Iconic sci-fi movies stay iconic only until they’re remade, and since the remakes are usually far inferior, the new movie going audience (which in many cases wasn’t born when the original movies were released), will only remember the remake. Which are, in most cases; mediocre movies that do the original more harm than good. Here are ten sci-fi movies that should never, under any circumstance, be remade. They’re called “classics” for a reason.
Note: The list does not include films have have already been remade, are in the process of being remade, sequels or films part of a trilogy.
10: Minority Report (2002, IMDB link)
Based on a Philip K. Dick short story (like many other memorable sci-fi films), the movie isn’t the usual mindless action movie, in Minority Report, clever plot twists and intelligent storytelling constantly keep the audience on its toes — one of Spielberg’s trademarks. The bleached, over exposed look of the film (bleach bypass) contributed to the portrayal of a futuristic society dominated by technology in every aspect of life, and while the film has several differences to the Philip K. Dick story, the main themes — predicting the future and the existence of free will — are still explored to their fullest potentials.
9: Close Encounters of The Third Kind (1977, IMDB link)
Almost 25 years before he made Minority Report, Spielberg made Close Encounters of The Third Kind, one of the most compelling stories involving UFOs and extra terrestrials. It was Spielberg’s first science fiction movie, and also one of his best and most critically acclaimed (and was nominated for 9 Oscars). The movie received a special edition released in 1980 with a few minutes of extra footage, and once again with another special edition on DVD and video in 1998.
8: A Clockwork Orange (1971, IMDB link)
Stanley Kubrick’s adaption of the 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess kept many of the thought provoking aspects of a dystopian society where youth gangs ruled, where violence and rape were the everyday norm. Kubrick added his own touches — like using classical music as a part of the story — and was relentless in portraying the violence and psychological disorder, and the film has ever since had a reputation as one of the most violent ever made.
7: Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (2004, IMDB link)
One of the most original stories to hit the screens this decade, Charlie Kaufman’s The Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind centered around a dysfunctional couple who chose to erase each other from their respective memories — only to meet at the beginning of the movie and fall in love. The key here is not great sci-fi visions or action spectacles (there’s virtually none of that in the movie), but rather, the intelligent and surreal script by Kaufman, who manged to piece everything together in such a complex story.
6: ET: The Extra Terrestrial (1982, IMDB link)
A movie forever present in millions of people’s childhood memories, the story about an alien who gets stranded on Earth and is helped by a group of kids, whom eventually become friends with the alien. The story was based on Spielberg’s own memories as a kid, and ET was based on an imaginary friend he created when his parents split. The movie features some of the most iconic images in cinema, not to mention young Henry Thomas’ stellar performance as the boy who befriends ET.
5: Gattaca (1997, IMDB link)
Usually science fiction films have elements of action and great visual effects, but Gattaca wasn’t one of them. Instead, it’s one of the finest examples of a “thinking man’s sci-fi movie”. Set in the not too distant future where genetics determine one’s ability in life, it centers around a man who’s got a life span of only 31 years, and who’s wish to travel to outer space is permanently blocked due to his bad genes. It introduces a society where genes are not as means of eradicating deceases, but as way of classifying a human being from the day they’re born, in other words; genetic racism.
4: Dark City (1998, IMDB link)
Dark City, Alex Proya’s best film to date, the one that loosely inspired The Matrix and countless other films through its visual style and narrative, tells the tale of a society run by beings with telekinetic powers who control the world, unbeknownst to the people. The original story and plot, coupled with its futuristic film noir look has made Dark City a cult classic, and while it was initially overlooked by many, famous film critic Roger Ebert called it the best film of 1998. Many would strongly agree.
3: Stalker (1979, IMDB link)
One of the most visually stunning and philosophical sci-fi movies of all times, Tarkovsky’s Stalker, centers around a guide, also known as a “Stalker”, who takes two men into “The Zone”; a place surrounded by the military where aliens landed, and where, as rumor goes, anything you wish can be granted. It’s a slow movie with a lots of long takes, but takes that show great detail to the visual part of the film, making it one of the most visually striking sci-fi films ever — despite no use of visual effects of any kind.
2: Blade Runner (1982, IMDB link)
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner has been synonymous with sci-fi noir ever since it was released, and remains one of the finest and most atmospheric science fiction movies ever made. Based on a Philip K. Dick novel, the story of Deckard, a bounty hunter who has to hunt down 4 replicants in a dark, gritty Los Angeles set in 2019. It was a box office failure, but has since been recognized as one of the finest neo-noir sci-fi films of all time. It’s striking visuals and elements of cyberpunk have ever since not only inspired other movies, but books, video games and graphic novels as well.
