Hundreds of science fiction movies have been released over the decades, but only a few have left lasting legacies. From alien invasions to AI apocalypses, these are the greatest sci-fi films of all time.
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00:00Hundreds of science fiction movies have been released over the decades, but only a select
00:04few have left lasting legacies. From alien invasions to AI apocalypses, these are the
00:09greatest sci-fi films of all time.
00:12Like Groundhog Day, but with a science fiction twist, Edge of Tomorrow sees Tom Cruise as
00:16a media relations officer who's forced onto the front lines of a war against alien mimics.
00:21He quickly finds himself brutally killed by one of them, but exposure to its blood causes
00:25him to relive that same day over and over again. Only through repeated deaths can he
00:29figure out how to stop the mimics and save Earth from their destruction. But thankfully,
00:33he has the help of a revered soldier who was once in his position. Fans of military sci-fi
00:37and Tom Cruise still regard Edge of Tomorrow as a modern masterwork, and rightfully so.
00:43A cult classic famous today for its live showcasts, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a scarily
00:47entertaining musical like no other. After their car gets a flat tire, straight-laced
00:51couple Brad Majors and Janet Weiss happen across a wild party at the home of one Dr.
00:57The cause for celebration? He's about to bring to life a gorgeous hunk of his own creation.
01:01This loving parody of 1950s sci-fi and horror still gets people talking — and singing
01:06— today.
01:07I see you shiver with anticipation.
01:14Building on the ideas depicted in the 1933 film of the same name, 2020's The Invisible
01:18Man reworks the original concept into a commentary on abuse. In Lee Wannell's reboot, Cecilia
01:24Kass goes into hiding after leaving her violent boyfriend Adrian, a rich technologist. News
01:29of Adrian's death at his own hand allows Cecilia to finally drop her guard, but she soon becomes
01:33convinced that Adrian is not only alive, but following her every move in order to keep
01:38her under his control. This sci-fi horror proves that the scariest thing is often what
01:42you can't see.
01:43Nearly seven decades after Godzilla first took his steps into the city of Tokyo, the
01:47King of Monsters returned with a vengeance in one of his most exciting appearances yet
01:51in 2023's Godzilla Minus One. As World War II comes to an end, kamikaze pilot Koichi
01:57Shikishima encounters Godzilla, but fails to shoot the monster when he has a chance.
02:01After returning home and being shunned for his inability to act, Koichi finds a shot
02:05of redemption when the kaiju returns with destruction on its mind. Takashi Yamazaki's
02:10Godzilla Minus One broke box office records and gave the radioactive lizard its very first
02:14Oscar win for best visual effects.
02:17One of the most awarded films of all time, with seven Oscars to its name, 2022's Everything
02:22Everywhere All at Once is an over-the-top action extravaganza and a tear-jerking family
02:26drama at the same time. While attempting to finish her taxes, jaded laundromat owner Evelyn
02:31Wang is suddenly drafted into a battle to save all of reality from a nihilistic superbeing.
02:35She'll need to acquire memories and skills from other versions of herself across the
02:39multiverse, all of whom have lived more interesting and successful lives. Showcasing the martial
02:44arts talents of actors Michelle Yeoh and Kihyu Kwang, Everything Everywhere All at
02:48Once is a riotous and thought-provoking experience.
02:51Every disappointment has led you here, to this moment. Don't let anything distract you
02:59from it.
03:00Nuclear anxiety was a major part of life in mid-century America, with millions of people
03:04nervous about being blown up at any given moment. Naturally, 1951's The Day the Earth
03:09Stood Still capitalized on those understandable fears. A humanoid alien called Klaatu has
03:14come to speak to all the nations of the Earth and warn them of the dangers of the atom bomb.
03:18When their leaders refuse to cooperate with each other, Klaatu goes undercover as an ordinary
03:22man in the hopes of finding a more receptive audience. If he can't bring Earth's people
03:26together, he may have no choice but to destroy them all.
03:29The Day the Earth Stood Still is an essential sci-fi drama, critical of Cold War hostility
03:33but humanist to its core.
03:36Not every sci-fi protagonist is a genius. In Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, high
03:40school slackers Bill S. Preston and Ted Theodore Logan just want to be rock stars. But in the
03:45distant future, they're the revered Great Ones whose philosophy is the cornerstone of
03:49a utopian society. All they have to do to keep the future on track is ace their history
03:53report. So, with the help of time traveler Rufus, they bring famous historical figures
03:57to the present for a mind-blowing presentation.
04:00Fans have continued to revisit this excellent adventure time and time again over the decades.
04:04While many sci-fi films aim to delve into deep philosophical topics, Bill & Ted has
04:08a more simple yet equally important message.
04:11Be excellent to each other.
04:16It's a challenge to make a time travel story that isn't a total mess. But Terry Gilliam's
04:201990 effort 12 Monkeys also manages to make it work. In the year 2035, humans have been
04:25driven underground after the outbreak of a deadly, rapidly mutating virus. The only hope
04:30for a cure is to obtain a sample of the original virus strain, and it only exists in the past.
