Top 100 Best Sci-Fi Movies To Watch In 2024

 

Getting lost in a good movie/series is its own reward – a kiss of bliss from the realm of Entertainment to your Soul.

 

In this special newly themed article from ENTOIN, this writer is cracking his knuckles and getting ready to dive into a galaxy of Science Fiction movie titles that have stood the test of time, no matter their ratings or scores.

 

As always, the list may be numbered but each movie is outstanding in its own right – the numbering does not denote importance or ‘better than’.

 

If you haven’t seen some of these excellent Sci-Fi films yet, we recommend you hit the play button asap.

 

The enrichment of your soul is anything but fiction, we can assure you.

 

 

 

1. The Matrix trilogy

 

 

When The Matrix released in 1999, the plot took the world by shock and surprise. The movie had a talented cast including Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, and Carrie-Anne Moss. It was directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, aka The Wachowski Brothers.

 

This Sci-Fi trilogy went on to open everyone’s minds to beautiful, strange, and darkly futuristic, ideas that added something unforgettable to the genre.

 

The three Matrix movies are:

 

• The Matrix (1999)
• The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
• The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

 

Starting with the 1999 cult classic, this story later inspired books, graphic novels, fashion statements, merchandise, video games, short films, and animated series like “The Animatrix” (an anthology of nine short films).

 

Animatrix released in 2003 and was based heavily on the original Matrix movies. Plenty of diverse interpretations and conspiracies followed in the wake of these eye-opening projects.

 

A fine example of this was how The Matrix, despite being a work of creative fiction, added fuel to the scandalous Simulation Theory. On a related note, there’s “A Glitch in the Matrix”.

 

This powerful documentary released in 2021 and details plenty of thought-provoking and intellect-stirring ideas about not only the Matrix films but also the Simulation Theory.

 

The Matrix movies have become gold standards in pop culture. They are not for the faint-hearted, because they delve into some of the darkest existential concepts from the realm of Sci-Fi.

 

Anyone with a curious soul and an open mind will adore what these films have achieved and left behind for generations to come.

 

 

 

2. Back to the Future trilogy

 

 

This trilogy of Sci-Fi films encouraged a whole generation of fans to embrace time travel, or rather the possibility of it.

 

The “Back to the Future” movies are equal parts comedy, action, fantasy, and adventure. They have earned their status as Science-Fiction cinema jewels.

 

The trilogy comprises the following titles:

 

• Back to the Future (1985 – Movie)
• Back to the Future Part II (1989 – Movie)
• Back to the Future Part III (1990 – Movie)

 

There’s also a 1991 TV Series and a video game which released in 1989.

 

Brilliant performances from Michael J. Fox (who played the memorable Marty McFly) and Christopher Lloyd (who gave us the unforgettable Dr. Emmett Brown) add to the watch-worthy potential of these films.

 

Marty McFly is a teenager who accidently travels thirty years into the past where he finds his own teenage parents. His actions in this timeline soon alter his future, and even threaten his very existence.

 

To prevent anything negative from happening, Marty finds himself encouraging his folks to fall in love with each other.

 

This trilogy certainly made a great impression and delivered worthy pop-culture tropes that will stick around for a while to come. One may even say these movies will always have a future.

 

 

 

3. Star Wars saga

 

 

What George Lucas started in 1977 gradually bloomed into a Sci-Fi-Fantasy pop-culture extravaganza that went on to inspire generations of fandoms, and still does.

 

The Star Wars saga boasts millions of fans all over the world. The major movies & series (so far) in this franchise include:

 

• Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977 – Movie)
• Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980 – Movie)
• Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983 – Movie)
• The Ewok Adventure (1984 – TV-Movie)
• Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985 – TV-Movie)
• Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999 – Movie)
• Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002 – Movie)
• Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005 – Movie)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 – Animated Series)
• Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015 – Movie)
• Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017 – Movie)
• Star Wars: Episode IX (2019 – Movie)
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016 – Anthology Movie)
• Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018 – Anthology Movie)
• The Mandalorian (2019 – Anthology Series)

 

Episodes I, II, and III are the prequel trilogy. Episodes IV, V, and VI comprise the original three. Episodes VII, VIII, and IX are the sequels.

 

The 2008 Clone Wars series became a major fan-respected addition to the franchise. Rogue One, Solo, Boba Fett, The Mandalorian, and others are anthologies that add to the rich storytelling value and legacy of the Star Wars universe.

 

These movies are also known for establishing one of the grandest villains ever created, namely Darth Vader.

 

If you’re a geek who loves filling in the story blanks, watch each Star Wars film based on its actual release date. That means completing the original trilogy first, then the prequels, followed by the sequels.

 

If you’re interested in a more linear story-centric approach, view each ‘Episode’ in keeping with its numbering. That means beginning with the prequels, moving to the originals, and concluding with the sequels.

 

The TV movies and animated series can be seen once you’ve caught up with the main storylines, or you can just watch them based on their release-year.

 

The Star Wars movies are a class apart. Amazing performances, brilliant characters, and enviable technologies suffuse these exquisite movies with unmatched storytelling value.

 

If you’ve already seen them all, perhaps it’s time for another marathon binge? “May the Force be with you.”

 

 

 

4. Avatar franchise

 

 

 

Fantasy and Sci-Fi blend perfectly in this ambitious and awe-inspiring film franchise featuring an entire world called Pandora created using state-of-the-art 3D technology. Careful attention to detail has made every frame of these movies a visual feast. 

 

After learning that his brother was murdered in an attempted robbery, paraplegic U.S. Marine Jake Sully (played by Sam Worthington) is determined to embark on an upcoming military mission in his brother’s stead. 

 

The journey takes him and hundreds of other soldiers to the distant and dangerous planet of Pandora. After a long interstellar journey, Jake finds corporate greed has beat him to the new world. A businessman named Parker Selfridge (played by Giovanni Ribisi) is intent on finding a deceptive way to relocate a local native humanoid tribe called the Na’vi. 

 

They currently call a great tree their home, but under this gigantic and beautiful tree is a rich node of Unobtanium, a mineral that promises to make the RDA (Resources Development Administration) and others very rich.

 

In exchange for his services, Jake is assured a spinal surgery that will see him walk again. So he starts working covertly under orders from Colonel Miles Quaritch (played by Stephen Lang) to accomplish the mission.

 

Jake soon joins Dr. Grace Augustine (played by Sigourney Weaver) and a core team of scientists to technologically ‘project’ their minds into synthetic bio-forms based on the Na’vi people’s physical design. This will help them survive in the perilous plains and fatal jungles of Pandora.

 

Taking on his ‘avatar’, Jake infiltrates the tribe in question only to fall in love with the independent and beautiful Neytiri (played by Zoe Saldana), daughter to the chieftain. 

 

The Colonel, seeing that Jake may be changing sides, initiates a ruthless extermination strategy which results in an epic face-off between the Na’vi and human soldiers.

 

As time goes on, Jake surrenders to his new identity and finds himself relating to the Na’vi people, their culture, and Pandora as if he’d always been one of them.

 

Here are all the Avatar movies in order:

 

• Avatar 1 (2009)
• Avatar 2: Way of Water (2022)
• Avatar 3 (TBR, 2025)
• Avatar 4 (TBR, 2029)
• Avatar 5 (TBR, 2031)

 

 

5. The World’s End

 

 

 

Eager to reunite and have a good time with his old friends, Gary King (played by Simon Pegg, with a younger version played by Thomas Law) wishes to recreate a memorable pub crawl experience the five of them had twenty years ago.

 

So they head over to The Golden Mile in Lechtworth Town, New Haven. The plan entails twelve pints, twelve pubs, and shots galore, and perhaps some added trysts with chicks.

 

The original plan had failed and the buddies had unwittingly dispersed before even making it to their first pub. Now they’re all ‘older and wiser’, they plan to do it right.

 

However, by this time Andrew “Andy” Knightley (played by Nick Frost; younger version by Zachary Bailess) has chosen a sober lifestyle. Regardless, they visit their starting pub, The First Post.

 

Before long, the friends learn there’s something strange about the town. It’s different, not at all like they remember it. Some of the local residents do not even recall them or their epic pub crawl attempt.

 

The young men move to the next set of pubs on their list – The Old Familiar, The Trusty Servant, The Famous Cock, The King’s Head, and more. Each time, they discover increasingly bizarre sights in town and the citizens seem to be growing just as weird.

 

With each pub crawl, a new conspiracy surfaces. Gary’s mind is nonetheless set on getting his friends and himself to World’s End, the final pub on the list. Even if it kills them, Gary is determined to make this re-creation a success.

 

 

6. Upgrade

 

 

 

In the not-far-away future, machines have been seamlessly integrated into people’s lives. The multi-faceted world now relies deeply on technology, which performs almost every task, no matter how complex, on behalf of humans.

 

Tech-shy and old-fashioned car mechanic Grey Trace (played by Logan Marshall-Green) finds himself isolated in this new society.

 

He’s what they term an analog man living in an increasingly digital world. Grey stubbornly holds on to his old-school beliefs.

 

One night, a terrible incident leaves Grey a quadriplegic. The experience veritably removes what happiness Grey had left in life.

 

Reclusive tech mogul Eron Keen (played by Harrison Gilbertson) promises to help Grey connect his now-unresponsive limbs to his brain using state-of-the-art technology.

 

This tech is a highly specialized and rather powerful Stem microchip invention. Grey, at a life-changing and principle-altering crossroads, is worried that this ‘cure’ might end up being worse than the disease.

 

 

7. A Quiet Place

 

 

 

On day-89 in a future filled with bizarre uncertainty, the Abbot Family manages to elude and evade predatory creatures that hunt based on sound and vibrations.

 

The family remains unaware of any other survivors out there, ever since the creature disaster befell society after the coming of a strange meteor.

 

Under nearly every circumstance, the Abbots maintain as much silence as possible going about their daily duties while isolated in the woods.

 

They even refrain from speaking to one another to avoid attracting the armored and indestructible creatures whose numbers are unknown.

 

Parents Evelyn and Lee Abbot (played by Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, respectively) have the added challenge of helping their eldest child Regan (played by Millicent Simmonds) survive.

 

Her natural deafness encourages her mom and dad to find ways to upgrade her cochlear implant if only to better her chances of survival in this strange new hunter-hunted world.

 

With devised safeguards and rustic warning systems in place, the Abbots go about their lives of mock normalcy.

 

They haven’t chosen to remain ignorant about the creature threat, in fact, the family learns whatever they can, whenever they can, about the monsters that can appear at any time if they so much as hear a sound loud enough to warrant their notice.

 

The family aims to use their accumulated knowledge about the beasts to discover some weakness in them that is worth exploiting, and eventually drive the terrors to extinction.

 

SEQUEL UPDATE: “Quiet Place II” is streaming on Paramount+.

 

 

8. The Host

 

 

 

Park Hee-bong (played by Byun Hee-Bong) is a man in his 60s who runs a compact snack bar on the Han River bank.

 

He resides with his daughter, two sons, and a granddaughter. The Parks family goes about leading a normal life in Seoul.

 

Though poor, they enjoy a peaceful existence. The wizened man’s elder son Gang-du (played by Kang-ho Song) is in his 40s but is rather incompetent and immature, and his wife left him long ago.

 

Hee-bong’s youngest son Nam-il (played by Park Hae-il) is a grumbler and an unemployed one at that.

 

The old man’s daughter Nam-joo (played by Bae Doona) is a member of the national team and an archery medal-winner.

 

The family is challenged one day by the arrival of a mysterious monster that surfaces from the Han River.

 

After a series of harrowing and fatal incidents that follow in its wake, Hee-bong’s granddaughter Hyun-Seo (played by Ko Asung) is carried away by the creature.

 

The Parks family grieve her loss – she’s gone without a trace. But when they discover that their little one is still alive, they rally together to fight the beast and save the child who matters a lot to each of the Parks family members.

 

 

9. THX 1138

 

 

 

Sometime in the future, society has become a state-controlled entity where conformity is the law.

 

All citizens should follow the dictates of the ‘faceless state’ without any question or protest.

 

A mandatory drug regimen enforces such obedience. A side-effect of the drug is that it quells human desire, consequently affecting sexual attraction.

 

No surprise that relationships and sex are also banned. A corps of ‘Robocops’ police this new society, which stands within an artificial enclosure.

 

Everything outside is unknown. One ‘loyal subject’ by the name of THX 1138 is a skilled technician tasked with engineering Robocops in exclusive factories.

 

He experiences mysterious feelings, ones that he knows he shouldn’t be sensing. He immediately takes himself to a state-ordained confessional to express his ‘faults’.

