I don't dream at night, I dream at day, I dream all day; I'm dreaming for a living.
Stephen Spielberg
Of all the filmmakers past and present, Mr Spielberg should know about making science fiction films. He introduced us to a lovable, homesick alien and killer dinosaurs (in Jurassic Park). He also delivered one of the best films of all time: Schindler’s List. Clearly, he means it when saying he dreams for a living.
As talented and prolific as Mr Spielberg is, he's by no means the only science fiction film director. We’ve many great names and film titles to cover; limiting ourselves to one sci-fi creator sells the genre short. In this article, we present the best films from all eras of the science fiction genre.
Defining Science Fiction Eras
- The classic Sci-fi era: old science fiction films from the mid-50s to late 70s
- The progressive Sci-fi era: films from the 80s and 90s
- The new era of science fiction: the best new sci-fi films from 2000 onward
- New Sci-fi movies to look forward to
🏆Best Sci-Fi Films: The Classics
The mid-50s to late 70s was Sci-fi’s peak time. Ideas exploded onto the silver screen, each spectacle more lavish and engaging than the last. Low-budget Sci-fi B-films aside, this period was one of the most feverishly creative in the history of filmmaking.
Looking over that era’s film catalogue, it almost seems as though the studios split the labour. Half dedicated their resources to this genre, and the other half, to making the best comedies of all time. That doesn't mean you'll find no humour in Sci-fi movies; our first review is a case in point.
2001: A Space Odyssey - 1968
Long ago, some entity placed a monolith in a veldt, somewhere on Earth. A hominid tribe finds the monolith; through contact with it, they evolve over millennia.
Now, modern-day humans travel to the moon, where they discover another monolith. Evolution happens in stages, preparing this band of humans to meet the monolith builders.
💻Where to watch: Prime, YouTube, BFI Player
🍅Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
🍿Audience rating: 8.3/10
Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece took a while to find its mark. Until it did, critics hated it and filmgoers shunned it. However, its very banality is what makes it so momentous. This is the type of film that even Sci-fi writers rave about; you will too, once it hits you.
Alien - 1979
Headed to home base, a space tug's computer wakes its crew from stasis to investigate a lunar transmission. They land on that satellite and discover an alien spaceship.
One of the ship's chambers contains hordes of alien eggs that should never have been disturbed. The crew returns to their ship, carrying a deadly lifeform aboard with them.
💻Where to watch: Disney+, YouTube, Sky Store
🍅Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
🍿Audience rating: 9.1/10
Director Ridley Scott holds nothing back with this in-your-face Sci-fi horror extravaganza. Who could ever forget the first time the alien rips through a crewmember's chest? Though rather light on storytelling, Alien is a visual feast (of gore). This film and its sequels have become cult classics, complete with conventions and re-enactments.
More Legendary Sci-Fi Films to See
| 🏆Film Title | 📆Year | 🎬Director | 🤼Cast |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Day the Earth Stood Still | 1951 | Robert Wise | Michael Rennie Patricia Neal Hugh Marlowe |
| Them! | 1954 | Gordon Douglas | James Whitmore Edmund Gwenn Joan Weldon |
| Invasion of the Body Snatchers | 1956 | Don Siegel | Kevin McCarthy Dana Wynter Larry Gates |
| Planet of the Apes | 1968 | Franklin J. Schaffner | Charlton Heston Roddy McDowall Maurice Evans |
| Solaris | 1972 | Andrei Tarkovsky | Donatas Banionis Natalya Bondarchuk Jüri Järvet |
| Close Encounters of the Third Kind | 1977 | Steven Spielberg | Richard Dreyfuss Teri Garr Melinda Dillon |
| Star Wars | 1977 | George Lucas | Mark Hamill Harrison Ford Carrie Fisher |
| Star Trek: The Motion Picture | 1979 | Robert Wise | William Shatner Leonard Nimoy DeForest Kelley |
👽Old Science Fiction Films: Defining the Genre
The 80s saw Sci-fi productions climb to new heights. New technologies and filmmaking techniques made the stories more epic and the visuals more satisfying. Some of the best-animated films were Sci-Fi during this time (see below).
These were the Star Wars/Star Trek heyday, as well as the start of the Superhero genre. We met dinosaurs brought back to life, and quaked before cyborgs - local, and from afar. These two films bookend the era.
Blade Runner - 1982
A specially-trained police officer - a blade runner, rejoins the force against his will. His mission: to hunt down humanoid replicants, and dispatch them.
These bioengineered replicants have a pre-set lifespan, so dispatching these life forms is all part of the plan. However, the replicants have evolved with each generation; they're not so easy to eliminate, any more.
💻Where to watch: NowTV, Sky Go, Rakuten Viki
🍅Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
🍿Audience rating: 8.1/10
This is playing god taken to the extreme. Once again, Director Ridley Scott treats viewers to the most dismal of conditions. The twist at the end leaves the audience wondering if humanity is all it's cracked up to be.
Ghost in the Shell - 1995
In the not-too-distant future, humans will have the ability to upgrade their bodies. They may enhance or replace body parts, and 'install' a cyber brain to plug into the 'network'.
All of these upgrades make humans easy to hack, manipulate, and control, all by design. But what happens when an upgraded 'ghost' realises the value of being human?
💻Where to watch: YouTube, Sky Store, Amazon
🍅Rotten Tomatoes 95%
🍿Audience rating: 7.9/10
Ghost is among the most exquisite of anime, seamlessly blending computer effects into standard production. This movie inspired a generation of similar films, The Matrix series, Stephen Spielberg's A.I., and James Cameron's Avatar among them. Also, Ghost's soundtrack will haunt you!
