The American Film Institute has compiled its lists of the Top Ten Films in 10 different genres. Among the genres considered were Fantasy and Science Fiction but not Horror. (Animation was one of the categories, even though it is a technique, not a genre.)

2001: A Space Odyessey tops the AFI list of 10 Best Science Fiction Films.

Not surprisingly, most of the winners are familiar from the AFI’s previous Top 10 lists; they have simply sliced the pie up in a different way. Although some obviously worth titles made the grade, several of the winners were dubious choices at best.

Read the lists below the fold.

FANTASY

  1. THE WIZARD OF OZ
  2. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
  3. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
  4. KING KONG (1933)
  5. MIRACLE ON 13TH STREET
  6. FIELD OF DREAMS
  7. HARVEY
  8. GROUNDHOG DAY
  9. THE THIEF OF BAGDAD
  10. BIG

SCIENCE FICTION

  1. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
  2. STAR WARS
  3. E.T. - THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL
  4. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
  5. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
  6. BLADE RUNNER
  7. ALIEN
  8. TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY
  9.  INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
  10. BACK TO THE FUTURE

ANIMATION

  1. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS
  2. PINOCCHIO
  3. BAMBI
  4. THE LION KING
  5. FANTASIA
  6. TOY STORY
  7. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
  8. SHREK
  9. CINDERELLA
  10. FINDING NEMO

The Fantasy category suffers from the inclusion of films that barely qualify as fantasy. MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET is about a mental patient who thinks he’s Santa Claus; the ending leaves the question open, but there is little evidence to support his claim. HARVEY is about an alcoholic who imagines he has a giant invisible rabbit for a friend; the ending seems to confirm his delusion, but the revelation acts more as a gag than a convincing case for considering the film a fantasy (it really should be considered a comedy).

As for the other titles in the category, FIELD OF DREAMS, GROUNDHOG DAY, and BIG are all popular favorites, but it is hard to believe that there are not many more deserving titles wothy of being acknowledged as fantasy classics.

In the Science Fiction category, it is rewarding to see that both Stanley Kubrick  (2001 and CLOCKWORK ORANGE) and Ridley Scott (ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER) had two titles in the Top Ten. As for the rest, I find E.T.  over-rated, but I guess it was inevitable that the AFI would have to put at least one Spielberg film in their list. I guess I won’t argue with the inclusion of STAR WARS, which is great entertainment, but I prefer THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. BACK TO THE FUTURE is a fun movie but hardly one of the ten best science fiction films ever; this is clearly a case where financial success outweigh artistic quality in the AFI’s estimation.

I think the same can be said of SHREK in the Animation category - a popular favorite that really is not a timeless classic. It is interesting to note the proliferation in the Animation category of films released after 1990: Besides SHREK, there’s LION KING, TOY STORY, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and FINDING NEMO - half the titles. By contrast, only one of the Top 10 Science Fiction films (TERMINATOR 2) and two of the Top Ten Fantasy films (GROUND HOG DAY and FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING) date from 1990 or later.

Looking over the AFI’s list of nominees (event though they omitted several great titles), it is easy to find replacmement titles more worthy than the actual winners.

  • In the Fantasy category, replace MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, FIELD OF DREAMS, and BIG with BABE, THE GHOST AND MRS MUIR, and HERE COMES MR. JORDAN. It would also be nice to find room for JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, but I don’t feel so certain about knocking out HARVEY and GROUNDHOG DAY to open slots for them.
  • In the Science Fiction Category, E.T. and BACK TO THE FUTURE should make way for ALTERED STATES and CHILDREN OF MEN. THE FLY (1986) and FRANKENSTEIN also deserves places in the Top Ten, but there should have been a Horror category to accomodate them. And it may be apples and oranges, but I could see my way to replacing TERMINATOR 2 with THE MATRIX, but my feelings could change on any given day.
  • As for animation, let’s just say it is an abominable crime against artistic integrity that Tim Burton’s THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS is not in the Top 10.

I have to give the AFI credit for a few slightly daring choices. BLADE RUNNER was a box office failure that only grew in stature over time. INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS is basically a low-budget B-movie. And CLOCKWORK ORANGE, with its X-rating and unpleasant subject matter, is a controversial film. Overall, the AFI’s choices were obvious, safe choices, popular with both audiences and critics. But in at least these few cases, the AFI selected titles based on their reputation as good movies, regardless of whether they were easy mainstream choices.

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