 

THX 1138 is soon brainwashed and returned to a societally accepted state of mind. But his journey of self-re-discovery is only just beginning.

 

He learns a lot through his computer-matched state-appointed female roommate LUH 3417 and her surveillance colleague SEN 5241.

 

He is drawn to LUH 3417’s visions, which are clearly illegal but feel ‘right’. THX 1138 believes that as long as he can keep his thoughts from being discovered by the Robocops and the state, he can figure out what his heart is trying to tell him about his real place in the world.

 

 

10. The NeverEnding Story

 

 

 

The ever-dreaming 10-year-old Bastian (played by Barret Oliver) flees bullies and seeks shelter in a used bookstore.

 

An enigmatic leather-bound tome draws his attention, only for the storeowner to warn Bastian away from reading it.

 

The world inside the tome is said to be so mesmerizing that nobody will want to return once they’ve visited.

 

The book, having thus become irresistible, makes Bastian want to borrow it. He hides it in the attic until he feels ready to read it.

 

When he finally squirrels away to explore the tale, he discovers the gorgeous land of ‘Fantasia’ and learns of a great doom that is about to befall it.

 

A prophecy tells of a brave young boy who, anointed by the Child Empress of Fantasia (played by Tami Stronach), will bring a halt to the land’s ongoing destruction.

 

Accompanying Atreyu (played by Noah Hathaway), whom he meets in this beautiful fictional world made real, Bastian embarks on the adventure of a lifetime in this cult classic SciFi-Fantasy film.

 

Plenty of amazing visuals, memorable characters, and poignant story moments pervade this outstanding movie that tugs on all the right heartstrings and provokes all the right thoughts.

 

 

11. Turbo Kid

 

 

 

Debris and scrap litter ‘Wasteland’ in this post-apocalyptic sci-fi film set in the year 1997.

 

Water has become the new currency, and everyone is at each other’s throats for it.

 

Keen comic aficionado and reclusive scavenger, the orphaned ‘Kid’ (played by Munro Chambers) strives to survive each day in this terrible world.

 

He trades bygone-era relics in exchange for water and food. Zeus, the sadistic king of Wasteland, rules with an iron fist.

 

The kid’s attempts to keep a low profile and make it through each day are subverted when he meets the free-spirited and energetic Apple (played by Laurence Leboeuf).

 

She changes his worldview in several ways. When Zeus captures Apple, Kid finds himself learning more about a superior turbo-charged device/weapon.

 

Kid channels the courage of his favorite comic book hero as he finds himself relying on his wits and advanced tech to become the hero this dry world needs.

 

Kid gradually grows to become the ‘Turbo Kid’ and takes on vast masked armies, the buzzsaw-handed Skeletron (Zeus’s sidekick), and finally the king himself.

 

 

12. The Blob

 

 

 

When Steve Andrews (played by Steve McQueen) and his girlfriend Jane Martin (played by Aneta Corsaut) witness a meteorite crash, they go to investigate only to encounter an old man who seems to have some weird gelatinous substance on his hand.

 

They immediately take him to Dr. Hallen (played by Stephen Chase) who seems lost when it comes to identifying the ‘blob’.

 

When the doctor as well as the old man vanishes later, Steve grows certain that the blob might be responsible for their disappearance.

 

In fact, he discovers that this strange extra-terrestrial entity relishes consuming people and growing bigger as a result.

 

Nobody believes Steve when he goes around warning people about the imminent danger they all face from this thing.

 

Be it angry parents or skeptical policemen, they all look at Steve like he’s drunk, or worse.

 

The blob eventually becomes so large that nobody with eyes will say it was their imagination playing tricks on them.

 

The question now becomes: How will they stop this thing from devouring everybody with whom it comes into contact?

 

 

13. The Fountain

 

 

 

This sci-fi film explores deep concepts surrounding life and death. It shifts among representational images and stories focused around the mythical ‘Tree of Life’ whose sap is said to bestow immortality on the one who drinks it.

 

Allegorical timelines are not unusual in this brilliant movie. One such timeline features 16th-century Spanish conquistador Tomas (played by Hugh Jackman).

 

He is on a quest to find the mythic tree and use its sap to save the life of his queen Isabel Creo (played by Rachel Weisz) who has met with grave trouble at the hands of The Inquisition.

 

Yet another conceptual story unfolds centuries later, with Jackman playing the role of a scientist desperate for a medical breakthrough that could help save the life of his cancer-struck wife Izzi.

 

The final conceptual storyline in this film is also its most abstract. It puts Hugh Jackman in the shoes of an alternate incarnation of his own self and leaves him questioning eternal life while nestled within a floating sphere.

 

This sphere also happens to be transporting the Tree of Life through the deep dark reaches of Space.

 

A rather ‘meditational’ movie, this sci-fi title is a must-watch.

 

 

14. Serenity

 

 

 

A sequel to the hit 2002 sci-fi TV series ‘Firefly’, the film stars most of the same cast and is a treat for fans of the original show.

 

The Alliance has dispatched their top assassin to retrieve the Serenity spacecraft’s most valuable cargo, namely River Tam.

 

The crew finds themselves in the direct line of fire. They do their best to stay ahead of the assassin’s movements and are successful in that endeavor for little more than a year.

 

The stakes are quite high by this time, and several lives are in jeopardy. The killer is prepared to cull anyone who gets in their way.

 

Bodies start piling up, leaving the crew of the Serenity at a dire crossroads. They gradually learn about what makes River Tam so dangerous and important in the grander scheme of things.

 

 

15. Ready Player One

 

 

 

This film is set in the year 2045. Wade Watts (played by Tye Sheridan) lives in quite a harsh society.

 

The only time he feels happy is when he leaps into the VR game ‘OASIS’.

 

Most of humanity is in this game, logged in and playing as various characters to their hearts’ delight.

 

This game is so immersive that it is practically an alternate reality. Promising a chance for players to be anyone, go anywhere, and set limits based on how far their imagination can stretch, OASIS truly stands out as the signature element in this sci-fi movie.

 

The eccentric and ingenious James Halliday (played by Mark Rylance) is credited with the game’s creation.

 

He comes up with a daring and thrilling challenge. He promises to leave his incalculable fortune as well as total control of OASIS to the one player who wins a 3-part contest that he specifically designed to find a worthy heir to run his empire and carry on his legacy.

 

Wade makes sure he plays his best, and he passes the first challenge, which proves to be quite the reality-bending treasure hunt.

 

Along with his team of friends – collectively known as ‘High Five’ – Wade soon discovers that a great danger is coming, and that he needs to work with his buddies and others to save OASIS.

 

 

16. Alita: Battle Angel

 

 

 

A Mo-Cap and VFX extravaganza, this sci-fi movie has deep storylines and action-packed thrills. The year is 2563 and it has been three hundred years since a war called ‘The Fall’ concluded.

 

Enigmatic scientist Dr. Dyson Ido (played by Christoph Waltz) happens upon a female cyborg who seems to have been discarded in the junkyard.

 

Bringing her back to his lab, he learns that her human brain is still intact though it has succumbed to amnesia.

 

He names the cyborg after his deceased daughter Alita. Dyson’s ex-wife Chiren soon meets Alita.

 

Chiren works for the powerful Zapan (played by Ed Skrein). She also makes friends with Hugo (played by Keean Johnson), the young man who regularly supplies Dr.Dyson with cyborg parts.

 

Through her interaction with Alita and Hugo, Chiren discovers that they both harbor a dream to move to ‘Zalem’, the floating city in the sky.

 

When Alita realizes that the champion of the ‘Motorball Tournament’ will be rewarded with a place in Zalem, she learns everything she can about the sport from Hugo.

 

One thing leads to another and Alita learns that her ‘father’, Dr. Dyson Ido, was once a hunter-warrior.

 

To ensure that he gets justice, she demands to be re-crafted into a hunter-warrior as well.

 

But the good doctor refuses to replace her form into that of a lean mean killing machine.

 

Secrets rise to the surface the more Alita strives toward learning about her origins.

 

 

17. Annihilation

 

 

 

In an area called, um, ‘Area X’, a government facility on the southern coast of the U.S. maintains a secret. Kane (played by Oscar Isaac) has been MIA for twelve months since he undertook a covert operation into this mysterious place.

 

Even though he has been presumed dead, it doesn’t keep his wife, reputed academic biology professor Lena (played by Natalie Portman), from pulling all the stops to go in search of him.

 

Bizarre never-before-seen phenomena are unraveling in Florida’s swamplands. Lena tracks Kane’s mission route. She goes as part of an all-woman team and learns about the strange ever-expanding membrane surrounding Area X.

 

Its iridescence is just one of the factors that have made the membrane new to Science.

 

Facts are hard to come by in this almost-alien zone, though. Few theories have even managed to come close to explaining the strange goings-on and creepy animal and plant mutations that thrive in Area X.

 

Lena and her team soon discover that worse things are afoot inside this nightmarishly enchanting and uniquely kaleidoscopic zone.

 

 

18.  Dune 

 

 

 

The 2021 film “Dune,” directed by Denis Villeneuve, stands out as a cinematic marvel that captivates audiences through its epic scale, intricate world-building, and thought-provoking themes.

 

Based on Frank Herbert’s iconic novel, the film masterfully brings to life the rich and complex universe of Arrakis, a desert planet brimming with political intrigue, religious mysticism, and environmental significance.

 

What makes “Dune” special is its meticulous attention to detail, from the awe-inspiring landscapes to the meticulously crafted cultures and societies.

 

The film’s visual effects and production design create a visually stunning and immersive experience, transporting viewers to a distant future where power struggles and heroism collide. They also won 6 Oscars for these technical aspects. 

 

The ensemble cast, including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, and Oscar Isaac, deliver compelling performances that breathe life into their multifaceted characters.

 

Moreover, “Dune” explores profound themes such as ecological balance, imperialism, and the hero’s journey, inviting audiences to reflect on the complexities of human nature and the consequences of unchecked ambition. 

 

Villeneuve’s visionary direction and Hans Zimmer’s evocative score further elevate the film’s impact, making “Dune” a special cinematic achievement that invites audiences to contemplate the intersection of myth, politics, and destiny in an enthralling and visually breathtaking manner.

 

 

19. Silent Running

 

 

 

It is the far future and Earth has become a dry planet barren of life.

 

Only within giant pods do the last ecosystems survive. These pods are attached to vessels traveling through space.

 

Word soon reaches all crewmembers that they are to jettison the pods, veritably killing everything inside.

 

The Valley Forge crew is promised a speedy return home, and they’re all elated except for botanist Freeman Lowell (played by Bruce Dern).

 

He has always cherished and loved forests and its creatures. He has even come to appreciate keeping these pod systems alive and away from exploitation.

 

His desperation to save them makes him kill the rest of his crew and fly Valley Forge into Deep Space.

 

With only three robots for companionship, Freeman enjoys the fact that he has saved something truly precious.

 

Then a rescue mission comes his way, pressuring Freeman into making all sorts of moral choices.

 

 

20. Gravity

 

 

 

The 2013 film “Gravity,” directed by Alfonso Cuarón, stands out as a cinematic masterpiece that revolutionized the way audiences experience space and survival on the big screen.

 

Through its breathtaking visuals and innovative storytelling techniques, the film transports viewers into the vastness of space, immersing them in a visceral and intense journey.

 

What sets “Gravity” apart is its meticulous attention to scientific accuracy and the seamless integration of cutting-edge visual effects.

 

Sandra Bullock’s portrayal of Dr. Ryan Stone, a determined astronaut fighting for survival, brings emotional depth to the narrative, making the audience genuinely invest in her plight.

 

The film conveys the feeling of being adrift in space, intensifying the sense of isolation and vulnerability. Ultimately, “Gravity” transcends its status as a mere movie, becoming a cinematic event that captures the awe-inspiring beauty and peril of space exploration while delving into themes of human resilience and the indomitable will to survive.

 

 

21. Coherence

 

 

 

The night eight friends gather for a dinner party also happens to be host to an astronomical anomaly.

 

Emily Foxler (played by Emily Baldoni) is with her boyfriend Kevin (played by Maury Sterling) at Mike’s (played by Nicholas Brendon) house when the strange events start to unfold.

 

Kevin’s ex-girlfriend Laurie (played by Lauren Maher) is also at the party, adding to the awkwardness and tension that Emily and Kevin feel around her.

 

The comet in question is said to make a pass over Earth and when it does, the power goes out.

 

The friends gradually start to experience reality-bending, almost paranormal, experiences when they leave the house to go investigate one particular residence that still has electricity.

 

Discovering alternate versions of themselves is just the start of a series of insane events that traumatize the group.