04:35Unstable prisoner James Cole is sent back to the year 1996 to find it, but the plan
04:39goes awry. He's captured and institutionalized for his ravings about the future. Simultaneously,
04:44a tense sci-fi thriller and a surrealist dark comedy, 12 Monkeys feels like a tug-of-war
04:49between sanity and madness.
04:52One of many sci-fi flicks inspired by the works of author Philip K. Dick, Total Recall
04:56stars the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger as blue-collar everyman Douglas Quaid. In
05:01this version of the future, technology exists to implant convincing memories into a person's
05:05mind. So Quaid signs up to download the memory of a vacation to the Mars colony. Something
05:10goes wrong. Instead, he learns that his real life is apparently the product of memory manipulation,
05:15and that he's actually a secret agent who's needed back on the real Mars immediately.
05:19Which of his memories can he trust?
05:21Total Recall is an action sci-fi romp with whimsy to spare. Showcasing director Paul
05:25Verhoeven's trademark mix of humor and over-the-top carnage. Stanley Kubrick was known for pushing
05:31boundaries, but none of his films are more divisive than his 1971 ode to ultraviolence,
05:35A Clockwork Orange. After going on a crime spree with his droogs, young gang leader Alex
05:40DeLarge is arrested for murder and forced to undergo a painful experimental procedure
05:44designed to curb his violent behavior. Will the Ludovico method leave Alex a changed man,
05:49or is he doomed to a life of delinquency?
05:51Stop it! Stop it, please! I beg you! It's a sin! It's a sin!
05:58A Clockwork Orange is tough to watch, especially due to its scenes depicting brutal assaults.
06:02But it's still one of the most bizarre, controversial, and influential works of 1970s dystopian sci-fi.
06:09Apes Together Strong and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the strongest installment of
06:13the Apes prequel series that started in 2011. It takes place a decade after a viral mutagen
06:18wiped out most of humanity, simultaneously granting superior intelligence to the rest
06:22of the Earth's simian population. As human civilization crumbles, apes have begun to
06:27build one of their own. And in California's Muir Woods, the benevolent chimpanzee Caesar
06:31leads a peaceful and diverse ape enclave that's about to be invaded. Dawn of the Planet of
06:35the Apes employs cutting-edge visual effects and some of the greatest motion-capture performances
06:40of all time to build a gripping drama out of what could otherwise be a laughable premise.
06:45Featuring no UFOs and an extremely foreboding energy, Under the Skin is an alien invasion
06:50movie in a class of its own. Starring Scarlett Johansson as a nameless alien who takes human
06:55form, she lures unsuspecting men into her lair, from which they never return. Unfortunately
06:59for her, though, her feeding cycle will not go undisturbed. Directed by Oscar-winner Jonathan
07:04Glazer, Under the Skin is a polarizing film that many critics fell in love with. This
07:08arthouse exploration of gendered power dynamics doesn't hold anything back.
07:12It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Richard Donner's Superman, still one of the greatest
07:17superhero films ever made to this day. We all know the story. A scientist from the dune
07:21planet Krypton sends his infant son to Earth, where he's raised by a kindly couple in Kansas.
07:26Growing up, the alien refugee discovers that he has incredible powers and uses them to
07:30protect humanity from extraordinary dangers. Superman the movie was the first serious mythological
07:36approach to adapting a comic book superhero for the big screen. Come to see a man fly,
07:40save for the screwball romantic chemistry between Christopher Reeve's Clark Kent and
07:44Margot Kidder's Lois Lane.
07:46Who are you?
07:48A friend.
07:50Starring Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac, and a handful of other familiar Hollywood faces,
07:54Annihilation sees a meteor landing on the Florida panhandle and creating a strange,
07:59growing energy field that scientists dubbed the Shimmer. Lena, a virologist and U.S. Army
08:03veteran, believes she has lost her husband, Kane, to an exploratory mission inside the
08:07Shimmer, but he finally returns a year later. When Kane falls gravely ill, Lena and a team
08:11of scientist-soldiers venture into the Shimmer in search of a cure, but the world inside
08:15is stranger and more terrifying than they could have imagined. Infamous for several
08:19particularly paralyzing moments, Annihilation will leave you guessing until the very end.
08:25Far from your typical Frankenstein story, Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things turns a famously
08:29brutish monster into a beautiful woman with a child's brain — literally. After discovering
08:34a lifeless body pregnant with a still-living baby, mad scientist Godwin Baxter replaces
08:39her brain with a child's in order to create the brand-new Bella. As she grows up and leaves
08:43home, she discovers that the world is a big place with many wondrous aspects — and a
08:47lot of darkness, too.
08:49My empathy is creeping toward what I would describe as contemptuous rage.
08:55Poor Things is a lot. It's a comedy, a horror flick, a dark drama about amorality run amok,
09:00a steampunk visual feast, a thorny treatise on gender, a non-monogamous romance, and above
09:05all, a real hoot.
09:07Both a kaiju story and an environmentalist fable, Bong Joon-ho's The Host sees a giant
09:12monster emerge from South Korea's Han River after gallons of toxic formaldehyde are dumped
09:16into the water. The creature comes ashore to consume the populace, capturing preteen
09:20Han Se-yo. Her family will have to band together and escape an American military quarantine
09:25to find her before the monster makes her its next meal.
