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. 85 +1

    Inception

    2010, in 21 top lists Check
  2. 26 -

    Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

    2004, in 28 top lists Check
  3. 11 -

    The Matrix

    1999, in 30 top lists Check
  4. 14 -

    Back to the Future

    1985, in 25 top lists Check
  5. 17 -

    WALL·E

    2008, in 26 top lists Check
  6. 35 -

    A Clockwork Orange

    1971, in 37 top lists Check
  7. 5 -

    Star Wars

    1977, in 40 top lists Check
  8. 3 -

    Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

    1980, in 25 top lists Check
  9. 77 +1

    The Truman Show

    1998, in 14 top lists Check
  10. 1 -

    2001: A Space Odyssey

    1968, in 45 top lists Check
  11. 2 -

    Blade Runner

    1982, in 36 top lists Check
  12. 9 -

    Alien

    1979, in 30 top lists Check
  13. 18 -

    Terminator 2: Judgment Day

    1991, in 27 top lists Check
  14. 21 -

    Jurassic Park

    1993, in 23 top lists Check
  15. 65 +2

    Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

    1983, in 18 top lists Check
  16. 83 +1

    District 9

    2009, in 10 top lists Check
  17. 69 +2

    Twelve Monkeys

    1995 — a.k.a. 12 Monkeys, in 14 top lists Check
  18. 40 -

    The Fifth Element

    1997, in 7 top lists Check
  19. 4 -

    Aliens

    1986, in 24 top lists Check
  20. 63 -

    Interstellar

    2014, in 13 top lists Check
  21. 64 +2

    Avatar

    2009, in 14 top lists Check
  22. 95 +2

    Moon

    2009, in 5 top lists Check
  23. 34 -

    The Thing

    1982, in 20 top lists Check
  24. 23 -

    The Terminator

    1984, in 24 top lists Check
  25. 24 -

    Her

    2013, in 10 top lists Check
  26. 61 -

    Star Trek

    2009, in 4 top lists Check
  27. 15 -

    Back to the Future Part II

    1989, in 6 top lists Check
  28. 28 -

    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

    1982, in 30 top lists Check
  29. 8 -

    Brazil

    1985, in 23 top lists Check
  30. 22 -

    The Iron Giant

    1999, in 14 top lists Check
  31. 58 -1

    Minority Report

    2002, in 8 top lists Check
  32. 27 -

    Akira

    1988, in 22 top lists Check
  33. 20 -

    Metropolis

    1927, in 36 top lists Check
  34. 71 +2

    GATTACA

    1997 — a.k.a. Gattaca, in 5 top lists Check
  35. 59 -1

    Men in Black

    1997, in 6 top lists Check
  36. 48 -

    Arrival

    2016, in 11 top lists Check
  37. 16 -

    Back to the Future Part III

    1990, in 6 top lists Check
  38. 6 -

    Stalker

    1979, in 22 top lists Check
  39. 44 -

    Ex Machina

    2014, in 5 top lists Check
  40. 86 +2

    A.I. Artificial Intelligence

    2001, in 11 top lists Check
  41. 91 +2

    Independence Day

    1996, in 8 top lists Check
  42. 62 -

    Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä

    1984 — a.k.a. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, in 10 top lists Check
  43. 37 -

    Total Recall

    1990, in 8 top lists Check
  44. 78 +1

    Looper

    2012, in 2 top lists Check
  45. 45 -

    Planet of the Apes

    1968, in 16 top lists Check
  46. 42 -

    Predator

    1987, in 9 top lists Check
  47. 66 +2

    Edge of Tomorrow

    2014, in 3 top lists Check
  48. 47 -

    Blade Runner 2049

    2017, in 9 top lists Check
  49. 79 +1

    Pi

    1998, in 6 top lists Check
  50. 25 -

    Close Encounters of the Third Kind

    1977, in 23 top lists Check
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Last updated on Jan 29, 2022 by Panunzio; source