 

 

22. Midnight Special

 

 

 

Blessed with strange yet amazing abilities and just as bizarre weaknesses, Alton Meyer (played by Jaeden Martell) can truly be called one-of-a-kind.

 

An isolated cult was practically worshipping the child when his father Roy (played by Michael Shannon) decided enough was enough and spirited the child away in the dead of night.

 

Too late, though, because the U. S. Government caught a whiff of the boy’s powers and grew intent on determining his threat level.

 

To this end, they dispatch NSA agent Paul Sevier (played by Adam Driver) who harbors too many questions about Alton, and too few answers.

 

Roy feels like his son and he is going to be running forever from various parties who seem interested in the boy purely for his capabilities.

 

 

23. Wizards

 

 

 

A post-apocalyptic future unfolds in this sci-fi animation classic. The fate of the world depends on a tiny wizard named Avatar (voiced by Bob Holt).

 

He has to contend with fascist mutants led by his evil twin Blackwolf (voiced by Steve Gravers) who has an interesting war trick up his sleeve that involves Hitler’s speeches (!).

 

Animation and Live-Action blend beautifully in this captivating movie where it isn’t unusual to see Nazi armies moving across a cartoon landscape host to elves and fairies.

 

Avatar quests through radioactive realms and magical worlds accompanied by gorgeous fairy princess Elinore (voiced by Jesse Welles), misunderstood robot Peace (voiced by David Proval) who is at odds with Blackwolf’s control program, and warrior-elf Weehawk (voiced by Richard Romanus) whose hot-blooded nature brings a strange sort of balance to the team.

 

Psychedelic art styles, concepts of magic vs technology, and futurism-fantasy are rife in this cult classic film that has to be seen in the right frame of mind to be fully appreciated.

 

 

24. The Man Who Fell to Earth

 

 

 

An alien has unwittingly come to Earth, and he’s taken on the identity of a random person.

 

Adopting the name Thomas Jerome Newton (played by David Bowie), the alien starts accruing as much wealth as he can to help him get back to his home planet.

 

His native planet is an arid one, where water is scarce and thus a premium commodity.

 

Relying on support from patent lawyer Oliver Farnsworth (played by Buck Henry), Thomas grows richer by the day.

 

In fact, Oliver eventually becomes CEO of ‘World Enterprises’, which is Thomas Newton’s brainchild. Several memorable characters abound in this outstanding visually exquisite Sci-Fi film.

 

Such characters include Mary-Lou (played by Candy Clark) who falls in love with Thomas, and then there’s Nathan Bryce (played by Rip Torn) who is one of Thomas’s employees.

 

The question remains… Will this alien who seamlessly passes for Human manage to return to his home planet?

 

 

25. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

 

 

 

Arthur Dent (played by Martin Freeman) is an Englishman in every sense. He’s on the verge of meeting the ‘perfect woman’ for him, but she is soon whisked away by a man claiming to have his own spaceship.

 

It’s bad enough that Arthur refused her request to go someplace nice. Before long, the hapless Arthur learns that his home is going to be destroyed to make way for a bypass.

 

He discovers that the ‘home’ in question is Earth in its entirety. He learns this from Ford Prefect (played by Yasiin Bey).

 

Catching a ride on a spaceship, both Ford and Arthur head off on the adventure of a lifetime.

 

Arthur crosses paths once more with the woman he came this close to loving but who was stolen from him.

 

Plenty of sci-fi elements, existential questions, philosophical concepts, and fantastic ideas prevail in this one-of-a-kind film.

 

 

26. The Endless

 

 

 

Two brothers, Justin and Aaron (played by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead respectively), escaped a UFO death cult as kids only to feel dark nostalgia coming back to haunt them.

 

An old videotape returns, reminding them that some dangers are never truly gone. The video contains a message that encourages the brothers to return if only to earn closure from their traumatic past experience.

 

Inexplicable phenomena soon unravel, causing the brothers to question what they assumed was false about the cult’s beliefs.

 

Its members are currently prepping for an enigmatic arrival. Justin and Aaron are stuck between two distinct rocks: either they learn something important and find closure or they become part of the same UFO cult they escaped from all those years ago.

 

 

27. Ad Astra

 

 

 

The solar system encounters a set of massive energy surges that seriously disrupt life on Earth.

 

U. S. Space Command believes the anomaly originated from the ‘Lima Project’, which is currently still searching for its reputed long-lost astronaut Clifford McBride (played by Tommy Lee Jones).

 

The legend’s son, himself a renowned astronaut, Major Roy McBride (played by Brad Pitt) is dispatched to Space to help find his father.

 

Roy is off on a manned mission to the edge of the cosmos and to the cold planet Neptune.

 

He is tasked not just with confirming whether his father is dead or alive but also figure out the source of the grave instability that is threatening life on Earth.

 

 

28. Westworld

 

 

 

The ‘future’ in this movie features the ‘Delos Company’. This organization grants people a vacation from their present into one of three amusement parks: Medieval World, Roman World, and Westworld.

 

Priced at $1,000 per day, each vacationer is promised an immersive themed experience. Besides, they get to do as they please – whatever they want, to whomever they want.

 

Laws and rules do not apply to those who choose to go on this adventure.

 

These parks are, after all, populated with ultra-realistic robot people, not flesh-and-blood human beings. Peter Martin (played by Richard Benjamin) and John Blane (played by James Brolin) venture on one such holiday.

 

A hovercraft ferries them to Westworld where, before long, Peter ends up encountering a Gunslinger (played by Yul Brynner).

 

But programs and machines cannot fully be trusted. A malfunction occurs, and the Gunslinger becomes a much bigger threat to the guests than the authorities designed him to be.

 

 

29. High Life

 

 

 

This film is set in Deep Space where Monte (played by Robert Pattinson) and his daughter Willow (infant Scarlett Lindsey & older Jessie Ross) are the only two human beings living on a spacecraft.

 

Monte’s self-discipline used to be strong enough to ward off any desire. He unwittingly fathered Willow when his sperm was used for in-vitro fertilization.

 

Monte and the woman who gave birth to his daughter were two of several death-row inmates who were sent into Outer Space.

 

Monte and Willow are the last ones left alive. Experiencing each day with his child makes Monte learn the true meaning of love and sacrifice.

 

Their destination is fast approaching, one that was always meant for the prisoners on this particular voyage.

 

Their final stop is a black hole.

 

 

30. Mimic

 

 

 

A bizarre virus (no relation to Covid-19 J) is wreaking havoc in the lives of children residing in Manhattan.

 

It soon becomes an epidemic, and claims hundreds of lives. A desperate Dr. Peter Mann (played by Jeremy Northam) turns to entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler (played by Mira Sorvino) for help in annihilating the carrier of this disease, namely the common cockroach.

 

Susan busies herself genetically engineering a new predatory insect species designed to kill the roaches and perish afterward.

 

The children show noteworthy recovery rates following the unleashing of this new lab-grown species into the environment.

 

Just three years later, people start to disappear. Their mutilated bodies are found, resulting in growing fear and panic. ‘Bag people’ who call Manhattan’s subway home start spreading the word of large human-mimicking insects being responsible for the murders.

 

Drs. Peter and Susan are asked to investigate the matter. It looks like some histories are doomed to repeat.

 

 

31. Waterworld

 

 

 

This movie is set in the distant future where Earth has encountered drastic polar ice cap melting, resulting in global sea level rises like never before.

 

Entire civilizations have been submerged. Drifters have taken to the new seascape on specially crafted vessels that help maintain supply trading and salvaging.

 

The world is filled with small communities of survivors who live in small towns called ‘Atolls’.

 

Piracy has taken root in this new world, in the form of thieves called ‘Smokers’ who rove this post-apocalyptic world seeking a mythical place called ‘Dryland’.

 

An enigmatic drifter known simply as the ‘Mariner’ (played by Kevin Costner) is soon discovered at an Atoll to be a mutant and is soon sentenced to death.

 

Around the same time, this Atoll comes under attack by a band of Smokers led by the ruthless Deacon (played by Dennis Hopper).

 

In a desperate attempt to survive, Helen (played by Jeanne Tripplehorn) finds an opportunity to bribe the Mariner to take her and her adopted daughter Enola (played by Tina Majorino) to Dryland.

 

Helen is certain that the Mariner has been to that place. The escapees are pursued by the Deacon and his pirate cronies.

 

As time goes on, the Mariner sees a tattoo on Enola’s back that is actually a map to the mythical Dryland, a place that even the Mariner never knew could possibly exist until now.

 

 

32. The Running Man

 

 

 

Oddly enough, the year is 2019 in this 80s sci-fi movie. The global economy has collapsed and along with it all the so-called freedoms that the United States boasted.

 

The nation turns into a militarized police state and its borders are sealed off. Communication, literature, and art all come under the censor’s hammer.

 

Two revolutionaries lead a tiny resistant movement to counter such oppression. The government has meanwhile gained total control of the media and works day and night to control, even change, the narrative.

 

They even permit the broadcasting of a game show that involves convicted criminals fighting for survival in death matches.

 

The show, among others, is intended to keep the new regime in power by sowing fear and enforcing control. ‘The Running Man’ is one such show, with Damon Killian (played by Richard Dawson) hosting.

 

Starving citizens gather for a peaceful protest in Bakersfield, California, only to meet with police fire.

 

Officer Ben Richards (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) is ordered to fire on the gathering, but the man refuses to comply.

 

Fellow officers promptly subdue him, the firing is carried out regardless, and the blame for it is placed entirely on Ben’s shoulders.

 

He is incarcerated for the murder of more than a hundred unarmed civilians. Months later, he and a few fellow prisoners plan a daring jailbreak.

 

Ben is re-captured and forced to participate in the Running Man TV show along with three other convicts.

 

The setting is earthquake-ravaged Los Angeles. Ben and the other prisoners attempt to survive the gladiatorial program.

 

Ben’s secret vow to the show’s host, David Killian, lands him in hot water when David betrays Ben’s trust.

 

Ben Richards promises he’ll return to settle the score with David for being loose-lipped. A deeper plan is in the pipeline, one that entails exposing the government for its many lies and treacheries against the people.

 

 

33. The Day After Tomorrow

 

 

 

A scientist whose expertise is in Earth’s weather patterns, Jack Hall (played by Dennis Quaid) has always harbored the educated opinion that a new Ice Age, induced by global warming, is imminent in the world.

 

A conference becomes a key moment for Jack to air his notions in public, especially considering that the Vice President of the United States of America will be in attendance.

 

Supporters of various government and industry administrations are sure to face the heat of Jack’s words.

 

The scientist’s take on global warming and its sinister consequences is promptly shut down. But Jack is brought into contact with another scientist who works at a weather monitoring station.

 

He believes Jack Hall may be on to something. Again, both men find their warnings meeting a dead end, especially in regard to the Vice President.

 

The world changes, and the weather turns erratic and cold. The American President is moved to safety.

 

Under Jack Hall’s advice, they take him and others south to wait out the storm.

 

A deep freeze sets in across the northern portion of the United States and many are left to survive (if at all) the chill on their own.

 

Jack’s son Sam (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) is stranded with his girlfriend Laura Chapman (played by Emmy Rossum) in NYC.

 

Jack’s convictions and conflicts add to the thrill of this sci-fi doomsday movie where the world is gradually destroyed in one of the grandest and scariest ways imaginable.

 

 

34. Armageddon

 

 

 

When a space shuttle meets its end in Outer Space, NASA catches wise to an asteroid making its way to Earth.

 

A great meteorite fallout has severely damaged New York City. The Texas-sized asteroid they came from is on a collision course with Earth, and it spells disaster on a doomsday level.

 

Scientists gather to devise a strategy to avert the asteroid’s path. They agree that the only way is to drill into the asteroid’s surface and detonate a nuclear bomb from within.

 

The world’s best driller Harry Stamper (played by Bruce Willis) is tasked with training a core team of astronauts, but he simply cannot do it in ten days.

 

So Harry brings in his own roughneck team to be trained to go into space to do the job.

 

His daughter Grace Stamper’s (played by Liv Tyler) fiancé A. J. Frost (played by Ben Affleck) is part of the team – Grace and Frost’s romantic relationship does not sit well with Harry.

 

Global social order cracks and shatters as word of ‘Armageddon’ reaches the public, resulting in mass hysteria and panic.

 

NASA’s resourceful team strives to ensure that the world lives on, despite high-ranking officials still playing politics at a time like this.

 

Deeply personal issues plague NASA’s team, and it might jeopardize the mission in its own ways.

