The 10 best Sci-Fi and Fantasy moments of 2014

The Years Best

SPOILER WARNING: Because this is a list of great moments not whole films, episodes or issues there will by necessity be some spoilers if you havent seen the films, shows and comics involved (because the best bits are often twists). So quickly hit NEXT if necessary weve tried not to give too much away in the pics or headlines if we think itll spoil a surprise! Just bubbling outside the top ten are moments such as: RoboCop revealing whats left of his human self (the film had major problems in the third act but that shot of him sans Robo-armour was genuinely shocking); Smaugs attack on Lake-town (after he proved little more than hot air in The Desolation Of Smaug he finally showed why he was so feared in The Battle Of The Five Armies); and the trailer at the end of Havens mid-season finale (in a town of endless mysteries, one man holds the key Cue William Shatner: Ive got the key or is that the key to my dressing room?)

Game Of Thrones

The end of the duel in The Mountain And The Viper After four seasons, we expect Game Of Thrones to shock us. So the fact that it still manages to do so and shows no sign of gross-out fatigue is a testament to the shows production team. Season threes Red Wedding was a difficult act to top, and, indeed, season fours Purple Wedding with the death of Joffrey didnt really bother trying. Thats because season four had something else up its sleeve: the duel between the Mountain and the Viper, with Tyrions life resting on the result. For a moment it looks like Tyrions champion the Viper, Oberyn has won, but his arrogance leaves him open to an unexpected, and very bloody, head-crushing counter attack. Yuck.

The Walking Dead

Ricks a biter in A For Rick Grimes, season four of The Walking Dead was the chronicle of his world falling apart for the second time. Arguably, this time he fell further. The season began with Rick and his band of survivors living a relatively peaceful life in a repurposed prison. Rick just wants to be a farmer and raise his kids. When the Governor ruins all that, the prison is breached by walkers and the survivors are on the run again. His farming ambitions thwarted, Rick turns seriously bad-ass, and when a brutal thug threatens his son, Rick goes postal and bites a chunk out of the guys neck. Whos the scary zombie now, eh, Rick?

Guardians Of The Galaxy

Dancing Groot Admittedly, we could probably fill over half this list with moments from the quite wonderful Guardians Of The Galaxy. But comedian Sarah Millican proved why Groots end-credit groove to the Jackson 5 wins the honour, when she appeared on Channel 4s Big Fat Quiz Of The Year. She couldnt remember what the film was called, but referred to it as the one with the dancing tree. Because, yes, Marvels space opera may be full of amazing effects, brilliant action and laugh-out loud humour, but to the vast majority of those who saw it, Guardians will always be the film with the dancing tree. And that says something about why the film was such a success; eye candy is all well and good, but falling in love with the characters is more important.

Moon Knight

The extended fight in #5 Writer Warren Ellis and artist Declan Shalvey teamed up for a six-issue Moon Knight mini-series that unexpectedly became one of the comic highlights of the year. In the penultimate issue, Ellis took a back seat his script probably said little more than, Moon Knight hits lots of guys and let Shalvey shine in what's practically an issue-long fight scene. Moon Knight has to rescue a kidnapped girl, and as he makes his way up the various storeys of the building where shes being held, we get the nearest thing to an Eastern martial arts action movie set-piece in graphic form. Ellis said on his blog, Even the Marvel Comics proofer put a note on the bottom of the book reading, Is this the most bad-ass comic of all time?

The Flash

The superhero slugfest in Flash Vs Arrow In an era when most other screen iterations of DC characters seem obsessed with being grim and gritty (surely the worst stylistic choice for Superman ever?) The Flash bucked the trend by taking its tonal cue from the MCU and embracing its comic roots. The result was a refreshing unpretentious show full of heart, warmth, fun and Golden Age comic book action. Nowhere was this better exemplified than in the glorious crossover episode with Arrow, which was like a 21st century spin on classic comic crossovers: the two heroes fight (its a draw, of course) then make up and take down the villain. The fight itself is a superb set-piece, and goes on for a decent length of time too. This is a show that doesnt believe in scrimping.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The trailer for Episode VII takes over the internet Of course, millions of internet pundits awaited the release of the new Star Wars trailers, eager to prove they could be more snarky than the next internet pundit. While some fans geeked out with YouTube videos of them apparently orgasming over the sight of the Millennium Falcon, the unprofessional cynics moaned about everything. A black stormtrooper nonsense! A beachball droid crap! A cross-shaped lightsaber thats clearly only been invented to sell merchandise crass! The rest of us stood aside as the internet melted and thought, You know what? That looks more like Star Wars than any of prequels did. Most exciting 90 seconds of the year.

Doctor Who

The Doctor goes all Addams Family in Flatline Amazingly, after 50 years Doctor Who still occasionally manages to deliver ideas and visuals not only new to the show, but pretty much fresh to all screen sci-fi too. Flatline was a visually stunning episode about creatures from a 2D universe, and the optical tricks used to create them were impressive enough already. But it was the full-sized Doctor trapped in a shrunken TARDIS using a hand thrust through the time machines tiny doors to escape a oncoming train like Thing in The Addams Family that provided the most memorably bats-arse image of all.

X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Quicksilver goes into spin cycle Lets be honest here while there was a lot to enjoy about director Bryan Singers return to X-movies, Days Of Future Past was a little earnest and dour in places. The one time the film really let rip with a joyously silly action set-piece Quicksilvers slo-mo spin around a (handily) circular kitchen in the Pentagon produced Days Of Future Pasts undoubted highlight. The FX as he races along the walls rearranging flying cooking utensils, altering the course of bullets and moving a security guards arms so that he hits himself are breathtaking and witty. Its almost like Singers saying to Joss Whedon, Beat that, mate.

Supernatural

A sing-along of the shows unofficial theme song in Fan Fiction The ten-year-old show marked its 200th episode this year in typically perverse style, with an in-joke-packed meta episode about a bunch of schoolgirls producing a Supernatural musical. It may get a little bit Glee at times, but when Sam and Dean watch the final performance, and the cast breaks into a tender, acoustic version of the shows unofficial theme tune Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas its almost impossible not to feel moved. Its cheesy, sentimental and a 100% perfect way to celebrate the occasion.

Black Mirror

The double-whammy ending of White Christmas Although this list isnt in any particular order, if it were, then the double climax to Black Mirrors chilling Christmas special would definitely be number one. The final moments for both of its lead characters are brilliant twists that look visually stunning too. A high-tech peeping toms punishment is to live in a world where everyone else has been muted he can only see silhouettes of white noise and hear gibberish while the virtual conscience of a stalker/murderer is sentenced to billions of years trapped in a snowy cottage with I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day blaring continually from an unbreakable radio.
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