1: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, IMDB link)
Stanly Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey, based on the book by Arthur C. Clarke, is widely considered one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. Its visuals and effects hold up even to this day, where CGI has long since taken over. Kubrick spent 4 years making the film, painstakingly taking care of every little detail. Unlike the book however, Kubrick deliberately removed certain aspects of the story in order to make the film more open to interpretation, which has only served as a mean of immortalizing it — movie fans to this day are arguing and counter-arguing what exactly Kubrick meant with the film, and it’s one of the most studied by film historians and film schools alike.
Films that would have been considered for the list (a top 20 perhaps) but are already being remade: Akira, Metropolis, Tron, Fahrenheit 451, Dune, Total Recall, The Thing, The Fly, The Illustrated Man and Logan’s Run.
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J said
August 29 2009 @ 10:37 pm
highlander remade RIGHT would be sweet
Jim Dougan (hippieprof) said
August 29 2009 @ 10:48 pm
Agreed on all of these – but it is (almost) funny to think of how the remakes might actually cut out. For example, if A Clockwork Orange was done Polar Express style…
aaarrgghhh!!!!
Anonymous said
August 29 2009 @ 10:50 pm
Great list, but just a bit of clarification for your bottom comment of a possible top 20; Tron is not getting remade, or at least not that I’ve heard of. As far as I know, it’s just getting a sequel.
Jo said
August 29 2009 @ 10:50 pm
Stalker is 1979 BTW.
atomictelephone said
August 29 2009 @ 11:00 pm
2001 was NOT based on the story by Clarke, instead it was written at the same time and was released AFTER the movie came out.
paul cole said
August 29 2009 @ 11:02 pm
I just watched the remake of Planet of the Apes…many things bothered me about the remake….as much as we depend on robotic research craft and the trend would suggest that this will be the case in the future only more so, why is research in the future done with ape driven space craft? Oh and flight from Saturn to Earth in just a few seconds…anyone else have a problem? Oh and an ape doing the Heston line….no no no…
James Hyde said
August 29 2009 @ 11:03 pm
Jo: Thanks, corrected!
Thadd said
August 29 2009 @ 11:11 pm
Well, Dune should be on the list only if we count the SciFi special and not he original movie.
However, the original movie did inspire my hopes for the eventual Sting/David Bowie death match.
TOmmy said
August 29 2009 @ 11:20 pm
2001 a space odyssey has been remade numerous times.
mike said
August 29 2009 @ 11:55 pm
I suppose I should point out that “2001: A Space Odyssey” was not based on an Arthur C. Clarke book. The movie came first – an original screenplay by Kubrick and Clarke that won an Academy Award. The novel followed.
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Stagger Lee said
August 30 2009 @ 12:38 am
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Yes I know…and it was a shame.
Solomon said
August 30 2009 @ 12:49 am
It’s a little inaccurate to say that Kubrick added classical music. In Burgess’ Novel it plays a huge thematic role, especially music by Beethoven. As a matter of fact one of the driving forces of the plot is the Ninth Symphony. So, to credit Kubrick with the classical music aspects of A Clockwork Orange is not fair to Burgess at all.
Michael Smith said
August 30 2009 @ 12:53 am
2001 was based on the short story “The Sentinel” by Arthur C Clarke.
jose said
August 30 2009 @ 12:59 am
Everyone got it a bit correct…
2001 was inspired by Clarke’s short story called “The Sentinel”. Then Clarke and Kubrick got together for months and worked on the screenplay and novel at the same time. The differences between the two were not only to add mystery but also because Kubrick deemed certain parts of the story un-filmable. A major difference was the planet that the mission was sent to. In the book they went to Saturn, Kubrick’s team could not make him a Saturn he felt looked real enough and then changed it to Jupiter for the sake of realism.
jose said
August 30 2009 @ 1:02 am
@ Solomon,
you’re right about it being inaccurate to say that. However, in the novel he was obsessed with the 5th Symphony. Kubrick thought that the 9th was more cinematic. As far as I know, that’s the only difference when it comes to classical music’s role in the story.
MiSaNtHrOpE said
August 30 2009 @ 1:05 am
You forgot one: THX-1138. On some levels, I consider it superior to Star Wars.
Matthew said
August 30 2009 @ 1:12 am
The MATRIX was written and conceived well before Dark City was even in production… I think your facts there are a little incorrect… It was mainly ripped off from ‘Ghost in the Shell’ Im not saying the Matrix is original, nor Dark City for that matter.
