The 10 Best Sci-Fi Movies of All Time, Ranked

Over the course of decades, the science fiction genre has continued to innovate and imagine. From near-future dystopias to far-off planets, here are the 10 best sci-fi Movies of all time.

10. Starship Troopers

Long before gamers were giving their lives to spread democracy for Super Earth in Helldivers 2, the film that inspired it became a cult classic. Starship Troopers is a gung-ho, campy sci-fi war movie. It follows a group of eager young cadets as they graduate high school and enlist in the Mobile Infantry. While the movie is a blast of absurdity as this group of lovable young adults trains to fight alien bugs, Starship Troopers has a surprising amount to say.

While it fronts as a tongue-in-cheek mockery of ’80s action sci-Ff like James Cameron’s Aliens, Starship Troopers also takes a scathing look at the military-industrial complex. It examines and hyperbolizes the attitudes sold to young folks to motivate them to enlist while also showing the dire consequences that can happen therein. While Starship Troopers is mostly a silly, comedic take on military culture through a hyper-absurdist lens, it also has some serious moments that make it worth taking seriously. While Starship Troopers‘ campy special effects may date the movie, its message has perhaps only become more prevalent in the years since its 1997 release.

9. Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s turn as the various iterations of The Terminator are downright iconic. However, Terminator 2: Judgement Day is still his best. In this explosive sequel, the T-800 played by Schwarzenegger is reprogrammed, becoming a heroic character. His purpose is to protect John Connor, a young boy who will grow up to lead the human resistance against the nefarious machines in the future. A more advanced Terminator model is sent back in time to try and assassinate Connor, and the T-800 must face off against the T-1000, which assumes the appearance of a brutal LAPD officer.

Terminator 2 features some incredible action set pieces, a fascinating yet easy to understand time-travel plot, and iconic performances from its heroes and villains which make it a classic. All that is backed up by an absolutely incredible original soundtrack as well.

8. Arrival

With Arrival, Denis Villeneuve took a fascinating approach to an extraterrestrial story. Rather than having an Alien invasion of malicious Martians who come to Earth to conquer, the aliens in Arrival are mysterious and unknown.

Arrival is a tense thriller about a race against time to uncover the motives of an alien species who land on the Earth in a dozen locations at once. The film has a sense of cautious curiosity but can be terrifying at times as the suspense builds and the stakes rise. While much of the world feels they’re on the brink of war with these alien beings, audiences follow a linguistics professor and her partner as they work tirelessly to unravel the alien’s language and communicate with them to prevent catastrophic violence.

The movie has a mind-bending, non-linear narrative that will have viewers at the edge of their seat while watching and pondering it for years to come after. Despite being largely about aliens, Arrival also has a very human story at its core about the personal stakes of its characters and how language can shape the way an individual thinks.

7. Alien

While Alien certainly boasts an iconic retro-future aesthetic like many other sci-fi films from the 1970s and 1980s, its horror focus sets it apart from the genre. Ridley Scott’s absolute classic showcased a terrifying vision of the future through the eyes of isolated, blue-collar workers.

In Alien, The crew of a long-hauling spaceship wakes from a long sleep and finds themselves investigating an eerie, desolate moon called LV-426. They survey an awe-inspiring alien vessel – designed by brilliant artist H.R. Giger – which almost appears organic. After investigating the ship, the crew ends up contaminating their own with a terrifying super-predator, a rapidly evolving Alien, which wreaks havoc on the ship and kills nearly all the crew.

The design of the titular alien itself is absolutely horrifying, feeling believable despite how inherently foreign it is, thanks to some excellent design work and practical effects. From the bug-like Facehugger to the full-blown Xenomorph, each stage of its evolution has become iconic. The original Alien film also spawned one of the best heroes in all of sci-fi and horror with Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal as Ripley. With the more recent success of Alien: Romulus in Summer 2024, it seems that the Alien franchise is finally back and here to stay.

6. The Matrix

Released back in 1999, The Matrix is starting to show its age a bit, in an endearing way. The abundance of leather, slow-motion, and a soundtrack featuring Rob Zombie will certainly remind viewers of some of the edginess of the turn of the millennium. That being said, The Matrix still has an excellent, mind-bending, layered story and iconic action set pieces that innovated both the sci-fi and action movie genres.

While the CGI which made the movie famous for innovating with moments like the slow motion “bullet time” might be starting to show its age, the narrative of The Matrix is as relevant as ever. The film centers on the existential boredom that comes from a complacent life as hero-to-be Nero (played by Keanu Reaves) discovers the truth of his world; it’s all a simulation. With a clever allegory for the directors’ own experiences discovering their gender identity, The Matrix also asks viewers to consider whether they’d take the blue pill or the red pill, choosing whether to stay blissfully ignorant or live in the truth of their world.

