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The 100 best science fiction movies of all time, according to critics
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Ubiquitous
Aug 12, 2018, 9:57:23 AM8/12/18
to
At its best, science fiction can present a captivating, inventive
picture of societal trends and flaws.
The Metacritic data we compiled here to track the most critically
acclaimed sci-fi movies of all time traces a lineage of great films
from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" through the Tom Cruise-
led "Minority Report" and Spike Jonze's "Her."
The resulting list includes all of the highest-rated movies that
feature a "sci-fi" tag on the site, which turned out to be a wide-
ranging categorization.
Here are the 100 best science fiction movies of all time, according to
critics:
100. "Movement and Location" (2015)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "Despite its sci-fi hook, 'Movement and Location'
turns out to be a surprisingly resonant film about how impossible it is
for most people — no matter their cosmic time zone — to carve out a
life that's emotionally honest." — Village Voice
99. "Serenity" (2005)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "As challenging as it must have been to pilot Joss
Whedon's space opera from the TV junk pile to the big screen, the
finished product is a triumph." — San Francisco Chronicle
98. "Inception" (2010)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "As engrossing and logic-resistant as the state of
dreaming it seeks to replicate, Christopher Nolan's audacious new
creation demands further study to fully absorb the multiple,
simultaneous stories Nolan finagles into one narrative experience." —
Entertainment Weekly
97. "Twelve Monkeys" (1996)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "Gilliam, along with the gifted cinematographer
Roger Pratt and production designer Jeffrey Beecroft, fashions a
disturbing and dazzling lost world." — Rolling Stone
96. "Thelma" (2017)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "A moody, mannered, and lingering coming-of-age
story with a Stephen King-like twist." — Boston Globe
95. "Okja" (2017)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 7.4/10
What critics said: "The picture, which never stops moving, is dense
with information and feeling. Barbs of satire pop up and are washed
away on streams of strong emotion. It's all marvelously preposterous
and yet, at the same time, something important is at stake." — The New
York Times
94. "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "The first Marvel movie to truly embrace comics-
style storytelling. " — The AV Club
93. "Captain America: Civil War" (2016)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "Kudos to the Russo brothers, Joe and Anthony, for
directing the hostilities for maximum impact and without neglecting
character. Their thundering epic is also smart, snappy, politically
savvy and blessedly fast on its feet." — Rolling Stone
92. "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 9.1/10
What critics said: "'T2' features bigger, bolder, more energetic action
sequences than its predecessor." — ReelViews
91. "Attack the Block" (2011)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 7.2/10
What critics said: "There's a vaguely Spielbergian quality to Cornish's
skill at balancing the sense of shared adventure with genuine danger."
— The Hollywood Reporter
90. "THX 1138" (1971)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 6.6/10
What critics said: "Testament to the emergence of a visually masterful
filmmaker, capable of ingenious, low-tech special effects." — The
Washington Post
89. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 8/10
What critics said: "Set at the intersection of post-Vietnam paranoia
and the myopic introspection that became hippiedom's most lasting
cultural contribution, the Philip Kaufman-directed 'Invasion'
alternates social commentary with impeccably crafted scares." — The AV
Club
88. "Repo Man" (1984)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "The real thing. It's a sneakily rude, truly zany
farce that treats its lunatic characters with a solemnity that
perfectly matches the way in which they see themselves." — The New York
Times
87. "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" (2013)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "Very few people will take in this spectacle of a
society amusing itself to death, of 'reality games' and the vapid media
hysteria that surrounds them, and not draw a parallel to our own
televised bread and circuses. At its best, 'Catching Fire' is a
blockbuster that bites the culture that made it." — Boston Globe
86. "Birdboy: The Forgotten Children" (2017)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 9.5/10
What critics said: "'Birdboy: The Forgotten Children' is its own
unique, damaged creature." — Village Voice
85. "Ghost in the Shell" (1996)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 8.7/10
What critics said: "Technically, 'Ghost in the Shell' is astonishing,
not only for its smooth meld of cell animation and state-of-the-art
computer animation, but also for its imaginative storytelling and
mood-setting (thanks to an eerie, non-thumping score by Kenji Kawai)."
