200 Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Of All Time

Sci-Fi Movies, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Empire Strikes Back

Criteria: These 'Greatest Science Fiction Movies' are ranked by Impact, Influence, and Popularity in the Sci-Fi movie genre.

Last Updated: 2024-02-20
Greatest Sci-Fi Movies
2001: A Space Odyssey movie poster  Star Wars: Ep.V - The Empire Strikes Back movie poster  Metropolis movie poster  Star Wars: Ep.IV - A New Hope movie poster  Blade Runner movie poster  Planet of the Apes movie poster
  Title - (Year) (Leading Actors)
  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey - (1968) (Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood)
  2. Star Wars: Ep.V - The Empire Strikes Back - (1980) (Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford)
  3. Metropolis - (1927) (Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm)
  4. Star Wars: Ep.IV - A New Hope - (1977) (Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford)
  5. Blade Runner - (1982) (Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Rutger Hauer)
  6. Planet of the Apes - (1968) (Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell)
  7. The Day The Earth Stood Still - (1951) (Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal)
  8. Close Encounters of the Third Kind - (1977) (Richard Dreyfus, Teri Garr)
  9. The War of the Worlds - (1953) (Gene Barry, Ann Robinson)
10. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial - (1982) (Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore)
11. A Clockwork Orange - (1971) (Malcolm McDowell, Michael Bates)
12. Jurassic Park - (1993) (Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum)
13. Alien - (1979) (Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt)
14. Frankenstein - (1931) (Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clark)
15. The Terminator - (1984) (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Beihn)
16. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers - (1956) (Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter)
17. Avatar - (2009) (Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver)
18. THX 1138 - (1971) (Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Maggie McOmie)
19. Terminator 2: Judgment Day - (1991) (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton)
20. Brazil - (1985) (Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro)
21. Forbidden Planet - (1956) (Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis)
22. Superman - (1978) (Christoper Reeve, Gene Hackman, Morgot Kidder)
23. Star Wars: Ep.VI - Return Of the Jedi - (1983) (Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford)
24. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea - (1954) (Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Peter Lorre)
25. Solaris - (1972) (Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis)
26. The Martian - (2015) (Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig)
27. The Road Warrior - (1981) (Mel Gibson, Virginia Hey)
28. Back to the Future - (1985) (Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson)
29. Aliens - (1986) (Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen)
30. Things To Come - (1936) (Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson)
31. Marooned - (1969) (Gregory Peck, Gene Hackman, Richard Crenna)
32. Them - (1954) (James Arness, Edmund Gwenn)
33. Mad Max - (1979) (Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel)
34. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - (2005) (Sam Rockwell, Mos Def, John Malkovich)
35. Interstellar - (2014) (Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain)
36. Ghostbusters - (1981) (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis)
37. The Invisible Man - (1933) (Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart)
38. Minority Report - (2002) (Tom Cruise, Max Von Sydow)
39. Children Of Men - (2006) (Clice Owen, Julianne Moore)
40. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - (1982) (William Shatner, Ricardo Montalban)
41. Godzilla - (1954) (Haruo Nakajima, Katsumi Tezuka, Akira Takarada)
42. Arrival - (2016) (Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker)
43. District 9 - (2009) (Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope)
44. Westworld - (1973) (Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin)
45. The Matrix - (1999) (Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne)
46. The Abyss - (1989) (Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio)
47. Ghost in The Shell - (1995) (Animated)
48. Fantastic Voyage - (1966) (Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch)
49. Akira - (1988) (Animated)
50. Bride of Frankenstein - (1935) (Boris Karlof, Elsa Lanchester)
51. Escape From New York - (1981) (Kurt Russell, Donald Pleasence)
52. Robinson Crusoe on Mars - (1964) (Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin)
53. Total Recall - (1990) (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronny Cox, Rachel Ticotin)
54. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - (1986) (William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Catherine Hicks)
55. Gravity - (2013) (Sandra Bullock, George Clooney)
56. Superman II - (1980) (Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman)
57. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome - (1985) (Mel Gibson, Tina Turner)
58. Liquid Sky - (1982) (Ann Carlisle)
59. Fahrenheit 451 - (1967) (Oskar Werner, Julie Christie)
60. The Man From Planet X - (1951) (Robert Clarke, Margaret Fielding)
61. Robocop - (1987) (Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Kurtwood Smith)
62. Predator - (1987) (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers)
63. The Man Who Fell to Earth - (1976) (David Bowie, Rip Torn, Buck Henry)
64. 12 Monkeys - (1995) (Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt)
65. A Boy and His Dog - (1975) (Don Johnson, Jason Robards, Susanne Benton)
66. Donnie Darko - (2001) (Jake Gyllenhaal, Patrick Swayze, Jena Malone)
67. Repo Man - (1984) (Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton)
68. The Time Machine - (1960) (Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux)
69. Silent Running - (1971) (Bruce Dern, Steve Brown)
70. The Thing - (1982) (Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David)
71. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - (1989) (Rick Moranis, Marcia Strassman, Amy O'Neill)
72. Wall-E - (2008) (Animated)
73. Serenity - (2005) (Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres)
74. Men in Black - (1997) (Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones)
75. The Fly - (1986) (Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis)
76. Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers - (1956) (Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor)
77. Invaders from Mars - (1953) (Arthur Franz, Helena Carter, Jimmy Hunt)
78. Logan's Run - (1976) (Michael York, Jenny Agutter)
79. It Came From Outer Space - (1953) (Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake)
80. A Scanner Darkly - (2006) (Keanu Reeves, Winona Rider, Robert Downey Jr.)
81. Time Bandits - (1981) (John Cleese, Ralph Richardson)
82. The Fifth Element - (1997) (Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman)
83. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - (2005) (Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor)
84. The Thing From Another World - (1951) (Kenneth Tobey, James Arness, Margeret Sheridan)
85. Enemy Mine - (1985) (Dennis Quaid, Louis Gossett)
86. Soylent Green - (1973) (Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson)
87. Flash Gordon - (1980) (Sam Jones, Max Von Sydow, Music by Queen)
88. Star Trek: First Contact - (1996) (Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes)
89. X Men - (2000) (Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen)
90. Gattaca - (1997) (Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman)
91. I, Robot - (2004) (Will Smith, James Cromwell)
92. Barbarella - (1968) (Jane Fonda, David Hemmings, John Phillip Law)
93. Starman - (1984) (Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen)
94. Alien Nation - (1988) (James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Terrence Stamp)
95. The Last Starfighter - (1984) (Lance Guest, Robert Preston, Catherine Mary Stewart)
96. Cocoon - (1985) (Steve Gutenberg, Wilford Brimley)
97. Looper - (2012) (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis)
98. Starship Troopers - (1997) (Dina Meyer, Dinise Richards)
99. 1984 - (1984) (John Hurt, Richard Burton)
100. The Hunger Games - (2012) (Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson)

