Paste's the 100 Best Sci-fi Movies of All Time

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Created by Panunzio.

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Much like its close genre cousin (nephew/niece?) the superhero film, the potential of cinematic science fiction exploded in the latter part of the 20th century thanks to technological advances that transformed special effects. Unlike superhero films, which were so stunted for so long that almost every new one makes it onto our updated 100 Best Superhero Films of All Time list, science fiction proved fertile ground for filmmakers before the likes of Industrial Light & Magic supercharged a director’s ability to exceed our imagination. Thus, this list, while filled with films from the ’80s onward, has its fair share of older films. Before we dive into it, though, let’s discuss a few things this list will not have (or at least, not have many of).

Superhero films are for the most part absent. Though so many superhero stories involve the stuff of science fiction—aliens, high-tech and strange worlds—there are plenty of great sci-fi movies to include on this list without bumping 20 of them off for DC and the MCU. (We’ve made an exception for one entry because the space opera underpinnings were too strong to ignore.) We’ve also left off, for the most part, the traditional giant monster/kaiju movie for the same reason. If you want a nice roundup of Godzilla’s greatest hits, check out our own Jim Vorel’s ranking of Godzilla’s cinematic oeuvre. (For the real kaiju rank-o-phile, Jim has also taken the measure of every Godzilla monster.) Finally, joining superheroes and kaiju on the sidelines, are the post-apocalyptic (and a few mid-apocalyptic) films. Though, again, there are a few exceptions, for the most part you will not find Mad Max here, or Eli, or even that guy who is Legend. (I see you frowning—“But will there be dystopias,” you ask? Hell yeah, we got dystopias.)

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  1. 1 -

    2001: A Space Odyssey

    1968, in 45 top lists Check
  2. 86 +2

    A.I. Artificial Intelligence

    2001, in 11 top lists Check
  3. 27 -

    Akira

    1988, in 22 top lists Check
  4. 9 -

    Alien

    1979, in 30 top lists Check
  5. 4 -

    Aliens

    1986, in 24 top lists Check
  6. 102 +1

    Alphaville: Une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution

    1965 — a.k.a. Alphaville, in 13 top lists Check
  7. 50 -

    Annihilation

    2018, in 3 top lists Check
  8. 103 new

    Antiviral

    2012, in 0 top lists Check
  9. 48 -

    Arrival

    2016, in 11 top lists Check
  10. 82 +1

    Attack the Block

    2011, in 2 top lists Check
  11. 64 +2

    Avatar

    2009, in 14 top lists Check
  12. 14 -

    Back to the Future

    1985, in 25 top lists Check
  13. 15 -

    Back to the Future Part II

    1989, in 6 top lists Check
  14. 16 -

    Back to the Future Part III

    1990, in 6 top lists Check
  15. 101 +1

    Barbarella

    1968, in 7 top lists Check
  16. 2 -

    Blade Runner

    1982, in 36 top lists Check
  17. 47 -

    Blade Runner 2049

    2017, in 9 top lists Check
  18. 8 -

    Brazil

    1985, in 23 top lists Check
  19. 99 -

    The Brother from Another Planet

    1984, in 1 top list Check
  20. 76 +1

    The Chronicles of Riddick

    2004, in 0 top lists Check
  21. 35 -

    A Clockwork Orange

    1971, in 37 top lists Check
  22. 25 -

    Close Encounters of the Third Kind

    1977, in 23 top lists Check
  23. 68 +2

    Contact

    1997, in 2 top lists Check
  24. 87 +2

    Dark City

    1998, in 6 top lists Check
  25. 13 -

    The Day the Earth Stood Still

    1951, in 12 top lists Check
  26. 83 +1

    District 9

    2009, in 10 top lists Check
  27. 28 -

    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

    1982, in 30 top lists Check
  28. 66 +2

    Edge of Tomorrow

    2014, in 3 top lists Check
  29. 26 -

    Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

    2004, in 28 top lists Check
  30. 70 +2

    Évolution

    2015 — a.k.a. Evolution, in 1 top list Check
  31. 44 -

    Ex Machina

    2014, in 5 top lists Check
  32. 40 -

    The Fifth Element

    1997, in 7 top lists Check
  33. 30 -

    The Fly

    1986, in 11 top lists Check
  34. 29 -

    The Fly

    1958, in 4 top lists Check
  35. 38 -

    Forbidden Planet

    1956, in 9 top lists Check
  36. 94 +2

    Galaxy Quest

    1999, in 3 top lists Check
  37. 71 +2

    GATTACA

    1997 — a.k.a. Gattaca, in 5 top lists Check
  38. 24 -

    Her

    2013, in 10 top lists Check
  39. 93 +2

    The Hidden

    1987, in 2 top lists Check
  40. 74 new

    High Life

    2018, in 3 top lists Check
  41. 85 +1

    Inception

    2010, in 21 top lists Check
  42. 91 +2

    Independence Day

    1996, in 8 top lists Check
  43. 63 -

    Interstellar

    2014, in 13 top lists Check
  44. 39 -

    Invasion of the Body Snatchers

    1978, in 3 top lists Check
  45. 22 -

    The Iron Giant

    1999, in 14 top lists Check
  46. 33 -

    Je t'aime, je t'aime

    1968, in 3 top lists Check
  47. 10 -

    La jetée

    1962 — a.k.a. La Jetée, in 19 top lists Check
  48. 21 -

    Jurassic Park

    1993, in 23 top lists Check
  49. 62 -

    Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä

    1984 — a.k.a. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, in 10 top lists Check
  50. 84 +1

    Kôkaku Kidôtai

    1995 — a.k.a. Ghost in the Shell, in 12 top lists Check
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Last updated on Jan 29, 2022 by Panunzio; source