— The Washington Post
84. "10 Cloverfield Lane" (2016)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 7.7/10
What critics said: "Not an outright 'Cloverfield' sequel but rather, as
Abrams has put it, a 'spiritual successor.' It's also a better movie,
one with a sense of humor about itself and its genre." — Time
83. "Wonder Woman" (2017)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 7.7/10
What critics said: "In the recent flood of superhero movies, several
have managed to be quite good — but Wonder Woman ranks as one of the
few great ones." — The Wrap
82. "World on a Wire" (1973)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: N/A
What critics said: "'World on a Wire' is the discovery of the season,
rarely screened in America but very much a key chapter in Fassbinder's
story--a step toward bigger budgets and slicker production values, yet
clarifying of his core artistic legacy." — Time Out
81. "Midnight Special" (2016)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 6.8/10
What critics said: "The most haunting part of this riskily earnest film
isn't the unmentionable effects coup of its grand finale, but the
quieter beats, all in close-up, that comprise its coda: atomised,
spent, and sad." — The Telegraph
80. "Escape from New York" (1981)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: N/A
What critics said: "It's a toughly told, very tall tale, one of the
best escape (and escapist) movies of the season." — The New York Times
79. "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "Overall, the writers have crafted a well-
articulated universe with distinct settings and relatable, compelling
characters devoted to a thrilling quest for redemption." — The
Hollywood Reporter
78. "Logan" (2017)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "'Logan' is the rare blockbuster that could be a
game-changer. It will certainly change the way we look at other
superhero movies and how history judges the entire MCU and DC Universe
of films." — RogerEbert.com
77. "Westworld" (1973)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 7.1/10
What critics said: "An excellent film, which combines solid
entertainment, chilling topicality, and superbly intelligent serio-
comic story values. Michael Crichton's original script is as superior
as his direction." — Variety
76. "Evolution" (2016)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 6.5/10
What critics said: "Cloaked in a mystifying atmosphere and possessed by
a transfixing, amorphous mood, Lucile Hadzihalilovic's 'Evolution' is a
beautifully strange hybrid of innocence and disturbance." — The
Playlist
75. "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" (1982)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 8.7/10
What critics said: "The experience is frightening, sometimes
disgusting, and (if the truth be told) exhilarating. This is very
skillful filmmaking, and 'Mad Max 2' is a movie like no other." —
Chicago Sun-Times
74. "WarGames" (1983)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 9/10
What critics said: "A terrifically exciting story charged by an
irresistible idea: an extra-smart kid can get the world into a whole
lot of trouble that it also takes the same extra-smart kid to rescue it
from." — Variety
73. "Sleeper" (1973)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: N/A
What critics said: "In his fourth movie, Allen comes into his own as a
filmmaker, providing us with the comedy of the year." — New York
magazine
72. "2046" (2005)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 7.4/10
What critics said: "There are many places a visitor may go astray in
'2046' — places where the filmmaker appears to be a bit at loose ends
too. Still, Wong's invitation — 'Let's get lost' — is irresistible." —
Entertainment Weekly
71. "Ex Machina" (2015)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "With a stellar cast and seductive look, 'Ex
Machina' is a sleek contraption for capturing our imagination." — St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
70. "A Clockwork Orange" (1971)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "It seems to me that by describing horror with such
elegance and beauty, Kubrick has created a very disorienting but human
comedy, not warm and lovable, but a terrible sum- up of where the world
is at." — The New York Times
69. "Under the Skin" (2014)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 6.8/10
What critics said: "At times the film is right on the border between
mesmerizing and narcotizing, but it casts an otherworldly spell." — New
York magazine
68. "Godzilla" (1954)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "Not that Honda's original 'Godzilla' is a message
movie first and foremost. It's a horror flick, and an ingenious one at
that, with visual effects so vivid that gimmicky spin-offs became an
enduring staple of popular film." — Christian Science Monitor
67. "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "Dynamite entertainment, especially in the rousing
first hour." — Rolling Stone
66. "Iron Man" (2008)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "When it's idling in neutral, and we're watching
Stark putter in his workshop or seduce unsuspecting journalists, 'Iron
Man' abounds in that rarest of superpowers: charm." — Slate
65. "Jodorowsky's Dune" (2014)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 8.3/10
What critics said: "Director Pavich, his first time at bat, has crafted
an unalloyed pleasure of a documentary, especially for those of us who
care about 'Dune,' about sci-fi, and about the value and power of
creative passion." — The Playlist
64. "Annihilation" (2018)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 7.2/10
What critics said: "'Annihilation' is a portentous movie, and a
cerebral one. It's gorgeous and immersive, but distancing. It's
exciting more in its sheer ambition and its distinctiveness than in its
actual action." — The Verge
63. "The Fly" (1986)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "David Cronenberg's 'The Fly' is that absolute
rarity of the '80s: a film that is at once a pure, personal expression
and a superbly successful commercial enterprise." — Chicago Tribune
62. "Planet of the Apes" (1968)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "A film rich with unforgettable imagery, killer
lines and physical thrills." — Empire
61. "Time Bandits" (1981)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 5/10
What critics said: "Parents may not approve of this dark, violent 1981
children's film, which is what makes it such a good one. The film is
resolutely, passionately antiadult, yet much of the humor has an adult
sophistication and edge to it; this is one kids' movie that doesn't
condescend." — Chicago Reader
60. "Minority Report" (2002)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 7.0/10
What critics said: "This is the kind of pure entertainment that, in its
fullness and generosity, feels almost classic." — San Francisco
Chronicle
59. "The Survivalist" (2017)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 6.8/10
What critics said: "Impressively lean and rigidly controlled, 'The
Survivalist' achieves, at times, the primitive allure of a silent
movie." — The New York Times
58. "The Endless" (2018)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 7.4/10
What critics said: "If you have a good idea, a strong cast, a smart
script, and directorial chops, you don't need a lot of money to make a
compelling movie. 'The Endless' is proof." — RogerEbert.com
57. "Incredibles 2" (2018)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "This follow-up is every bit the start-to-finish
sensation as the original, and you'll be happy to know that Bird's
subversive spirit is alive and thriving." — Rolling Stone
56. "Melancholia" (2011)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 6.5/10
What critics said: "Nutty Danish provocateur Lars von Trier -- long one
of the most annoying filmmakers on the planet -- turns out one of the
year's most emotionally resonant art movies." — New York Post
55. "Superman" (1978)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 7.8/10
What critics said: "Manages to capture the pure heart and spirit of
this comic book Americana." — Empire
54. "The Martian" (2015)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 8.0/10
