15. Moon
2009 was one of the greatest years for sci-fi in recent memory: Avatar changed the entire industry, District 9 became one of the feel good movies of the year, and JJ Abrams re-invented Star Trek for mass audiences. Lost in the shuffle was Duncan Jones's extremely good debut feature Moon, starring Sam Rockwell. Rockwell plays Sam Bell, who is nearing the end of a three year stint on the moon as the lone caretaker of a mining base. His only companion is a computer named GERTY and to make matters worse, communication problems allow him to only send recorded messages to his family on earth. When he discovers another human being in a trapped lunar vehicle, Sam's chance at returning home is put in considerable jeopardy. A homage to the classic sci-fi films of the 60's and 70's, Moon is an extremely well crafted film that benefits from very good special effects, despite a budget of only five million dollars, and a career best performance from Sam Rockwell. Moon is a superior example of an often neglected genre, hard science fiction, which puts more emphasis on ideas than action and tries as much as possible to conform to scientific realism. One of the best debuts of recent years, and one of the few modern movies that can truly be called Science Fiction, Moon is a breath of fresh air and a sadly underrated film.