Greatest Sci-Fi movies by concepts
by reynaldo_n | created - 28 Jun 2014 | updated - 06 May 2019 | PublicA list of sci-fi movies that, in my honest & personal opinion, have the best ideas of the genre, a huge potential with every concept, really creative elements, & an amazing execution.
Only counts movies that I really, really like or love overall. None of "great idea, bad execution". Most of them have the sci-fi element all thoughout which is very detailed in many ways.
Not all of them are hardcore sci fi movies, some might have just a little bit of it but since they blow me away with that tiny amount they deserve to be here.
I don´t count movies that, even though many would consider them sci-fi, are so far from scientific speculation that are fantansy or that the sci-fi is just a gimmick for the movie like in the action genre or just for dramatic purposes.
I´m saying that some movies are actually just merely dramas, thriller or action with a lame excuse of "sci-fi" when most of the time it´s just fantasy or a plot device to create conflict that disappear & never again gets mention.
Now, the sci-fi concepts have to keep up with the plot, they can´t be left out without any futher mention in the rest of the movie... because of that I left some movies that while great seem to forget their own ideas.
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1. The Island (2005)
PG-13 | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A man living in a futuristic sterile colony begins to question his circumscribed existence when his friend is chosen to go to the Island, the last uncontaminated place on earth.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Ewan McGregor, Djimon Hounsou, Steve Buscemi
Votes: 327,132 | Gross: $35.82M
2. Transformers (2007)
PG-13 | 144 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An ancient struggle between two Cybertronian races, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, comes to Earth, with a clue to the ultimate power held by a teenager.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson
Votes: 672,997 | Gross: $319.25M
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
PG-13 | 149 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Sam Witwicky leaves the Autobots behind for a normal life. But when his mind is filled with cryptic symbols, the Decepticons target him and he is dragged back into the Transformers' war.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson
Votes: 427,309 | Gross: $402.11M
4. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,043,954 | Gross: $171.48M
5. The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
R | 138 min | Action, Sci-Fi
Freedom fighters Neo, Trinity and Morpheus continue to lead the revolt against the Machine Army, unleashing their arsenal of extraordinary skills and weaponry against the systematic forces of repression and exploitation.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 628,545 | Gross: $281.49M
6. The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
R | 129 min | Action, Sci-Fi
The human city of Zion defends itself against the massive invasion of the machines as Neo fights to end the war at another front while also opposing the rogue Agent Smith.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 541,761 | Gross: $139.31M
7. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
PG-13 | 118 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An elite military unit comprised of special operatives known as G.I. Joe, operating out of The Pit, takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms dealer.
Director: Stephen Sommers | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Votes: 214,777 | Gross: $152.27M
8. The Terminator (1984)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield
Votes: 920,869 | Gross: $38.40M
9. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick
Votes: 1,169,809 | Gross: $204.84M
10. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
R | 109 min | Action, Sci-Fi
A machine from a post-apocalyptic future travels back in time to protect a man and a woman from an advanced robotic assassin to ensure they both survive a nuclear attack.
Director: Jonathan Mostow | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Kristanna Loken, Claire Danes
Votes: 417,744 | Gross: $150.37M
11. Terminator Salvation (2009)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In 2018, a mysterious new weapon in the war against the machines, half-human and half-machine, comes to John Connor on the eve of a resistance attack on Skynet. But whose side is he on, and can he be trusted?
Director: McG | Stars: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood
Votes: 376,582 | Gross: $125.32M
12. Sphere (1998)
PG-13 | 134 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A spaceship is discovered under three hundred years' worth of coral growth at the bottom of the ocean.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Coyote
Votes: 112,259 | Gross: $37.02M
13. Pacific Rim (2013)
PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot and a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day
Votes: 529,183 | Gross: $101.80M
14. The Kovak Box (2006)
R | 102 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A sci-fi writer (Hutton) is invited to an island for a conference, only to discover that he's been lured into a trap.
Director: Daniel Monzón | Stars: Timothy Hutton, Lucía Jiménez, David Kelly, Georgia Mackenzie
Votes: 4,354
15. Lost in Space (1998)
PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Family
The Robinson family was going into space to fight for a chance for humanity. Now they are fighting to live long enough to find a way home.
Director: Stephen Hopkins | Stars: Gary Oldman, William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc, Mimi Rogers
Votes: 74,752 | Gross: $69.12M
16. Event Horizon (1997)
R | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A rescue crew is tasked with investigating the mysterious reappearance of a spaceship that had been lost for seven years.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson
Votes: 196,472 | Gross: $26.67M
17. Tarzan (2013)
PG | 94 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Tarzan and Jane Porter face a mercenary army dispatched by the evil CEO of Greystoke Energies, a man who took over the company from Tarzan's parents, after they died in a helicopter crash.
