Greatest SciFi Movies
AMC Movie List

Greatest SciFi Movies

It takes more than special effects and shiny props to make a killer scifi flick. Which one reigns over the galaxy?

rank title points votes your vote
1 Star Wars
The first in George Lucas' unstoppable franchise about Luke Skywalker and a Jedi prophecy. 1661 4307
2 Alien
The apex of scifi-horror. A face-hugging outerspace succubus was all it took to get audiences screaming. 1621 4111
3 The Empire Strikes Back
The second installment of the original trilogy, and the one that had us all intoning "Luke, I am your father." 1619 4175
4 The Terminator
The human resistance movement tries to outsmart Arnold Schwarzenegger in this post-apocalyptic classic. 1608 3940
5 Aliens
Sigourney Weaver's Ripley reveals her maternal side -- but only when it comes to human children. 1568 3948
6 Blade Runner
Harrison Ford goes hunting for replicants, only to find himself deeply in love with one (and chased by Rutger Hauer and Daryl Hannah). 1523 4001
7 Terminator 2: Judgment Day
James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger reteam but this time, Arnold's on the side of the good. 1473 3759
8 The Matrix
Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne make you rethink what is and isn't "real" in bullet-time and in your mind. 1115 3861
9 2001: A Space Odyssey
Kubrick's masterpiece -- 40 years later, its story of a computer out of control is even more relatable. 984 3672
10 Planet of the Apes
The monkeys are in charge, much to a scantily dressed Charlton Heston's dismay. The Statue of Liberty has never looked sadder. 981 3543
11 Back to the Future
You made a time machine? Out of a De Lorean? This flick made the space-time continuum as easy and fun as punching it to 88. 966 3166
12 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Khan (Ricardo Montalban) searches for Kirk (William Shatner) but what most remember is the death of Spock (Leonard Nimoy). 913 3381
13 The War of the Worlds
This 1953 adaptation of the H.G. Wells story about Martians invading Earth was a box office smash and won an Oscar for its special effects. 670 3214
14 The Day the Earth Stood Still
A mysterious robot named Klaatu arrives on Earth, but will we understand his cryptic message of peace? 636 3266
15 Total Recall
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone discover what can go wrong when you get a chance to buy new memories. 627 3209
16 Mad Max
A leather-clad Mel Gibson races through an Australian dystopia in this iconic scifi flick. 158 702
17 Avatar
James Cameron set the bar for big-budget scifi so high with this CG flick that filmmakers will spend the '10s trying to clear it. 156 3266
18 WALL-E
Sure it's G-rated, but it's hard not to fall for the robot's innocent charms as he tries to put things right on Earth. 125 3315
19 A Clockwork Orange
Stanley Kubrick's unnerving futuristic flick is a brutal and brilliant portrait of humanity in the face of -- and creation of -- devastation. 123 2771
20 The Incredibles
The definitive commentary on the superhero genre, this movie does what Watchmen wanted to do, and still manages to be funny. 20 2804