 

 

35. The Fifth Element

 

 

 

Evil threatens the universe even in the 23rd century. The ‘Fifth Element’ becomes the rumoured source of all peace for humankind, but it is said to arrive on Earth only once every five thousand years.

 

This element is said to safeguard the human race using the other four elements (namely earth, air, fire, and water) like weapons/tools.

 

The dastardly Mangalores catch wind of the Fifth Element being brought to Earth on a Mondoshawan spacecraft.

 

They destroy the vessel and the beings within. However, scientists already have the Fifth Element’s DNA in safe-storage.

 

They use it to create Leeloo, a ‘perfect being’ in the form of a human woman.

 

When Leeloo (played by Milla Jovovich) gains consciousness, she makes a quick getaway from the lab and encounters taxi driver and ex-commando Major Korben Dallas (played by Bruce Willis).

 

He helps her escape the police who are on her trail. Leeloo convinces Korben that it is of the utmost importance she meet with Father Vito Cornelius (played by Ian Holm).

 

The villains hear of Leeloo’s existence and immediately prepare to unleash Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (played by Gary Oldman) and his mercenary Mangalores to go for the elemental stones, and keep it far away from Leeloo.

 

Korben gradually develops feelings for Leeloo, especially an overpowering instinct to protect her at all costs as she goes about fulfilling the mission that will save humankind.

 

 

36. The Arrival

 

 

 

Mild-mannered SETI radio-astronomer Zane Ziminski (played by Charlie Sheen) receives a hidden signal with potential extra-terrestrial connections.

 

He doesn’t hesitate to take word of the thrilling discovery to his superior. The deed only gets him fired.

 

The buck doesn’t stop there, in fact his employers intentionally delete all recorded footage of the mysterious signal.

 

Zane is not so easily discouraged, though. The man takes it upon himself to use other means available to him to discover the origins of the bizarre, and quite rare, transmission from outer space.

 

Intrigue and paranoia play outstanding theme-centric roles in carrying this sci-fi film forward to an interesting conclusion.

 

 

37. Cloud Atlas

 

 

 

The concept of ‘Everything is connected’ plays a powerful role in this sci-fi film. It explores a soul reincarnating through time and influencing various lives along the way.

 

Past, present, and future stories are beautifully highlighted in this movie. From the diary of a potential slave owner traveling across the Pacific in 1849 to a gifted composer penning love letters in 1930s Britain, the soul then fills the shoes of a reporter investigating a corruption scandal in the 1970s involving a U.S. nuclear power plant and then moves into the story of a publisher’s rib-tickling entrapment in a nursing home in the year 2012 before shifting to the life of a clone and its hair-raising escape/rebellion in 2144 Korea, and finally concluding with the tale of a tribesman busy battling cannibals in a forgotten colony-world set in a year beyond 2300.

 

Each story is exceptionally portrayed and conveys core messages that have come to define sci-fi storytelling in cinema.

 

 

38. Outlander

 

 

 

This film is set in 709 AD, during the Iron Age. Spacecraft pilot Kainan (played by Jim Caviezel) crash-lands on Earth.

 

He makes landfall inside Viking territory, specifically the one ruled by Herot of Norway. Having survived the crash, Kainan attempts to make sense of his new surroundings.

 

He gradually learns the language and culture of the people around him using a futuristic device that helps him understand what is being spoken, and to communicate back.

 

Kainan was not making a casual fly-by, in fact, he was transporting a dangerous predator called Moorwen.

 

The creature too survives the crash and has gone missing. Kainan uses his device to learn that people have spotted Moorwen.

 

This prompts the pilot to go on a monster hunt, which leads him to a village destroyed by what looks like Moorwen’s handiwork.

 

Warrior Wulfric (played by Jack Huston) does not quite believe Kainan’s innocence in all this.

 

Wulfric arrests the pilot on charges of murder, and he’s brought before Herot to stand trial.

 

How things pan out now depends on Kainan’s wit, and how much he’s willing to tell the locals living in this past timeline.

 

 

39. John Carter

 

 

 

Civil War veteran John Carter (played by Taylor Kitsch) attempts a shot at a normal life in 1868.

 

When he refuses to serve in the Army, he is locked up. John plans an escape and succeeds, only to be pursued relentlessly.

 

Hunters and hunted run into Native Americans (i.e., Red Indians) and a gunfight ensues. John is forced to seek shelter in a cave until the melee concludes.

 

Inside the cave, he runs into a stranger holding an enigmatic medallion. As soon as John touches it, he’s unwittingly transported into a world where he can perform superhuman feats of agility and strength.

 

In this fictional Mars, John Carter also finds strange creatures, people, and monsters. A woman helps him understand more about the bizarre planet.

 

Before long, John is dragged into a complex struggle, one where his actions and decisions will determine the outcome for several parties involved.

 

 

40. Phenomenon

 

 

 

George Malley (played by John Travolta) is the owner of an auto-repair store in a small town in California.

 

George is with friends celebrating his birthday at a local bar. During his return home, he spots a strange light in the sky after which he promptly falls unconscious for several seconds.

 

As the days go by, George gradually starts to realize that his consciousness and IQ levels are higher and better than they were before the ‘incident’.

 

He even starts showing telekinetic abilities. Most of the townspeople start treating him like a freak.

 

Only a few people in George’s circle give him any benefit of the doubt. Either way, George feels increasingly isolated as a result of gaining his newfound powers.

 

When he correctly predicts an earthquake that saves lives, government officials grow increasingly interested in what the man is capable of accomplishing.

 

 

41. A.I. Artificial Intelligence

 

 

 

David (played by Haley Joel Osment) is a ‘Mecha’, aka robot of the future. Unrecognizable from other human children, this AI (Artificial Intelligence) robot explores a new world and society set in the distant future where the polar icecaps have melted and coastal cities stand submerged.

 

This is a rather uncanny plot point because given the current global warming figures our own society is headed very much in this direction.

 

Designed to express and feel ‘love’, David is purchased as a ‘son’ by a couple – Henry Swinton (played by Sam Robards) and Monica Swinton (played by Frances O’Connor).

 

Monica is grieving the comatose state of her own real son. So Henry used his position in the company that created David to see if he can ‘return’ some happiness back into their lives.

 

The real boy recovers, and David is soon abandoned. Confused and flush with feelings of bonding and love, David goes out into the big world to become a real boy so he can earn his mother’s affection again.

 

He encounters a pleasure robot, Mecha-gigolo Joe (played by Jude Law), who mentors him on the state of the world.

 

David makes another friend in Mecha super-toy Teddy. Their paths take them to the ‘Flesh Fair’ where dark and heartless gladiator-style events are held involving and exploiting, various Mecha units for people’s entertainment.

 

They head next to Rouge City, where Joe narrowly escapes police capture – he’s a fugitive from the law for a crime he didn’t commit.

 

Lastly, David’s journey takes him to the submerged cityscape of New York. David’s own creator Professor Hobby (played by William Hurt) notices the Mecha-boy’s rovings.

 

He sheds light on eleven-year-old David’s true robotic nature, something the boy has been in denial about for a while.

 

The young robot boy’s cybernetic advancements sit at odds with his distinctly human need for love and belonging.

 

 

42. Logan’s Run

 

 

 

The year is 2274 and society seems like an idyllic place. A city within a protected dome serves as home to several people.

 

There is no need for them to work, leaving the inhabitants free to pursue leisure and pleasure.

 

However, all this will only last up to the point each person turns thirty. Each human being in this society is ‘sacrificed’ in a pseudo-religious ceremony called ‘The Carousel’.

 

Those who wish to hold on to life a little longer bolt for freedom and are termed ‘Runners’.

 

Professionals called ‘Sandmen’ are dispatched to track and kill such escapees. Logan (played by Michael York) is one such agent.

 

He still has years before his thirty-year deadline, leaving the man blissfully ignorant of the seriousness of this particular societal rule.

 

He soon encounters Jessica-6 (played by Jenny Agutter) who bestows upon him the significant task of going undercover as a Runner.

 

Logan is tasked with infiltrating, and later destroying the ‘Sanctuary’. This hidden community is known to harbor several runners.

 

A friend and fellow Sandman Francis (played by Richard Jordan) accompanies Logan and Jessica-6 on the mission.

 

Their discoveries and experiences in the ‘world outside’ gradually make them see a much bigger picture, and they end up fomenting a pro-Runner revolution.

 

 

43. Another Earth

 

 

 

When an alternative Planet Earth is discovered, the world rejoices at the unprecedented news. Never mind the fact that the current Earth is fast becoming an unsuitable place to live in thanks to human beings.

 

Upon hearing the news about ‘Earth 2’, seventeen-year-old MIT astrophysics student Rhoda Williams (played by Brit Marling) meets with a car accident.

 

She is later jailed for reckless driving. Four years of being incarcerated brought an end to her promising career.

 

Guilt about the accident still plagues Rhoda, even after all this time. She seeks forgiveness from the other driver and goes out on a limb to make amends following her release.

 

The man she hit was composer John Burroughs (played by William Mapother) who is still recovering from his injuries.

 

Rhoda, seeing the wounded man, loses the nerve to apologize. He, in turn, doesn’t know that Rhoda was the one who hit him, and she wants to keep the secret going a little longer.

 

Before long, their paths cross and a connection between them rises to the surface. Their destinies seem keenly linked to the new Earth 2.

 

 

44. Predator

 

 

 

An unknown intergalactic spacecraft arrives on Earth carrying a being known all over the galaxy for its ruthlessness.

 

Only humans seem unaware of this ‘predatory’ species. Within the thick jungles of Central America unfolds a story involving a Predator and a battle-trained military team led by Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger).

 

Action and Sci-Fi elements blend beautifully in this film. The military unit in question is in these jungles tasked with locating and safeguarding a cabinet minister.

 

The soldiers come ready to take on guerrilla fighters only for them to go up against an alien threat that is intent on leaving an unnatural bloody mess in the jungle.

 

Ritualistically mutilated bodies are just the beginning for Dutch and company. Something alien is hunting them all for sport, and it has technology that renders it practically invisible.

 

Outgunned and outmatched, it falls to Dutch to bring the full weight of his combat experience to bear on this new enemy.

 

He has to, else this other-worldly hunter might decide to visit another location on Earth to exercise its strange desire to cull human beings like so many cattle.

 

 

45. Independence Day

 

 

 

On July 2nd (in this movie J), the world experienced a tech communications fritz. Plenty of bizarre atmospheric interference made everyone wonder what was really going on.

 

The U. S. Military catches wind of an extra-terrestrial influence when they spot giant objects on a collision course with Earth.

 

What they first assumed were meteors turned out to be sizeable spaceships carrying an invading alien race.

 

Initial attempts to communicate with this off-world species ends in disaster. Former scientist turned cable technician David Levinson (played by Jeff Goldblum) is one of few to realize that the aliens have decided to attack specific global hotspots in less than 24 hours.

 

The next day dawns, it is July 3rd, and the aliens initiate a systematic annihilation strategy that unravels simultaneously in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington DC.

 

They have also begun assaults in Paris, London, Houston, and Moscow. American survivors make their way in convoys to Area 51 for answers.

 

There have been longstanding rumors of the U. S. Government performing experiments and research on aliens here.

 

On America’s following day, namely the fourth of July, ‘Independence Day’ truly lives up to its name, only in this case the people are fighting an oppressor from outer space.

 

 

46. Enemy Mine

 

 

 

This film is set in the distant future when the galaxy is actively being colonized, and not just by human beings.

 

Circumstances lead to a war between humans and the ‘Dracs’, a reptilian alien species from ‘Planet Draco’.

 

The races vie for supremacy in an increasingly aggressive territorial dominance of outer space. During one of their face-offs, space pilot Willis Davidge (played by Dennis Quaid) crash-lands on a volcanic planet called ‘Fryine IV’.

 

There he encounters a male Drac by the name of Jeriba Shigan (played by Louis Gossett Jr.).

 

The two of them must put their differences aside if they are to survive their current predicament.

 

A memorable bond is forged between them as they delve into a deeper understanding and appreciation of each other’s beliefs, goals, and cultures.

 

 

47. The Butterfly Effect

 

 

 

Evan Treborn (played by Ashton Kutcher) often experienced mental blackouts as a child. He would awaken from each episode in an entirely different place, with no memory of how he got there.

 

In his college years, Evan comes across his old journal in which he wrote down several memories connected to his blackouts.

 

Each time he learns more, he abruptly finds himself living that moment in time. Evan gradually discovers that he’s part of some kind of time loop or vacuum.

 

His in-between moments during blackouts were empty ‘life moments’ that he was ‘filling’ during his college days as he attempted to remember them.

