Best Sci-Fi Movies of All Time
The following list is the Official Definitive List of the 400 best sci-fi movies of all time.
I averaged 34 different ranked lists of “Best sci-fi movies of all time” to get this definitive compilation. See my Methodology page for the research process that was used, including all 34 lists that were averaged.
Below is a checklist you’re welcome to download, followed by the list of 400 movies in ranked order.
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- Alien (1979)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
- Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Aliens (1986)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- The Matrix (1999)
- Metropolis (1927)
- The Thing (1982)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
- The Terminator (1984)
- Back to the Future (1985)
- E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982)
- Jurassic Park (1993)
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
- Children of Men (2006)
- Brazil (1985)
- Inception (2010)
- Solaris (1972)
- WALL-E (2008)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
- Planet of the Apes (1968)
- RoboCop (1987)
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
- 12 Monkeys (1995)
- Moon (2009)
- Arrival (2016)
- Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
- A Clockwork Orange (1971)
- Forbidden Planet (1956)
- Her (2013)
- Stalker (1979)
- Ex Machina (2014)
- The Fly (1986)
- Akira (1988)
- The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
- Primer (2004)
- Gravity (2013)
- District 9 (2009)
- Minority Report (2002)
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
- Interstellar (2014)
- Total Recall (1990)
- Gattaca (1997)
- Predator (1987)
- The Fifth Element (1997)
- Donnie Darko (2001)
- The Martian (2015)
- Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
- Snowpiercer (2013)
- Under the Skin (2013)
- Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
- Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
- La Jetée (1962)
- Looper (2012)
- Star Trek (2009)
- Frankenstein (1931)
- Ghost in the Shell (1995)
- The Iron Giant (1999)
- Avatar (2009)
- The Abyss (1989)
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
- Starship Troopers (1997)
- The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
- Godzilla (1954)
- Sunshine (2007)
- Galaxy Quest (1999)
- The War of the Worlds (1953)
- Dark City (1998)
- King Kong (1933)
- Logan’s Run (1976)
- Contact (1997)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Seconds (1966)
- Threads (1984)
- Silent Running (1972)
- The Invisible Man (1933)
- Serenity (2005)
- A Trip to the Moon (1902)
- Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)
- Videodrome (1983)
- A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
- Westworld (1973)
- They Live (1988)
- Hard to Be a God (2013)
- TRON (1982)
- Get Out (2017)
- Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
- Independence Day (1996)
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
- Sleeper (1973)
- Alphaville (1965)
- Fantastic Planet (1973)
- Escape from New York (1981)
- Soylent Green (1973)
- The Truman Show (1998)
- A Scanner Darkly (2006)
- Men in Black (1997)
- Attack the Block (2011)
- Je t’aime, je t’aime (1968)
- Annihilation (2018)
- Repo Man (1984)
- THX 1138 (1971)
- Ghostbusters (1984)
- Dark Star (1974)
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
- Back to the Future Part II (1989)
- The Andromeda Strain (1971)
- The Fountain (2006)
- Strange Days (1995)
- Iron Man (2008)
- The Time Machine (1960)
- It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
- Things to Come (1936)
- The Avengers (2012)
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
- Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)
- Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
- Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
- Flash Gordon (1980)
- The Host (2006)
- Superman (1978)
- High Life (2018)
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
- Upstream Color (2013)
- Paprika (2006)
- Altered States (1980)
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
- Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
- Fantastic Voyage (1966)
- World on a Wire (1973)
- Black Panther (2018)
- The Brother from Another Planet (1984)
- Source Code (2011)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Them! (1954)
- Young Frankenstein (1974)
- Scanners (1981)
- The Last Starfighter (1984)
- Mr. Nobody (2009)
- Melancholia (2011)
- Timecrimes (2007)
- Starman (1984)
- A Quiet Place (2018)
- 2046 (2004)
- A Boy and His Dog (1975)
- WarGames (1983)
- Barbarella (1968)
- The Thing from Another World (1951)
- Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
- Mad Max (1979)
- This Island Earth (1955)
- The World’s End (2013)
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
- Divine Love (2019)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- The Prestige (2006)
- When Worlds Collide (1951)
- Cube (1997)
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
- On the Silver Globe (1988)
- Dredd (2012)
- Flight of the Navigator (1986)
- Stargate (1994)
- Atlantis (2021)
- Logan (2017)
- The City of Lost Children (1995)
- The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
- Open Your Eyes (1997)
- Rollerball (1975)
- Pi (1998)
- World of Tomorrow (2015)
- The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Cloverfield (2008)
- V for Vendetta (2005)
- The Incredibles (2004)
- The Trial (1962)
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984)
- Cocoon (1985)
- War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
- eXistenZ (1999)
- Holy Motors (2012)
- Never Let Me Go (2010)
- Pacific Rim (2013)
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
- X2: X-Men United (2003)
- The Omega Man (1971)
- It Came from Outer Space (1953)
- Outland (1981)
- War of the Worlds (2005)
- Demolition Man (1993)
- Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
- Event Horizon (1997)
- The Running Man (1987)
- The Vast of Night (2019)
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
