mentioned "DUNE" directed by David Lynch.

It sure as hell is better than "The Matrix".

Star Wars is the only correct answer to the op.

So maybe this should be a top 5 or 10 list.

I think Star Wars was influenced by every good Sci-fi movie that came before it.

Originally posted by applesthateatpeople


I'm surprised no one has mentioned "DUNE" directed by David Lynch.

It sure as hell is better than "The Matrix".

Star Wars is the only correct answer to the op.

So maybe this should be a top 5 or 10 list.

edit on 6-10-2011 by applesthateatpeople because: spice

Hey, I mentioned "Dune" .... but the truth be told, people just hated it. I can remember reading all the Dune books back in the early 80's, couldn't get enough of it. Sad fact is, that in making movies, they have to skip so many parts of a book, that normally, if you loved the book, the movie is always a disappointment (Barring one or 2, like Lord of the Rings)..... Blade Runner is based on something like 10% of the book, "Do Androids dream of electric sheep", and lots of the really important issues in the book doesn't even appear in the movie.

My list includes:

1. Matrix
2. Tron
3. Avatar

I'm really surprised that nobody noticed that Neo in The Matrix was a ripoff of Paul/Muad'Dib in Dune.