5 Best and Worst Science Movies of All Time: Where's Ghostbusters 2, dammit?

Discover Magazine and Emory University physics professor Sidney Perkowitz have gone ahead and thrown down the gauntlet: They've compiled a list of the best and worst science-based movies. Perhaps they don't know it yet, but they've done the science-movie geek equivalent of dropping the bomb. Let the post-apocalyptic flame wars and flesh eating begin.

Gattaca takes top honors for telling "an affectingly human story about the consequences of putting too much faith into DNA, genetic destiny, and stereotypes" without "overt preaching or much scientific exposition." Other "best" movies include Metropolis, Contact and Ron Howard suckfest A Beautiful Mind.

Things get really interesting at the lower end of the spectrum, which sees The Core lambasted as the worst science movie for sharing its "record-setting amounts of scientific misinformation about basic physics (like elementary magnetism, electricity, and heat) in a mere 134 minutes." Other "Golden Turkeys" include Keanu Reeves' cold-fusion epic Chain Reaction and Schwarzenegger's cloning debacle The 6th Day.

I applaud Discover and Perkowitz for their efforts, but leaving out Ghostbusters 2 is a sin akin to murdering a helpless baby with a harpoon. I learned everything I ever needed to know about proton physics, slime biology and the very real psychoactive spirit world from four plucky scientists who saved New York City...twice.

But I'm sure we all have our own reasons for worshiping Ghostbusters 2 -- feel free to share in the comments section below. Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go strap a Dyson to my back and run around my apartment in my pajamas.

The 5 Best and Worst Science Based Movies of All Time (Discover)