What critics said: "Scott's sci-fi adventure is the kind of film you
leave the theater itching to tell your friends to see. Like 'Apollo 13'
and 'Gravity,' it turns science and problem solving into an edge-of-
your-seat experience." — Entertainment Weekly
53. "Sorry to Bother You" (2018)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 7.1/10
What critics said: "Mr. Riley isn't constructing yet another postmodern
playhouse out of borrowings and allusions. He's building a raft, and
steering it straight into the foaming rapids of racism, economic
injustice and cultural conflict." — The New York Times
52. "Paprika" (2007)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "It happens to be one of the most wildly (and
disturbingly) inventive animated films I've seen." — Newsweek
51. "District 9" (2009)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "A memorable, monstrous fable that's consistently
gripping." — New York Daily News
50. "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens" (2015)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 6.9/10
What critics said: "What a beautiful, thrilling, joyous, surprising and
heart-thumping adventure this is." — Chicago Sun-Times
49. "The World's End" (2013)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "What 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz' did for
zombie and cop flicks 'The World's End' does for sci-fi fatalism,
respecting its doomsday tropes while presenting them with cheeky wit
and a refreshing strategy of sensory underload." — Tampa Bay Times
48. "Battle Royale" (2000)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.0/10
What critics said: "American fans of 'The Hunger Games' may not embrace
- or even be permitted to see - 'Battle Royale,' which is too bad. It
is in many ways a better movie and in any case a fascinating companion,
drawn from a parallel cultural universe. It is a lot uglier and also,
perversely, a lot more fun." — The New York Times
47. "Upstream Color" (2013)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 7.0/10
What critics said: "Part science fiction scare movie, part offbeat
romance, part completely unclassifiable, 'Color' is also one-man
filmmaking of a remarkable sort." — Los Angeles Times
46. "Little Shop of Horrors" (1986)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 7.7/10
What critics said: "This is the kind of movie that cults are made of,
and after 'Little Shop' finishes its first run, I wouldn't be at all
surprised to see it develop into a successor to 'Rocky Horror Show,' as
one of those movies that fans want to include in their lives." — San
Francisco Chronicle
45. "The Man Who Fell to Earth" (1976)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 6.9/10
What critics said: "It may be time to stop calling Nicolas Roeg's
sexed-up sci-fi film that vaguely demeaning term - a cult classic - and
start addressing it as what it is: the most intellectually provocative
genre film of the 1970s." — Time Out
44. "Arrival" (2016)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "Such a beautiful and thought-provoking film that it
almost singlehandedly makes up for every bad aliens-coming-to-Earth
film you've ever seen. Yes, even 'Independence Day: Resurgence.'" — USA
Today
43. "Blade Runner 2049" (2017)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "Stands with the likes of 'The Godfather Part II'
and 'Terminator 2' and 'Aliens' as a sequel worthy of the original
classic." — Chicago Sun-Times
42. "Isle of Dogs" (2018)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "The film is not only hilariously entertaining, but
also firmly in the tradition of such political parables as George
Orwell's 'Animal Farm.'" — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
41. "Marjorie Prime" (2017)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 7.3/10
What critics said: "The sci-fi chamber drama 'Marjorie Prime' is
exquisite — beautiful, intense, shivering with empathy." — New York
magazine
40. "A Quiet Place" (2018)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 7.5/10
What critics said: "As a celebration of the physical expressiveness and
visual storytelling of silent cinema, 'A Quiet Place' speaks volumes
without a word being uttered." — The Washington Post
39. "Star Trek" (2009)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "In the pop high it delivers, this is the greatest
prequel ever made." — Boston Globe
38. "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 6.9/10
What critics said: "With '2001,' Stanley Kubrick proved that a sci-fi
movie could be philosophical rather than pulpy, profound rather than
pedantic." — Premiere
37. "The Lobster" (2016)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 6.9/10
What critics said: "A wickedly funny protest against societal
preference for nuclear coupledom that escalates, by its own sly logic,
into a love story of profound tenderness and originality." — Variety
36. "Face/Off" (1997)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "Face/Off is a summer movie extraordinaire: violent,
imaginative, crazily funny and, oddly moving. Hollywood has finally
wised up and let Hong Kong auteur John Woo strut his stuff in all its
undiluted, over-the-top glory." — Newsweek
35. "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" (1980)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "A stunning successor, a tense and pictorially
dazzling science-fiction chase melodrama that sustains two hours of
elaborate adventure while sneaking up on you emotionally." — The
Washington Post
34. "War for the Planet of the Apes" (2017)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "There is a scene toward the end of 'War for the
Planet of the Apes' that is as vivid and haunting as anything I've seen
in a Hollywood blockbuster in ages, a moment of rousing and dreadful
cinematic clarity that I don't expect to shake off any time soon." —
The New York Times
33. "Alien" (1979)
Critic score: 83/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "I recognize how few horror movies I've seen before
or since that ever manage to capture such a tangible feeling of
menace." — Salon
32. "Spider-Man 2" (2004)
Critic score: 83/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "A masterpiece of pop filmmaking -- a fantastic,
exuberant entertainment that manages to be both sleek and substantial
without being patronizing." — Miami Herald
31. "Avatar" (2009)
Critic score: 83/100
User score: 7.5/10
What critics said: "A quantum leap in movie magic; watching it, I began
to understand how people in 1933 must have felt when they saw 'King
Kong.'" — Chicago Reader
30. "Snowpiercer" (2014)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 7.1/10
What critics said: "Politically provocative and visually spectacular
'Snowpiercer' - the best action film of 2014, and probably the best
film, period." — Salon
29. "The Terminator" (1984)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 7.2/10
What critics said: "From the slam-bang direction to the relentless pace
to the not-a-word-wasted dialogue and even the driving synth score,
everything else about The Terminator just works." — Time Out
28. "Looper" (2012)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "A remarkable feat of imagination and execution,
entertaining from start to finish, even as it asks the audience to
contemplate how and why humanity keeps making the same rotten
mistakes." — The AV Club
27. "Aliens" (1986)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "Tautly paced and expertly directed, this roller
coaster ride of a motion picture offers a little bit of everything, all
wrapped up in a tidy science fiction/action package." — ReelViews
26. "Children of Men" (2006)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "It's a work of art that deserves a space cleared
for its angry, nervous beauty." — Entertainment Weekly
25. "Holy Motors" (2012)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 7.5/10
What critics said: "An electrifying, confounding, what-the-hell-just-
happened exercise in unbounded imagination, unapologetic theatricality,
bravura acting and head-over-heels movie-love." — The Washington Post
24. "The Iron Giant" (1999)
Critic score: 85/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "Remarkably unassuming, genuinely playful, and
superbly executed, 'The Iron Giant' towers over the cartoon landscape."
