Top 5 sci-fi films, according to J.J. Abrams

There was a time in the late 2000s when there were few names in the film industry that carried as much weight as J. J. Abrams, a director many people liked.

First gaining industry attention when he created the original concept for Lost in 2004, Abrams later made the leap into cinema, directing the hit action film Mission: Impossible III in 2006. Three years later, he was tasked with bringing Star Trek back to the big screen, casting Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Simon Pegg, Eric Bana, Zoe Saldana and Winona Ryder.

So, let’s take a look at J.J. Abrams’ favorite films in the sci-fi niche.

J. J. Abrams Top 5 Favorite Movies

Of Kubrick’s Space Odyssey, J. J. Abrams called it “the most spectacular vision of the future. Strangely precise and suspenseful”.

Second on his list of favorite sci-fi films of all time is Aliens. He calls the film “a school-worthy example of How to Make a Sequel”.

The 1982 classic Blade Runner comes in at number three. “Rarely does science fiction make you feel as transported as this film does as Ridley Scott’s. The mood, the texture and the weirdness – plus the soundtrack, the visual effects,” said the director.

David Cronenberg also makes J.J. Abrams’ top list with 1986’s The Fly, which ranked fourth on his list of favorites. “Cronenberg made fringe science sexy in this extremely moving remake of the 1950s classic,” he said.

Rounding out Abrams’s top five is Steven Spielberg’s 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Somewhat baffled by the film, Abrams thinks of Spielberg’s classic as “a remarkable film that, on paper, shouldn’t work.” “How are we supposed to relate to a man who goes mad and abandons his wife and children and the planet? And yet we do it.”