For its aesthetics, themes, and incredible ensemble cast featuring mysterious characters with the utmost cool factor, The Matrix remains an iconic must-watch for fans of sci-fi and action.

Related: Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Feels Like a Breath of Fresh Air – Here’s Why

5. Dune: Part Two

For many years, Frank Herbert’s Dune was considered an unadaptable masterwork of science fiction. Decades after David Lynch’s maligned attempt, Denis Villeneuve proved skeptics wrong with the explosive Dune: Part Two.

It seems almost as if Dune: Part Two achieves the impossible. The film manages to be faithful to the world Herbert built with his novels in many ways while still making some appreciated changes to better suit the story to modern film-goers. This paved the way for Dune 2 to be one of the biggest blockbusters of 2024, as well as ending up on the Academy’s Oscars shortlists.

While the story remains incredible from the novel, Villeneuve and his cast and crew breathe life into making Arrakis feel like a real place. Rich cultures are shown off with incredible costumes and sets and fictitious languages. There are some incredible special effects, both CGI and practical, which show the scale of the war for spice. Hans Zimmer delivers one of the best scores of his career, with memorable themes that know when to be subdued in times of beauty and reflection and when to be explosively epic to back massive set pieces. An incredible ensemble cast of A-Listers also brings top-tier performances to the film’s roster of characters. All these parts form a masterpiece whole, an instant classic that we feel comfortable calling one of sci-fi film’s crowning achievements.

4. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

The Empire Strikes Back will be celebrating its 45th anniversary in 2025. After all this time, many Star Wars fans still hold it in high regard as the franchise’s best. It’s easy to see why. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back sees Irvin Kershner take over the reins to direct this blockbuster sequel to George Lucas’ iconic Star Wars.

Of course, The Empire Strikes Back is certainly the darkest of the original Star Wars trilogy and makes for an excellent second act that ups the stakes and expands the world. As Luke learns the way of the Jedi, Vader rises to meet him, resulting in an incredible lightsaber battle and one of the most legendary twists in cinema history. While – in my opinion – some of the initial charm of A New Hope is missed here, there’s no denying the epic nature of The Empire Strikes Back and all this bombastic sequel did for the Star Wars universe. New additions like Boba Fett and Lando Calrissian add even more to an excellent cast, and the new planets shown add more scale and visual diversity compared to the original Star Wars film.

3. 2001: A Space Odyssey

There’s no doubt that Stanley Kubrick is a visionary director, capable of bringing iconic stories to the silver screen in any genre. 2001: A Space Odyssey is no exception. Released back in 1968, the film follows a group of astronauts and their erratic AI computer system, HAL. The film tells the story of their mind-bending journey through space and time, with incredibly innovative special effects.

Even still, the sense of scope of this film, along with its forward-thinking set and costume design, make for an awe-inspiringly impressive movie. Even after nearly 60 years, 2001: A Space Odyssey is still an unpredictable epic worth watching, and its influence can still be felt in modern sci-fi.

2. Blade Runner

While Blade Runner may be showing its age a little bit as it is set in the since-passed year 2019, there’s just something so captivating about the film’s atmosphere. The noir-inspired, rain-soaked streets of LA make an excellent dystopian backdrop. This is even further supported by incredible miniatures work, showcasing the scale of this massive mega city.

In Blade Runner, Harrison Ford stars as Deckhard, a detective looking to hunt rogue replicants, androids who’ve defected from their roles as servants and have turned against the humans who’ve created them. While it’s perhaps most remembered for its incredible atmosphere and aesthetics, Blade Runner‘s narrative and themes about what it means to truly be human and how class struggles affect society in the face of progress are what make it an undeniable classic.

Blade Runner‘s aesthetic and cultural significance also cannot be denied, defining the look and feel of the Cyberpunk sub-genre. This influence can still be felt today, most notably in CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 RPG.

1. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

While we had to give The Empire Strikes Back its flowers as an excellent sequel, A New Hope still holds a higher place in sci-fi history. The original Star Wars film practically reinvented the genre and expanded the scale of blockbuster summer movies.

With Star Wars, George Lucas borrowed from Westerns and classic samurai films, as well as taking inspiration from sci-fi serials like Flash Gordon. That being said, the world created in the original Star Wars is an incredibly believable, tangled piece of science fiction. The incredible sets and costume work, seen at their peak in the iconic cantina sequence, showcase a world that feels believable in lived in. The incredible orchestra score from John Williams also goes a long to way sell the emotional beats of the classic hero’s journey undertaken by Luke Skywalker.

While Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope deserves celebration for kicking off the decades-long franchise, it also stands on its own effectively as a hopeful, awe-inspiring tale of a farm boy, princess, scoundrel, and an old wizard teaming up to defeat evil.

And those are the 10 best sci-fi movies of all time, ranked.