The best science fiction asks the viewer to imagine a different world where all of the perils and possibilities of the present are taken to their logical extension. Even though the genre is sometimes optimistic, some of the most memorable sci-fi films are darker in tone, presenting some of humanity’s fears in a way that is terrifying and pleasurable. Of particular note are the many great villains who have sprung up in the genre over the years. These beings — the men and the robots, the women and the cyborgs and the aliens — seem to leap out of the screen, reminding the viewer of the frail precarity of human life, whether in the present or the distant future.
