Paste's the 100 Best Sci-fi Movies of All Time
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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3 -
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
1980, in 25 top lists Check -
4 -
Aliens
1986, in 24 top lists Check -
5 -
Star Wars
1977, in 40 top lists Check -
11 -
The Matrix
1999, in 30 top lists Check -
12 -
RoboCop
1987, in 15 top lists Check -
18 -
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1991, in 27 top lists Check -
22 -
The Iron Giant
1999, in 14 top lists Check -
23 -
The Terminator
1984, in 24 top lists Check -
27 -
Akira
1988, in 22 top lists Check -
31 -
They Live
1988, in 7 top lists Check -
32 -
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
1982, in 6 top lists Check -
37 -
Total Recall
1990, in 8 top lists Check -
38 -
Forbidden Planet
1956, in 9 top lists Check -
40 -
The Fifth Element
1997, in 7 top lists Check -
42 -
Predator
1987, in 9 top lists Check -
46 -
Starship Troopers
1997, in 9 top lists Check -
57 -1
Videodrome
1983, in 18 top lists Check -
58 -1
Minority Report
2002, in 8 top lists Check -
60 -
Logan's Run
1976, in 4 top lists Check -
61 -
Star Trek
2009, in 4 top lists Check -
64 +2
Avatar
2009, in 14 top lists Check -
65 +2
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
1983, in 18 top lists Check -
66 +2
Edge of Tomorrow
2014, in 3 top lists Check -
76 +1
The Chronicles of Riddick
2004, in 0 top lists Check -
78 +1
Looper
2012, in 2 top lists Check -
80 +1
Tron
1982, in 5 top lists Check -
82 +1
Attack the Block
2011, in 2 top lists Check -
83 +1
District 9
2009, in 10 top lists Check -
84 +1
Kôkaku Kidôtai
1995 — a.k.a. Ghost in the Shell, in 12 top lists Check -
85 +1
Inception
2010, in 21 top lists Check -
88 new
Snowpiercer
2013, in 2 top lists Check -
91 +2
Independence Day
1996, in 8 top lists Check -
92 +2
Westworld
1973, in 5 top lists Check -
93 +2
The Hidden
1987, in 2 top lists Check -
94 +2
Galaxy Quest
1999, in 3 top lists Check -
98 -
Outland
1981, in 2 top lists Check
Last updated on Jan 29, 2022 by Panunzio; source