Other Films From This Era to Watch
| 🏆Film Title | 📆Year | 🎬Director | 🤼Cast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Star Wars – The Empire Strikes Back | 1980 | George Lucas | Mark Hamill Harrison Ford Carrie Fisher |
| The Thing | 1982 | John Carpenter | Kurt Russell Wilford Brimley T.K. Carter |
| Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan | 1982 | Nicholas Meyer | William Shatner Leonard Nimoy DeForest Kelley |
| ET The Extraterrestrial | 1982 | Steven Spielberg | Dee Wallace Henry Thomas Peter Coyote |
| The Terminator | 1984 | James Cameron | Arnold Schwarzenegger Michael Biehn Linda Hamilton |
| Back to the Future | 1985 | Robert Zemeckis | Michael J. Fox Christopher Lloyd Lea Thompson |
| The Fly | 1986 | David Cronenberg | Jeff Goldblum Geena Davis John Getz |
| Predator | 1987 | John McTiernan | Arnold Schwarzenegger Carl Weathers Elpidia Carrillo |
| Jurassic Park | 1993 | Steven Spielberg | Sam Neill Laura Dern Jeff Goldblum |
| Independence Day | 1996 | Roland Emmerich | Will Smith Bill Pullman Jeff Goldblum |
👾(Relatively) New Sci-Fi Movies
Something happened at the turn of the century. Sci-fi productions fell by the wayside, in favour of action thrillers. Indeed, some of the best thriller films – of all types, emerged during this period. The superhero genre came to dominate cinema screens from 2000 onwards.
Still, we have a couple of underrated gems to consider. One of them, a Pixar studios release, embraces the same dystopian themes as the last film we reviewed. However, it ends on a much happier note.
Wall-E - 2008
A decrepit robot, the last of its kind - the last of any kind that functions, does its best to follow its prime directive. He interrupts his lonely, impossible task when a new, attractive robot comes flying in.
Eva, a test bot, is looking for proof of life on the rubbish heap called Earth. Soon, she returns to her spaceship, so the humans aboard can analyse her findings. But the whole escapade doesn't go off without a hitch.
💻Where to watch: Disney+, Amazon, YouTube
🍅Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
🍿Audience rating: 9/10
Wall-E perhaps goes a little over the top in its preachiness and heartstring pulling. Still, this film presents an urgent and valid theme. It may charm you into getting moving, despite being pounded over the head with the message.
Snowpiercer - 2013
The last of humanity circles the wasted globe aboard a train, from which they may never exit. The class divisions are obvious: the elite ride in opulence, while the rest ride in steerage conditions.
Armed guards ensure those lines never blur. And then, a rebellion ensues, which reveals the cynical reasons for the class divisions.
💻Where to watch: Prime, BFI Player
🍅Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
🍿Audience rating: 7.1/10
Director Bong Joon-ho pulls no punches with this futuristic tale of greed and grief. He drives the film's true-to-life themes to their extremes, drawing you in from the start. Don't miss this one!
Other Titles from This Era to Add to Your Watchlist
| 🏆Film Title | 📆Year | 🎬Director | 🤼Cast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Save the Green Planet | 2003 | Jang Joon-hwan | Shin Ha-kyun Baek Yoon-sik |
| Primer | 2004 | Shane Carruth | Shane Carruth David Sullivan |
| Sunshine | 2007 | Danny Boyle | Cillian Murphy Rose Byrne Cliff Curtis |
| Gantz | 2011 | Shinsuke Sato | Kazunari Ninomiya Ken'ichi Matsuyama Yuriko Yoshitaka |
| Under the Skin | 2013 | Jonathan Glazer | Scarlett Johansson Jeremy McWilliams Adam Pearson |
🌟Best New Sci-Fi Films
You'll note that, throughout this exposé, we've left out superhero films, as well as Transformers and the like. These cartoon-based offerings often surpass even the best British films in box office receipts. However, they fail to incorporate space exploration, alien civilisations, and other scientific topics. Those concepts are - or should be, science fiction's defining characteristic.
Superhero films vaguely incorporate Sci-fi themes, but they revolve around good-versus-evil plots. They (over-) rely on computer-generated imagery (CGI) for spectacle, rather than letting the story tell the story. These factors (should) consign them to the fantasy-action category, rather than science fiction.
Excluding the superhero genre, we're left with a narrow selection of Sci-fi films from 2020 onwards. The COVID pandemic further reduced film production, leaving us with only three English language Sci-Fi titles to add to our watchlists. One of them ranks among the best films in the last five years.
Dune - 2021
Dune tells the tale of an emotional hero, whose destiny is to ensure the future of his species. He must cross galaxies to secure his people's supply of 'spice'.
This precious substance, so little of it for being so crucial, causes war to break out. Our hero will fight, and bring peace to the warring factions.
💻Where to watch: in cinemas (select areas), on Prime
🍅Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
🍿Audience rating: 9/10
A lush production with ample talent to pull the story off. Dune is a reversion to the world-building style of Star Wars and others of the 80s era. Still, for a presumably emotion-driven hero, the emotions fell flat in this epic. Perhaps Director Villeneuve will correct that deficit in Dune II.
Two more New Sci-fi films to Watch:
Space Sweepers - 2021
- Director: Jo Sung-hee
- Cast: Kim Tae-ri, Song Joong-ki
- Ratings: 🍅69%; 🍿6.5/10
- Where to watch: Netflix
Nope - 2022
- Director: Jordan Peele
- Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer
- Ratings: 🍅83%; 🍿8/10
- Where to watch: Netflix, Now, Apple TV
Which Sci-Fi era's films do you prefer?
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