Paste's the 100 Best Sci-fi Movies of All Time

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Created by Panunzio.

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Much like its close genre cousin (nephew/niece?) the superhero film, the potential of cinematic science fiction exploded in the latter part of the 20th century thanks to technological advances that transformed special effects. Unlike superhero films, which were so stunted for so long that almost every new one makes it onto our updated 100 Best Superhero Films of All Time list, science fiction proved fertile ground for filmmakers before the likes of Industrial Light & Magic supercharged a director’s ability to exceed our imagination. Thus, this list, while filled with films from the ’80s onward, has its fair share of older films. Before we dive into it, though, let’s discuss a few things this list will not have (or at least, not have many of).

Superhero films are for the most part absent. Though so many superhero stories involve the stuff of science fiction—aliens, high-tech and strange worlds—there are plenty of great sci-fi movies to include on this list without bumping 20 of them off for DC and the MCU. (We’ve made an exception for one entry because the space opera underpinnings were too strong to ignore.) We’ve also left off, for the most part, the traditional giant monster/kaiju movie for the same reason. If you want a nice roundup of Godzilla’s greatest hits, check out our own Jim Vorel’s ranking of Godzilla’s cinematic oeuvre. (For the real kaiju rank-o-phile, Jim has also taken the measure of every Godzilla monster.) Finally, joining superheroes and kaiju on the sidelines, are the post-apocalyptic (and a few mid-apocalyptic) films. Though, again, there are a few exceptions, for the most part you will not find Mad Max here, or Eli, or even that guy who is Legend. (I see you frowning—“But will there be dystopias,” you ask? Hell yeah, we got dystopias.)

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  1. 104 -

    Le voyage dans la lune

    1902 — a.k.a. A Trip to the Moon, in 14 top lists Check
  2. 103 new

    Antiviral

    2012, in 0 top lists Check
  3. 102 +1

    Alphaville: Une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution

    1965 — a.k.a. Alphaville, in 13 top lists Check
  4. 101 +1

    Barbarella

    1968, in 7 top lists Check
  5. 100 +1

    Sleeper

    1973, in 7 top lists Check
  6. 99 -

    The Brother from Another Planet

    1984, in 1 top list Check
  7. 98 -

    Outland

    1981, in 2 top lists Check
  8. 97 new

    Nine Days

    2020, in 1 top list
    Check
  9. 96 new

    The Vast of Night

    2019, in 1 top list
    Check
  10. 95 +2

    Moon

    2009, in 5 top lists Check
  11. 94 +2

    Galaxy Quest

    1999, in 3 top lists Check
  12. 93 +2

    The Hidden

    1987, in 2 top lists Check
  13. 92 +2

    Westworld

    1973, in 5 top lists Check
  14. 91 +2

    Independence Day

    1996, in 8 top lists Check
  15. 90 +2

    Silent Running

    1972, in 8 top lists Check
  16. 89 +2

    Strange Days

    1995, in 4 top lists Check
  17. 88 new

    Snowpiercer

    2013, in 2 top lists Check
  18. 87 +2

    Dark City

    1998, in 6 top lists Check
  19. 86 +2

    A.I. Artificial Intelligence

    2001, in 11 top lists Check
  20. 85 +1

    Inception

    2010, in 21 top lists Check
  21. 84 +1

    Kôkaku Kidôtai

    1995 — a.k.a. Ghost in the Shell, in 12 top lists Check
  22. 83 +1

    District 9

    2009, in 10 top lists Check
  23. 82 +1

    Attack the Block

    2011, in 2 top lists Check
  24. 81 +1

    Upstream Color

    2013, in 3 top lists Check
  25. 80 +1

    Tron

    1982, in 5 top lists Check
  26. 79 +1

    Pi

    1998, in 6 top lists Check
  27. 78 +1

    Looper

    2012, in 2 top lists Check
  28. 77 +1

    The Truman Show

    1998, in 14 top lists Check
  29. 76 +1

    The Chronicles of Riddick

    2004, in 0 top lists Check
  30. 75 +1

    Okja

    2017, in 2 top lists Check
  31. 74 new

    High Life

    2018, in 3 top lists Check
  32. 73 +2

    The Man Who Fell to Earth

    1976, in 8 top lists Check
  33. 72 +2

    Re-Animator

    1985, in 7 top lists Check
  34. 71 +2

    GATTACA

    1997 — a.k.a. Gattaca, in 5 top lists Check
  35. 70 +2

    Évolution

    2015 — a.k.a. Evolution, in 1 top list Check
  36. 69 +2

    Twelve Monkeys

    1995 — a.k.a. 12 Monkeys, in 14 top lists Check
  37. 68 +2

    Contact

    1997, in 2 top lists Check
  38. 67 +2

    THX 1138

    1971, in 5 top lists Check
  39. 66 +2

    Edge of Tomorrow

    2014, in 3 top lists Check
  40. 65 +2

    Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

    1983, in 18 top lists Check
  41. 64 +2

    Avatar

    2009, in 13 top lists Check
  42. 63 -

    Interstellar

    2014, in 13 top lists Check
  43. 62 -

    Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä

    1984 — a.k.a. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, in 10 top lists Check
  44. 61 -

    Star Trek

    2009, in 4 top lists Check
  45. 60 -

    Logan's Run

    1976, in 4 top lists Check
  46. 59 -1

    Men in Black

    1997, in 6 top lists Check
  47. 58 -1

    Minority Report

    2002, in 8 top lists Check
  48. 57 -1

    Videodrome

    1983, in 18 top lists Check
  49. 56 -1

    Soylent Green

    1973, in 3 top lists Check
  50. 55 -1

    World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of...

    2017, in 1 top list
    Check
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Last updated on Jan 29, 2022 by Panunzio; source