Rounding out our genre top 5 lists for 2013 In Review, we took on one of the most fruitful categories of the year: sci fi films. Take a look at our collaborative list of the top 5 science fiction movies we watched in 2013.
#5. Pacific Rim
What’s more sci-fi than giant monsters vs. giant robots? Cloning, maybe, or perhaps time travel, but that’s not the point. The point is, Guillermo del Toro’s highly anticipated riff on kaiju movies may have been light on story, character development or even well-rounded characters for that matter, but what it had tons of was stadium-sized robots beating the living crap out of humongous blue-blooded beasties from a rift to another dimension. Any film where a cargo ship is used as a club cannot be all bad, regardless of what Lindsay may say. -Jay
#4. World War Z
Yes, Zombies certainly count as science fiction. It’s had to imagine that this flick would end up on not one but two of our top genre lists this year when I was pretty much dreading everything about it before it’s release. And while it remains true that WWZ maintains little resemblance to it’s source material, the film does manage to craft a thrilling story all it’s own. It’s and intense movie that thrives on a sense of urgency that few films are able to reproduce. -Lindsay
#3. Star Trek Into Darkness
This film was one of the best sci-fi epics to come out in years, and the addition of Benedict Cumberbatch to an already solid cast doesn’t hurt. I wouldn’t consider myself a Star Trek fan by any means, but, this film was so exciting that I not only wanted to see the film again immediately, but it made me want to seek out the original source material and become a fan. Name another movie that has done that! -Nick
#2. The World’s End
The World’s End is the last movie in the Blood & Ice Cream Trilogy by Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost. The film follows a group of old friends as they try to conquer The Golden Mile, a 12 stop bar crawl, while slowly realizing their town has been taken over by robots. This covers the Sci-Fi genre for the trilogy and shows a lot of growth by the filmmakers/writers. This growth has taken them away from some of the qualities that the first two films had, but these qualities were replaced by ones that are just as endearing. -Rob
#1. Gravity
Could there really be another choice? Gravity is easily the best science fiction film in years, and certainly will be considered a classic in decades to come. Not only are the special effects flawless, but pretty much every other aspect is on the same level. Following Dr. Ryan Stone as she tries to get back to Earth after her space station is destroyed feels like a ride. A horrifying, anxiety-inducing ride that was one of the most exhilarating film experiences I’ve ever had. Perhaps the craziest thing of all is how incredibly real and visceral this all feels. It’s science fiction, but hardly anything about it seems fake. -Jess
*Notable Exceptions: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Ender’s Game, Thor: The Dark World, Elysium, Europa Report, Oblivion