Someone mentioned “The Man From Earth.” Is that science fiction? I suppose one could classify it as such. But I have to agree that Jerome Bixby’s last work is a work of art. Not often am I riveted by “talking heads” scenes. This is an entire movie that is almost completely “talking heads.” What holds it together are the people and the dialog. I dream of writing dialog that compelling — ripe with implications.

And thanks for the heads up on Primer. I gotta check it out.

Its quite a shame ppl get so connected to the 00′s DVD U.S. releases while making these lists, the lists become biased by themselves.

Wanna watch “underrated” sci-fi movies? Why don’t you start with Planet of the Vampires? An italian B-movie which inspired Alien & Aliens in several motions (including plot).

How someone dare listing Sodenbergh’s Solaris over Tarkovsky’s Solaris? Carpenter’s The Thing? Verhoeven’s Total Recall? Marker’s La Jetèe? Cronenberg’s The Fly? Godard’s Alphaville? I’m glad to see Primer around here, but what pisses me off isn’t that these films were not in the list, they were not even in discussion!

I think Science fiction is the genre with the most potential. However, I hate most Sci-fi movies. Why do we ignore the science part so stubbornly? When will we see an intelligent life from from another planet that isn’t a humanoid? We see more diversity on our own planet than writers seem to imagine there being in all the Universe; I promise, if doesn’t have a recognizable face and communicate vocally I will still buy a ticket! But, if a non-anthropocentric alien is too much to ask for, how about a little attention to detail. Less noisy, fiery explosions in space. Less famous theory name dropping which make no sense and assume the audience is entirely composed of ignorant philistines…. my list of complaints is endless and it appears I’m ranting.

Anyhow, thank you for making Primer the number one. This is truly underrated. Made for about 7000 dollars, (its impossible to make a movie for $7000,) this one of the best movies I have ever seen. There is a unshakable realism in every corner of this movie. Taking a impossible notion, and making it believable is the mark of a genius. You are not watching an actor pretend he is a engineer; You are watching an how an engineer acts!

GATTACA is another example a great movie which portrays a very possible reality. There is a hundred different things I would like to mention about it but it is a fairly well known movie, thus, doesn’t need my promotion.

Not to ignore the rest of the list, some good movies there. I really just hoped on to applaud the choice of Primer and to encourage more people to see it tho.

Other good ones are Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World, but can only get it in PAL format. I’m not crazy about William Hurt, who plays the lead role, but loved the concepts of “filming for the blind” & “dream addiction”. Speaking of William Hurt, what about Altered States? Another great concept – sensory deprivation & evolution regression (?) .

Loved the concept for Gattacca also & couldn’t figure out why no one had heard of it. The Man Who Fell to Earth, Pi, Event Horizon, 12 Monkeys & Brazil (Terry Gilliam), A Boy & His Dog (Don Johnson at his best..ha,ha) – all great.

Check out Peter Greenaway’s Pillow Book. Not sure if it would be classified as sci-fi, but it’s pretty wild (probably too long for most audiences).

Dune was too cartoonish for me. The book was so much better (the first one). Don’t think I would include Tron and eXistenZ.

The Fountain, also, amazing. Can’t believe it got such mediocre reviews. I think a lot of folks just didn’t get it.

Silent Running and Primer are new to me, so I’ll check those out.

One oldie-but-goodie that I believe to be seriously underrated is The Day the Earth Stood Still. Yeah, it’s a classic…but the remake just cast such a shadow over the name that I get the impression people have forgotten it.

As for Serenity…loved it, but was it underrated? Doesn’t stand up to multiple viewings, for me at least, like Dark City, The Fountain or the original Day the Earth Stood Still. Still, it’s worthy as a film. I wouldn’t say it’s underrated so much as off-the-radar.

Try out also Special — The Movie by Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore

Not the greatest movie in the world, but it was touching on something. Probably Kick Ass will be better.

One film I think is missing is Fantastic Voyage. A great tour of the human body played as a thriller. Why it hasn’t been remade is a complete mystery to me. With today’s understanding of what makes us tick combined with modern special effects it could be a fantastic voyage indeed.

I am glad to see that I am not the only one on Earth to have seen and appreciated PRIMER. out of the 5, I have the honor to possess the DVDs of three of them (Dark City, Primer, GATTACA). Keep up the good work.

ps May I suggest the beautiful “Immortel” from E. Bilal? Cocorico from France :)

I totally agree with Primer and Gattaca. Primer is thoroughly convoluted (http://xkcd.com/657/) but very thought inspiring, and I liked that the main characters seem to actually have thought things through in terms of causality a little bit, and try to avoid the usual stupid errors. I also really appreciated the inspiring and hopeful tone of Gattaca, which explores genetic modification but also has a passionate take on what human beings are, recognising that it goes beyond genes. I found Dark City to be a wonderful and fascinating film with an outrageous premise, although one that nevertheless leads to some interesting concepts & conclusions.

Serenity is where I’m stuck. Please be aware – I adore the film, the actors, and Joss Whedon’s directing. I am a Serenity/Firefly junkie; however, I don’t know that it’s truly great. :( I’m still totally psyched about a sequel, although I’ll miss Alan Tudyk incredibly.

My addition to this list: Avalon (directed by Mamoru Oshii). It’s definitely underrated, although the sci-fi is a bit more arguable. I think it qualifies. But science fiction or not, everyone ought to give it a chance; it questions “what is real?” in the way Primer and Dark City do, but deals with overt virtual reality instead of imposed multiple- or false-realities. It follows in the legacy of Tron because it explores the impact of virtualisation on society, and is also atmospherically wonderful. Check it out!