In the zone: Tarkovsky’s Stalker (above), like many of the sci-fi films on this list, relies very little on special effects, just extraordinary imagery and severe obfuscation. One of my favourite contemporary writers (who I’ve mentioned before once or twice), Geoff Dyer, has just had published Zona: A book about a film about a journey to a room an examination of Stalker, a film Dyer is obsessed with.

1. Stalker (Tarkovsky, 1979, USSR)
2. La Jetée (Marker, 1962, France)
3. Brazil (Gilliam, 1985, UK)
4. Alphaville (Godard, 1965, France)
5. The Man who Fell to Earth (Roeg, 1976, UK)
6. La Planète Sauvage (Laloux, 1973, France)
7. Solaris (Tarkovksy, 1972, USSR)
8. Tetsuo (Tsukamoto, 1989, Japan)
9. Battle Royale (Rouaiaru, 2000, Japan)
10. 2046 (Kar-wai, 2004, Hong Kong)

Also: Metropolis (Germany), Le Dernier Combat (France), Fahrenheit 451 (UK/France), A Clockwork Orange (UK), Akira (Japan), Timecrimes (Spain), The Host (South Korea)