— The Village Voice
23. "The Host" (2007)
Critic score: 85/100
User score: 6.8/10
What critics said: "A great piece of filmmaking and a legitimate
science-fiction/horror classic." — San Francisco Chronicle
22. "Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi" (2017)
Critic score: 85/100
User score: 4.5/10
What critics said: "Easily its most exciting iteration in decades — the
first flat-out terrific "Star Wars" movie since 1980's 'The Empire
Strikes Back.'" — Los Angeles Times
21. "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" (1985)
Critic score: 86/100
User score: N/A
What critics said: "Hayao Miyazaki's animated adventure, from 1984, is
a magnificent anomaly—a rousing vision of scorched earth." — The New
Yorker
20. "Back to the Future" (1985)
Critic score: 87/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "There aren't many films we'd describe as perfect,
but Robert Zemeckis's oh-so-'80s time travel tale fits the bill." —
Time Out
19. "Superman II" (1981)
Critic score: 87/100
User score: 6.6/10
What critics said: "A stylish, well-paced film with a good variety of
moods and moves." — Time
18. "Black Panther" (2018)
Critic score: 88/100
User score: 6.7/10
What critics said: "Believe the hype: Black Panther transcends its
comic-book origins, achieving a mythic grandeur that's nothing short of
exhilarating." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
17. "Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut" (2004)
Critic score: 88/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: ""Donnie Darko" was one of the best pictures
released in 2001. Now that it has returned in a 20-minute longer--and
richer -- director's cut, it seems sure to be ranked as one of the key
American films of the decade." — Los Angeles Times
16. "Brazil" (1985)
Critic score: 88/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "A ferociously creative 1985 black comedy filled
with wild tonal contrasts, swarming details, and unfettered visual
invention--every shot carries a charge of surprise and delight." —
Chicago Reader
15. "Blade Runner" (1982)
Critic score: 89/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "Grand enough in scale to carry its many Biblical
and mythological references, 'Blade Runner' never feels heavy or
pretentious -- only more and more engrossing with each viewing. It
helps, too, that it works as pure entertainment." — The Washington Post
14. "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" (1977)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "There is something dazzling about a sci-fi film
that manages to call upon the energies of both futurism and long-held
faith. The movie is not to be compared in ferocity of imagination with
Kubrick's '2001' — significant that the music here is merely
illustrative, never caustic or memorable, and that there is nothing of
Kubrick's vision of a blanched form of existence — but it is
exuberantly entertaining." — Time Out
13. "Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "Marrying the biting frenzy of Terry Gilliam's film
universe with the explosive grandeur of James Cameron, Miller cooks up
some exhilaratingly sustained action. But the key to this symphony of
twisted metal is how the film never forgets that violence is a sort of
madness." — Time Out
12. "Hard to Be a God" (2015)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 5.2/10
What critics said: "The late director Aleksei Guerman's last film is a
grandly arbitrary carnival of neo-medieval depravity. It's also a
mudpunk allegory of Russian barbarism and backwardness." — The New
Yorker
11. "King Kong" (1933)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "Despite its various deficiencies and occasionally
antiquated style, 'King Kong' remains not only a milestone of movie-
making, but a magical experience." — ReelViews
10. "It's Such a Beautiful Day" (2012)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "Warped keyhole-size images stack atop one another
in a Frankenstein-ian collage that evokes the films of Terrence Malick,
David Lynch, Stan Brakhage, and Bruce Conner." — Village Voice
9. "Solaris" (1972)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "An amazing celluloid poem by a filmmaker whom
Ingmar Bergman called 'the greatest.' He very nearly was. He was also,
perhaps, too pure a creator and reckless a citizen to survive
unscathed." — Chicago Tribune
8. "Her" (2013)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "'Her' may be the most technologically astute movie
since Stanley Kubrick's '2001: a Space Odyssey.'" — St. Louis Post-
Dispatch
7. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 7.8/10
What critics said: "A genuine work of the popular imagination. It's the
first true populist science-fiction film, a blend of the most
startling, far-out special effects with the most ordinary human
material of the American Heartland." — Newsweek
6. "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982)
Critic score: 91/100
User score: 8.3/10
What critics said: "The movie is emotionally tumultuous and evenhanded
and serene. It celebrates the odd pockets of imagination and
individuality that can be nurtured in middle-class suburbia." —
Baltimore Sun
5. "Werckmeister Harmonies" (2001)
Critic score: 92/100
User score: 8/10
What critics said: "A stunning feature -- another hypnotic meditation
on popular demagogy and mental manipulation." — Variety
4. "Threads" (1984)
Critic score: 92/100
User score: 6/10
What critics said: "It wasn't until I saw 'Threads' that I found that
something on screen could make me break out in a cold, shivering sweat
and keep me in that condition for 20 minutes, followed by weeks of
depression and anxiety." — The Guardian
3. "WALL-E" (2008)
Critic score: 95/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "The new Pixar picture 'Wall-E' is one for the ages,
a masterpiece to be savored before or after the end of the world." —
New York magazine
2. "Gravity" (2013)
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 7.8/10
What critics said: "At once the most realistic and beautifully
choreographed film ever set in space, Gravity is a thrillingly realized
survival story spiked with interludes of breath-catching tension and
startling surprise." — The Hollywood Reporter
1. "Metropolis" (1927)
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "A masterpiece of art direction, the movie has
influenced our vision of the future ever since, with its imposing white
monoliths and starched facades." — San Francisco Chronicle
--
Dems & the media want Trump to be more like Obama, but then he'd
have to audit liberals & wire tap reporters' phones.
picture of societal trends and flaws.