 

Evan tries to change or undo unpleasant moments in his past, but he realizes that each time he does that he makes things much worse than they actually panned out.

 

This ‘Butterfly Effect’ plagues him. It doesn’t help that he is determined to save the one girl he truly loved, namely Kayleigh (played by Amy Smart), who met with a fatal tragedy.

 

But Time is not something people should mess with, and Evan learns that the hard way.

 

 

48. Elysium

 

 

 

It is the year 2154 and a very distinct pair of societal classism has taken root.

 

The extremely wealthy call ‘Elysium’ – an almost-perfect artificial space station – their home. The rest of the people reside in a ruined version of Earth that’s as overpopulated as it is rife with crime.

 

Secretary Delacourt (played by Jodie Foster) is a major government figure who wields power from Elysium to keep severe anti-immigration laws in effect.

 

She has made it no secret that her allegiance is with the off-planet wealthy class.

 

Earth’s residents are by no means cowed into silence, in fact, several keep trying to cheat and steal their way into Elysium.

 

Entering this tenuous dual-world state is Max (played by Matt Damon) who is unwittingly dragged into a game that just might balance the scales once and for all.

 

Also, his life depends on the success of his mission.

 

 

49. Deja vu

 

 

 

When over five hundred people are killed in a ferry explosion caused by terrorists, ATF agent Doug Carlin (played by Denzel Washington) is sent in to investigate.

 

Accompanied by an FBI agent, Doug goes about attempting to discover the source of the bombing.

 

The FBI agent takes him on board a special team that uses a potent program involving satellite technology to go back in time four and a half days.

 

Doug and his new colleagues use this tech to go back in time and see how things might have unraveled on the ferry in question.

 

On one side is a young woman who was burned in the explosion – she washes up on shore.

 

When her body is found earlier than what the explosion would’ve warranted, the incident ties the woman to the explosion but in a markedly different way.

 

The team applies their new tech to figure out the young woman’s place in the grander scheme of things.

 

Dangerous time-stamp discoveries come to the fore, adding to Agent Carlin’s many consternations.

 

 

50. Predestination

 

 

 

The top ‘Temporal’ agent (played by Ethan Hawke) has one final assignment to fulfill. He has to pursue and capture the one criminal who has been eluding him all his professional life.

 

The agent has to carefully plan his moves because this criminal seems to be quite clever at using time travel to remain a fugitive.

 

Identity, love, fate, and sci-fi themes abound in this thrilling movie.

 

 

51. Godzilla

 

 

 

This is a criminally underrated movie, one that provided the Zilla-verse with an alternative concept and storyline, a plot that is more realistic than, and just as thrilling as, the original Gojira-based classics.

 

Uncontrolled nuclear testing in the South Pacific Ocean has encouraged natural mutation in a rather benign creature, namely a Marine Iguana.

 

Relatively unrecognized scientist Dr. Niko Tatopoulos (played by Matthew Broderick) is called in to investigate this seemingly ordinary event.

 

But when a fishing vessel is attacked by what one survivor calls a giant sea dragon, things turn dire.

 

Before long, ominous sightings of the creature abound, seamlessly resulting in said creature stepping out on land, specifically in New York City.

 

The U. S. Army is at its wits’ end, because this gargantuan radioactive sauroid, aka Godzilla, is impervious to its firepower and is growing ever-panicked surrounded by a ‘concrete jungle’.

 

Its rampage of destruction warrants even more aggression from the military. It falls to Niko and his new allies to understand what Godzilla really wants and to help guide it back to the ocean before it causes further loss of life and property.

 

Niko’s new friends include Victor “Animal” Palotti (played by Hank Azaria) who’s a brave news cameraman recording as much footage of the incident as he can, Audrey Timmonds (played by Maria Pitillo) who’s Victor’s colleague and a determined reporter, and Philippe Roaché ( played by Jean Reno) who’s an enigmatic insurance agent with a secret agenda.

 

Together, they need to unravel and uncover the real reason why Godzilla chose NYC. Their observations point to the possibility of a nest.

 

 

52. Limitless

 

 

 

When unemployed writer Eddie Morra (played by Bradley Cooper) takes an experimental drug, he ends up using 100% of his brain, which has been a sought-after achievement in human biology for decades.

 

Having ‘evolved’ into the best version of himself, Eddie ends up becoming the target of outside forces who have marked him for assassination.

 

His life was bad enough before his consciousness upgrade. Eddie wasn’t doing so well in his love life, in fact, he was definitively rejected by his girlfriend Lindy (played by Abbie Cornish).

 

Eddie was introduced to the experimental drug in question by an old buddy of his.

 

This drug, aka ‘NZT’, is essentially a designer pharmaceutical product that induces laser focus in anyone who swallows it.

 

With such focus comes unbridled confidence, a fact that Eddie was proving as the days progressed.

 

He accesses memories of everything he has ever read, seen, or heard. He uses his newfound brainpower to rise up the ranks in the financial sector.

 

This is when he draws business mogul Carl Van Loon’s (played by Robert De Niro) attention.

 

Carl sees in Eddie a means to an end, a way to make billions without any real effort.

 

Unforeseen side effects soon start taking their toll on Eddie, jeopardizing his future and life in the process.

 

His NZT stash is dwindling and there are hitmen out to get him, forcing Eddie to stay ‘wired’ long enough to evade his killers and safeguard his legacy.

 

He’s this close to becoming a fatal victim in a game that nearly everyone wants to play, one in which ordinary people are given a taste of what it feels like to be extraordinary.

 

 

53. Pitch Black

 

 

 

‘Hunter-Gratzner’ was the name given to the space transport vessel that carried forty people when it encountered a meteor storm and crashed on a desert planet.

 

Only eleven people survived the landing. Among them are Carolyn Fry (played by Radha Mitchell) who assumed captaincy after the original captain perished, Jack (played by Rhiana Griffith) who is a runaway teenager, William J. Johns (played by Cole Hauser) who’s a bounty hunter, John “Zeke” Ezekiel (played by John Moore) and his lover Sharon “Shazza” Montgomery (played by Claudia Black) who are both settlers, Abu “Imam” Al-Walid (played by Keith David) who’s a deeply religious man, Paris P. Ogilvie (played by Lewis Fitz-Gerald) who is an antique dealer, and finally Richard B. Riddick (played by Vin Diesel) who is a deadly escaped convict.

 

Now that they’re all marooned, the survivors need to work together to stay alive on a hostile planet heated by three suns.

 

Food and water become points of serious concern. The planet hosts several dangers aside from Riddick, whom the others distrust.

 

Flesh-eating creatures come out every twenty-two years when the planet is wrapped in complete darkness.

 

They leave their underground abodes at this time and eat anything they find alive on the surface.

 

Unfortunately, the eleven survivors arrived at one such period of darkness. They realize that Riddick’s skills are best designed to counter the alien threat and keep them all safe.

 

The convict’s surgically-enhanced eyes permit him full nocturnal vision. With their new aim being to get to an escape shuttle, the last few survivors meet with fierce resistance from hungry creatures who are intent on making this planet their final destination.

 

 

54. War of the Worlds

 

 

 

Based on the spine-tingling classic novel by H. G. Wells, this latest movie adaptation pits Ray Ferrier (played by Tom Cruise) against alien invaders intent on an aggressive planetary takeover.

 

As a divorced dockworker living in New Jersey, Ray is far from familiar with military tactics.

 

But his estranged children Rachel and Robbie (played by Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin, respectively) are now in danger.

 

Putting aside any qualms regarding his ex-wife Mary Ann (played by Miranda Otto), Ray goes out of his way to ensure that he protects his family from this global extra-terrestrial threat.

 

The aliens come packing serious firepower, from lightning storm-causing technology to death rays that seemingly zap people out of existence.

 

In truth, the ultra-futuristic electromagnetic pulse rays are teleporting people into alien spaceships where they are being stored for dark and unwholesome purposes known only to the intergalactic invaders.

 

There are legions of them, and their numbers seem endless.

 

 

55. Oblivion

 

 

 

In the year 2077, technology reigns supreme. Jack Harper (played by Tom Cruise) works alongside a companion named Victoria “Vica” (played by Andrea Riseborough) on ‘Tech 49’, one of many surveillance and power-generation stations.

 

Jack stays busy repairing drones, all memories of his past erased as part of a major security condition for him to stay on Earth.

 

The planet was ravaged following a 60-year war against an alien race known simply as “Scavs”.

 

The invading alien scavengers didn’t just stop there, they also destroyed the Moon. Only a clever use of nuclear weaponry halted their advance.

 

Nearly every human who was left alive eventually made it to Titan, i.e., Saturn’s moon.

 

Jack’s work on Tech 49 is to ensure that power is regularly generated via the ocean and supplied to Titan.

 

Sally (played by Melissa Leo) keeps sending Jack and Vic instructions from her position on Tet (a space station).

 

Meanwhile, Vic grows increasingly anxious about leaving Earth. After all, she is due to join the other survivors on Titan in two weeks’ time.

 

But deep down in Jack’s memories, he keeps seeing a mysterious woman atop the Empire State Building during a time when all was well on Earth.

 

This memory might lead him down a path of re-discovery and realization, one that Jack is better off not knowing.

 

 

56. Pacific Rim

 

 

 

‘Kaiju’, colossal monsters from legend, start rising from the sea. A war begins between humankind and these creatures who seem intent on wiping out every last human being on Earth.

 

Millions of lives are lost during the fight for survival which puts pressure on human spirits and resources alike.

 

Years of battle soon lead to the devising of a special weapon to combat the Kaiju threat.

 

Called ‘Jaegers’, two pilots are trained to work each of these huge robots and use them to quite literally go head-to-head with various Kaiju.

 

The pilots need to be connected to each other via a neural bridge, and they both need to work simultaneously while within a Jaeger.

 

However, there are more Kaiju than there are people capable of working the few Jaegers available to take them on.

 

Desperation calls for improvisation, and two of the most unlikely heroes are tasked with piloting a legendary but obsolete Jaeger.

 

One of them is untested trainee Mako Mori (played by Rinko Kikuchi) and washed-up ex-pilot Raleigh Becket (played by Charlie Hunnam).

 

In the face of a mounting apocalypse, Mako and Raleigh become humanity’s final bet and hope to end the Kaiju threat once and for all.

 

 

57. Escape From New York

 

 

 

The year is 1997 and Manhattan has been completely re-designed into ‘New York Maximum Security Penitentiary’.

 

Criminals serving life sentences are dispatched to this place. The U. S. President, en route to attend an important summit with other world leaders, finds his flight (Air Force One) crash-landing in this terrible location.

 

Snake Plissken (played by Kurt Russell) is a convicted bank robber whose one eye makes him appear distinct among the prisoners in Manhattan.

 

Prison Dean Hauk (played by Lee Van Cleef) makes a trade with Snake, promising him a full pardon if he rescues the President in less than 23 hours.

 

The dean obviously doesn’t trust Snake, which is why he lures, traps, and injects the man with a lethal capsule that will dissolve into his bloodstream within the proposed 23-hour deadline.

 

Using a small plane, Snake starts his search after landing atop the World Trade Centre.

 

Before long, he learns that the President’s tracking device has been removed. Upon encountering taxi driver Cabbie (played by Ernest Borgnine), Snake discovers that the President has been captured by ‘The Duke’, a sinister warlord.

 

Teaming up with former partner ‘Brain’ (played by Harry Dean Stanton), Snake has to overlook the past when Brain double-crossed him and his lover Maggie (played by Adrienne Barbeau).

 

It falls to Snake to ensure the safe return of the POTUS, and by extension ensure that he himself lives to see another day.

 

 

58. Dredd

 

 

 

In a distant dystopian future, Earth has been transformed into a rough almost lawless place.

 

Hundreds of people in the area between Boston and New York experience crime on a never-before-seen level.

 

This zone is called ‘Mega City’, and keeping the peace in it are ‘judge-policemen’ who not only perform arrests but also determine people’s guilt and carry out summary executions right then and there.

 

One such feared enforcer is Judge Dredd (played by Karl Urban), who is exemplary in his field of work.

 

Accompanying him is rookie Cassandra Anderson (played by Olivia Thirlby) who may have failed to meet the job’s minimum requirements but makes up for it by wielding mutant psychic abilities.

 

Their joint task is to take down Ma-Ma, a gangster residing in the 200-storey ‘Peach Trees’ building.

 

This gangster is the mastermind behind the production of Mega City’s drug of choice. Once Dredd and Cassandra have entered his abode he shuts down the entire building, resulting in a thrill-fest action-packed series of events that will test Judge Dredd’s capabilities in every imaginable way.

