Top Dozen Movie List - Revised

12.  The Day After Tomorrow – The concept of the world ending is always very popular in science fiction films and this film is no exception. The Day After Tomorrow touches upon global warming as the culprit of the world being destroyed. The “natural” disasters shown in this movie looked very realistic and made me wonder if this could all be possible someday.

11. Predator – This is one of the best movies Arnold Schwarzenegger has ever done. In all his movies, it is always a mystery how Arnold is the only one that survives. Nonetheless, Predator is very entertaining to watch as Dutch, Arnold’s character, once again, is the lone survivor on his team of Commandos as he seeks revenge against the Predator.

10. Terminator 2: Judgment Day – Along with Predator, this is one of the only Arnold Schwarzenegger movies that I like. His character and the infamous line, “I’ll be back!” is timeless. This movie series gave Schwarzenegger the signature role of his acting career. The movie is about a cyborg who comes back from the future to destroy an army before he was even created.

9. Jurassic Park – When I was a kid, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. Jurassic Park and The Land Before Time were certainly the most watched videos in my dad’s VCR back then. The visual effects were amazing as it gave me an actual program to watch where dinosaurs actually look real and intimidating, and eat people. The plot is about an experimental island full of dinosaurs that somehow go out of control, endangering the lives of the humans in the island. Although the dinosaurs in this movie aren’t as nice, this movie beats The Land Before Time any day of the week.

8. I Am Legend – Will Smith’s acting in this movie was remarkable. The whole story involves a man, who seems to be the last person on Earth, trapped with creatures in New York City, that have zombie and vampire characteristics. He tries to survive, all the while trying to find a cure for the zombies to make them human again. What fascinated me most about this movie was the relationship of Will Smith’s character and his dog. Both these characters develop a strong relationship throughout the movie because of their loneliness. It absolutely broke my heart when the dog died.

7. Transformers – The battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons never gets old. Optimus Prime and the Autobots are in the fight of their lives to protect their own and the human race. Watching old re-runs of the TV series with my brother was a good childhood memory of mine. I think the main reason people watch this movie is the cool special effects, especially the fight scenes between the Transformers…and of course Megan Fox.

6. Minority Report – Tom Cruise plays an officer, named John Anderton, involved a pre-crime program that predicts all crimes before they’re committed. The movie gets very intense once John Anderton is accused of a crime. The plot of this movie was very exciting and provided much action and drama, which is always a very good thing.

5. The Butterfly Effect – Going back in time to fix the “bad” things in your life would surely be very convenient. This movie provides just that as a guy named Evan Treborn who has had a terrible childhood, finds a way to relive bad moments that has happened in his life, like when his psychotic father attacks him when they meet for the first time, through his journals. Evan soon finds out that fixing these moments alters the present in a big way. A suicide by his friend leads him to a chase for the “perfect” life through these “blackouts”. This movie fascinated me from start to finish. The intense moments that Evan had to go through makes his character very likable and throughout the movie, I found myself rooting for him to have the “perfect” life he wanted.

4. Iron Man – Besides Christopher Nolan’s Batman series, this is probably my favorite “superhero” movie. In some ways, the two superheroes are very similar in that both Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark are very rich and design a “costume” of sorts to fight off villains. The idea of not having actual “superpowers”, like Superman, is very appealing to me. Tony Stark uses his wealth and knowledge to build a suit of armor powered with many weapons to help protect the world.

3. Inception – This movie is one of the best movies I’ve seen recently. It probably has one of the most complex plots ever put into a movie. I remember my first time seeing this; I was overcome with bewilderment and excitement all at the same time. The process of going into a dream within a dream….within a dream, within a dream is an appealing concept. The plot is very original and I was hooked on it right away.

2. Back to the Future: Part I and II – Marty McFly is in for the greatest adventure of his life when he meets Doc Brown, and his time machine. When my brother told me to watch the first movie of this series, I was a little skeptical. Realizing as how good these movies were, that was probably the best advice my brother has ever given me. Unlike the first two movies, I thought the third movie in this series, although still very appealing, was not as good. I guess something in me just says that cowboys should never be in a science fiction movie.

1. The Dark Knight – This movie is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. Batman, a.k.a. Bruce Wayne, struggles with his identity as he juggles his responsibilities as a superhero and just being a normal person. I was literally on the edge of my seat for the better parts of the movie. The cast’s performance, the plot, and the special effects were just absolutely perfect. It’s a shame Heath Ledger died right after this movie was made; his performance made me into an instant fan. His performance definitely puts this movie over the top.