Director: Reinhard Klooss | Stars: Kellan Lutz, Spencer Locke, Les Bubb, Joe Cappelletti
Votes: 13,033
18. Predators (2010)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A group of elite warriors parachute into an unfamiliar jungle and are hunted by members of a merciless alien race.
Director: Nimród Antal | Stars: Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Topher Grace, Alice Braga
Votes: 243,229 | Gross: $52.00M
19. The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
PG-13 | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The affair between a politician and a contemporary dancer is affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart.
Director: George Nolfi | Stars: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Lisa Thoreson, Florence Kastriner
Votes: 269,715 | Gross: $62.50M
20. Race to Witch Mountain (2009)
PG | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Family
A Las Vegas cabbie enlists the help of a U.F.O. expert to protect two siblings with paranormal powers from the clutches of an organization that wants to use the kids for their nefarious plans.
Director: Andy Fickman | Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig
Votes: 62,884 | Gross: $67.17M
21. Men in Black³ (2012)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Agent J travels in time to M.I.B.'s early days in 1969 to stop an alien from assassinating his friend Agent K and changing history.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement
Votes: 385,793 | Gross: $179.02M
22. Knowing (2009)
PG-13 | 121 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
M.I.T. professor John Koestler links a mysterious list of numbers from a time capsule to past and future disasters and sets out to prevent the ultimate catastrophe.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Chandler Canterbury, Rose Byrne, Lara Robinson
Votes: 246,993 | Gross: $79.96M
23. Repo Men (2010)
R | 111 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Set in the near future when artificial organs can be bought on credit, it revolves around a man who struggles to make the payments on a heart he has purchased. He must therefore go on the run before said ticker is repossessed.
Director: Miguel Sapochnik | Stars: Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Alice Braga, Liev Schreiber
Votes: 110,508 | Gross: $13.79M
24. Judge Dredd (1995)
R | 96 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
In a dystopian future, Joseph Dredd, the most famous Judge (a police officer with instant field judiciary powers), is convicted for a crime he did not commit and must face his murderous counterpart.
Director: Danny Cannon | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante, Rob Schneider, Jürgen Prochnow
Votes: 124,641 | Gross: $34.69M
25. The Core (2003)
PG-13 | 135 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The only way to save Earth from catastrophe is to drill down to the core and set it spinning again.
Director: Jon Amiel | Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Bruce Greenwood
Votes: 107,006 | Gross: $31.19M
26. Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)
PG | 93 min | Action, Adventure, Family
On a quest to find out what happened to his missing brother, a scientist, his nephew and their mountain guide discover a fantastic and dangerous lost world in the center of the earth.
Director: Eric Brevig | Stars: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Aníta Briem, Seth Meyers
Votes: 131,310 | Gross: $101.70M
27. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)
PG | 94 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Sean Anderson partners with his mom's husband on a mission to find his grandfather, who is thought to be missing on a mythical island.
Director: Brad Peyton | Stars: Josh Hutcherson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Luis Guzmán
Votes: 111,752 | Gross: $103.86M
28. Odyssey 5 (2002–2004)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After witnessing the sudden implosion of Earth from orbit, a group of five Odyssey astronauts is sent five years back in time by an alien force to find the cause and prevent the disaster. A vast conspiracy stands in their way.
Stars: Peter Weller, Sebastian Roché, Christopher Gorham, Leslie Silva
Votes: 3,153
29. The 6th Day (2000)
PG-13 | 123 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man meets a clone of himself and stumbles into a grand conspiracy about clones taking over the world.
Director: Roger Spottiswoode | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Rapaport, Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rooker
Votes: 127,692 | Gross: $34.60M
30. I, Robot (2004)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
In 2035, a technophobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, Alan Tudyk
Votes: 573,406 | Gross: $144.80M
31. Wayward Pines (2015–2016)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A Secret Service agent goes to Wayward Pines, Idaho in search of two federal agents who have gone missing in the bucolic town. He soon learns that he might never get out of Wayward Pines alive.
Stars: Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Toby Jones, Shannyn Sossamon, Hope Davis
Votes: 59,968
32. The Man from Earth (2007)
Not Rated | 87 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.
Director: Richard Schenkman | Stars: David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, John Billingsley, Ellen Crawford
Votes: 199,471
33. Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
PG-13 | 154 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A deadly threat from Earth's history reappears and a hunt for a lost artifact takes place between Autobots and Decepticons, while Optimus Prime encounters his creator in space.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Hopkins, Josh Duhamel, Laura Haddock
Votes: 168,109 | Gross: $130.17M
34. Every Day (2018)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A shy teenager falls for a spirit who wakes up in the body of a different person every morning.
Director: Michael Sucsy | Stars: Angourie Rice, Justice Smith, Debby Ryan, Jeni Ross
Votes: 23,546 | Gross: $6.10M
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