Here is my Sci-Fi list. I'm sure that there are many great Sci-Fi books that are excluded, because I have unfortunately not gotten around to reading many.
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey. The perfect sci-fi film. Most likely will never be topped. I watch this about 4-5 times a year. My second favorite film behind the marginally better Apocalypse Now.
2. Blade Runner. Really a masterful film. There's so much to find in it, so much ambiguity. IMO the best film ever about the illusions are absurdity of life and existence. I think its incredible that Blade Runner and 2001 are still the best looking movies ever after so many years. Just goes to show how far in the wrong direction effects have gone. I weep for a world that thinks Avatar looks great when movies like these exist.
3. Gattaca. One of the most underrated movies ever, IMO. I truly believe that in 20 years, this will be practically a documentary. And isn't that what a great Sci-Fi should be? Something that predicts and critiques the future before it arrives? Its also filled with so many themes, so much imagery and symbolism, so much despair and so much hope, and some magnificent writing and performances.
4. Brave New World. The scariest book i've ever read, about the future of human engineering. I still have nightmares about it many years later. Science is really a terrifying thing in many ways, books like this make me glad to live when I do, because I fear that the Brave New World will one day be all too real.
5. Ghost in the Shell. Where does electronics end and the brain begin? Is the Soul more than code? Are we all just ghosts in a shell? So many questions in the film, a revolutionary work.
6. The Matrix. Yes the Matrix is derivative in many ways, but its central premise is, IMO, highly original. It takes the illusory universe to the next step. Its all a simulation, that idea rocked the world back in 1999. Combine that with revolutionary effects, top notch martial arts, and a brilliant combination of western sci-fi action with buddhist and ancient greek philosophy. This movie has more to it than most give it credit for.
7. Battlestar Galactica: A stunningly dark and honest study of mankind in the face of the ultimate desperation, as well as a continuation of many of the themes introduced in Blade Runner. IMO the best sci-fi series ever. For full disclosure I've never watched Star Trek TOS, though I hear its very good. I doubt its this good though.
I do love Mass Effect, and i think that its the best cohesive universe ever created. Better than Star Wars by far thats for sure. To be totally honest, I think that the constantly praised Star Wars in pretty bad. The thing many people forget is that its just a fantasy series for children. I'm talking about the original trilogy of course. I try not to even acknowledge the abortion that is the prequel trilogy. But Mass Effect probably can't compete with film and literary sci-fi masterpieces. NOr does it have to.
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