BBC viewers really like science fiction. According to a "movies of the millennium" poll released Wednesday, 18 of the top 100 films picked are SF heavyweights, with "Star Wars" topping the list.
Though all four installments of George Lucas' Star Wars series made the cut in the survey of 25,000 BBC viewers, it was the original film, "A New Hope" (1977), that was the clear winner, retaining its title as Britons' "favorite film of the millennium." The film had previously been named the nation's favorite in an earlier survey of 162,000 viewers of the Sky Premier satellite TV channel.
The recent "Phantom Menace" took the number 5 spot, while "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) took seventh and "Return of the Jedi" (1983) brought up the rear at a nonetheless respectable 28th place.
Among other SF classics making the list, Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" (1982) and "Alien" (1979) locked up second and fourth place, respectively. Scott's non-genre "Thelma and Louise" (1991) was much further down the list at number 62.
The Alien series was also good to James Cameron, ranking the fast-paced "Aliens" (1986) at number 15. Cameron also scored with his popular Terminator franchise, scoring #35 with the original film (1984) and slightly higher at number 32 with the sequel (1991). "Titanic," the top-grossing film of all time, came in at a relatively subdued 23rd place.
Not even the legendary antipathy between the British and the French could keep French SF out of the picture. "Alien: Resurrection" (1997), the fourth in the series, was ranked number 60 despite Jean-Pierre Jeunet's aggressively Gallic revisioning of the franchise. Fellow Frenchman Luc Besson came shortly thereafter, scoring number 67 with "The Fifth Element" (1997).
Among other SF films the British ranked highly were longtime U.K. resident Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), ranked 27th and his "A Clockwork Orange"(1971) which trailed behind in 42nd place.
Steven Spielberg had seven films in the top 100, but only his "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982) (in 33rd place) and "Back to the Future" (1985) (in 87th place) contained appreciable SF content, although a case could be made for "Jurassic Park" (1993), which clocked in at number 53.
The poll was conducted in conjunction with the BBC's regular cinema program "Film '99". Viewers were allowed to cast their votes over the Internet or by phone.
None of the Star Trek series of films made the list.
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