Take a trip back to 1995 with these ten essential sci-fi movies…
Sci-fi movies offer a glimpse into dazzling futures, alternate presents and much more. Sure, these Nostradamus-ian predictions don’t always come true. 2015 didn’t bring us flying cars or Jaws 19. That said, we must be approaching that number with Jurassic Park films by now. Occasionally, they do get it right; however, with the US currently living through Idiocracy and the UK something more akin to Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.
The genre has retained its popularity over the years, and many of the most visually striking films in cinema are sci-fi thanks to the visual scope afforded to the genre. Some sci-fi films are better than others, standing the test of time, much like the aforementioned Brazil, Jurassic Park and the iconic visual landscapes of Blade Runner (which have been mimicked relentlessly since).
What of the sci-fi cinematic offerings of 1995, though? Let’s journey back a full 30 years to see the essentials and see just how well they stand the test of time, and indeed whether any of the dystopian visions or technologies have come to pass. Here are ten essential sci-fi films from 1995…
Screamers
It’s not just cinema where science fiction remains hugely popular. Literary sci-fi has swept readers away to incredible visions for hundreds of years. One of the most prolific and iconic writers in the genre was Philip K. Dick, and naturally, his stories have been adapted for film numerous times, including Total Recall and Blade Runner. Then there’s Screamers, a low-budget Canadian-made gem from director Christian Duguay that was also based on one of Dick’s stories.
Counting genre royalty, Dan O’Bannon among the screenwriters really does add something to this enjoyable slice of B-movie sci-fi horror. Then add to that a cool concept (with evolving and increasingly sentient battle robots, able to mimic humans) and the inimitable Peter Weller, commanding and compelling in equal, elevating measure. Loads of rough edges and a finale that doesn’t quite hit top gear, but Screamers is still a great time. The ability of AI to learn, evolve and deviate from base programming also seems like something we’re possibly living right now.
Johnny Mnemonic
Initially panned on release, this marked the start of a slightly disastrous mini-run of sci-fi for Keanu Reeves, which included Chain Reaction the following year. So much so that by the time The Matrix came out, expectations were low. That one smashed the hoodoo with some (bullet time-laden) style, of course.
However, Johnny Mnemonic’s stature has risen steadily in the past 15 or so years. In part, more recent times have seen pulpy, campy cyberpunk media become more in vogue. Its dialled-up style, quirks and general weirdness, offset by Keanu’s performance (which flits between vacant and compellingly overwrought), have seen it gain fans.
It also has notions about the power of information wars and nefarious corporate machines that really do ring true even more than it did back then. So much in Robert Longo’s film (based on the William Gibson story) continues to grow in prescience. It’s also got Dolph Lundgren as a maniacal preacher, whose flesh is being consumed by his many robotic upgrades, so there’s that too.
Tank Girl
Based on the comic series, this film from Rachel Talalay was initially greeted in much the same way as a fart in a crowded elevator might be. However, it turns out that Titanic guff left lingering notes of roses and citrus because Tank Girl (which like Johnny M, features Ice-T) is held in much higher regard now.
Again, the cyberpunk style and quirky approach are something we’ve seen audiences vibe with far more in the 2020s than the 90s. This feels like it has pre-emptive shades of films like Birds of Prey or any of Taika Waititi’s blockbusters. Sure, those are divisive themselves, but they still have fans. It also feels a little James Gunn-adjacent. All that aside, Lori Petty is a pretty kooky and punky Tank Girl, and I have no idea if she captured the source material or not (because I’m not up on it), but she’s great here. It also has Malcolm McDowell hamming it up to the high heavens.
Fist of the North Star
This long-running manga has had innumerable iterations on paper, in anime and is about to get another anime reboot. The popular post-apocalyptic adventures of Kenshiro have been adapted to live screen before, too, with 1995’s flawed but fun opus (from Tony Randel).
British kickboxer turned 90s video action titan Gary Daniels stars as Kenshiro (yeah…probably not best suited) and gets to unleash his martial arts prowess. The visual landscapes are pretty good, eeking a lot out of a very modest budget, and Randel’s horror background certainly helps in that department. Some of the framing of the fight sequences frustrated Daniels, who’d just come from appearing opposite Jackie Chan in City Hunter. It was very much the standard Western approach, opting for multicam and long takes. Of course, in the era of John Wick, that’s in vogue, whilst the very segmented but time-consuming Hong Kong approach only briefly became more prominent in the US after The Matrix.