The Metacritic data we compiled here to track the most critically
acclaimed sci-fi movies of all time traces a lineage of great films
from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" through the Tom Cruise-
led "Minority Report" and Spike Jonze's "Her."
The resulting list includes all of the highest-rated movies that
feature a "sci-fi" tag on the site, which turned out to be a wide-
ranging categorization.
Here are the 100 best science fiction movies of all time, according to
critics:
100. "Movement and Location" (2015)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "Despite its sci-fi hook, 'Movement and Location'
turns out to be a surprisingly resonant film about how impossible it is
for most people — no matter their cosmic time zone — to carve out a
life that's emotionally honest." — Village Voice
99. "Serenity" (2005)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "As challenging as it must have been to pilot Joss
Whedon's space opera from the TV junk pile to the big screen, the
finished product is a triumph." — San Francisco Chronicle
98. "Inception" (2010)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "As engrossing and logic-resistant as the state of
dreaming it seeks to replicate, Christopher Nolan's audacious new
creation demands further study to fully absorb the multiple,
simultaneous stories Nolan finagles into one narrative experience." —
Entertainment Weekly
97. "Twelve Monkeys" (1996)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "Gilliam, along with the gifted cinematographer
Roger Pratt and production designer Jeffrey Beecroft, fashions a
disturbing and dazzling lost world." — Rolling Stone
96. "Thelma" (2017)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "A moody, mannered, and lingering coming-of-age
story with a Stephen King-like twist." — Boston Globe
95. "Okja" (2017)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 7.4/10
What critics said: "The picture, which never stops moving, is dense
with information and feeling. Barbs of satire pop up and are washed
away on streams of strong emotion. It's all marvelously preposterous
and yet, at the same time, something important is at stake." — The New
York Times
94. "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "The first Marvel movie to truly embrace comics-
style storytelling. " — The AV Club
93. "Captain America: Civil War" (2016)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "Kudos to the Russo brothers, Joe and Anthony, for
directing the hostilities for maximum impact and without neglecting
character. Their thundering epic is also smart, snappy, politically
savvy and blessedly fast on its feet." — Rolling Stone
92. "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 9.1/10
What critics said: "'T2' features bigger, bolder, more energetic action
sequences than its predecessor." — ReelViews
91. "Attack the Block" (2011)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 7.2/10
What critics said: "There's a vaguely Spielbergian quality to Cornish's
skill at balancing the sense of shared adventure with genuine danger."
— The Hollywood Reporter
90. "THX 1138" (1971)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 6.6/10
What critics said: "Testament to the emergence of a visually masterful
filmmaker, capable of ingenious, low-tech special effects." — The
Washington Post
89. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 8/10
What critics said: "Set at the intersection of post-Vietnam paranoia
and the myopic introspection that became hippiedom's most lasting
cultural contribution, the Philip Kaufman-directed 'Invasion'
alternates social commentary with impeccably crafted scares." — The AV
Club
88. "Repo Man" (1984)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "The real thing. It's a sneakily rude, truly zany
farce that treats its lunatic characters with a solemnity that
perfectly matches the way in which they see themselves." — The New York
Times
87. "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" (2013)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "Very few people will take in this spectacle of a
society amusing itself to death, of 'reality games' and the vapid media
hysteria that surrounds them, and not draw a parallel to our own
televised bread and circuses. At its best, 'Catching Fire' is a
blockbuster that bites the culture that made it." — Boston Globe
86. "Birdboy: The Forgotten Children" (2017)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 9.5/10
What critics said: "'Birdboy: The Forgotten Children' is its own
unique, damaged creature." — Village Voice
85. "Ghost in the Shell" (1996)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 8.7/10
What critics said: "Technically, 'Ghost in the Shell' is astonishing,
not only for its smooth meld of cell animation and state-of-the-art
computer animation, but also for its imaginative storytelling and
mood-setting (thanks to an eerie, non-thumping score by Kenji Kawai)."