101. Moon - (2009) (Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott)
102. Signs - (2002) (Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix)
103. Stalker - (1979) (Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy)
104. Explorers - (1985) (Ethan Hawke, River Pheonix)
105. Innerspace - (1987) (Dennis Quaid, Martin Short)
106. Omega Man - (1971) (Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe)
107. Dark City - (1998) (Kiefer Sutherland, William Hurt, Jennifer Connely)
108. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock - (1984) (William Shatner, Christopher Lloyd)
109. Star Trek: The Motion Picture - (1979) (William Shatner, Lynord Nimoy, Persis Khambatta)
110. Star Wars: Ep. I - The Phantom Menace - (1999) (Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Jack Lloyd)
111. Star Wars: Ep. II - Attack Of The Clones - (2002) (Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor)
112. The Andromeda Strain - (1971) (Arthur Hill, David Wayne)
113. Alien 3 - (1992) (Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton)
114. Contact - (1997) (Jodi Foster, Matthew McConaughey)
115. Stargate - (1994) (Kurt Russell, James Spader)
116. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers - (1978) (Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams)
117. Star Trek - (2009) (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana)
118. Independence Day - (1996) (Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum)
119. The Stepford Wives - (1975) (Katherine Ross, Paula Prentiss)
120. Sleeper - (1973) (Woody Allen, Diane Keaton)
121. Tron - (1982) (Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner)
122. The Lost World: Jurassic Park - (1997) (Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore)
123. Star Trek Generations - (1994) (Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, Malcolm McDowell)
124. 2010: The Year We Make Contact - (1984) (Roy Scheider, John Lithgow)
125. Virtuosity - (1995) (Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe)
126. The Fly - (1958) (Vincent Price, Patrica Owens)
127. Men in Black II - (2002) (Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones)
128. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence - (2001) (Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law)
129. Red Planet - (2000) (Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss)
130. Space Truckers - (1997) (Dennis Hopper, Stephen Dorff)
131. Spaceballs - (1987) (Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, John Candy)
132. Solaris - (2002) (George Clooney, Jeremy Davies)
133. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai - (1984) (Peter Weller, John Lithgow)
134. The Arrival - (1996) (Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Crouse)
135. Galaxy Quest - (1999) (Tim Allen, Alan Rickman)
136. Star Trek: Insurrection - (1998) (Patrick Stewart, F. Murray Abraham)
137. Species - (1995) (Natasha Henstridge, Marg Helgenberger, Ben Kingsley)
138. War of the Worlds - (2005) (Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins)
139. Scorpio One - (1998) (Robert Carradine, Jeff Speakerman)
140. Rollerball - (1975) (James Caan, John Houseman)
141. Outland - (1981) (Sean Connery, Peter Boyle)
142. Dark Planet - (1997) (Michael York, Paul Mercurio)
143. The Time Machine - (2002) (Guy Pearce, Jerery Irons)
144. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier - (1989) (William Shatner, Laurence Luckinbill)
145. Rocketship X-M - (1950) (Lloyd Bridges, Noah Beery)
146. Lifeforce - (1985) (Patrick Stewart, Steve Railsback)
147. Communion - (1989) (Christopher Walken, Lindsay Crouse)
148. Slaughterhouse Five - (1972) (Michael Sacks, Valerie Perrine)
149. The Running Man - (1987) (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Richard Dawson)
150. Star Quest - (1995) (Steven Bauer, Emma Samms)