09:27The Host deftly juggles comedy, horror, and action while aptly satirizing both South Korean
09:32and American politics.
09:34Hailing from the former Soviet Union, director Andrei Tarkovsky has produced several iconic
09:39sci-fi films that have long outlasted their country of origin. Taking place on a space
09:43station in orbit around a mysterious planet, Solaris sees the ship's crew descending into
09:48delusion. Psychiatrist Chris Kelvin is sent to investigate the hallucinations, only to
09:52be greeted by his own late wife.
09:54While lacking the excitement of some of its contemporaries, Solaris makes up for it with
09:58outstanding performances and a thoughtful narrative about love and identity.
10:02Alien invaders in movies usually tend to make first contact in New York or Los Angeles,
10:07but Attack the Block depicts extraterrestrials touching down near a South London public housing
10:11project. The authorities are useless, but a teenage street gang led by the charismatic
10:15Moses is itching for a fight and prepared to protect their neighborhood from being destroyed.
10:20I'm chasing that down. I'm killing that. Watch.
10:25A sci-fi action comedy with a big heart, Attack the Block does a whole lot with a relatively
10:29small budget. Despite being a box office failure, the film gained cult status and served as
10:34a launchpad for future Star Wars and Doctor Who stars John Boyega and Jodie Whittaker.
10:40Science fiction movies have been around since the silent era, and none have withstood the
10:43test of time quite like Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Released all the way back in 1927, the film
10:48depicts a futuristic tiered society in which the wealthy lavish in luxury on the upper
10:53levels, while the poor toil below in dangerous conditions.
10:56Fredersen, the son of the city's industrial master, learns the truth behind his family's
11:00wealth and decides to join the workers in solidarity. Meanwhile, labor leader Maria
11:04is kidnapped and replaced with an identical robot in an attempt to sabotage their peaceful
11:08protests. Celebrated for its art deco production design and accessible story, Metropolis has
11:13endured for nearly a century as the greatest sci-fi film of the silent era.
11:17E.T. the Extraterrestrial has been a family favorite ever since its release in 1982, acting
11:22as an introduction to science fiction for countless children in the years since. Steven
11:26Spielberg's heartwarming adventure follows lonely 10-year-old Elliot Taylor as he forms
11:30a friendship with an alien visitor who's accidentally become stranded on Earth. While lacking a
11:35common language, the pair get along swimmingly, but as E.T. waits to be rescued by his fellow
11:39extraterrestrials, Elliot must prepare to say goodbye to his new companion.
11:43E.T. phone home.
11:47E.T. was a massive cultural sensation, breaking the box office records set by Star Wars five
11:52years earlier. Outstanding practical effects and puppetry made E.T. a sci-fi icon that
11:56anyone can recognize.
11:58In another Verhoeven classic, Starship Troopers sees Earth at war with giant alien bugs from
12:03the planet Klendathu. The movie follows infantryman Johnny Rico, pilot Carmen Ibenez,
12:08and intelligence officer Carl Jenkins as they evolve from high school friends to model soldiers
12:13of the Federation. There's just one catch. The Federation is a deeply fascist government,
12:17and Starship Troopers is constructed like a propaganda film meant to convince the people
12:21of Earth to lay down their lives for the cause. Starship Troopers has courted some controversy
12:26over the years for its over-the-top satire, but if you go in expecting a solid sci-fi
12:30action comedy, you won't be disappointed.
12:33David Cronenberg's name is synonymous with body horror, and none of his creepy classics
12:37resonated more with audiences than his 1986 effort The Fly. Jeff Goldblum stars as Seth
12:42Brundle, a smooth-talking scientist who's built a machine that can instantly teleport
12:46matter from one enclosed pod to another. Eager to impress a local journalist,
12:50Seth tests his telepods on himself, but when a housefly ends up in the pod alongside him,
12:55the DNA of the two beings are merged into what eventually becomes a horrifying hybrid.
12:59Sexual, goopy, and deeply gross, The Fly won an Oscar for its makeup effects by Chris Wallace.
13:05There's a new lawman in the city of Detroit, and his name is Robocop.
13:09In Paul Verhoeven's movie of the same name, police officer Alex Murphy is rebuilt as an
13:13invulnerable cyborg after being brutally murdered by a gang. Under the control of the OCP Corporation,
13:19Robocop is programmed to enforce their will. But when he starts accessing memories of his
13:23former self, he rebels against his creators. Famous for its over-the-top violence and its
13:27satirical take on action movies in the police state, Robocop is a darkly funny take on the
13:32future of law enforcement.
13:33You're a move, creep.
13:35If you've ever been annoyed by excessive consumerism, John Carpenter's They Live
13:39is the movie for you. After discovering a special pair of sunglasses that allow him
13:43to see the world as it really is, drifter Nada learns that Earth has already been taken over
13:47by alien monsters that walk among us. They beam subliminal messages into our entertainment and
13:52advertising, commanding us to obey and conform. So in his outrage, Nada joins a resistance movement
13:57to stop them and expose their presence to the world. Complete with a memorable concept,
14:01an iconic monster design, and a fight scene that simply refuses to end,
14:05They Live is a small-scale action film that's still painfully relevant today.