 

 

59. Cloverfield

 

 

 

Rob Hawkins (played by Michael Stahl-David) earns a noteworthy promotion, which calls for a celebration with his friend and lover Beth McIntyre (played by Odette Annable).

 

A surprise farewell party ensues, with people wishing Ron the best for his new work chapter in Japan.

 

A heart-shattering explosion puts a stop to the revelry, to say nothing of a gigantic scaly tentacled creature that puts paid to everyone’s worst nightmare.

 

New York City becomes ground zero for what appears to be an alien visitation of the giant amphibious-reptilian kind.

 

The creature goes about leveling Manhattan, prompting Rob and his friends to travel to another part of the city to rescue Beth.

 

They record everything they possibly can using a hand-held camcorder. Questions arise about the origins of this bizarre invader who is intent on sowing mayhem wherever it goes.

 

 

60. The Fly

 

 

 

A scientist known for being both eccentric and brilliant, Seth Brundle (played by Jeff Goldblum) gets the chance to encourage investigative journalist Veronica Quaife (played by Geena Davis) into writing about his latest ‘matter transportation’ research.

 

The scientific establishment has been vocally against Seth’s work, but its success silences several critics.

 

When Seth finally manages to ‘transport’ a living creature, he believes he has ironed out all the wrinkles in his ambitious scientific endeavor.

 

He gains enough confidence to ‘transport’ himself. But for a fly that accidentally enters the ‘transmission booth’, everything would have gone smoothly.

 

When Seth Brundle exits the pod, he finds himself modified into a hybrid man-fly monster.

 

This sci-fi film is truly ‘mad scientist’ material.

 

 

61. Moon

 

 

 

Only three weeks remain on Sam Bell’s (played by Sam Rockwell) three-year contract with a Moon-based manufacturing facility.

 

The man is justifiably anxious to return to Earth after his professional sojourn on the Moon where his only company is a computer assistant named GERTY (played by Kevin Spacey).

 

The prolonged isolation has created in Sam the habit of speaking to himself, and the plants with which he shares space.

 

An unforeseen communication malfunction has kept him from contacting his colleagues back on Earth, and vice versa.

 

Every now and again, a message comes through, namely from his wife Tess (played by Dominique McElligott).

 

An accident then takes place, after which Sam wakes up and realizes that he’s not alone on the Moon.

 

His entire world-view is in for a shock when he learns that everything he believes is real, isn’t.

 

 

62. Signs

 

 

 

Former Episcopal priest Graham Hess (played by Mel Gibson) lost faith in his religion when a fatal car crash claimed the life of his wife.

 

Emotionally shattered, the man retreats to his remote farm in Pennsylvania where rows of corn abound as far as the eye can see.

 

Living with him are his own two children Morgan (played by Rory Culkin) and Bo (played by Abigail Breslin), as well as his younger brother Merrill (played by Joaquin Phoenix).

 

Six months into their isolated lifestyle and the family starts witnessing strange happenings on the farm.

 

It begins with mysterious crop circles and transitions into a full-fledged extra-terrestrial experience. The aliens in this film are not gentle abductors but almost feral invaders intent on claiming this family for sinister purposes.

 

The farm doesn’t seem to be the only place this enigmatic alien race has targeted, in fact, crop circles have popped up all over the world around the same time as the ones on the Hess farm.

 

Paranoia, grief, denial, terror, and fear all roll beautifully together into this unforgettable sci-fi movie filled with ominous signs whose meanings are probably lost in translation.

 

 

63. Sunshine

 

 

 

Set in a future where the Sun is dying and Earth is experiencing another Ice Age, the space-faring members of ‘Icarus’ fail to revive the waning fireball.

 

Sometime during this attempt, the entire ship and its crew disappeared. Carrying the last nuclear super-bomb, ‘Icarus II’ and eight astronauts prepare to head out on what could be their final mission to save the Sun and Earth.

 

The weapon, when exploded, will purportedly initiate a supernova on the surface of the Sun, and kick-start it back into life.

 

During this mission, the navigator makes a serious error, resulting in great damage to Icarus II’s shield.

 

The mission parameters are soon wrapped in doubt, and there is certainly no hope of return for the crew on board.

 

The team then picks up Icarus I’s emergency signal coming from somewhere around Mercury. They decide to unload its unused bomb and use it along with theirs.

 

This would mean an increased chance of success on their one-way mission. A huge cost has to be paid for this side trip, but that’s not the only frightening thing that awaits Icarus II’s astronauts aboard the hope-lost vessel of Icarus I.

 

 

64. Super 8

 

 

 

It is the summer of 1979, and six buddies work together to make a zombie movie using an 8mm camera.

 

Working on make-up is Joe Lamb (played by Joel Courtney) who takes a liking to Alice Dainard (played by Elle Fanning), the group’s most recent member.

 

They have a shot planned at their local railway depot. During filming there, they spot one of their teachers, Dr. Woodward (played by Glynn Turman) driving his truck onto the rail tracks and directly into a train coming from the other direction.

 

The group continues filming, assuming something thrilling is unraveling. Before long, the friends learn that an alien entity was being ferried on that train, and now that creature is on the loose.

 

 

65. I Am Legend

 

 

 

A scientist unable to stop a terrible virus from spreading all over the world (and we aren’t referring to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic J), Robert Neville (played by Will Smith) is a man wracked with guilt.

 

This movie features strong post-apocalyptic action-thriller elements of the zombie kind. Ever since Robert realized he was immune to the virus, he finds himself becoming the last human survivor in New York City, maybe even on a global scale.

 

He hasn’t the time or resources to move around freely, owing to the super-fast almost feline zombies that come out each night searching for prey.

 

For three whole years, Robert and his trusty German Shepherd dog, have managed to stay alive.

 

And for those same number of years, Robert has been diligently sending out radio messages in the hope of contacting other survivors.

 

All the zombies plaguing this world were once human beings who, upon infection, gradually and to varying degrees transformed into flesh-eating monstrosities.

 

Robert still has not given up hope on a cure. He works feverishly (poor choice of words J) to remedy the virus’s effects, and possibly reverse them.

 

He relies on his own immune blood to help him in this near-impossible endeavor. With each passing night, however, Robert is one step closer to death than to any cure he can possibly concoct.

 

 

66. Total Recall

 

 

 

Average construction worker Douglas Quaid (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) often experiences distressing and rather vivid visions of a Mars colonized.

 

In his heart grows the obsessive need to travel to the red planet, if only to decipher the meaning of his recurring nightmares.

 

He seeks support from ‘Rekall Inc.’, a powerful memory-implant company. Something goes wrong when Douglas slips into the virtual world programmed by this company.

 

He gains a target on his back when the procedure to help him understand his nightmares backfires.

 

All the answers to Douglas Quaid’s visions are set squarely on Mars. But the man finds it increasingly difficult to determine the difference between reality and dreams.

 

Will a ‘total recall’ actually be a good thing for Douglas and his family?

 

 

67. Invasion of the Body Snatchers

 

 

 

A story about paranoia and infiltration framed in a classic setting, this sci-fi film focuses on a bizarre alien invasion that verges on the horrific.

 

What begins in a small town soon spreads to the big city of San Fransisco.

 

Matthew Bennell (played by Donald Sutherland) hears word from friends and relatives that some of them are behaving rather strangely.

 

After a while, questioning those very friends yields little to no answers. They make a complete U-turn and offer lame excuses to counter what they initially said.

 

Before long, Matthew discovers what’s really going on. Alien invaders are silently taking over people, and growing bolder as a consequence.

 

In fact, he witnesses a ‘replacement’ with his own eyes. He then plans to save as many people as he can, starting with his friends who are still themselves and not ‘snatched’.

 

Matthew’s biggest problem is that he has no idea who might have already become host to an off-world invader.

 

 

68. Prometheus

 

 

 

Reputed archaeologist Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (played by Noomi Rapace) follows a set of clues that lead her, and academic partner Charlie Holloway (played by Logan Marshall-Green), into deep space.

 

They’re accompanied by a seventeen-man crew. Together, the team embarks on an ambitious mission aboard the revolutionary USCSS Prometheus space-exploration starship.

 

They eventually land, in the year 2093, on an isolated exo-moon called LV-223. All their planning has led to this moment, and the team just might prove the existence of a superior extra-terrestrial race called the ‘Engineers’.

 

On the exo-moon in question, they encounter a sizeable complex containing dark chambers and an intricate system of subterranean tunnels that only add to their ever-swelling list of mysteries.

 

The very outcome of the mission is compromised when the team encounters a deadly threat within the complex.

 

The future of humankind is threatened by something as simple yet powerful as truth and knowledge.

 

In this amazing film, the origins of human existence are highlighted in a dangerous future-altering light.

 

 

69. They Live

 

 

 

John Nada (played by Roddy Piper) is jobless and trying to find his way in a large American city.

 

In addition to seeking a place to sleep, he also searches for employment. Then one fateful day, a terrible circumstance befalls the man.

 

He comes across a pair of sunglasses that let him see the true face of people through its lenses.

 

This is when John learns that aliens (from the Andromeda galaxy) are living among people, including in his city.

 

Several of them hold important positions of power. They seem to be covertly ruling the world while keeping humans ignorant of their existence.

 

Nada finds himself alone in this discovery and begins searching for any others who might also be aware of this dark worldwide secret.

 

He starts by tracing the origins of the truth-seeing sunglasses and by extension those who manufactured them.

 

 

70. Robocop

 

 

 

In a distinctly dystopian Detroit, ‘Omni Consumer Products’ successfully gains police force privatization rights from the government.

 

The sinister corporation does not rest on its laurels, in fact, they immediately put their crime-fighting cyborgs to work.

 

Cyborg street cop Alex Murphy (played by Peter Weller) fulfils the titular role of Robocop. He’s sent in as a ‘test’ against crime lord Boddicker, all to gain more support for future Robocops being deployed in the streets to counter criminals.

 

But all is not right at Omni Consumer Products. They’re planning to force a future where they will control the narrative.

 

Robocop realizes as much, and promptly turns the tables on those whom he called masters.

 

 

71. Cube

 

 

 

Six unique people from diverse walks of life come awake inside a giant cube. Thousands of rooms abound within this cube, and the six of them each have a skill that when used together and only then, can help them escape.

 

The characters include a disabled man, a building designer, an escapist, a cop, a doctor, and a math whiz.

 

Together, they try to find answers to their strange predicament. They work as well as fight with each other in their desperate all-too-human need to be free.

 

 

72. The Martian

 

 

 

Astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) is sent on a manned mission to Mars.

 

A ferocious space storm forces his crew to take off early, leaving him behind on the planet, and later presumed dead.

 

Mars is quite hostile, and surviving it alone inside the space station there is no easy task.

 

But Mark does his best, taking it one day at a time. Supplies start running low, and Mark relies on his spirit and sense to see what he can do to continue living until help arrives.

 

Plenty of effort is underway back at NASA (in association with international scientists), on Earth, to bring their ‘Martian’ back home dead or alive.

 

Mark’s crew, still orbiting in space, also decide to do something daring and attempt a rescue, despite the risks.

 

 

73. The Time Machine

 

 

 

This movie unfolds in the year 1900 when a rather disheveled H. G. Wells (played by Rod Taylor) hosts a dinner party to which he himself is late.

 

He brazenly informs his guests about his time travel exploits, a project that Wells’s close friends already knew about.

 

None of them, however, are accepting of the fact that this idea has any practical relevance.

 

Nearly all of them are justifiably skeptical of the claim. Wells remains unfazed by their judgments and believes he can find a Utopian society somewhere in the distant future.

 

After multiple ‘time travels’, Wells returns to his own era bearing unfortunate news. That there is no real utopia to be found in any timeline.

 

He even traveled as far forward as thousands of years, only to discover a race of cave-dwelling Morlocks and surface-dwelling Eloi.

 

What at first seemed like a carefree existence apparently resulted in Wells striving to survive the whole ordeal.

 

He learns that love still prevails despite harsh future alterations to society and the environment.

 

In many ways, this film served as a trendsetter and game-changer for Sci-Fi movies to come.

 

 

74. Close Encounters of the Third Kind

 

 

 

Experiencing a ‘close encounter’ is rare. Cableman Roy Neary (played by Richard Dreyfuss) sees a spaceship with his own eyes and is changed by the experience.

 

It’s not every day people see a bunch of UFOs streaking across the night sky. Following this instance, Roy’s mind is often bombarded with images of a mountain, or what looks like one.

 

He gradually grows obsessed with figuring out what his mind is trying to tell him.