- Idiocracy (2006)
- Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
- X-Men: First Class (2011)
- Spider-Man 2 (2004)
- The Endless (2017)
- The Face of Another (1966)
- In My Room (2018)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Re-Animator (1985)
- Richard III (1995)
- 1984 (1984)
- Predestination (2014)
- Destination Moon (1950)
- X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
- Pitch Black (2000)
- The Hunger Games (2012)
- Godzilla (2014)
- Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
- Spaceballs (1987)
- Time Bandits (1981)
- Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
- 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
- Neon Genesis Evaneglion: The End of Evangelion (1997)
- Évolution (2015)
- Soul (2020)
- Voyage to the End of the Universe (1963)
- The Butterfly Effect (2004)
- Prometheus (2012)
- The Invisible Man (2020)
- Dune (1984)
- The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
- Quatermass 2 (1957)
- Superman II (1980)
- The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
- Back to the Future Part III (1990)
- Deadpool (2016)
- The Holy Mountain (1973)
- Enemy Mine (1985)
- Dune (2021)
- Signs (2002)
- The Man from Earth (2007)
- Delicatessen (1991)
- Upgrade (2018)
- The Blob (1958)
- The Day of the Triffids (1963)
- 28 Days Later… (2002)
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
- The Brood (1979)
- Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
- Kin-dza-dza! (1986)
- Phase IV (1974)
- The Lobster (2015)
- Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
- Liquid Sky (1982)
- Face/Off (1997)
- Island of Lost Souls (1932)
- Jaws (1975)
- Time After Time (1979)
- Marjorie Prime (2017)
- Short Circuit (1986)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
- Isle of Dogs (2018)
- Ad Astra (2019)
- Bacurau (2019)
- Punishment Park (1971)
- Mars Attacks! (1996)
- I Am Legend (2007)
- Species (1995)
- Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America (1992)
- Big Hero 6 (2014)
- Super 8 (2011)
- Battle Royale (2000)
- Equilibrium (2002)
- The Strange Adventure of Lemmy Caution (1965)
- The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- Modern Times (1936)
- Born in Flames (1983)
- Labyrinth of Cinema (2019)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Being John Malkovich (1999)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
- Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)
- Monsters (2010)
- The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)
- Spider-Man (2002)
- The Hidden (1987)
- Okja (2017)
- Space Is the Place (1974)
- Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
- The American Astronaut (2001)
- X-Men (2000)
- I, Robot (2004)
- Ikarie XB-1 (1963)
- Village of the Damned (1960)
- Cloud Atlas (2012)
- Eraserhead (1977)
- The Survivalist (2015)
- The Man in the White Suit (1951)
- Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
- Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (1973)
- Sorry to Bother You (2018)
- Transformers: The Movie (1986)
- Tremors (1990)
- The Quiet Earth (1985)
- The Fly (1958)
- Invaders from Mars (1953)
- Your Name (2016)
- Incredibles 2 (2018)
- The Bed Sitting Room (1969)
- Dreamscape (1984)
- The Nutty Professor (1963)
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
- Bumblebee (2018)
- Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013)
- The Crazy Ray (At 3:25) (1925)
- Dead Man’s Letters (1986)
- Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
- The Damned (1962)
- Watchmen (2009)
- Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
- Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
- The Stepford Wives (1975)
- Capricorn One (1977)
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
- Armageddon (1998)
- I’m Your Man (2021)
- Spontaneous (2020)
- The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
- Free Guy (2021)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Explorers (1985)
- Riddick (2013)
- The Black Hole (1979)
- Days of Eclipse (1988)
- The Clone Returns Home (2008)
- Star Trek Beyond (2016)
- Demon Seed (1977)
- Jurassic World (2015)
- Elysium (2013)
- Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (1977)
- Trancers (1984)
- Coherence (2013)
- Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966)
- Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
- Life (2017)
- The Book of Eli (2010)
- Oblivion (2013)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
- Turbo Kid (2015)
- The X-Files (1998)
- Outbreak (1995)
- Day of the Dead (1985)
- Resident Evil (2002)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- Heavy Metal (1981)
- Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
- Night of the Creeps (1986)
- Shin Godzilla (2016)
- Metropolis (2001)
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)
- Ready Player One (2018)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
- Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
- The Congress (2013)
- Wizards (1977)
- Midnight Special (2016)
- Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001)
- From Beyond (1986)
- 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
- Phantasm (1979)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Grindhouse (2007)
- Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (2008)
- Palm Springs (2020)
- Weird Science (1985)
- The Last Man on Earth (1964)
- Deadpool 2 (2018)
- Death Race 2000 (1975)
- The Road (2009)
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Son of Frankenstein (1939)
- Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
- The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
- Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
- The Rocketeer (1991)
- Summer Wars (2009)
- Tenet (2020)
- Innerspace (1987)
- Night of the Comet (1984)
- On the Beach (1959)
- The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
- Planet Terror (2007)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- Battlestar Galactica (2003)
- Darkman (1990)
- Chronicle (2012)
- 28 Weeks Later (2007)
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
