lifeforce

Watching grungy and gray-skied London in Guy Ritchie's action/drama Sherlock Holmes made me think of the future. Ritchie presents the fictional detective as a reflection of the period in which he lived, and as such Robert Downey, Jr. stands out as much for his independent thinking and alternative lifestyle as for his deductive reasoning.

That means he would have fit in very well in the future, or in an alternative today, as well illustrated by the ten films I've chosen for this list. As usual, it's a very personal list, which means I cheat sometimes on the nationality of the film. To me, born and bred in America, these films feel very British, reflecting a very distinct point of view. I'm sure that's more reflective of my own (perhaps misguided) perceptions rather than reality, but at least I've stuck with flicks that are set somewhere in Great Britain, somewhere in time. Are they all great? You be the judge.

1. Children of Men (2006)
My pick for SciFi Squad's The Best of the Decade. Without repeating myself, let me add that the film feels like a James Bond spy thriller in which the world has gone to hell. Clive Owen makes for a very good, tattered, weary 007, no longer interested in bedding or drinking martinis or gambling or chasing after the bad guys. The picture also tilts and narrows its worldview to present conditions after Britain has shut itself off from the world. Once again, the British Empire rules the world -- or, what's left of it.

When I closed my eyes and pictured the greatest villain costumes in sci-fi movies, I was surprised how often hair -- and headpieces -- come into play. That makes sense for those of us who are not costume purists because we're thinking of the character as a whole, and in movies we're very often looking at close-ups of villains. We want to get up close and personal, to study the sneer, to examine the evil eyes, to absorb the dismissive scowl, to observe the raised eyebrows.

Isn't it the whole package that sells a character as a villain? The actor makes all the difference in the world, no matter if he's buried under a ton of makeup or becomes nearly unrecognizable, but the costume plays an important role. In honor of all those who will sally forth this weekend in costumes that are good, bad, and ugly, we salute the designers of the top ten (plus a couple of bonus selections) greatest villain costumes in sci-fi movies, and the actors who wear them.

The Emperor Ming (Flash Gordon)

It takes a truly evil villain to pull off this particular outfit. Arrayed in varying shades of deep red and gold, Ming (the always game Max von Sydow) threatens to steal the show when those eyebrows are raised. Somehow Ming looks both sartorially forward-thinking -- what is that raised cowl doing back there except to frame his bald head -- and ridiculously, gloriously silly.

It's been nearly unavoidable. Even if the movie doesn't live up to the hype, Jennifer's Body has burned a new image into our subconscious: the murderous Megan Fox in a bloody white blouse, eager for more boys to kill. In the sci-fi realm, it's much more common to encounter men who murder than their homicidal female counterparts. When women kill on screen, it tends to be downplayed.

Thus, we have Carrie-Anne Moss in The Matrix, who identifies more strongly as a great action fighter and/or great and cool intellectual, rather than a murderous vixen. Likewise with Famke Janssen in X-Men: The Last Stand, who only wants to kill when she is transformed into the Dark Phoenix, and even then her homicidal inclinations seem less important than the outfit she's wearing. In honor of the intentionally wanton murderers, here's a list of my top ten killer sci-fi chicks.

1. Mathilda May as Space Girl in Lifeforce
If you call her nothing more than a space vampire, you've only hinted at her power. First is her power to distract, which is a given when you're talking about a beautiful woman who has a great body and is always naked. Next, though, is her power to desiccate, sucking more than blood from everyone she meets, or, at least, everyone she manages to grab hold of to give them the shock of their lives. And she refuses to stop! Unlike normal vampires, who just want a pint or two of blood before heading back to their coffins, Space Girl wants nothing less than everything -- which is why she's the #1 killer sci-fi chick in my book.