 

His marriage takes a turn for the worse. Around the world, governments are experiencing what UFO-logists call ‘close encounters of the second kind’.

 

Physical evidence rises to the surface that proves the possibility of extraterrestrial visitation. This proof takes the form of military vehicles that went missing several decades ago but have abruptly reappeared in the middle of nowhere.

 

Official agents and Cableman Roy follow their own ‘mental images’, which slowly but surely lead them to a common location where they are all destined to witness a ‘close encounter of the third kind’, i.e., direct alien contact.

 

 

75. Children of Men

 

 

 

This film is set in the year 2027 – which just so happens to be around the corner for us today.

 

In it, scientists have confirmed that it has been eighteen years since the world saw the birth of a baby.

 

Science has failed to pinpoint the cause. After the societal collapse that unraveled in Africa and Eastern Europe, those who remained migrated to England and other wealthy nations.

 

Nationalistic violence rose to intolerable levels. Entering this grim picture is London peace activist turned bureaucrat Theo Faron (played by Clive Owen).

 

His path takes him back into his ex-wife Julian’s (played by Julianne Moore). The revolutionary woman’s earnest discovery of a pregnant woman encourages both of them to protect her, and the child, at whatever cost.

 

 

76. Ex Machina

 

 

 

A programmer in his twenties, Caleb (played by Domhnall Gleeson) works for the world’s biggest internet company.

 

Upon winning a competition, he gets to spend a week at a private mountain retreat.

 

This isolated and rather beautiful place belongs to the company’s own CEO, namely Nathan (played by Oscar Isaac).

 

A while after arriving, Caleb learns that he has to participate in an experiment that is equal parts fascinating and strange.

 

He finds himself interacting with the world’s first-ever ‘true’ Artificial Intelligence. This is no ordinary robot, in fact, it is housed in the body of an extremely realistic human female called Ava (played by Alicia Vikander).

 

But everything comes at a price, as Caleb gradually discovers the more he interacts with Ava.

 

 

77. The Truman Show

 

 

 

Since his birth, a great lie has wrapped every waking moment of Truman Burbank’s (played by Jim Carrey) life.

 

A keen explorer and ambitious salesman, Truman has a humdrum existence in a boring town where nothing eventful happens.

 

Thousands of hidden cameras are secretly capturing his every move – him, and mainly him.

 

For three decades, Truman unwittingly plays the lead role in a reality-TV phenomenon watched by millions in the real world outside this cleverly CG-disguised dome-town.

 

Manipulative and ruthless television producer Christof (played by Ed Harris) has been running the 24-7 show.

 

Called ‘The Truman Show’, it remains the number-one most-watched of its kind. But Truman has no clue about any of this, surrounded as he is by perfectly manicured lawns and fellow ‘citizens’ who are all paid actors contracted into maintaining the grand secrecy, all to ensure optimum realism.

 

Elaborate becomes an understatement in this brilliant movie where Truman eventually discovers the deception. Intricate financial interests are threatened when he does, but few things can stop Truman now that he has learned the truth.

 

He then feels the weight and pain of the betrayal on a deeply personal and emotional level.

 

 

78. Stargate

 

 

 

In 1928 Egypt, an expedition comes across a bizarre device that can only be alien in origin.

 

Fast-forward to the modern day, and linguist and academic outcast Dr. Daniel Jackson (played by James Spader) answers a mysterious woman’s summons to help her decipher an ancient hieroglyph.

 

Daniel finds himself in a military facility, adding to his anxiety and intrigue. The device from 1920s Egypt is present in this facility and has been confirmed as extra-terrestrial.

 

The scientists surrounding it are intent on making contact with the advanced civilization that crafted the ‘Stargate’.

 

The huge device proves capable of tele-transportation to another star system. Colonel Jonathan “Jack” O’Neil (played by Kurt Russell) leads a military team and takes Dr. Daniel with him.

 

Together they teleport to a new world where a primitive Egyptian culture prevails.

 

Ra (aka the God of the Sun) is both pharaoh and deity here. He has enslaved most of the planet’s inhabitants.

 

Dangerous enigmas concerning the Stargate come to light, pitting the team in a fight against time and powerful alien ambitions.

 

 

79. Gattaca

 

 

 

When Vincent Freeman (played by Ethan Hawke) desires to travel to the stars, he finds society standing against him.

 

In this future era, such travelers need to have the right genetic makeup. But Vincent is classified as an underclass human being, fit to perform menial jobs only.

 

But Vincent is desperate to rise, and so assumes the identity of ‘Jerome Morrow’, a paraplegic after a car accident but an otherwise perfect genetic specimen.

 

With help from a professional, Vincent figures out how to deceive the DNA and urine sampling tests.

 

When he eventually finds himself ready and on the verge of embarking on his first approved space mission, Vincent’s program director is murdered.

 

This results in the police initiating a deep investigation into the matter, one that could blow Vincent’s cover and expose his highly punishable secret.

 

 

80. Looper

 

 

 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Joe, a ‘Looper’ trained to time-travel. He works for an agency that illegally licenses him to do so.

 

The year is 2074, and whoever upsets the mob ends up being sent into the past where a Looper will await their arrival only to kill them.

 

Since the murder takes place in the past, in some unknown place and time, Looper employers in the future are free of any and all accountability.

 

Joe knows that someday, in order for the mob to ensure his silence, a future version of him will be sent back in time to get rid of past Joe.

 

Joe makes sure that he is prepared for such an eventuality, thus sparking off a series of dangerous events that could throw a wrench in the workings of the entire Looper system.

 

 

81. Inception

 

 

 

Stealing or extracting data is an art form in its own right. If this is true, then Dom Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) is quite the artist.

 

This movie focuses on the futuristic techno-aided capability of delving into a person’s mind, particularly their subconscious, and stealing coveted secrets and information while they’re in a dream state.

 

This is purportedly when a person’s mind is at its most vulnerable. Add corporate espionage to the mix, and this sci-fi film certainly delivers.

 

Dom’s career in this regard has not only cost him a normal life but has also made him a global fugitive.

 

He is given a chance at redemption. This ‘last job’ has Cobb and team (which includes Arthur, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) using their skills to perform a daring and significant ‘inception’.

 

They are tasked with planting an idea instead of stealing it. The target: the subconscious mind of Robert Fischer (played by Cillian Murphy).

 

However, a dangerous opponent is countering their every move, almost like they’re predicting it. Dom alone seems capable of countering them right back.

 

 

82. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

 

 

 

A coterie of secret alien visitors ends up accidentally leaving behind one of their own.

 

This powerfully emotional Sci-Fi film centers around the little alien affectionately called ‘E. T.’ Surrounded by a new and intimidating environment, E.T. finds himself growing terribly afraid. Until 10-year-old Elliott (played by Henry Thomas) discovers him.

 

After being stunned at what he’s found, the little boy takes E. T. in, and a bond gradually starts to form between these two unwitting friends.

 

Government agents have caught wind of E. T.’s existence, and they want him for their own ill-advised purposes.

 

Along with other buddies, Elliott devises a daring escape that will send his alien pal away from Earth and on course to reunite with his intergalactic family.

 

Elliott does all this knowing that it would mean losing his dear friend forever.

 

 

83. 12 Monkeys

 

 

 

James Cole (played by Bruce Willis) claims he’s a time traveler from the future, specifically the year 2035.

 

James is also delusional and currently hospitalized in a mental institution, in the year 1990.

 

He has given himself the oh-so-crucial mission of saving Earth and the people in it.

 

It is captivating, given the ongoing 2020-2021 pandemic, that James is attempting to save the world from a virulent agent that could wipe out billions of people (!).

 

Dr. Kathryn Railly (played by Madeleine Stowe) is James’s psychiatrist. She harbors the notion that there is more to James Cole than meets the eye.

 

When a fateful encounter takes place between James and fellow inmate Jeffrey Goines (played by Brad Pitt), a series of outstandingly shocking events unfold.

 

They connect past and present moments in a frightening manner, especially pertaining to the infamous ‘Army of the Twelve Monkeys’.

 

This group comprises extremist activists who are concocting a dangerous plan. James also makes quite the case for the long-standing ‘Simulation Theory’.

 

Bruce Willis’s character motivations and choices are sure to make you question whether life is real, or just one big subjective hallucination.

 

 

84. The Abyss

 

 

 

Thrills and horrors pervade this Sci-Fi film, which portrays alien contact gone wrong. An American nuclear submarine is the setting for the story.

 

It comes across an unknown extra-terrestrial entity in the deep ocean, resulting in the submarine’s hydraulics and electrical systems malfunctioning.

 

It crashes into an underwater cliff and starts to sink. The navy, at a loss, insists on aid from a nearby underwater oil rig, whose unwitting rescuers are promised added support from a select bunch of navy SEALS already on their way.

 

They are tasked with investigating the crash site, and possibly saving any survivors. The new crew soon learns that they are not alone in the Abyss.

 

Something nefarious is sharing space with them and is intent on making this their last stop.

 

 

85. Starship Troopers

 

 

 

This movie is set in the distant future where giant killer bugs are the norm.

 

It all began when Johnny Rico’s (played by Casper Van Dien) girlfriend Carmen Ibanez (played by Denise Richards) joins the military and indirectly inspires him to enlist as well.

 

In this new age on Earth, people can only earn citizenship by serving their nation in a military capacity.

 

Growing disillusioned with his choice, Johnny plans to quit. Until an asteroid pays the planet a visit from the ‘Klendathu’ system.

 

When it hits Buenos Aires, Johnny’s whole life is turned upside down. The asteroid makes landfall in such a way that his family becomes one of many who perish in the aftermath of the impact.

 

The asteroid didn’t arrive by chance, though. It was a result of alien activity in the Klendathu star system.

 

Johnny joins up with several other troopers and is sent to that system to eradicate the threat.

 

These creatures are huge space bugs with a tendency to bite first and ask questions never.

 

Fascism, sci-fi battles, outer space travel, and alien bugs… This movie has it all, and then some.

 

 

86. The Man From Earth

 

 

 

A psychologically charged film, this cerebral sci-fi ‘magnum opus’ adds yet another unforgettable title to the genre.

 

It follows scientist and professor John Oldman (played by David Lee Smith) who gathers a group of associates in a cabin in the woods.

 

There he reveals something extraordinary, even fantastic, to them. He tells them that he’s a 14,000-year-old person who is not a conventional human being.

 

He tells them he’s immortal, and that he’s witnessed the evolution of humankind from the Cro-Magnon era.

 

He says he evolved with them and lived throughout history, and pre-history for that matter.

 

John’s earth-shattering assertions are met with cynicism and disbelief until he gradually details credible truths on topics ranging from history and science to spirituality and religion.

 

Circumstances turn eerie and mind-numbing until they finally meet a stunning climax in John Oldman’s last reveal which makes his associates question everything they thought to be true about human history.

 

 

87. Dark City

 

 

 

John Murdoch (played by Rufus Sewell) awakens in his hotel bathroom with absolutely no memory of who he is or how he got there.

 

In the room adjacent is a dead prostitute. A phone call comes in, it’s from Dr. Daniel Schreber (played by Kiefer Sutherland) warning him to get out of the hotel and that some people are after him.

 

John is confused and terrified, and flees for his life, becoming a fugitive in a case rife with a series of prostitute murders.

 

He’s become the prime suspect in Inspector Frank Bumstead’s (played by William Hurt) book. John’s wife, Emma, has reported him missing, adding to Frank’s intrigue and concern.

 

People with special powers are also after John Murdoch in this beautifully mysterious movie that contains a generous dose of sci-fi elements.

 

 

88. The Thing

 

 

 

This spine-chilling film is equal parts sci-fi and horror. It starts at an American research station in Antarctica during the early winter of 1982 and moves to a Norwegian research station close by.

 

A distress call brings a team over, led by MacReady (played by Kurt Russell). Circumstances involving an escaped dog caused the Norwegian chopper to crash.

 

When American rescuers make it overall, all they see is an empty base with everyone either dead or missing.

 

A bizarre creature’s remains are also discovered on site. From the looks of things, the Norwegians attempted to burn the thing.

 

Taking the remains back to their own base, the American team gradually plunges into a whodunit filled with suspense and suspicion.

 

The alien entity can apparently live even if the smallest organic portion of itself is intact.

 

It can also take over human bodies and assimilate them entirely, including their physical appearances.

 

The creature also proves capable of spreading from one person to another, almost like a virus.

 

All these facts become causes for great concern among the Americans because anyone could be the ‘Thing’.

 

Suffice to say, tensions escalate to breaking point.