14:10For decades, the shadow of David Lynch's 1984 attempt at turning Frank Herbert's
14:14Dune into a viable blockbuster gave people the impression that the book was unadaptable.
14:18It only took 40 years, but Denis Valneu's Dune Part II proved that the rise of Paul
14:23Atreides could be depicted in a beautifully cinematic way. As the young hero lives a new
14:27life among the Fremen people, he is declared the Lisan al-Gaib and goes on to change the fate of
14:32Arrakis forever. Featuring a staggeringly impressive cast and a healthy dose of giant
14:36sandworms, Dune Part II set a new standard for adult-oriented blockbuster cinema,
14:41whose the film fans had been waiting for since 1965.
14:45Before his untimely death in 2010, anime maestro Satoshi Kon gave his fans one final gift,
14:51the surreal thriller Paprika. This cat-and-mouse game between a dream terrorist and a psychiatrist
14:56turned detective blurs the lines between reality and fantasy in some truly shocking ways.
15:01Using a device known as the DC Mini, Dr. Atsuko Chiba enters the dreams of her clients as her
15:06alter-ego Paprika. Unfortunately, there's an unexpected side effect to the machine.
15:11It's connecting the dream space of everyone who's ever used it. As someone attempts to
15:15exploit this connection to destroy other people's minds, it's up to the scientists
15:18who designed the DC Mini to investigate the crime and stop the dream world from merging with ours.
15:24Likely influenced by Paprika's dream-hopping several years earlier, Christopher Nolan's
15:282010 film Inception is another take on what might happen if a person were to
15:32infiltrate another's subconscious.
15:34When we're asleep, our mind can do almost anything.
15:37Dominic Cobb is a fugitive and corporate spy-for-hire who uses advanced technology
15:41to invade a target's dreams and extract information. But his newest assignment is
15:45a bit different. Instead, Cobb intends to plant the seed of an idea in his unsuspecting target,
15:50and he'll need a whole crew to pull it off. Known for its reality-bending visuals and
15:54its ambiguous ending, Inception was a global phenomenon that confounds viewers to this day.
15:59If you love anime, you've probably seen Akira. But if you aren't familiar with
16:03Katsuhiro Otomo's 1988 dystopian classic, prepare for an experience like no other.
16:08A generation after the Third World War, the youth of Neo-Tokyo are poor, angry,
16:13and uncared for. A war between two motorcycle gangs is interrupted when one of the teenage
16:17combatants, Tetsuo, is captured by the government for use in experiments designed to develop his
16:22psychokinetic potential. As the surrogate brother Kaneda and the resistance fighter
16:26Kei attempt to free him, Tetsuo's deadly powers grow, as does his rage. More than 35 years after
16:32its release, Akira remains one of the most influential, visually dazzling, and outright
16:36disturbing animated films ever made.
16:39No science fiction best-of list is ever complete without Star Trek. And even though Trekkies have
16:44lots of differences in opinion, it's common consensus that 1982's The Wrath of Khan represents
16:49the series at its theatrical peak. Some 15 years after Starfleet, Captain James T. Kirk left the
16:54genetic Superman, Khan, and his followers alone on an unsettled planet. Khan has escaped and stolen
16:59a doomsday weapon that can destroy and recreate entire worlds. The dueling performances of
17:04William Shatner and Ricardo Montalbán make Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan the undisputed standout
17:09and one of sci-fi's most beloved franchises.
17:12Even though its special effects are lacking when compared to its prequels,
17:15the 1968 Planet of the Apes is still one of the most iconic films in science fiction history.
17:20When astronaut George Taylor crash-lands on a planet where the human population is enslaved
17:24by a civilization of sentient apes, he must convince a society that believes he is an
17:28animal that he is as much a person as they are.
17:31Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!
17:35While it's mostly remembered nowadays for its legendary finale, Planet of the Apes is still
17:40one of sci-fi's greatest fish-out-of-water stories.
17:43For 70 years, the name Godzilla has struck fear in the hearts of moviegoers everywhere.
17:47The radioactive king of monsters has faced all sorts of fearsome foes during his lengthy reign,
17:52but his first assault on the city of Tokyo will always be his most memorable.
17:56Enraged by nuclear weapons tests, Godzilla rampages, and while one scientist has developed
18:00a weapon powerful enough to defeat the monster, his conscience is torn. Can he really risk
18:05revealing the existence of yet another unspeakable weapon of mass destruction?
18:09A powerful commentary on the cruelty of nuclear war,
18:11Godzilla will always be the quintessential kaiju movie.
18:15We all have awkward memories that we wish we could erase, but in Eternal Sunshine of
18:19the Spotless Mind, all it takes to do that is a visit to a mysterious clinic.
