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. 1577 4097
2 Alien
The apex of scifi-horror. A face-hugging outerspace succubus was all it took to get audiences screaming. 1558 3932
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." 1539 3977
4 The Terminator
The human resistance movement tries to outsmart Arnold Schwarzenegger in this post-apocalyptic classic. 1522 3738
5 Aliens
Sigourney Weaver's Ripley reveals her maternal side -- but only when it comes to human children. 1515 3779
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). 1461 3823
7 Terminator 2: Judgment Day
James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger reteam but this time, Arnold's on the side of the good. 1399 3581
8 The Matrix
Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne make you rethink what is and isn't "real" in bullet-time and in your mind. 1049 3685
9 2001: A Space Odyssey
Kubrick's masterpiece -- 40 years later, its story of a computer out of control is even more relatable. 938 3508
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. 935 3377
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. 910 3004
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). 858 3236
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. 637 3061
14 Total Recall
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone discover what can go wrong when you get a chance to buy new memories. 595 3067
15 The Day the Earth Stood Still
A mysterious robot named Klaatu arrives on Earth, but will we understand his cryptic message of peace? 589 3109
16 Mad Max
A leather-clad Mel Gibson races through an Australian dystopia in this iconic scifi flick. 154 576
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. 137 3097
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. 108 3164
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. 108 2622
20 The Incredibles
The definitive commentary on the superhero genre, this movie does what Watchmen wanted to do, and still manages to be funny. -5 2653