I have 20 so far:
2001: A Space Odyssey
Blade Runner
Ghostbusters
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas
Father Goose
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Superman
Alien
Nightmare on Elm Street
Fright Night
The Shining - 1985
Godzilla 1954/1955
The 47 Ronin 1941-1942
Inherit the Wind
Rocky
The Great Dictator
Judgment at Nuremberg
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
The Ten Commandments
Lilies of the Field
Forbidden Planet
The Day the Earth Stood Still
So I gotta think of 10 more. I mean 8 more
Let's stick some archaic sci fi into the mix:
Forbidden Planet
While many people, many ignorant people, love to claim Metropolis and From the Earth to the Moon were the sci fi inspirations for George Lucas and Gene Roddenberry, fact is more was stolen/used from Forbidden Planet than any other sci fi film to date.
Forbidden Planet is one of two sci fi pictures which are literally the parents of modern science fiction.
The Metropolis movie had wasn't sci fi, rather, it was entirely against the Nazi movement, and only LONG AFTER the war when it was realized that the Nazis seized and burnt specific "Jewish" iconic emblems and priests out of the movie did Metropolis even remotely affect the modern world. By that time we already had the Flash Gordon Serials.
From the Earth to the Moon was seen as the first BUTCHERING of a novel to motion picture. It was so decried by people at the time it wasn't until it was re-released that people used it as a piece of comedy. Yes, many of the clips were very funny in that show.
Forbidden Planet, however, had EVERYTHING Flash Gordon, Metropolis, and live TV sci-fi teleplays, and more. It was the first true adventure into space using science as a primary backdrop more than a baseless theatrical plot device.
Just for laughs, visit this site :
http://www.moongadget.com/origins/forbidden.html
Though more than just star wars, without TFP we wouldn't have Star Trek. From color schemes, Robby the Robot to starship registry, FP has influenced more directors, more franchises, and more literary works (even Dune), than any other sci fi in the history of mankind.
It also gave us one of the greatest slap stick comedic talents of all kind. Can you recognize the actor who played J. J. Adams in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y4crGU7 ... re=related
The Day the Earth Stood Still
This is probably the most frightening Sci-Fi films ever made. Not frightening because of an insane computer, not frightening because of an alien bursting out of someone's chest, not frightening because of some bugs jumping around hacking heads off, not frightening because of an intergalactic predator ripping out spinal cords:
This movie is frightening for these reasons:
* Overreaction of a single stupid human entity which causes mass hysteria.
* Meeting an Alien Race that says: "Stop being morons or we'll toast your sorry butts."
If GORT landed today, and said to the human race: "We won't kill you if you can manage to stop being idiots and morons."
Do you honestly think we'd survive the night?
We are out int he universe looking for intelligent life, but what if that life comes back to us saying: "You're a bunch of imbeciles! IF you don't wisen up we're gonna take you out for our own safety!" With people like Sarah Palin in our political soup, do you honestly believe we're top of the food chain?
Oh yeah this movie broke a bunch of ground too. The science in this fiction is mostly sociological and psychological rather than hard science.
I'm waiting to pass judgment on Keanu Reeves new version of this movie. I still don't know if it's a remake or a sequel.