18:23After Joel Barish learns his ex-girlfriend Clementine paid to have him erased from her
18:27memory, he decides to do the same for her in an attempt to move on. But as Joel enters a dream-like
18:31state, reliving their history before he forgets it, he comes to realize that even our most painful
18:36memories are worth holding onto. A bittersweet love story from the minds of Michel Gondry and
18:40Charlie Kaufman, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of those movies that you could never
18:45forget — even if you wanted to. Two years after Steven Spielberg made
18:49America terrified of sharks with his breakout hit Jaws, he did the same for aliens with his
18:531977 feature Close Encounters of the Third Kind. When blue-collar everyman Roy Neary catches a
18:59brief but close-up sighting of a UFO, he becomes obsessed with the search for extraterrestrial
19:04life. Roy soon discovers that other people have had similar experiences, including a woman who
19:08witnessed the alien abduction of her three-year-old son. Meanwhile, an international effort of
19:12scientists and the military are preparing to make contact — but with whom?
19:16How come I know so much? What the hell is going on around here? Who are you people?
19:22Close Encounters is a slow-burning adventure that culminates with a visually dazzling finale.
19:27Theodore Twombly has a new woman in his life. She's smart, she's funny,
19:31and she's an AI operating system that he's installed on all his devices. This is the
19:36unlikely romance at the heart of Spike Jonze's Her, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson.
19:41Life has been rough for Theodore, who's been reeling from his recent split from his wife.
19:45Samantha takes on an important role in his life — not just sorting his emails,
19:49but providing genuine human connection — except not with a human. This contradiction
19:53is what makes Her so fascinating, along with plenty of humor and tear-jerking emotional moments.
19:59In 1985, Back to the Future introduced the world to Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown,
20:04two unlikely friends who find themselves in quite the conundrum after Doc builds a
20:08time machine inside a DeLorean. After Marty accidentally goes back 30 years and prevents
20:12his parents from falling in love, he and the version of Doc from 1955 have to work together
20:17to set the couple up again and restore the timeline. Powered by charismatic performances
20:21and one of the tightest screenplays ever written, Back to the Future is a timeless
20:24time-travel classic. Just maybe don't watch it with your mom.
20:28After the first Star Wars became an unprecedented smash hit, it was time to expand on the galaxy
20:33far, far away with the franchise's first sequel, The Empire Strikes Back. Episode 5 picks back up
20:38with Luke Skywalker, as his instrumental role in destroying the Galactic Empire's latest super
20:43weapon has won him the undivided attention of Darth Vader. Luke goes underground to train for
20:47their inevitable battle with a mysterious mentor, leading Vader to chase easier prey — his friends.
20:53The Empire Strikes Back was an impressive addition to the Star Wars universe,
20:56adding a dark edge that was absent in the first installment.
21:00Combining a creature feature with a fairy tale romance, Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water
21:05is a love story between Mute Laboratory custodian Eliza Esposito and the top-secret creature her
21:10bosses in the government are studying. When they make plans to dissect her beloved amphibian man,
21:15Eliza whisks him away, but the Feds won't give up without a fight. Despite its unconventional story,
21:20The Shape of Water beat the odds and became the first film that's even halfway science fiction to
21:25win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon,
21:29and Richard Jenkins all gave excellent performances, as well as actor Doug Jones
21:33in his role as the amphibian man. Released in 1983, Lizzie Borden's
21:38Born in Flames is a criminally underwatched masterpiece that depicts what the United
21:42States might look like after a successful socialist revolution. Set in New York City
21:46ten years after a war of liberation, two groups of revolutionary feminists mobilize against a
21:51status quo that still excludes and oppresses them despite its rosy ideals. Teeming with the humor,
21:56fury, and raucous humanity typical of the punk art scene to which it belonged,
22:00Born in Flames is one of the most prescient American films of the last half-century. It's
22:04a head-on snapshot of debates, conflicts, hopes, struggles, and fighting words that
22:08still remain central to life in the 2020s. In a future dystopia, the police might come
22:14and drag away your father, but they'll always be sure to leave you a receipt.
22:17Terry Gilliam's Brazil takes place in a bureaucratic world where even the smallest
22:21action requires a boatload of paperwork, and failing to correctly complete a form can be fatal.
22:25Sam Lowry is an underachieving office worker who fantasizes about being a hero and finding true
22:30love. When he discovers that a clerical error has led the wrong citizen to be tortured to death,
22:35Sam inadvertently becomes entangled with a group of revolutionaries,
22:38one of whom might literally be the woman of his dreams. An absurd comedy of errors,
22:42Brazil plays out like a goofier version of George Orwell's 1984,
22:45with an outstanding supporting cast.
22:51What would you do in order to pull off the ultimate magic trick? For illusionists Robert
22:57Angier and Alfred Borden, each will stop at nothing to gain the upper hand in their dangerous rivalry.
23:02Christopher Nolan's The Prestige, starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as the warring
23:06entertainers, is a suspenseful thrill ride that turns magic into a matter of life and death.
23:11In his pursuit of the ultimate transported man illusion, Angier turns to science. He enlists the
23:16help of Nikola Tesla, played perfectly by David Bowie, to create a device that can transport him
23:21across the stage. Uncovering the secret may require a sacrifice too terrible to imagine.
23:25The Prestige is full of questions, and it doesn't hesitate to pull the rug out from under you.
