The Playlist's The 100 Best Sci-Fi Films of All Time

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If there was ever a time where sci-fi was seen as something only for geeks, that time has long gone. You could debate the exact point at which it changed — when Stanley Kubrick’s “2001” had audiences dropping acid for a better trip, when the blockbuster success of “Star Wars” changed film forever, when comic book movies dominated screens, when CGI made it possible to do almost anything, when even nerdy old “Star Trek” got a sleek, hip makeover — but there’s no doubt that the genre is firmly within the mainstream.
Indeed, looking at the blockbuster season ahead, there’s all kinds of science-fiction adventures to come, with this week bringing the second space adventure in three weeks, with Ridley Scott’s “Alien: Covenant,” which follows “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2” into theaters, where it’s currently doing gangbusters. And three of the all-time top-five worldwide grossers are hard sci-fi movies: “Avatar,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Jurassic World.”
Scott’s return once again to the sci-fi franchise he helped create has had us thinking about the genre’s place in history, so we decided to take our most comprehensive look at the genre ever, and pick out what, in our view, are the 100 greatest sci-fi movies of all time.
It’s a genre almost as old as cinema, so it was understandably difficult to pin down, even with a few ground rules (most notably that we sort of consider superhero films their own thing). But we’ve found a list that we’re pretty happy with in the end, though we’re sure it’ll inspire plenty of debate. Take a look below.
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1 new
2001: A Space Odyssey
1968, in 44 top lists Check -
2 new
Blade Runner
1982, in 36 top lists Check -
3 new
Star Wars
1977, in 40 top lists Check -
4 new
Stalker
1979, in 22 top lists Check -
5 new
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1977, in 23 top lists Check -
6 new
Alien
1979, in 30 top lists Check -
7 new
Brazil
1985, in 22 top lists Check -
8 new
Aliens
1986, in 24 top lists Check -
9 new
Metropolis
1927, in 36 top lists Check -
10 new
Children of Men
2006, in 13 top lists Check -
11 new
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1991, in 27 top lists Check -
12 new
The Matrix
1999, in 30 top lists Check -
13 new
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1982, in 30 top lists Check -
14 new
Under the Skin
2013, in 10 top lists Check -
15 new
The Thing
1982, in 20 top lists Check -
16 new
Akira
1988, in 22 top lists Check -
17 new
Back to the Future
1985, in 25 top lists Check -
18 new
The Terminator
1984, in 24 top lists Check -
19 new
The Fly
1986, in 11 top lists Check -
20 new
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
1980, in 25 top lists Check -
21 new
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
1978, in 3 top lists Check -
22 new
The Day the Earth Stood Still
1951, in 12 top lists Check -
23 new
Mad Max: Fury Road
2015, in 23 top lists Check -
24 new
Videodrome
1983, in 18 top lists Check -
25 new
The Man Who Fell to Earth
1976, in 8 top lists Check -
26 new
Solyaris
1972 — a.k.a. Solaris, in 24 top lists Check -
27 new
Upstream Color
2013, in 3 top lists Check -
28 new
Predator
1987, in 9 top lists Check -
29 new
Seconds
1966, in 10 top lists Check -
30 new
Gwoemul
2006 — a.k.a. The Host, in 11 top lists Check -
31 new
Moon
2009, in 5 top lists Check -
32 new
Forbidden Planet
1956, in 9 top lists Check -
33 new
RoboCop
1987, in 15 top lists Check -
34 new
Je t'aime, je t'aime
1968 — a.k.a. I Love You, I Love You, in 3 top lists Check -
35 new
Primer
2004, in 7 top lists Check -
36 new
The Iron Giant
1999, in 14 top lists Check -
37 new
Escape from New York
1981, in 5 top lists Check -
38 new
Frankenstein
1931, in 18 top lists Check -
39 new
Mad Max 2
1981 — a.k.a. The Road Warrior, in 14 top lists Check -
40 new
Arrival
2016, in 11 top lists Check -
41 new
Silent Running
1972, in 8 top lists Check -
42 new
Inception
2010, in 21 top lists Check -
43 new
Total Recall
1990, in 8 top lists Check -
44 new
Attack the Block
2011, in 3 top lists Check -
45 new
Welt am Draht
1973 — a.k.a. World on a Wire, in 2 top lists Check -
46 new
Her
2013, in 10 top lists Check -
47 new
THX 1138
1971, in 5 top lists Check -
48 new
Alphaville: Une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution
1965 — a.k.a. Alphaville, in 13 top lists Check -
49 new
Strange Days
1995, in 4 top lists Check -
50 new
They Live
1988, in 7 top lists Check
Last updated on Apr 24, 2020 by Chilton; source