Greatest Sci-Fi Movies (Revision Version)

[Lew]

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

Edited By: Lew, Bryan
Last Updated: 2025-02-14

Link: https://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/movi ... ci-fi.html



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, James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon)
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. Contact - (1997) (Jodi Foster, Matthew McConaughey, David Morse)
71. The Thing - (1982) (Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David)
72. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - (1989) (Rick Moranis, Marcia Strassman, Amy O'Neill)
73. Serenity - (2005) (Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Chiwetel Ejiofor)
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. Wall-E - (2008) (Animated)
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. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome - (1985) (Mel Gibson, Tina Turner)
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. Invaders from Mars - (1953) (Arthur Franz, Helena Carter, Jimmy Hunt)
93. Starman - (1984) (Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen)
94. Barbarella - (1968) (Jane Fonda, David Hemmings, John Phillip Law)
95. Alien Nation - (1988) (James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Terrence Stamp)
96. Cocoon - (1985) (Steve Gutenberg, Wilford Brimley)
97. Looper - (2012) (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis)
98. The Last Starfighter - (1984) (Lance Guest, Robert Preston, Catherine Mary Stewart)
99. Starship Troopers - (1997) (Dina Meyer, Dinise Richards)
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. Enemy Mine - (1985) (Dennis Quaid, Louis Gossett)
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. 1984 - (1984) (John Hurt, Richard Burton)
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)

Any changes or additions are welcome

[Lew]

Also this:

Best Sci-Fi Movies of 2024

1. Dune: Part Two - (Denis Villeneuve) (Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson)
2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga - (George Miller) (Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke)
3. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - (Wes Ball) (Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand)
4. A Quiet Place: Day One - (Michael Sarnoski) (Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff)
5. Alien: Romulus - (Fede Alvarez) (Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux)
6. Spaceman - (Johan Renck) (Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, Paul Dano, Isabella Rossellini)
7. Megalopolis - Francis Ford Coppola) (Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel)
8. Slingshot - (Mikael Håfström) (Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne, Emily Beecham, Tomer Capone)
9. Atlas - (Brad Peyton) (Jennifer Lopez, Simu Liu, Sterling K. Brown, Gregory James Cohan)
10. Breathe - (Stefon Bristol) (Jennifer Hudson, Milla Jovovich, Sam Worthington, Quvenzhané Wallis)

Any changes or additions are welcome

[Fido]

Beyond Thunderdome is there twice

[Zach]

I'd flip 2 and 4. Plus, that would align with the overall movies list.

[ManPerson]

Agreed.

[Tim]

Going off the main movie list, here's how science fiction movies are ranked there (obviously some of these being sci-fi or not is worth debating).

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey - Stanley Kubrick (1968)
2. Star Wars - George Lucas (1977)
3. A Trip to the Moon - Georges Méliès (1902)
4. Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927)
5. The Empire Strikes Back - Irvin Kershner (1980)
6. Alien - Ridley Scott (1979)
7. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Steven Spielberg (1982)
8. The Terminator - James Cameron (1984)
9. Blade Runner - Ridley Scott (1982)
10. A Clockwork Orange - Stanley Kubrick (1971)
11. The Matrix - Lana & Lilly Wachowski (1999)
12. Back to the Future - Robert Zemeckis (1985)
13. Frankenstein - James Whale (1931)
14. Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Steven Spielberg (1977)
15. Jurassic Park - Steven Spielberg (1993)
16. Terminator 2: Judgment Day - James Cameron (1991)
17. Avatar - James Cameron (2009)
18. Aliens - James Cameron (1986)
19. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Michel Gondry (2004)
20. Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)
21. Bride of Frankenstein - James Whale (1935)
22. Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Don Siegel (1956)
23. WALL·E - Andrew Stanton (2008)
24. Inception - Christopher Nolan (2010)
25. Godzilla - Ishirō Honda (1954)
26. Mad Max: Fury Road - George Miller (2015)
27. The Thing - John Carpenter (1982)
28. Akira - Katsuhiro Ōtomo (1988)
29. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior - George Miller (1981)
30. Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985)
31. The Truman Show - Peter Weir (1998)
32. The Invisible Man - James Whale (1933)
33. Planet of the Apes - Franklin J. Schaffner (1968)
34. Solaris - Andrei Tarkovsky (1972)
35. The Day the Earth Stood Still - Robert Wise (1951)
36. Forbidden Planet - Fred M. Wilcox (1956)
37. Dune - Denis Villeneuve (2021)
38. Mad Max - George Miller (1979)
39. The Impossible Voyage - Georges Méliès (1904)
40. Everything Everywhere All at Once - Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (2022)
41. RoboCop - Paul Verhoeven (1987)
42. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind - Hayao Miyazaki (1984)
43. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Richard Fleischer (1954)

[Area Man]

Kind of a dumb questions, but do Eraserhead (1977) and Island of Lost Souls (1932) have strong enough sci-fi elements to make such a list, even if they belong to the horror genre, first and foremost.

The Wild Robot (2024) is a new/just-released movie that might have what it takes to make the list, I suppose.

[Brian]

I started becoming interested in old movies about 2 months ago, and have started researching them to help me prioritize which movies to see. That research is mostly looking into what others consider great movies, that is, looking at lists on the internet. Based on that, I would say that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the biggest omission from this list. Based on Tim's post, I believe our site's main movie list is in agreement on that.

In February, Fido pointed out that Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome is listed twice. It's at #57 and at #85. I'd say that the #85 ranking is high enough for it, so I'd suggest replacing the #57 listing with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

I think I'm also in agreement with the main movie list that the most questionable inclusion in the top 10 is The War of the Worlds, and that one of the most questionable omissions is Alien, so I would support flipping those two.