— The Washington Post
84. "10 Cloverfield Lane" (2016)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 7.7/10
What critics said: "Not an outright 'Cloverfield' sequel but rather, as
Abrams has put it, a 'spiritual successor.' It's also a better movie,
one with a sense of humor about itself and its genre." — Time
83. "Wonder Woman" (2017)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 7.7/10
What critics said: "In the recent flood of superhero movies, several
have managed to be quite good — but Wonder Woman ranks as one of the
few great ones." — The Wrap
82. "World on a Wire" (1973)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: N/A
What critics said: "'World on a Wire' is the discovery of the season,
rarely screened in America but very much a key chapter in Fassbinder's
story--a step toward bigger budgets and slicker production values, yet
clarifying of his core artistic legacy." — Time Out
81. "Midnight Special" (2016)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 6.8/10
What critics said: "The most haunting part of this riskily earnest film
isn't the unmentionable effects coup of its grand finale, but the
quieter beats, all in close-up, that comprise its coda: atomised,
spent, and sad." — The Telegraph
80. "Escape from New York" (1981)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: N/A
What critics said: "It's a toughly told, very tall tale, one of the
best escape (and escapist) movies of the season." — The New York Times
79. "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "Overall, the writers have crafted a well-
articulated universe with distinct settings and relatable, compelling
characters devoted to a thrilling quest for redemption." — The
Hollywood Reporter
78. "Logan" (2017)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "'Logan' is the rare blockbuster that could be a
game-changer. It will certainly change the way we look at other
superhero movies and how history judges the entire MCU and DC Universe
of films." — RogerEbert.com
77. "Westworld" (1973)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 7.1/10
What critics said: "An excellent film, which combines solid
entertainment, chilling topicality, and superbly intelligent serio-
comic story values. Michael Crichton's original script is as superior
as his direction." — Variety
76. "Evolution" (2016)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 6.5/10
What critics said: "Cloaked in a mystifying atmosphere and possessed by
a transfixing, amorphous mood, Lucile Hadzihalilovic's 'Evolution' is a
beautifully strange hybrid of innocence and disturbance." — The
Playlist
75. "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" (1982)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 8.7/10
What critics said: "The experience is frightening, sometimes
disgusting, and (if the truth be told) exhilarating. This is very
skillful filmmaking, and 'Mad Max 2' is a movie like no other." —
Chicago Sun-Times
74. "WarGames" (1983)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 9/10
What critics said: "A terrifically exciting story charged by an
irresistible idea: an extra-smart kid can get the world into a whole
lot of trouble that it also takes the same extra-smart kid to rescue it
from." — Variety
73. "Sleeper" (1973)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: N/A
What critics said: "In his fourth movie, Allen comes into his own as a
filmmaker, providing us with the comedy of the year." — New York
magazine
72. "2046" (2005)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 7.4/10
What critics said: "There are many places a visitor may go astray in
'2046' — places where the filmmaker appears to be a bit at loose ends
too. Still, Wong's invitation — 'Let's get lost' — is irresistible." —
Entertainment Weekly
71. "Ex Machina" (2015)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "With a stellar cast and seductive look, 'Ex
Machina' is a sleek contraption for capturing our imagination." — St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
70. "A Clockwork Orange" (1971)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "It seems to me that by describing horror with such
elegance and beauty, Kubrick has created a very disorienting but human
comedy, not warm and lovable, but a terrible sum- up of where the world
is at." — The New York Times
69. "Under the Skin" (2014)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 6.8/10
What critics said: "At times the film is right on the border between
mesmerizing and narcotizing, but it casts an otherworldly spell." — New
York magazine
68. "Godzilla" (1954)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "Not that Honda's original 'Godzilla' is a message
movie first and foremost. It's a horror flick, and an ingenious one at
that, with visual effects so vivid that gimmicky spin-offs became an
enduring staple of popular film." — Christian Science Monitor
67. "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "Dynamite entertainment, especially in the rousing
first hour." — Rolling Stone
66. "Iron Man" (2008)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: "When it's idling in neutral, and we're watching
Stark putter in his workshop or seduce unsuspecting journalists, 'Iron
Man' abounds in that rarest of superpowers: charm." — Slate
65. "Jodorowsky's Dune" (2014)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 8.3/10
What critics said: "Director Pavich, his first time at bat, has crafted
an unalloyed pleasure of a documentary, especially for those of us who
care about 'Dune,' about sci-fi, and about the value and power of
creative passion." — The Playlist
64. "Annihilation" (2018)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 7.2/10
What critics said: "'Annihilation' is a portentous movie, and a
cerebral one. It's gorgeous and immersive, but distancing. It's
exciting more in its sheer ambition and its distinctiveness than in its
actual action." — The Verge
63. "The Fly" (1986)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "David Cronenberg's 'The Fly' is that absolute
rarity of the '80s: a film that is at once a pure, personal expression
and a superbly successful commercial enterprise." — Chicago Tribune
62. "Planet of the Apes" (1968)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "A film rich with unforgettable imagery, killer
lines and physical thrills." — Empire
61. "Time Bandits" (1981)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 5/10
What critics said: "Parents may not approve of this dark, violent 1981
children's film, which is what makes it such a good one. The film is
resolutely, passionately antiadult, yet much of the humor has an adult
sophistication and edge to it; this is one kids' movie that doesn't
condescend." — Chicago Reader
60. "Minority Report" (2002)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 7.0/10
What critics said: "This is the kind of pure entertainment that, in its
fullness and generosity, feels almost classic." — San Francisco
Chronicle
59. "The Survivalist" (2017)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 6.8/10
What critics said: "Impressively lean and rigidly controlled, 'The
Survivalist' achieves, at times, the primitive allure of a silent
movie." — The New York Times
58. "The Endless" (2018)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 7.4/10
What critics said: "If you have a good idea, a strong cast, a smart
script, and directorial chops, you don't need a lot of money to make a
compelling movie. 'The Endless' is proof." — RogerEbert.com
57. "Incredibles 2" (2018)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "This follow-up is every bit the start-to-finish
sensation as the original, and you'll be happy to know that Bird's
subversive spirit is alive and thriving." — Rolling Stone
56. "Melancholia" (2011)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 6.5/10
What critics said: "Nutty Danish provocateur Lars von Trier -- long one
of the most annoying filmmakers on the planet -- turns out one of the
year's most emotionally resonant art movies." — New York Post
55. "Superman" (1978)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 7.8/10
What critics said: "Manages to capture the pure heart and spirit of
this comic book Americana." — Empire
54. "The Martian" (2015)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 8.0/10