 

 

89. Contact

 

 

 

Skeptic, atheist, and astronomer Dr. Ellie Arroway (played by Jodie Foster) work out of Puerto Rico on a project that might help her establish the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

 

David Drumlin (played by Tom Skerritt) brings her ambitions to a halt when he shuts down the project, forcing Ellie to seek private funding and a chance to continue her work in New Mexico.

 

The funds come in from an anonymous millionaire who’s really S. R. Hadden (played by Sir John Hurt).

 

Ellie, not looking a gift horse in the mouth, resumes her work in earnest. The next four years see her striving to ‘make contact’.

 

She strikes gold when a coded message arrives from the Vega star system. The millionaire helps Ellie with deciphering the message, which contains a blueprint for an advanced piece of technology.

 

Ellie engineers the machine in the hope of teleporting to Vega, but first, she needs to convince a commission comprising religious leaders, scientists, politicians, and military personnel that she, and she alone, need to make this journey.

 

 

90. Planet of the Apes

 

 

 

A brilliant ‘ahead of its time’ film, this is a must-see sci-fi classic. Set in the year 3978 AD, it features a crew of four whose spaceship crash-lands on a distant planet.

 

Coming out of deep hibernation, they learn that one of their own perished in space.

 

This leaves just three travellers to explore a strange new world. The planet holds many similarities to that of Earth, but with the exception, that super-intelligent apes call it home.

 

These creatures have weapons and are not shy to use them. The apes are also capable of fluent speech.

 

Before long, one of the crew members is shot dead, and the rest are taken into the apes’ custody.

 

Keen technology abounds in the apes’ culture and society. One of the crew is made to undergo a specific sort of brain surgery that leaves him in a state of ‘living death’.

 

One other member, George Taylor (played by Charlton Heston) attempts to befriend the apes, but he is reviled and feared among the furry citizens of this new planet.

 

Human natives do indeed co-exist with the apes, but they are not as numerous and are often enslaved.

 

These humans are pre-lingual compared to the apes, and rather uncivilized. Taylor’s throat is deliberately damaged so he wouldn’t speak with the apes.

 

He’s later put through a trial, following which he escapes with one of the female apes.

 

Taylor has made a good friend in Dr. Zira (played by Kim Hunter), a chimpanzee and psychologist.

 

He helps a few apes survive a religious heresy trial, and the deed adds to Taylor’s growing list of supporters.

 

Gradually, Taylor starts to realize that this new and distant planet is not altogether different from the one he’d left behind.

 

 

91. 2001: A Space Odyssey

 

 

 

This is an avant-garde movie, especially in the Sci-Fi genre. A classic in several regards, its masterpiece value rests in the fact that it went above and beyond the filmmaking capabilities thought to exist in the late 60s.

 

A strong theme of ‘evolution’ persists throughout the film, especially pertaining to a mysterious monolith that made its appearance on Earth with nobody any the wiser as to its origin and purpose.

 

This monolith apparently sparked human evolution, eventually leading to the human race making it to the moon where they discover yet another similar monolith.

 

A race ensues to find more such monolith placers. The AI computer HAL 9000 (voiced by Douglas Rain) is a credit-worthy addition to this film.

 

The efforts of Dr. Dave Bowman (played by Keir Dullea) and others further enhance the brilliant script.

 

Whether HAL gets to the next monolith placer before Dr. Bowman will determine who gets to evolve further (!).

 

 

92. Edge of Tomorrow

 

 

 

A well-paced film indeed, one that explores events unraveling around an alien invasion. No military unit in the world seems capable of taking on off-world invaders.

 

Major William Cage (played by Tom Cruise) is a strange sort of officer, one who has not seen any combat all his life.

 

Until he is dropped smack in the middle of what amounts to a suicide mission.

 

Countering an extra-terrestrial threat can prove fatal, and it does time and again for Major Cage. ‘Time Travel’ is at the core of this movie’s plotline.

 

Even though Cage is killed mere minutes into combat, he is sent back in time to relive the brutal battle, only for him to die again, and again…and again.

 

The aim of this strategy is for Cage, and soldiers like him, to grow ever more proficient at anticipating their enemy’s tactics and to find ways to positively counter them on the field of war.

 

A prime example of this is Rita Vrataski (played by Emily Blunt), a Special Forces warrior who has gained repute for being able to beat the aliens at their own game.

 

Gradually, Cage and Vrataski get closer to ending the alien threat once and for all.

 

 

93. Jurassic Park

 

 

 

Michael Crichton’s book was already a bestseller before the movie came along and did it one better.

 

Under Spielberg’s wily craft, the film adaptation inspired renewed passion and respect for dinosaurs the world over.

 

When paleontologists Alan Grant (played by Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (played by Laura Dern) join up with mathematician Ian Malcolm (played by Jeff Goldblum) – all of them brought together on ‘Isla Nublar’ by billionaire and Jurassic Park mastermind John Hammond (played by Richard Attenborough) – the movie blossoms into a thrill-fest that makes the dinos as much a part of the character roster as the people trying to escape them.

 

This film is far from your run-of-the-mill fare, it imparts elegant meaning to concepts that run the gamut from scientific possibility and prehistoric DNA meddling to morality, ethics, and dangerous ambitions.

 

Jurassic Park was meant to change the way people saw dinosaurs and the highly specialized zoos needed to contain them.

 

But as Ian Malcolm says in the film, “Life…finds a way.” In this case, it found a way to break free of what society expected of it.

 

SPECIAL NOTE: On June 11, 2021, the world celebrated the 28th anniversary of this outstanding film.

 

 

94. Blade Runner

 

 

 

This is the first movie adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s frightfully sublime novel. The film is set in the year 2019, in a dystopian Los Angeles rife with crime and corruption. ‘Blade Runners’ are qualified professionals who are tasked with ‘retiring’ any AI units that have gone rogue.

 

These AI robots are indistinguishable from human beings in almost every regard. Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) is one such Blade Runner, and he has to deal with not just one but four rogue Nexus-6 ‘replicants’.

 

The synthetic humanoid rebels have stolen a spaceship and are eagerly seeking answers from their creator Dr. Eldon Tyrell.

 

The movie contains thrills and chills swimming in a neon-lit cityscape with music to match.

 

Rick’s empathy is at war with his duty, more so after he encounters and converses with Roy Batty (played by Rutger Hauer).

 

Roy is one of the replicants in need of retirement, but his words shed dark meaning on the cost of being human, and the scary power of emotions in the heart/mind of an AI Android.

 

 

95. Interstellar

 

 

 

This complex film centres on Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey). A pilot and former science engineer, Cooper is deeply bonded to his new farming lifestyle.

 

He lives with his son Tom (played by Timothée Chalamet) and daughter Murph (played by Mackenzie Foy) in a ‘future year’ setting where Earth (specifically America’s Midwest) is no stranger to devastating sandstorms that take their toll on farmers’ crops.

 

Food supply is thus affected, and before long people start to understand that life on Earth is unfeasible.

 

When Cooper unwittingly enters a NASA base near his home, circumstances drag the man into a series of events that see him applying his piloting experience to further the cause of an ambitious space mission.

 

Joining him are a handful of other scientists, and together they research and realize the creation of a wormhole using which the authorities aim to transport people (in the foreseeable future) from Earth to a new exo-planet.

 

Earth is in a serious and irreversible state of decay, but Cooper is lost between choosing to stay behind in the place he has always called home or leaving for an entirely new one and risking never seeing his children again.

 

Some beautifully complex time-relativity and outer-space travel concepts prevail in this exquisitely directed movie filled with all the right emotional layers.

 

 

96. Mad Max: Fury Road

 

 

 

A stunning and raw apocalyptic tale, this film follows in the rich Sci-Fi footsteps of its 1979 predecessor.

 

The story unravels on Earth, but in a bleak and dry future where all is desert and humanity has been tested to the point of shattering.

 

Clans are ever at war with one another, all to get their hands on life’s barest necessities.

 

Order is indeed possible, but that depends on two particular rebels who also happen to be fugitives.

 

The ‘action instead of words’ Max (played by Tom Hardy) is the titular character and one of the rebels in question.

 

He lost his wife and child to the madness that followed the ruination of society.

 

Now all he wants is peace and a quiet death. Then along comes Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron).

 

She gets the wheels rolling, and quite literally, in this movie. She believes a game-changing answer to all the craziness in her life is hidden back in her hometown.

 

Furiosa aims to discover and apply that tool/knowledge if it means a better future than the animal-like one she and others currently call existence.

 

But driving across the desert to her childhood land is better said than done. Dangers and threats galore await her, and Max, in this heart-racing film.

 

 

97. A Clockwork Orange

 

 

 

Dystopian stories have always enjoyed prominence in the Science Fiction genre. Adding yet another jewel to the dystopia crown is this movie, one rife with murder, violence, sex, and reckless abandon, made all the more frightening thanks to how direct and simple the characters make it seem.

 

Alex DeLarge (played by Malcolm McDowell) and his goons are a classic example of London’s dark side.

 

After two years in prison, Alex has not changed in the least. His penchant for Ludwig van Beethoven renders the legendary musician’s compositions in a creepy light in this film.

 

Alex is one juvenile delinquent whose swagger and deceptive charm have made this movie a chilling treat to watch.

 

The government plays a key role in the story. They grant Alex freedom under the condition that he partakes in their experimental de-conditioning program.

 

It is a dark and sick peek into the long-standing and terribly misguided notion that one’s anti-social tendencies can be switched off using a mere psychological trick.

 

A new Alex is in town, but apparently not the version that was intended to be unleashed upon it.

 

 

98. The Terminator

 

 

 

Interestingly enough, the year is 2029 in this unforgettable movie, and AI-driven killer robots have taken over.

 

The film actually goes back in time to 1984 in Los Angeles, where the seed of robo-destruction was initially sown.

 

An important woman by the name of Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton) would give birth to a son who would later go on to create a program that would threaten all AI-powered robots in the future.

 

So they send a ‘Terminator’ back in time to kill Sarah and thus secure their ruthless rule over humankind.

 

Also going back in time is human Resistance Army member and soldier Kyle Reese (played by Michael Biehn).

 

Kyle makes it his mission to save Sarah and her baby. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the powerful role of the Terminator, who neither eats nor sleeps and is intent on killing a relatively helpless Sarah living in the 80s.

 

 

99. District 9

 

 

 

The year is 1982 and an alien race known simply as ‘The Prawns’ invaded Earth.

 

They are named for their overt crustacean bio-look. Their giant ship made its appearance over Johannesburg, in South Africa, and things have never been the same since.

 

The movie captures a perfectly realistic look and feels as if aliens indeed came over.

 

The film takes its 80s setting forward twenty-eight years into a near future that is anything but accepting.

 

People have lost their tolerance for The Prawns. Where the aliens once enjoyed assured safety in a dedicated refugee camp called ‘District 9’, they are now practically imprisoned in it.

 

The camp has become a militarized ghetto where confinement and exploitation have become a reality for the off-worlders.

 

The time comes when people no longer want The Prawns on Earth at all. It falls to ‘Multi-National United’, a munitions corporation, to enforce an eviction plan.

 

One of their operatives, Wikus van der Merwe (played by Sharlto Copley) is given charge of the situation.

 

When Wikus finds himself exposed to a bizarre alien chemical, his life and future depend on what two of his new Prawn buddies can do to help him find a solution to his bizarre conundrum.

 

 

100. Alien

 

 

 

Jerry Goldsmith’s music and Ridley Scott’s direction aren’t the only top-notch reasons this movie made it big. “Alien” 1979 took the world, and outer space J, by storm, especially seeing as it was released at a time when science fiction movies were gaining popularity on the world stage.

 

You can’t think of sci-fi without aliens, which makes this movie a brilliant offering on the altar of cinema.

 

Part horror and part outer space thriller, this frightfully good film pits its main characters in a rather claustrophobic space vessel (the commercial mining ship ‘Nostromo’) and introduces an alien to the mix.

 

The artful and realistic way in which they captured gory realism and suspenseful chills is nothing short of excellent. ‘Mother’ is the ship’s AI system, adding yet another ‘ahead of its time’ element to this movie’s mix.

 

What starts out as a crewmember discovering an incredible cache of alien pods/eggs soon unravels into a full-fledged game of survival where the eggs unleash spider-like creatures that seed human bodies with alien spawn.

 

It falls to Ripley (played by the brilliant Sigourney Weaver) to return to Earth in one piece, but only after killing the full-sized stowaway mother alien on board that’s intent on wiping out every human on the vessel.

 

Sounds and visuals play prominent roles in conveying the message of isolation, extra-terrestrial predation, and the heart-stopping power of the Great Unknown.