GBomb said
August 30 2009 @ 2:03 am
I know you mentioned it before at with Dark City, but I believe the original Matrix movie should not be remade as well. We can lose the sequels and I don’t think anyone would notice, but the original was a pretty magnificent film.
Steve Danger said
August 30 2009 @ 3:46 am
The Matrix is ripped off of Gibson’s book Neuromancer.
tom said
August 30 2009 @ 6:02 am
McSpielberg in a list with Kubrick? You gotta be kidding.
eoin ofaolain said
August 30 2009 @ 6:20 am
The good news is that Akira is no longer being remade. Woo hoo!
cmholm said
August 30 2009 @ 6:24 am
Among the films in the process of being remade:
Metropolis: too bad, really. I first saw it during its 1984 theatric re-release with new music.
Fahrenheit 451: I read the book, then saw the original film, and thought Truffaut’s attempt too antiseptic. The drama and passion of the original work was missing. So, I’ll hope for the best with the next effort.
Thomas said
August 30 2009 @ 9:15 am
I disagree on ET. For me, part of the definition of “classic” is that you can revisit it again and again over the years and never stop loving it. I saw “ET” in the theatre and have never seen it again since, nor did I ever want to.
Sharon E. Dreyer said
August 30 2009 @ 10:50 am
Thanks for sharing this top ten list of movies! Too many of the great classic movies have been remade and the new movies aren’t worth a hoot! An example of this is The Day the Earth Stood Still. Haven’t seen the new one, but friends have and said to save my money.
Check out my first and recently released novel, Long Journey to Rneadal. This exciting story is a romantic action adventure in space.
Marc said
August 30 2009 @ 11:37 am
I don’t like close encounters, blade runner nor a clock work orange. I think any movie can be remade and made better. The top sci fi movies to me are the star wars movies, Dune movie, star troopers, battle star gallatic original series, Buck Rogers, all of the star trek movies except the very first one.
Andrew said
August 30 2009 @ 12:12 pm
I honestly don’t understand how Gattaca and Dark City made it into that list. Dark City was particularly poor imo. But I agree they shouldn’t be remade!
Agree with the rest, but I guarantee Clockwork Orange will be remade sooner or later. You just know there’s some trendy-but-talentless young director who’s just itching to have a go at a project like that.
And they’ll probably put Shia La-fucking-Beouf in it.
RRWest said
August 30 2009 @ 12:14 pm
I would have put “The Incredible Shrinking Man” on the list, purley for the reason that the film deals with mortality and fate in far greater depth than many other films I have seen.
And on my list of films that should never have ben remade, but were is “The War of the Worlds”, the Cruise/Spielberg fiasco. They should have either left the George Pal film alone or set the film in 1907, when the book was set.
Incidentally, at the same time that Cuise/Spielberg were doing their version of the H G Wells novel, a British company was doing their own version, but set in 1907. I saw some production stills and the film was a steam-era version that looked exceptional. The Martian war machines looked steampunk!
Does anyone know what happened to that film? Were the Brtis told to lay off because the big money in Hollywood told them to?
clarabela said
August 30 2009 @ 2:00 pm
I agree. The remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still was a crime.
kirbydancer said
August 30 2009 @ 3:03 pm
I’d like to add The Man Who Fell to Earth. No one but Bowie could play Thomas Jerome Newton and it was just so integral to his body of work in the late 70’s just as it was to modern cinema that anything else would feel forced and out of place and time.
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August 30 2009 @ 4:05 pm
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sobank said
August 30 2009 @ 5:11 pm
Agree with the list. I would like to say that we should also include the ones that shouldn’t have sequels. The Matrix, Jurassic Park and short circuit did not need sequels and dont need a remake.
Cudd said
August 30 2009 @ 7:08 pm
How about “A Boy and His Dog?”
IGPNicki said
August 31 2009 @ 12:33 am
Interesting list. I definitely agree with Close Encounters not being remade. It’s pretty perfect as is. ET probably could be, and, I dunno, i’m just waiting for somebody to decide to remake 2001. They’re remaking the Yellow Submarine for crying out loud! As for Blade Runner, hey, with every new revision it’s almost like it is being remade!
kenwooi said
August 31 2009 @ 3:29 am
never watched most of the movie! interesting list =)
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Zee said
August 31 2009 @ 8:22 am
Dark City was shot using the decors for the Matrix
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psibrone said
August 31 2009 @ 9:40 am
First off, no one said why they shouldn’t be remade.. just not remade, so you can take that as… “Please don’t remake these movies, they aren’t worth it… ” the same as “Please don’t remake these, they are perfect as they are.”
