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.
edit on 5/10/2011 by Hellhound604 because: (no reason given)
edit on 5/10/2011 by Hellhound604 because: (no reason
given)