# The best science fiction movies of all time

The science fiction films that come up most often in critics' lists and in FilmAffinity and IMDb user rankings, from 1920s classics to recent auteur sci-fi.

- 19 votes · 25 items
- Dec 20, 2024 · Milagros Rodríguez Torres
- https://even.best/en/l/36/the-best-science-fiction-movies-of-all-time

## Top 25

1. **Blade Runner** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Ridley Scott, 1982. Harrison Ford hunts replicants in a rainy 2019 Los Angeles; based on Philip K. Dick.
2. **Interstellar** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Christopher Nolan, 2014. A journey through a wormhole to save humanity, advised by physicist Kip Thorne.
3. **Solaris** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972. An alien ocean materialises the memories of the scientists on a space station.
4. **Dune: Part Two** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Denis Villeneuve, 2024. Paul Atreides joins the Fremen; the most acclaimed Frank Herbert adaptation.
5. **2001: A Space Odyssey** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Stanley Kubrick, 1968. From the dawn of man to HAL 9000 and the monolith; the genre's ultimate reference.
6. **Alien** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Ridley Scott, 1979. Horror in space with Sigourney Weaver as Lieutenant Ripley.
7. **Close Encounters of the Third Kind** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Steven Spielberg, 1977. UFOs arrive at Devils Tower to the rhythm of five notes.
8. **Children of Men** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Alfonso Cuarón, 2006. A future in which no one can have children; famous for its long takes.
9. **Mad Max: Fury Road** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — George Miller, 2015. A two-hour chase across the desert; it won six technical Oscars.
10. **Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Michel Gondry, 2004. A couple erase their memories of each other; Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Charlie Kaufman.
11. **Metropolis** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — Fritz Lang, 1927. The city of the future divided between workers and elite, and the robot Maria.
12. **The Matrix** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Lana and Lilly Wachowski, 1999. Neo discovers the world is a simulation; it popularised 'bullet time'.
13. **Stalker** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979. Three men cross the mysterious Zone in search of a room that grants wishes.
14. **Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Irvin Kershner, 1980. The sequel many consider the best of the saga, with 'I am your father'.
15. **Terminator 2: Judgment Day** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — James Cameron, 1991. Schwarzenegger protects John Connor from the liquid-metal T-1000.
16. **Back to the Future** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Robert Zemeckis, 1985. Marty McFly travels to 1955 in Doc Brown's DeLorean.
17. **E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Steven Spielberg, 1982. A boy hides a lost alien; it was the highest-grossing film for a decade.
18. **Blade Runner 2049** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Denis Villeneuve, 2017. The sequel with Ryan Gosling; Best Cinematography Oscar for Roger Deakins.
19. **Arrival** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Denis Villeneuve, 2016. A linguist tries to communicate with the heptapods; based on a story by Ted Chiang.
20. **Aliens** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — James Cameron, 1986. Ripley returns with colonial marines: more action without losing the horror.
21. **Planet of the Apes** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968. Charlton Heston and one of the most famous endings in cinema.
22. **Inception** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Christopher Nolan, 2010. Thieves who infiltrate dreams; the spinning top at the end.
23. **Gattaca** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Andrew Niccol, 1997. An 'invalid' man impersonates another in a society of designer genetics.
24. **The Thing** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — John Carpenter, 1982. A creature that imitates any organism in an Antarctic base.
25. **WALL-E** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Andrew Stanton (Pixar), 2008. A cleaning robot alone on an Earth covered in rubbish.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.