Also, I think Logan’s Run should be on this list.
Jester of the Apocalypse said
August 31 2009 @ 2:58 pm
They should never remake “Flash Gordon”, especially since Freddy Mercury died!
Mike D said
August 31 2009 @ 7:12 pm
I have to somewhat agree with this list. I’ve seen a lot of “Wah! Wah!, but I hated that movie!” in the comments and I’ll probably catch flack, however a lot of these films are popular with a wider (and huge cult) audience than some people’s personal opinions. I can clearly say that I myself am not a fan of every one of these films, but I understand the many outweigh the few. Most films do not deem remakes (or re-imaginings).
Just to comment on some things:
Akira – Still being remade (so Far) It’s just been pushed back. Earliest 2011. My thoughts? “Wah Wah” I kid. I kid. I dunno It can go one of three ways Yay! (LOTR) Meh. (Starwars Prequals) or Boo I say! (Speed racer, Dragonball)
Fahrenheit 451 – As much as I can say, Boo a remake, this was based off of a book and the original had many themes not related to the novel itself and could not capture some things… although I don’t think I wanna see overtly CG’d Robot dogs wit tons of action sequences. the book was pretty dry itself and was good, not a blockbuster action flick of the summer starring Will Smith (That was a jab at another film not a prediction)
The Thing – Was a remake to begin with as with The Fly
I agree with A Boy and his dog, but it is kinda obscure I don’t think its made it out of odd cult status.
THX 1138 – here is where I shall totally nerd out. This is actually a remake of Lucas’s Student film, Albeit also Directed by Lucas himself. Like Blade Runner has been re-cut and stuff (Special effects) has been added, but unlike blade runner you cannot see the original unless you can dig up an old bootleg somewhere. (Lucas has a Knack of doing this)
I know Some of this is my own personal opinion, but what the hey now I had my say.
PS. Wah! I hated the Matrix.
Chris said
August 31 2009 @ 7:47 pm
They were supposedly going to make a movie based on Arthur C Clarke’s Rendesvous with Rama and was slated for release this year. It was listed on IMDB as being in pre-production with Morgan Freeman as the only actor onboard but it’s no longer on there. I kept an eye on it for a couple years hoping it would get made. Maybe they’ll eventually make it when the economy picks back up.
Paulsterine said
August 31 2009 @ 8:32 pm
i reckon speed is one movie that should never of been remade for sure
Rick said
August 31 2009 @ 11:07 pm
I’m shocked that the original ALIEN didn’t make this list. I suppose the sequels were considered a remake??
Mike said
September 1 2009 @ 12:34 am
I’m actually guardedly excited about a Dune remake. The movie (long version) was incredible, don’t get me wrong, but I’m one of those people who always loves the book more than the movie. IMO, every sci-fi movie made from a book is a remake. That being said, let me add a few more I enjoyed that I don’t think would gain any benefits by being remade:
A.I.
The Andromeda Strain
Coma
The Last Starfighter
Cocoon
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Oldie but goodie said
September 2 2009 @ 11:31 pm
On The Beach. Little-known today, but the movie, from Nevil Shute’s book, retains a raw power.
Ann said
September 5 2009 @ 6:10 pm
At last! A list I can completely agree with…thanks.
hotnoob said
September 9 2009 @ 4:35 am
DAMN! ET IS THAT OLD? wow…
oh and space oddy = zzzzz, so it should be remade with more… action or something… it is a classic tho…
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SuperSparky said
September 29 2009 @ 12:27 pm
Tron is not being remade, and thus should have been on this list. The new movie being made by Disney is a SEQUEL to Tron. Note, 2001 had a 2010 sequel too.
Very sad to toss Tron.
baracuda said
October 3 2009 @ 8:26 am
ok ok…Soylent Green (they say that it’s people)
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October 22 2009 @ 2:48 am
O.k., I enjoy other people’s opinion on sci-fi films. These are just to name a few. Here is mine as follows, but not how I rate them. I just enjoy these movies. Hope they don’t remake them, I feel the same way about horror movies also, but that is another discussion:
10. Xtro.
9. The Philadelphia Experiment
8. The Abyss
7. Fire in the Sky
6. Starman
5. Alien Nation
4. They Live
3. Miracle Mile
2. 1984
1. The Last Starfighter
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