What critics said: "Scott's sci-fi adventure is the kind of film you
leave the theater itching to tell your friends to see. Like 'Apollo 13'
and 'Gravity,' it turns science and problem solving into an edge-of-
your-seat experience." — Entertainment Weekly
53. "Sorry to Bother You" (2018)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 7.1/10
What critics said: "Mr. Riley isn't constructing yet another postmodern
playhouse out of borrowings and allusions. He's building a raft, and
steering it straight into the foaming rapids of racism, economic
injustice and cultural conflict." — The New York Times
52. "Paprika" (2007)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "It happens to be one of the most wildly (and
disturbingly) inventive animated films I've seen." — Newsweek
51. "District 9" (2009)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "A memorable, monstrous fable that's consistently
gripping." — New York Daily News
50. "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens" (2015)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 6.9/10
What critics said: "What a beautiful, thrilling, joyous, surprising and
heart-thumping adventure this is." — Chicago Sun-Times
49. "The World's End" (2013)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "What 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz' did for
zombie and cop flicks 'The World's End' does for sci-fi fatalism,
respecting its doomsday tropes while presenting them with cheeky wit
and a refreshing strategy of sensory underload." — Tampa Bay Times
48. "Battle Royale" (2000)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.0/10
What critics said: "American fans of 'The Hunger Games' may not embrace
- or even be permitted to see - 'Battle Royale,' which is too bad. It
is in many ways a better movie and in any case a fascinating companion,
drawn from a parallel cultural universe. It is a lot uglier and also,
perversely, a lot more fun." — The New York Times
47. "Upstream Color" (2013)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 7.0/10
What critics said: "Part science fiction scare movie, part offbeat
romance, part completely unclassifiable, 'Color' is also one-man
filmmaking of a remarkable sort." — Los Angeles Times
46. "Little Shop of Horrors" (1986)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 7.7/10
What critics said: "This is the kind of movie that cults are made of,
and after 'Little Shop' finishes its first run, I wouldn't be at all
surprised to see it develop into a successor to 'Rocky Horror Show,' as
one of those movies that fans want to include in their lives." — San
Francisco Chronicle
45. "The Man Who Fell to Earth" (1976)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 6.9/10
What critics said: "It may be time to stop calling Nicolas Roeg's
sexed-up sci-fi film that vaguely demeaning term - a cult classic - and
start addressing it as what it is: the most intellectually provocative
genre film of the 1970s." — Time Out
44. "Arrival" (2016)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "Such a beautiful and thought-provoking film that it
almost singlehandedly makes up for every bad aliens-coming-to-Earth
film you've ever seen. Yes, even 'Independence Day: Resurgence.'" — USA
Today
43. "Blade Runner 2049" (2017)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "Stands with the likes of 'The Godfather Part II'
and 'Terminator 2' and 'Aliens' as a sequel worthy of the original
classic." — Chicago Sun-Times
42. "Isle of Dogs" (2018)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "The film is not only hilariously entertaining, but
also firmly in the tradition of such political parables as George
Orwell's 'Animal Farm.'" — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
41. "Marjorie Prime" (2017)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 7.3/10
What critics said: "The sci-fi chamber drama 'Marjorie Prime' is
exquisite — beautiful, intense, shivering with empathy." — New York
magazine
40. "A Quiet Place" (2018)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 7.5/10
What critics said: "As a celebration of the physical expressiveness and
visual storytelling of silent cinema, 'A Quiet Place' speaks volumes
without a word being uttered." — The Washington Post
39. "Star Trek" (2009)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: "In the pop high it delivers, this is the greatest
prequel ever made." — Boston Globe
38. "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 6.9/10
What critics said: "With '2001,' Stanley Kubrick proved that a sci-fi
movie could be philosophical rather than pulpy, profound rather than
pedantic." — Premiere
37. "The Lobster" (2016)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 6.9/10
What critics said: "A wickedly funny protest against societal
preference for nuclear coupledom that escalates, by its own sly logic,
into a love story of profound tenderness and originality." — Variety
36. "Face/Off" (1997)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "Face/Off is a summer movie extraordinaire: violent,
imaginative, crazily funny and, oddly moving. Hollywood has finally
wised up and let Hong Kong auteur John Woo strut his stuff in all its
undiluted, over-the-top glory." — Newsweek
35. "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" (1980)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "A stunning successor, a tense and pictorially
dazzling science-fiction chase melodrama that sustains two hours of
elaborate adventure while sneaking up on you emotionally." — The
Washington Post
34. "War for the Planet of the Apes" (2017)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: "There is a scene toward the end of 'War for the
Planet of the Apes' that is as vivid and haunting as anything I've seen
in a Hollywood blockbuster in ages, a moment of rousing and dreadful
cinematic clarity that I don't expect to shake off any time soon." —
The New York Times
33. "Alien" (1979)
Critic score: 83/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "I recognize how few horror movies I've seen before
or since that ever manage to capture such a tangible feeling of
menace." — Salon
32. "Spider-Man 2" (2004)
Critic score: 83/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "A masterpiece of pop filmmaking -- a fantastic,
exuberant entertainment that manages to be both sleek and substantial
without being patronizing." — Miami Herald
31. "Avatar" (2009)
Critic score: 83/100
User score: 7.5/10
What critics said: "A quantum leap in movie magic; watching it, I began
to understand how people in 1933 must have felt when they saw 'King
Kong.'" — Chicago Reader
30. "Snowpiercer" (2014)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 7.1/10
What critics said: "Politically provocative and visually spectacular
'Snowpiercer' - the best action film of 2014, and probably the best
film, period." — Salon
29. "The Terminator" (1984)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 7.2/10
What critics said: "From the slam-bang direction to the relentless pace
to the not-a-word-wasted dialogue and even the driving synth score,
everything else about The Terminator just works." — Time Out
28. "Looper" (2012)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "A remarkable feat of imagination and execution,
entertaining from start to finish, even as it asks the audience to
contemplate how and why humanity keeps making the same rotten
mistakes." — The AV Club
27. "Aliens" (1986)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "Tautly paced and expertly directed, this roller
coaster ride of a motion picture offers a little bit of everything, all
wrapped up in a tidy science fiction/action package." — ReelViews
26. "Children of Men" (2006)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: "It's a work of art that deserves a space cleared
for its angry, nervous beauty." — Entertainment Weekly
25. "Holy Motors" (2012)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 7.5/10
What critics said: "An electrifying, confounding, what-the-hell-just-
happened exercise in unbounded imagination, unapologetic theatricality,
bravura acting and head-over-heels movie-love." — The Washington Post
24. "The Iron Giant" (1999)
Critic score: 85/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "Remarkably unassuming, genuinely playful, and
superbly executed, 'The Iron Giant' towers over the cartoon landscape."
