The science fiction genre has been one of the most consistently thrilling to explore throughout the history of cinema. The way a visual medium like film can depict futuristic worlds or alternate realities means that almost anything that can be imagined can be depicted on-screen. Since the silent era, filmmakers have been using the medium to their advantage, commenting on humanity’s present and hypothesizing about its future through the science-fiction genre.
There are countless great sci-fi movies that have been released since the birth of cinema as an art form, and it’s ultimately futile to try and name every single amazing one. There are simply too many top sci-fi movies, and it’s a genre that’s still thriving, with new potential classics released seemingly every year.The following are among the best of the best from the sci-fi genre, being classics for their entertainment value, excellent technical qualities, and historical significance, and are ranked below in order from great to greatest.
55’The Iron Giant' (1999)
One ofthe best movies of 1999,The Iron Gianttells a familiar sort of story, but does so with style, heart, and beautifully simple animation. It’s about a giant robot who befriends a young boy, with the story going from humorous to somewhat more serious when others start fearing the titular iron giant, leading to persecution and misunderstandings.
Still,The Iron Giantnever gets too heavy, owing to it being a family movie and all. But it’s one of those winning family movies that doesn’t feel like it’s catering just towards kids, at the expense of adults being able to enjoy it.Regardless of one’s age, it’s an enjoyable and easily approachable film, and one that likely led to its director,Brad Bird, going on to make some more great animated movies – this time at Pixar – during the 2000s.
The Iron Giant
54’Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' (2004)
Directed by Michel Gondry
There’s an argument to be made thatEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mindis more of a romantic drama than a full-on science fiction movie, but those sci-fi elements are still there and important for the character study the film ultimately is. At its core, this one is all about the painful process of moving on – or failing to move on – from a relationship, with its two main characters both using a service that wipes memories of their ex from their respective minds entirely.
However you want to classify it,Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mindis an overall excellent movie, proving to be clever, unpredictable, surreal, and heartbreaking, all in equal measure.It’s a novel idea for a film executed with creativity and two knockout lead performances, courtesy ofJim CarreyandKate Winslet, both of them arguably being at their very best here.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
53’Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' (2018)
Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
Arguably more than any otherSpider-Manmovie released before it,Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Versepushes sci-fi elements to the forefront, in turn functioning as a great animated movie, a great superhero film, and a strong piece of science fiction, all at once. The Multiverse is a focus here, but so too isInto the Spider-Versea compelling origin story for Miles Morales, having him come to terms with his powers while meeting various foes and potential allies.
It’s a big movie, a flashy one, and also a strikingly intimate/personal one, with the core emotions shining through and proving just as satisfying as all the spectacle.Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Versewas one ofthe greatest movies of the whole 2010s, andstands to date as one of the very best movies that deals with the idea of universes colliding.
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
52’Threads' (1984)
Directed by Mick Jackson
Threadsmight bea made-for-TV movie, but it stands tall above the vast majority of them, and is pretty much on equal footing with any theatrically-released movie about a nuclear apocalypse. With a mortifying attention to detail and an uneasy sense of realism,Threadsdocuments what would happen if a nuclear war broke out, with a particular emphasis on how anyone who survived the initial blasts would struggle to stay alive in a world gone to hell.
There’s some fun to be found in the nuclear wastelands ofMad MaxandFallout, but nothing that’s very fun inThreads.It’s a miserable, haunting, and strikingly effective condemnation of war, and while it’s not a sci-fi movie in an escapist or typically enjoyable way, it’s so powerful, simple, and unapologetically confronting that it deserves to be praised as an all-time great feel-bad classic.
51’Paprika' (2006)
Directed by Satoshi Kon
While it’s comparable toThe Iron GiantandInto the Spider-Versein the sense that it’s also a great animated science fiction movie,Paprikastands apart from those in the sense that it’s not really family-friendly. It’s not quite as dark as one ofSatoshi Kon’s other acclaimed films,Perfect Blue, but it does go to some confronting places with its exploration of the subconscious,much of it revolving around a machine that lets therapists view the dreams of their patients.