23:30No one expected former sketch comedian Jordan Peele to have a second act as one of Hollywood's
23:34hottest horror directors, but his talent is undeniable. After examining the concept of
23:39identity with his first two films, Get Out and Us, his third feature added a larger dash of
23:43sci-fi to the mix. Nope stars Kiki Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya as ranch owners' siblings Emerald
23:49and OJ, whose discovery of a mysterious floating object has the potential to bring them fame and
23:53fortune as well as death and destruction. Nope is both exciting and downright terrifying,
23:59with several scenes feeling like they came straight from a nightmare. You'll never look
24:02at clouds — or monkeys — the same way again. Perhaps the first sci-fi sequel to surpass its
24:08original in quality, 1935's Bride of Frankenstein is still remembered fondly today as one of the
24:13greatest monster movies in cinema history. Picking up where 1931's Frankenstein left off,
24:18this sequel finds Dr. Henry Frankenstein's creature on the run, looking for companionship
24:22and understanding. Meanwhile, Henry encounters Dr. Pretorius, an old mentor and fellow mad
24:27scientist who coerces him into harvesting bodies for a new experiment — a female counterpart to
24:32Frankenstein's monster. Featuring gorgeous visuals and a dash of campy humor, Bride of
24:36Frankenstein is still a favorite of monster fans everywhere after all these years.
24:41David Cronenberg's reputation as the king of body horror is well-earned,
24:44and The Fly isn't even the height of his powers. Three years earlier,
24:48the Canadian titan seemingly predicted the future of television with his shocking opus Video Drone.
24:53James Woods stars as independent TV station CEO Max Renn, who's willing to broadcast anything
25:00and everything on his network if it means more money in his pocket. While investigating the
25:04origins of a mysterious broadcast that depicts people being tortured and murdered in an all-red
25:08room, Max is pulled into a terrifying conspiracy where the boundaries between reality and fiction
25:13begin to blur. A commentary on the amorality festering at the heart of turn-of-the-century
25:17mass media, Video Drone is a truly visceral experience.
25:21Ever since filmgoers were first welcomed to Jurassic Park, the story of John Hammond and
25:26his ill-advised dinosaur zoo has captivated viewers of all ages. When an eclectic group
25:30of visitors is given a preview tour of the park and its genetically engineered attractions,
25:34it doesn't take long for things to descend into chaos.
25:37When they opened Disneyland in 1956, nothing worked.
25:42But John, if the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists.
25:45With its blend of practical and digital effects that's still impressive to this day,
25:49Jurassic Park is a must-watch for any sci-fi fan who somehow hasn't already seen it.
25:53Steven Spielberg has directed plenty of excellent sci-fi films throughout his career,
25:57but Jurassic Park will always be the greatest of them all.
26:01It's a bit hard to find nowadays, but Strange Days is definitely worth a watch if you can
26:05track down a copy. Catherine Bigelow's slick cyberpunk neo-noir stars Ralph Fiennes as Lenny
26:10Nero, a former cop-turned-black-market squid dealer who finds himself pulled into a massive
26:15mystery. These squids aren't sea creatures. They're superconducting quantum interference
26:19devices that allows users to digitally record and replay complete sensory experiences.
26:24When Lenny receives a squid of a heinous murderer, he and his two closest friends — a
26:28limousine driver and a private detective — set out to discover the truth. With its depictions of
26:32sexual assault and police brutality, Strange Days is no easy watch, but it's still managed to stay
26:38painfully relevant since its release in 1995. Pixar dipped its toes into the world of
26:43science fiction with WALL-E, the tale of a lovable trash compactor robot of the same name.
26:48WALL-E is content spending his days on an abandoned Earth watching classic movie
26:52musicals with his cockroach friend, but the arrival of the more advanced robot,
26:56EVE, changes everything. EVE whisks WALL-E away to the starship Axiom,
27:00where the adorable machines just might be able to save both humanity and the planet we call home.
27:04Released in 2008 to rapturous acclaim, WALL-E received six total Oscar nominations and one for
27:09Best Animated Feature. Pixar has released plenty of new projects since then, but many fans still
27:14consider WALL-E to be a high point for the studio. It's not Sarah Connor's fault that her son John
27:20will go on to lead the human resistance against the robots, but that doesn't stop the hive mind
27:24known as Skynet from sending a killing machine back in time to try and kill her before John is
27:28even born. The Terminator introduced countless moviegoers to James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger,
27:33and the threat of an AI singularity. Despite being made on a relatively low budget of $6.4 million,
27:39the Terminator became a global phenomenon. There have been plenty of Terminator projects
27:43released over the years, but only one of them started it all.
27:47I'll be back.
27:49Even though many moviegoers had come to see Peter Parker as the one and only Spider-Man by 2018,
27:54Into the Spider-Verse showed that anyone can be a web-slinging hero. When the Parker of his
27:58universe is killed in action, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales has to take his place and defeat
28:03Kingpin. But thankfully, he has other Spider-People from all sorts of unique universes to help him
28:07out. Peter B. Parker, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, Penny Parker, and the spectacular Spider-Ham are
28:13all here to help Miles save the day — and grow up a bit in the process. With stunning animation
28:18that perfectly captures the comic book aesthetic, Into the Spider-Verse is truly a technical marvel.
