Empire's The 50 Greatest Sci-Fi Movies
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Outer space. Inner space. New worlds. Tech frontiers. Artificial intelligence. The best science-fiction movies take us to places beyond our own imagination, dreaming up impossible futures that inevitably go on to shape our own technological advances. Great sci-fi delivers mind-bending visuals packed with mind-blowing ideas, probing everything from the human experience to the future of humanity. It’s a genre that contains multitudes – from fast, funny, colourful space adventures, to dark dystopian tragedies, set in the present, far future, or even a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
If you’re wanting a list of the best sci-fi movies of all time, you’re in the right place – the Team Empire hivemind has communed in the cloud to come up with a list of the most iconic sci-fi cinema, from modern masterpieces, to game-changing greats. From Spielberg to Scott, Kubrick to Carpenter, there’s something here for everyone. Read on and prosper.
By Ben Travis, James White | Posted 27 May 2020
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1 new
Blade Runner
1982, in 36 top lists Check -
2 new
Alien
1979, in 30 top lists Check -
3 new
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
1980, in 25 top lists Check -
4 new
The Matrix
1999, in 30 top lists Check -
5 new
2001: A Space Odyssey
1968, in 45 top lists Check -
6 new
Star Wars
1977, in 40 top lists Check -
7 new
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1991, in 27 top lists Check -
8 new
Back to the Future
1985, in 25 top lists Check -
9 new
Aliens
1986, in 24 top lists Check -
10 new
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1982, in 31 top lists Check -
11 new
The Thing
1982, in 20 top lists Check -
12 new
Inception
2010, in 21 top lists Check -
13 new
Arrival
2016, in 11 top lists Check -
14 new
The Terminator
1984, in 24 top lists Check -
15 new
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1977, in 23 top lists Check -
16 new
Moon
2009, in 5 top lists Check -
17 new
Looper
2012, in 2 top lists Check -
18 new
Ex Machina
2014, in 5 top lists Check -
19 new
Metropolis
1927, in 36 top lists Check -
20 new
RoboCop
1987, in 15 top lists Check -
21 new
Interstellar
2014, in 13 top lists Check -
22 new
Jurassic Park
1993, in 23 top lists Check -
23 new
Guardians of the Galaxy
2014, in 3 top lists Check -
24 new
Planet of the Apes
1968, in 16 top lists Check -
25 new
Solyaris
1972 — a.k.a. Solaris, in 28 top lists Check -
26 new
Kôkaku Kidôtai
1995 — a.k.a. Ghost in the Shell, in 12 top lists Check -
27 new
Blade Runner 2049
2017, in 9 top lists Check -
28 new
Annihilation
2018, in 3 top lists Check -
29 new
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
1982, in 6 top lists Check -
30 new
WALL·E
2008, in 26 top lists Check -
31 new
The Fly
1986, in 11 top lists Check -
32 new
Minority Report
2002, in 8 top lists Check -
33 new
The Day the Earth Stood Still
1951, in 12 top lists Check -
34 new
Avatar
2009, in 14 top lists Check -
35 new
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
2001, in 11 top lists Check -
36 new
Sunshine
2007, in 1 top list Check -
37 new
Under the Skin
2013, in 10 top lists Check -
38 new
Akira
1988, in 22 top lists Check -
39 new
Twelve Monkeys
1995 — a.k.a. 12 Monkeys, in 14 top lists Check -
40 new
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
1978, in 3 top lists Check -
41 new
Stalker
1979, in 22 top lists Check -
42 new
Predator
1987, in 9 top lists Check -
43 new
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2004, in 28 top lists Check -
44 new
Donnie Darko
2001, in 21 top lists Check -
45 new
Children of Men
2006, in 12 top lists Check -
46 new
The Abyss
1989, in 3 top lists Check -
47 new
District 9
2009, in 10 top lists Check -
48 new
Snowpiercer
2013, in 2 top lists Check -
49 new
High Life
2018, in 3 top lists Check -
50 new
Silent Running
1972, in 8 top lists Check
Last updated on Jun 9, 2020; source