Again, this has a cyberpunk aesthetic that works better now than back then, and it’s also got some scenery chewing from Chris Penn, Malcolm McDowell (again) and Costas Mandylor to elevate proceedings. As far as accuracy, this has your standard megalomaniacal villain, which is perennially prescient, but we’re yet to find the ability to explode someone’s head by utilising a particular set of pressure points on the body… which is a shame obviously.
Strange Days
Kathryn Bigelow delved into a near-future world where the virtual reality experience has reached an incredible level of vividness. Here, rather than users donning a headset to play games, they can head to the black market to ‘experience’ memories from the mind’s eye of recorders. Sexual recordings are hugely popular, but increasingly, so are snuff recordings.
With a screenplay co-written by James Cameron and Bigelow’s stylish direction and gift for set piece spectacle, Strange Days is a film that didn’t take off and unfairly so. It arguably doesn’t live up to its incredibly visceral first-person opening chase sequence, but this brilliantly melds sci-fi with Hitchcockian murder mystery with some cyberpunk seasoning in places, too. Ralph Fiennes heads up a killer cast that includes Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, the late Tom Sizemore and Michael Wincott.
Steel Frontier
Purveyors of spectacular stunts and carnage, in the 90s VHS era, PM Entertainment took delight in ripping off all and sundry when it came to genre cinema. Be it Die Hard, Terminator, Lethal Weapon or others, they also unleashed this stellar Mad Max riff, way after the late 80s pomp of (usually Italian or Philippine made) low-rent ripoffs.
Unlike most Max clones, though, this one is actually ace. Joe Lara is the ‘Max’ of the piece, and the film combines dusty post-apocalyptic vistas with old West shootouts and costuming. It’s Mad Max with cowboys and no shortage of vehicular carnage and insanely big stunts. It’s no exaggeration to say that by today’s action standards in the video realm, particularly, Steel Frontier looks like it cost a hundred million bucks. Just check a trailer.
Ghost in the Shell
This touches a lot of the same bases as Johnny Mnemonic; however, there’s no doubt as to the lasting legacy of Ghost in the Shell. It came out of the blocks iconic and has remained so since. This original, visually spectacular anime is an all-time great, filled with stunning animation, glorious visual worlds and an amazing soundtrack.
It’s incredibly tight at comfortably under 90 minutes, and short of Akira, for this type of future set, cyberpunky anime, I don’t think there’s anything better. The only thing bad I can say about it is that it inspired the dire Scarlett Johansson-fronted live-action adaptation in 2015.
The City of Lost Children
A crazed scientist tries to steal children’s dreams in order to reverse his ageing in this visually resplendent sci-fi fantasy from Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
The sets are grand and grimy, surreal and expressionist, with Jeunet’s visual flair and whimsy in full flow. Ron Perlman stars as a strong man in search of his kidnapped little brother. Jeunet really hit it big with Amelie, but The City of Lost Children is still pretty criminally underseen. It’s imaginative, engaging, comical and spectacular.
12 Monkeys
Terry Gilliam’s big dalliance with mainstream movie making, and yet it’s also dripping in his idiosyncratic style. He’s helming a big Bruce Willis production with Brad Pitt (just shortly before he broke huge with Se7en), and Twelve Monkeys is a gripping sci-fi thriller that retains plenty of playful ambiguity.
From a post-apocalyptic world where James Cole is sent back in time to avert a deadly biological (world-ending) outbreak, to a dank present, the film is richly detailed. It remains Gilliam’s last truly great work with one of Willis’ best performances. Brad Pitt is in full scene-stealing flow, grabbing an Oscar nomination in the process.
Species
The late great Michael Madsen had an eclectic range of roles in the 90s, from star-making turns in Reservoir Dogs, to surprise performances in films like Free Willy. As well as finding himself propping up made-for-cable/VHS genre flicks, he also popped up in Species, a film he didn’t hold in the highest regard, but which, in all fairness, is a rollicking good time.
Natasha Henstridge almost sent a generation of young men (myself included) blind in the mid-90s as an alien able to take on a human female form and lure potential baby daddies (of more hybrid creatures) to their demise. Madsen plays it cool, or more to the point, just ever so slightly bored despite the potentially world-ending cluster-shit he finds himself helping avert. The way too impressive (for this kind of shock) cast is rounded out by Marg Helgenberger, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina, Michelle Williams and Forest Whitaker. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was Oscar bait with a cast like that… it definitely wasn’t, but it’s a hoot and a half.
What’s your favourite sci-fi movie from 1995? Any others you recommend? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Tom Jolliffe
