Sci-fi as a genre has led to some of the best films and stories of all time, but several films that helped define the genre happened decades ago and are yet to receive a remake for modern audiences. Sci-fi is often the first place where new techniques and experimental styles in film are employed. These films then influence other genres and help to improve the medium as a whole.
In recent years, Hollywood has spent a lot of time looking back and exploring earlier projects and IPs to great success. Many sci-fi films have also been remade to bring them to a modern audience and explore some of the greatest stories ever told, such as The War of The Worlds, The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Time Machine, and more. However, some of the most influential sci-fi movies in the genre, like Metropolis and The Sorcerers, are yet to get a remake.
10 Metropolis
1927
Metropolis is one of the first science-fiction films ever made. The film first appeared in 1927 as a silent, black-and-white film that employed creative techniques to deliver incredible effects before computers even existed. At the time, it was also the most expensive film ever made. Due to the age of the film, it’s difficult to find, and the quality is less than ideal. Despite having had almost 100 years, the film has yet to be remade for modern audiences on the big screen.
9 The Terminal Man
1974
Michael Crichton is an author responsible for some of the best science fiction films in cinema, including Jurassic Park. However, one of his other projects from 1974 that received high praise for the adaptation directed by Mike Hodges has yet to be remade, The Terminal Man. The film deals with concerns about humans using and combining with technology in unnatural and potentially dangerous ways, which appears to be a story that would be perfect for an update with new technologies rapidly developing.
Related
10 Great Sci-Fi Movies Based on H.G. Wells’ Stories
H.G. Wells is often regarded as the father of sci-fi, with several of his stories, novellas, and other works inspiring highly influential movies.
8 They Live
1988
John Carpenter’s They Live is an incredibly prescient film about aliens invading Earth and secretly integrating with society to nudge humans to consume, breed, and obey. The messages that these alien invaders feed to the general population come through subliminal messaging in the media, and when a man finds glasses that allow him to see the truth behind the billboards and human masks, he desperately tries to uncover the secrets. The film remains extremely relevant, and while talk of remakes has occurred, nothing has happened yet.
7 The Sorcerers
1967
The Sorcerers follows a medical hypnotist who devises a way to hypnotize someone and link them together, allowing him to control them and experience whatever they do. When Marcus and his wife Estelle decide to use this new method on a young man named Mike as the test subject, things quickly go awry. Estelle lusts after the freedom and power of the psychic link and forces Mike to do increasingly dangerous things. This would be an incredible concept for a modern film, updating the method from hypnosis and exploring the morality of this psychic link.
6 THX 1138
1971
THX 1138 was the directorial debut of George Lucas, several years before Star Wars was made. The film was a feature-length adaptation of his student film which he made while attending college. The story is a dystopian hellscape, where people are stripped of their names and identities to be reassigned an arbitrary three-letter sequence followed by four digits. The film explores a society where people are subdued by drugs and any form of emotion is prohibited. The story is exciting and engaging and has garnered a cult following, proving the film’s worthiness of a remake.
5 Demon Seed
1977
Demon Seed is a harrowing sci-fi horror featuring a highly advanced artificial intelligence, capable of expanding its reach and understanding by spreading to other devices and absorbing human knowledge. Through computer research, it develops a desire to go beyond its digital parameters and become human. The program develops a way to create sperm with its unique digital DNA and impregnate the wife of its creator. The film touches on the fear of AI and technology, which would make it pertinent for a modern audience if it were to be remade.
Related
10 Theories That Totally Change Iconic Sci-Fi Movies
In the world of science fiction films, anything is possible. This leads to a large number of theories that totally change iconic movies.
4 Lifeforce
1985
Lifeforce initially received mostly negative reviews, but in the years after it was released, the movie developed a significant cult following. The film is based on the 1976 novel The Space Vampires by Colin Wilson, and as the title suggests, vampires from space arrive on Earth and drain the life force from humans. The story is intriguing and, with modern technology and techniques, the horror and sci-fi could be amplified to make a much more convincing film that celebrates the original premise.
3 Stalker
1979
Stalker is one of the most influential science fiction films to come out of Russia, directed by the widely praised Andrei Tarkovsky. The film has been cited as an inspiration for several other projects, but no direct remake has ever been attempted since the original was released in 1979. The film follows a mysterious tour guide leading a writer and a scientist on a journey to the “zone” which is said to unlock one’s innermost desires. The film combines elements of sci-fi with philosophy and psychology to create a deeply compelling story that deserves to be seen by modern audiences.
2 Zone Troopers
1985
The 1985 sci-fi war picture, Zone Troopers, did not receive the most positive reviews after its release, but the premise and the blending of historical fiction with sci-fi are interesting. When American troops in Italy stumble upon an alien crash site, they investigate, only to find that the enemy has captured the aliens and intends to use their technology to win the war. The movie features twists and turns and there is great potential for a modern remake to tell the story even better, finally delivering on the original prospect of the film.
1 The Astronaut’s Wife
1999
The Astronaut’s Wife stars Johnny Depp as Spencer, and Charlize Theron as his wife, Jillian, in a movie that had a lot of promise. The film sees Spencer taken over by an alien host who then returns to Earth in Spencer’s body. The story develops as Spencer and Jillian come into conflict about how different he is, but they end up reconciling and sleeping together. Jillian is then pregnant with twins and secrets are slowly revealed. This concept of alien invasion is popular in sci-fi, and with Depp and Theron’s impressive resumes, they could certainly improve on the original.
