Right o I,ve made three lists , 80's sci-fi, 90's sci-fi and combined best of list which was only worked out by which of them I watch regularly. I made a few rules for myself based on a few posts on here i kept sci-fi actioners to a bare minimum, sci-fi horrors that fell largely on horror side such as re-animator (one of my favourite films) were put to one side , as well as schlocky sci-fi invasion flicks like killer clowns, night of the creeps, deadly spawn etc (these really need their own list coz i love em). Although Mars Attacks snuck through. I found trimming 80's list painful and found the 90's to be a bit of a slim pickings if I am honest.
THE 80'S
10) Back to the future : good solid timeless
fun
09) videodrome: Cronenberg had to go on and although I prefer the fly and the brood this a more sci-fi than them. Long live the new flesh!
08) Brazil: a beautiful retro nightmare of a film, so bloody british and depressing as f**K
07) The Empire Strikes Back: the perfect star wars film never bettered by further entries in the franchise
06) Dune : I dont care what anyone says ,great film
05) Blade runner: dirty , cold ,future noir , Rutger Hauer is superb
04) Aliens: big monsters , big guns , androids, gore, Ripley still is ultimate heroine for me.
03) the thing: could'nt have this list without Carpenter, a truly alien creature.
02) Mad Max 2: mythic, punk, post apocalyptic, western?? love it
01) Robocop: the eighties had balls , this film has action, satire , gore , compare it to the remake and it shows how much of a wet fart moder big budget genre cinema is these days, i am a massive 2000ad fan and admittedly this rips off a lot from Judge Dredd (although robocop is a lot less machine like tha Dredd ironically)
THE 90'S
10) Event Horizon: It falls like a tetris bock very neatly in the sci-fi /horror category giving plenty of room for both genres , Sam Neill steals this
09) Nemesis: a not so guilty pleasure , it seems to have every loner/hero cliche in the book and makes me laugh a lot.
08) the matrix: ignore the awful sequels ,great film would have been higher on my list but will get to that later.
07) accion mutante: like robocop this has a strong 2000ad vibe to it , underrated film.
06) total recall, Arnie plus Verhoven plus Philip K Dick = a lot of fun
05) the fifth element : a gorgeous , screwball space opera
04) starship troopers: very sly satire and the cgi still holds up
03) dark city:the Matrix's sleazy gothic twin and for those reasons alone its the betterfilm for me.
02) mars attacks: screw independance day , this should get a sequel , Burton was blatantly trying to pull a strangelove. ACK ACK ACK ACK!
01) Terminator 2: Judgement Day , I was 11 when this came out and it left it's mark, just a juggernaut of a film .
Combined list
10) Blade Runner
09) Aliens
08) Empire strikes back
07) starship troopers
06) dark city
05) mars attacks
04) Terminator 2
03) The Thing
02) Mad Max 2
01) Robocop