if you're in the mood for some unimpeachably excellent science fiction you could do a lot worse than a pair of movies that have received the highest badge of honor from a certain influential website to say that a movie is perfect doesn't really mean anything in any objective sense although it kind of feels like it does when Rotten Tomatoes says so the review aggregating website occupies such a respected position within film discourse that it holds a lot of sway over most movie goers viewing habi
ts if a movie is certified Fresh then a lot of people are probably going to pay attention to that movie when it comes to science fiction a perfect 100% score has been achieved by only two films according to RT's metrics although it should be noted that we're focusing on liveaction sci-fi as the animated features Invader Zim enter the floor pus and Evangelion 3.0 plus 1.0 both have 100% scores as well but the two supposedly perfect live-action sci-fi Classics 1984's the Terminator and 1979's stal
ker but what does it actually mean to have a perfect score Rotten Tomatoes works by aggregating approved critics reviews and calculating a Tomato Meter score according to the website when at least 60% of reviews for a movie or TV show are positive a red tomato is displayed to indicate its fresh status when less than 60% of reviews for a movie or TV show are positive a green Splat is displayed to indicate its rotten status films or TV shows that maintain a Tomato Meter score of 75% or higher have
at least five reviews from Top critics and meet various other criteria are also eligible for the esteemed certified fresh designation but even that elusive prize pales in comparison to achieving a perfect score which basically just means a the film is hit 100% on the Tomato Meter currently the Terminator and stalker are the only two liveaction sci-fi flicks to earn such a coveted ranking you can certainly take issue with Rotten Tomatoes methodology but if you were forced to pick two perfect Sci
-Fi movies you could do a lot worse than the Terminator and stalker the former was director James Cameron's big breakthrough and it remains remarkable and relevant 40 years after its release I warned you guys in 1984 he didn't listen Cameron himself believes that the events of the Terminator could actually happen which certainly makes sense considering the increasing use of artificial intelligence in the 21st century in addition to its enduring timeliness the Terminator is just a fantastically e
ntertaining movie as it melds elements of slasher horror and sci-fi for a wholly original cinematic Vision stalker meanwhile is similarly unnerving but with a much artier slower paced style directed by Andre tarkovski this Russian language Soviet film can at times feel like a horror movie but it also plays like a psychological Thriller the titular stalker acts as a guide to a writer and a professor both of whom seek to enter restricted area known as The Zone just exactly what the zone is remains
ambiguous Beyond it is a heavily guarded region where some calamitous event occurred and created a room capable of granting a person's deepest wishes like the Terminator stalker is often included in lists of the best sci-fi movies of all time including a spot at number 29 in the British film institute's 2012 list while Rotten Tomatoes isn't necessarily proclaiming the Terminator and stalker to be objectively perfect the site is based on a ranking system that employs a somewhat objective process
but besides the fact that these rankings are just aggregations of individual subjective opinions they're also open to manipulation ultimately it's fun to see which movies can attain the perfect RT ranking but these designations obviously aren't perfect while that may seem obvious it's still worth repeating so if you've actually seen the Terminator in stalker but don't agree that they're all hyped to be there's no need to become pessimistic about the entire state of film criticism instead just r
emind yourself that your own opinion is and always has been enough I know sh
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