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 Alien
The apex of scifi-horror. A face-hugging outerspace succubus was all it took to get audiences screaming. 910 2268
2 The Empire Strikes Back
The second installment of the original trilogy, and the one that had us all intoning "Luke, I am your father." 905 2277
3 Star Wars
The first in George Lucas' unstoppable franchise about Luke Skywalker and a Jedi prophecy. 899 2353
4 Aliens
Sigourney Weaver's Ripley reveals her maternal side -- but only when it comes to human children. 898 2232
5 The Terminator
The human resistance movement tries to outsmart Arnold Schwarzenegger in this post-apocalyptic classic. 884 2182
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). 831 2215
7 Terminator 2: Judgment Day
James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger reteam but this time, Arnold's on the side of the good. 821 2115
8 The Matrix
Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne make you rethink what is and isn't "real" in bullet-time and in your mind. 585 2129
9 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. 536 1562
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. 517 1971
11 2001: A Space Odyssey
Kubrick's masterpiece -- 40 years later, its story of a computer out of control is even more relatable. 512 2042
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). 500 1952
13 The Day the Earth Stood Still
A mysterious robot named Klaatu arrives on Earth, but will we understand his cryptic message of peace? 322 1884
14 The War of the Worlds
Martians land on Earth and we are nowhere near ready to handle it. (And Steven Spielberg was no where ready to remake it!) 310 1832
15 Total Recall
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone discover what can go wrong when you get a chance to buy new memories. 257 1835
16 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. 60 1408
17 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. 55 1887
18 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. 26 1606
19 The Incredibles
The definitive commentary on the superhero genre, this movie does what Watchmen wanted to do, and still manages to be funny. 18 1380
20 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The love story takes your perceptions of reality and plausibility and upends them, leaving you breathless and buzzing. -433 1285