28:23Superheroes have never looked this good.
28:25In 2014, director Alex Garland gave the world a stark warning about the dangers of AI with his
28:31breakout film Ex Machina. Caleb Smith is a skilled computer programmer who wins a contest to spend a
28:36week with his company's CEO, the reclusive genius Nathan Bateman. At his isolated estate, Nathan
28:41reveals that Caleb has actually been summoned to interview Ava, an advanced artificial intelligence
28:46in a humanoid body. The conversations that Caleb and Ava engage in set the stage for a series of
28:51jaw-dropping twists and turns that have to be seen to be believed. Not only did Ex Machina make Alex
28:56Garland a name to remember, but it helped put film distribution company A24 on the map with
29:00its Oscar win for best visual effects. It may have taken decades, but Blade Runner
29:05fans finally got the sequel they'd been hoping for in 2017 when Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049
29:11finally hit theaters. Taking place 30 years after the original, the sequel stars Ryan Gosling as
29:16K, a replicant working for the LAPD who's tasked with hunting down other replicants. When his
29:21investigation uncovers a shocking truth that could change the future, K finds himself torn
29:25between his boss' directives and his artificial humanity.
29:28Hey, you've been getting on fine without one.
29:32What's that, ma'am?
29:34A soul.
29:35Blade Runner 2049 expands on the themes of its predecessor, meditating on the nature of
29:40humanity and memory while adding its own statements about the commodification of life and
29:44love. It owes a great debt to the original Blade Runner, but sometimes, standing on the shoulders
29:48of a giant means standing a bit taller. If you could wish for anything, what would it be? More
29:54importantly, what would you do in order to make that wish in the first place? These are questions
29:58posed by Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker, a surreal journey that brings three men to places previously
30:03unimaginable. Next to a nameless city is a guarded area known as The Zone, where dangers are abundant
30:09and the laws of physics don't fully apply. It's said that inside The Zone is a room that grants
30:13wishes to those who enter it, so with the help of a professional known as the Stalker, the writer
30:17and a professor make their way into The Zone to fulfill their greatest desires — that is, if they
30:22can figure out what those are. Stalker doesn't have all the answers, but by the time the credits
30:26roll, you might just feel as though you've gone on a life-altering journey yourself.
30:31Loosely based on the Philip K. Dick novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Ridley Scott's
30:35Blade Runner follows Detective Rick Deckard as he goes about identifying and violently retiring
30:40bioengineered superhumans called Replicants. Manufactured by the Terrell Corporation,
30:44Replicants are made to do hard work in hazardous conditions and are physically
30:47superior to humans in all ways but one — they are limited to a four-year lifespan.
30:52Deckard is dispatched to eliminate a small cadre of Replicants who are seeking a way
30:56around their expiration date, but his worldview is shaken when he meets Rachel,
30:59a Replicant who believes she's human. Featuring iconic performances from Harrison Ford,
31:04Sean Young, and Rudger Hauer, Blade Runner is a masterpiece that will never be forgotten.
31:08"'I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.'"
31:15If aliens ever visited Earth, how would we communicate with them? That's not a question
31:19that most sci-fi films spend much time on, but it's a central dilemma at the heart of
31:23Denis Villeneuve's acclaimed 2016 drama Arrival. When alien spacecraft appear over countries across
31:28the world, the United States military recruits expert linguist Louise Banks to decipher the
31:33visitors' language before their geopolitical rivals can do the same. Before time runs out,
31:38Banks must find a way to reach an understanding with beings who not only have no experience with
31:42our form of language, but a different relationship to time itself. Arrival was lavished with critical
31:47praise for its sophistication and realism, and was nominated for eight Academy Awards,
31:51including Best Picture.
31:53Sequels are usually inferior to their originals, but Terminator 2 Judgment Day is far from your
31:58typical sequel. James Cameron's 1991 follow-up turned Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 from a
32:03villain to a hero, and turned Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor from a frightened victim to a hardened
32:08warrior. Ten-year-old John Connor is destined to lead humanity in its war against a malicious
32:12artificial intelligence. At least, that's what he's been told by his mother, who now resides
32:16in a mental institution. But John can no longer doubt his purpose when he encounters two advanced
32:21machines from the future, one sent to kill him and one sent to protect him.
32:25Jesus, you're gonna kill that guy!
32:27Of course. I'm a Terminator.
32:29With nearly 20 times the budget of its predecessor,
32:31Terminator 2 is a major improvement on an already fantastic formula.
32:36The movie that kicked off a worldwide phenomenon, 1977's Star Wars, later given the subtitle of
32:41Episode IV, A New Hope, is still the best the series has to offer. In fact, George Lucas' epic
32:46space opera would still be a sci-fi classic, even if it had never received a single sequel.
32:51The Rebel Alliance struggles to free the galaxy from the tyranny of the fascist empire.
32:55When rebel leader Leia Organa is captured, the fate of the revolution falls into the
32:59hands of a farm boy, a scoundrel, a wise master, and a seven-foot-tall wookie.
