Films that are out of this world

Globe film critic Wesley Morris's list of 14 essential science fiction movies

''The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1955): Creepy, classic Cold War allegory with stupid humans and wise space aliens.

''2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968): Science fiction filmmaking has rarely been smoother, stranger, more chilling. HAL promises a peeved techno future.

''The Omega Man" (1971): Charlton Heston is the last man on Earth. Camptastic!

''Solaris" (1972): Andrei Tarkovsky dramatically explores the boundlessness of scientific possibility in outer space.

''Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977): They really did come in peace -- with a light show, too.

''Star Wars,", (1977)/ ''The Empire Strikes Back" (1980): The best Saturday afternoon matinee one-two punch probably ever.

''Alien" (1979): Inspired, horrific. Life in space as utterly banal -- until somebody gets really sick.

''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (1982): The series was never as brilliantly insane before or after.

''Blade Runner" (1982): Human or android? Always timely. Always breathtaking. Always, rightly, at the top of every science fiction list.

''The Terminator" (1984) / ''T2: Judgment Day" (1991): Visionary science fiction on steroids. In the case of the series' stars, maybe for real.

''eXistenZ"(1999): David Cronenberg gets lost in the gaming industry. The reality is virtual. The genius is real.

''The Matrix" (1999): If you're a geek of a certain disposition, isn't this the day the earth stood still?