151. The Blob - (1958) (Steve McQueen, Aneta Corsaut)
152. X-Files - (1998) (David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson)
153. Supernova - (2000) (James Spader, Lou Diamond Phillips, Angela Bassett)
154. Mission To Mars - (2000) (Tim Robins, Gary Sinise)
155. Johnny Mnemonic - (1995) (Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren)
156. Moon 44 - (1990) (Michael Pare, Malcolm McDowell)
157. Fantastic Planet - (1973) (Animated) (Director - René Laloux)
158. Pitch Black - (2000) (Vin Diesel, Keith David)
159. Not of This Earth - (1995) (Michael York, Parker Stevenson)
160. The American Astronaut - (2001) (Cory McAbbe, Rocco Sisto)
161. First Encounter - (1998) (Roddy Piper, Trevor Goddard)
162. Alien Intruder - (1992) (Billy Dee Williams, Maxwell Caulfield)
163. Event Horizon - (1997) (Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill)
164. Matrix Revolutions - (2003) (Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne)
165. Lost In Space - (1998) (Gary Oldman, William Hurt)
166. The Black Hole - (1979) (Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins)
167. This Island Earth - (1955) (Rex Reason, Jeff Morrow)
168. Alien Resurrection - (1997) (Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder)
169. When Worlds Collide - (1951) (Richard Derr, Barbara Rush)
170. V for Vendetta - (2005) (Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving)
171. The Man from Earth - (2007) (David Lee Smith, John Billingsley, Tony Todd)
172. Soldier - (1998) (Kurt Russell, Gary Busy)
173. The Quartermass Xperiment - (1956) (Brian Donlovey, Margia Dean)
174. Sphere - (1998) (Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson)
175. Journey To The far Side Of the Sun - (1969) (Roy Thinnes, Herbert Lom)
176. Dark Universe - (1993) (Blake Pickett, Cherie Scott)
177. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - (1991) (William Shatner, Christopher Plummer)
178. Planet of the Apes - (2001) (Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter)
179. Quartermass And the Pit (5 Million years to Earth) - (1968) (Andrew Keir)
180. Zardoz - (1974) (Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling)
181. Escape From L.A. - (1996) (Kurt Russell, Steve Buscemi)
182. Dark Star - (1974) (Brian Narelle, Cal Kuniholm, Dre Pahich)
183. Forterss - (1993) (Christopher Lambert, Kurtwood Smith)
184. Cyberzone - (1995) (Marc Singer, Rochelle Swanson, Future)
185. Alphaville - (1965) (Eddie Constantine, Anna Karina)
186. The Postman - (1997) (Kevin Costner, Will Patton)
187. Flash Gordon: Rocketship - (1936) (Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers)
188. Seksmisja (aka Sexmission) - (1984) (Olgierd Lukaszewicz, Jerzy Stuhr)
189. Batteries Not Included - (1987) (Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn)
190. Beneath the Planet of the Apes - (1970) (James Franciscus, Kim Hunter)
191. Demolition Man - (1993) (Sylvester Stallone, Sandra Bullock)
192. Dune - (1984) (Kyle MacLachlan, Max Von Sydow)
193. Waterworld - (1995) (Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper)
194. Death Race 2000 - (1975) (Sylvester Stallone, David Carradine)
195. Coneheads - (1993) (Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Phil Hartman)
196. Destination Moon - (1950) (John Archer, Warner Anderson)
197. It Conquered the World - (1956) (Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef)
198. Mars Attacks - (1996) (Jack Nicholson, Annette Bening)
199. First Men in the Moon - (1964) (Edward Judd, Lionel Jeffries, Martha Hyer)
200. Ghosts Of Mars - (2001) (Joanna Cassidy, Ice Cube)
Honorable Mention
Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip to the Moon)
(1902 French, 14-minutes, silent)
Directed by Georges Méliès
The first widely seen film using innovative cinematic techniques, 'special effects'.