33:05Even though it kicked off a massive mythology that extends to books,
33:08TV, and video games, the original Star Wars is still one of a kind.
33:12The Mad Max series has been a favorite of sci-fi fans for decades, but it reached new
33:16heights in the 2010s when director George Miller finally returned to the wasteland.
33:20Mad Max Fury Road leaves all of its predecessors in the dust.
33:24In what was once known as Australia, warlord Immortan Joe hoards not only water and gasoline,
33:29but also human beings. One of Joe's lieutenants, Imperator Furiosa, has had enough, so she
33:35smuggles Joe's five enslaved brides out of his territory aboard her armored tanker truck.
33:39A high-speed chase ensues, with Furiosa and road warrior Max Rokotansky fighting
33:44off Joe's forces on the road to a mythical promised land.
33:47We might be able to, together, come across some kind of redemption."
33:55Fury Road is sharp, thoughtful, and, quite simply, one of the coolest movies ever made.
34:00By the start of James Cameron's 1986 sequel, Aliens, warrants officer Ellen Ripley has
34:05narrowly survived an encounter with a vicious alien creature that butchered the rest of her
34:09space freighter crew. Reawakened after decades in hypersleep, she's horrified to learn that her
34:13employers have constructed a human colony on the planet where the monster was found.
34:17When the company loses contact with the colony, Ripley is dispatched with a platoon
34:21of battle-hardened Marines to investigate, forcing her to confront her trauma and the
34:24species that destroyed her life. Aliens diverts from the frights of its predecessor to give viewers
34:29a more action-focused experience. Star Sigourney Weaver received an Academy Award nomination for
34:34Best Actress for her performance, unprecedented for a sci-fi action film.
34:38Based on the 1951 B-movie The Thing from Another World, director John Carpenter's
34:431982 classic The Thing is often considered the crowning achievement of his lengthy filmography.
34:48Starring Kurt Russell and a handful of America's finest character actors,
34:51the film depicts life at an Antarctic research station becoming a paranoid
34:55nightmare after a shape-shifting alien manages to infiltrate the crew.
34:58You're gonna have to sleep sometime, McCready. I'm a real light sleeper, child.
35:03The Thing is a perfect blend of slow-burning suspense and shocking body horror,
35:07boasting grisly and sickening practical creature effects that hold up remarkably
35:11well even decades later. It's a must-watch for all sci-fi horror fans. But be sure that
35:15you don't accidentally watch the lesser 2011 prequel of the same name instead.
35:21By blending high-concept sci-fi with unforgettable action, The Matrix changed
35:25the landscape of both genres forever. The story of one man's descent into the rabbit hole of reality
35:30blew up the box office and brought trench coats back into style. Neo is an office worker by day
35:35and a hacker by night. But an encounter with revolutionaries Trinity and Morpheus leads him
35:39to the realization that our world is nothing more than a computer simulation. By controlling the
35:43simulation, Neo is able to give himself superhuman abilities — and maybe even save the real world
35:49for good. The Wachowskis' breakout smash was a cultural phenomenon that spawned multiple
35:53polarizing sequels, but everyone can agree that the original Matrix was truly sensational.
35:59From the dawn of man to the Stargate sequence, there's no part of Stanley Kubrick's 2001
36:03Space Odyssey that isn't completely and utterly mind-blowing. Despite being light on conventional
36:08narrative, this 1968 masterpiece isn't afraid to raise massive questions about the nature
36:13of our reality. It also introduced one of the most memorable A.I. villains in movie history,
36:17the cold and calculating Hal 9000.
36:20I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.
36:24Even after more than 60 years, the operatic space scenes of 2001 continue to dazzle and
36:29delight viewers of all ages. There will never again be a sci-fi film as groundbreaking as this
36:34one. Children of Men is far from a typical sci-fi movie, and that's part of what makes
36:39it so compelling. Instead of taking place in a technologically advanced future, Alfonso Cuarón's
36:442006 thriller takes place in a dystopian version of 2027 in which no human being has been born for
36:5018 years. The people of Britain live out their days devoid of hope, but when a refugee woman
36:54miraculously becomes pregnant, it's up to former activist Theo Farren to lead her to
36:59safety and save the future. With its grounded performances and impressive camera work,
37:03Children of Men is the most powerful sci-fi film of the 21st century,
37:06and it got three Oscar nominations to show for it.
37:09The greatest sci-fi movie of all time, and arguably the greatest horror movie of all
37:14time as well, is 1979's Alien. The Ridley Scott-directed classic captivated audiences
37:19from day one, giving viewers a stark reminder that in space, no one can hear you scream.
37:25After the working-class crew of the space freighter Nostromo is diverted from their
37:28route to investigate a strange signal emanating from a deserted planet, they find themselves joined
37:33by an otherworldly killer. The xenomorph quickly became one of the most unique and unsettling movie
37:38monsters to ever grace the silver screen. It's been a long time since Ellen Ripley first came
37:42toe-to-toe with one of the terrifying creatures, but despite all the sequels and spinoffs,
37:46the original Alien reigns supreme.