The list is from The Science Fiction Film Canon, from the book The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies by John Scalzi. He describes it as “Reviews and commentary on the 50 science fiction films you have to see before you die”…
I’ve bolded the ones I’ve seen. 34/50; Not too bad…
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!
- Akira Kaneda!
- Alien
- Aliens
- Alphaville
- Back to the Future
- Blade Runner
- Brazil
- Bride of Frankenstein
- Brother From Another Planet
- A Clockwork Orange
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Contact
- The Damned
- Destination Moon
- The Day The Earth Stood Still
- Delicatessen
- Escape From New York
- ET: The Extraterrestrial
- Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers (serial)
- The Fly (1985 version)
- Forbidden Planet
- Ghost in the Shell
- Gojira/Godzilla
- The Incredibles
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 version)
- Jurassic Park
- Mad Max 2
- The Matrix
- Metropolis (Extended version)
- On the Beach
- Planet of the Apes (1968 version)
- Robocop
- Sleeper
- Solaris (1972 version)
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
- Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
- Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
- The Stepford Wives
- Superman
- Terminator 2: Judgement Day
- The Thing From Another World
- Things to Come
- Tron
- 12 Monkeys
- 28 Days Later
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- La Voyage Dans la Lune
- War of the Worlds (1953 version)