A Trip to the Moon

Top 10 Best Sci-fi Movies by Year

Best Sci-Fi Movies of 2023

  1. The Creator - (Gareth Edwards) (John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan)
  2. If You Were the Last - (Kristian Mercado) (Anthony Mackie, Zoë Chao, Natalie Morales)
  3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - (James Gunn) (Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Chukwudi Iwuji)
  4. They Cloned Tyrone - (Juel Taylor) (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, Teyonah Parris, Kiefer Sutherland)
  5. No One Will Save You - (Brian Duffield) (Kaitlyn Dever, Elizabeth Kaluev, Zack Duhame)
  6. Jules - (Marc Turtletaub) (Ben Kingsley, Jane Curtin, Harriet Sansom Harris, Teddy Cañez)
  7. The Wandering Earth II - (Frant Gwo) (Hao Feng, Andy Lau, Jing Wu, Zina Blahusova)
  8. Aporia - (Jared Moshe) (Judy Greer, Edi Gathegi, Payman Maadi, Faithe Herman)
  9. 65 - (Scott Beck, Bryan Woods) (Adam Driver, Ariana Greenblatt, Chloe Coleman)
10. Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire - (Zack Snyder) (Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou)

The Creator 2023 movie poster

Best Sci-Fi Movies of 2022

  1. Avatar: The Way of Water - (James Cameron) (Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana, Michelle Yeoh)
  2. Nope - (Jordan Peele) (Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun)
  3. Everything Everywhere All at Once - (Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert) (Michelle Yeoh)
  4. The Adam Project - (Shawn Levy) (Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana)
  5. Vesper - (Kristina Buozyte, Bruno Samper) (Raffiella Chapman, Eddie Marsan)
  6. Crimes of the Future - (David Cronenberg) (Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart)
  7. Jurassic World: Dominion - (Colin Trevorrow) (Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern)
  8. Something in the Dirt - (Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead) (Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson)
  9. Cryo - (Barrett Burgin) (Jyllian Petrie, Emily Marie Palmer, Mason D. Davis)
10. Moonfall - (Roland Emmerich) (Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, Donald Sutherland)

Avatar: The Way of Water 2022 movie poster

Best Sci-Fi Movies of 2021

  1. Dune - (Denis Villeneuve) (Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa)
  2. The Matrix Resurrections - (Lana Wachowski) (Keanu Reeves, Christina Ricci)
  3. Space Sweepers - (Sung-hee Jo) (Song Joong-ki, Kim Tae-ri, Jin Seon-kyu)
  4. Stowaway - (Joe Penna) (Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson)
  5. Finch - (Miguel Sapochnik) (Tom Hanks, Caleb Landry Jones, Marie Wagenman)
  6. Settlers - (Wyatt Rockefeller) (Sofia Boutella, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Brooklynn Prince)
  7. Venom: Let There Be Carnage - (Andy Serkis) (Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson)
  8. Reminiscence - (Lisa Joy) (Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton)
  9. The Tomorrow War - (Chris McKay) (Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, Yvonne Strahovski)
10. Voyagers - (Neil Burger) (Colin Farrell, Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp)

Dune 2021 movie poster

Best Sci-Fi Movies of 2020

  1. Tenet - (Christopher Nolan) (John David Washington, Robert Pattinson)
  2. The Vast of Night - (Andrew Patterson) (Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz, Gail Cronauer)
  3. Archive - (Gavin Rothery) (Theo James, Stacy Martin, Rhona Mitra)
  4. Color Out of Space - (Richard Stanley) (Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur)
  5. Sputnik - (Egor Abramenko) (Oksana Akinshina, Fedor Bondarchuk)
  6. The Midnight Sky - (George Clooney) (George Clooney, Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo)
  7. Invasion - (Fedor Bondarchuk) (Irina Starshenbaum, Rinal Mukhametov)
  8. LX 2048 - (Guy Moshe) (Juliet Aubrey, Anna Brewster, Gabrielle Cassi)
  9. Save Yourselves! - (Alex Huston Fischer, Eleanor Wilson) (Sunita Mani, John Reynolds)
10. Illuminate - (James Cardoza) (Ava Cardoza, Sabra Morin, Quinn Stahlman)

Tenet movie poster










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