Reality and dreamscapes combine and collide, withPaprikaproving deliberately difficult to wrap one’s head around at times. But there is so much being said here that even if one’s overwhelmed by most of it, other parts will inevitably make sense, or prove striking in some kind of way. It’s absolutely one ofthe greatest anime films ever made, looking consistently beautiful and proving to be a uniquely dizzying and thought-provoking watch.
Watch on Tubi
50’The Abyss' (1989)
Directed by James Cameron
If you want to talk about great science fiction movies, bringing upthe works of James Cameronis going to be as inevitable as Thanos; the guy just understands how to make films of this kind. In fact, it’s somewhat rare to find a James Cameron movie that doesn’t have science fiction elements (though he can still do those well, as films likeTrue Liesand, of course,Titanicdemonstrate).
The Abyssmight not quite be one of his very best films overall, but it still has a ton to offer and feels distinct from his other sci-fi movies, owing to it not really being focused on action like many of his other sci-fi movies are. It follows a group of people undertaking a dangerous deep-sea mission regarding the recovery of a sunken nuclear submarine, only to find unexpected phenomena while down there.It’s a slow burn to some extent, but a successful one, and has some jaw-dropping effects by late 1980s standards.
49’Contact' (1997)
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Robert Zemeckishas, in more recent times, been behind a somewhat divisive run of animated movies, but he also made some groundbreaking live-action movies that shouldn’t be overlooked. Admittedly, it can sometimes feel easy to overlook something likeContact, though, what with its fairly generic title, the fact it came out in a crowded year for movies, and because it’s something of a slow burn with a runtime that clocks in at 2.5 hours.
ButContactshouldn’t be overlooked,because it’s a uniquely quiet and character-focused piece of science fiction, containing some prominent mystery elements and taking its time to build up to a final act, whereupon some answers are finally given. It’s intriguing and very well-made from a technical perspective, and also features a typicallygreat lead performance from Jodie Foster.
48’Total Recall' (1990)
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
With a bold central performance byArnold Schwarzenegger, typically wild direction fromPaul Verhoeven, and plenty of memorably strange special effects,Total Recallis a classic piece of 1990s sci-fi. It’s got a decent amount of camp and intentional humor, but there’s also enough here that can be taken somewhat seriously; it rides a fine – and interesting – line between being thought-provoking and being a bit of a joke.
It’s hard to totally recall the strange plot ofTotal Recall, but at its core, it’s about a man getting an implanted memory that begins to cross over with his reality, sending him on a wild and violent mission to get answers and make sense of the messiness going on around him.It’s a strange ride, but also an exceedingly entertaining one, with Verhoeven and Schwarzenegger both giving it 110%, which is always great to see.
Total Recall
47’Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes' (2020)
Directed by Junta Yamaguchi
Beyond the Infinite Two Minutesis one of thebest Japanese movies of the last few years, and also stands as one of the most entertaining and rewatchable sci-fi films in recent memory. It deals with an initially limited form of time travel that involves a screen that shows footage from two minutes in the future, which leads to wonder, fortunes, and eventual chaos for the people who discover this strange phenomenon.
Made on a limited budget and filmed in a way that makes it appear like a single take,Beyond the Infinite Two Minutesis quite dazzling for such a small-scale movie, and endlessly inventive/clever. It’s got an infectious spirit and is overall the kind of movie that will provide significant entertainment value for just about anyone who seeks it out.
Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes
Watch on Amazon Prime
46’Voyage of the Rock Aliens' (1984)
Directed by James Fargo
CallingVoyage of the Rock Aliensridiculous would be underselling it to a considerable extent, but that’s obvious, given it’s literally calledVoyage of the Rock Aliens. It functions as a surprisingly good (and wonderfully cheesy) musical, a comedy that feels like a throwback to teenmovies of the 1950sand ‘60s, and a sci-fi movie about aliens coming to Earth and trying/failing to fit into life on the planet.
Voyage of the Rock Aliensis a cult movie through and through, and one of the most 1980s-feeling movies to come out of the decade. It’s sloppy, the music probably isn’t for everyone, and watching it is an undeniably chaotic experience, butthere’s so much energy and vibrancy to the whole thing that it’s hard to resist, particularly for any sci-fi fans who have a particular fondness for science fiction of the B-movie variety.