— The Village Voice
23. "The Host" (2007)
Critic score: 85/100
User score: 6.8/10
What critics said: "A great piece of filmmaking and a legitimate
science-fiction/horror classic." — San Francisco Chronicle
22. "Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi" (2017)
Critic score: 85/100
User score: 4.5/10
What critics said: "Easily its most exciting iteration in decades — the
first flat-out terrific "Star Wars" movie since 1980's 'The Empire
Strikes Back.'" — Los Angeles Times
21. "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" (1985)
Critic score: 86/100
User score: N/A
What critics said: "Hayao Miyazaki's animated adventure, from 1984, is
a magnificent anomaly—a rousing vision of scorched earth." — The New
Yorker
20. "Back to the Future" (1985)
Critic score: 87/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "There aren't many films we'd describe as perfect,
but Robert Zemeckis's oh-so-'80s time travel tale fits the bill." —
Time Out
19. "Superman II" (1981)
Critic score: 87/100
User score: 6.6/10
What critics said: "A stylish, well-paced film with a good variety of
moods and moves." — Time
18. "Black Panther" (2018)
Critic score: 88/100
User score: 6.7/10
What critics said: "Believe the hype: Black Panther transcends its
comic-book origins, achieving a mythic grandeur that's nothing short of
exhilarating." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
17. "Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut" (2004)
Critic score: 88/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: ""Donnie Darko" was one of the best pictures
released in 2001. Now that it has returned in a 20-minute longer--and
richer -- director's cut, it seems sure to be ranked as one of the key
American films of the decade." — Los Angeles Times
16. "Brazil" (1985)
Critic score: 88/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "A ferociously creative 1985 black comedy filled
with wild tonal contrasts, swarming details, and unfettered visual
invention--every shot carries a charge of surprise and delight." —
Chicago Reader
15. "Blade Runner" (1982)
Critic score: 89/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "Grand enough in scale to carry its many Biblical
and mythological references, 'Blade Runner' never feels heavy or
pretentious -- only more and more engrossing with each viewing. It
helps, too, that it works as pure entertainment." — The Washington Post
14. "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" (1977)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "There is something dazzling about a sci-fi film
that manages to call upon the energies of both futurism and long-held
faith. The movie is not to be compared in ferocity of imagination with
Kubrick's '2001' — significant that the music here is merely
illustrative, never caustic or memorable, and that there is nothing of
Kubrick's vision of a blanched form of existence — but it is
exuberantly entertaining." — Time Out
13. "Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "Marrying the biting frenzy of Terry Gilliam's film
universe with the explosive grandeur of James Cameron, Miller cooks up
some exhilaratingly sustained action. But the key to this symphony of
twisted metal is how the film never forgets that violence is a sort of
madness." — Time Out
12. "Hard to Be a God" (2015)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 5.2/10
What critics said: "The late director Aleksei Guerman's last film is a
grandly arbitrary carnival of neo-medieval depravity. It's also a
mudpunk allegory of Russian barbarism and backwardness." — The New
Yorker
11. "King Kong" (1933)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: "Despite its various deficiencies and occasionally
antiquated style, 'King Kong' remains not only a milestone of movie-
making, but a magical experience." — ReelViews
10. "It's Such a Beautiful Day" (2012)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: "Warped keyhole-size images stack atop one another
in a Frankenstein-ian collage that evokes the films of Terrence Malick,
David Lynch, Stan Brakhage, and Bruce Conner." — Village Voice
9. "Solaris" (1972)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: "An amazing celluloid poem by a filmmaker whom
Ingmar Bergman called 'the greatest.' He very nearly was. He was also,
perhaps, too pure a creator and reckless a citizen to survive
unscathed." — Chicago Tribune
8. "Her" (2013)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "'Her' may be the most technologically astute movie
since Stanley Kubrick's '2001: a Space Odyssey.'" — St. Louis Post-
Dispatch
7. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 7.8/10
What critics said: "A genuine work of the popular imagination. It's the
first true populist science-fiction film, a blend of the most
startling, far-out special effects with the most ordinary human
material of the American Heartland." — Newsweek
6. "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982)
Critic score: 91/100
User score: 8.3/10
What critics said: "The movie is emotionally tumultuous and evenhanded
and serene. It celebrates the odd pockets of imagination and
individuality that can be nurtured in middle-class suburbia." —
Baltimore Sun
5. "Werckmeister Harmonies" (2001)
Critic score: 92/100
User score: 8/10
What critics said: "A stunning feature -- another hypnotic meditation
on popular demagogy and mental manipulation." — Variety
4. "Threads" (1984)
Critic score: 92/100
User score: 6/10
What critics said: "It wasn't until I saw 'Threads' that I found that
something on screen could make me break out in a cold, shivering sweat
and keep me in that condition for 20 minutes, followed by weeks of
depression and anxiety." — The Guardian
3. "WALL-E" (2008)
Critic score: 95/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: "The new Pixar picture 'Wall-E' is one for the ages,
a masterpiece to be savored before or after the end of the world." —
New York magazine
2. "Gravity" (2013)
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 7.8/10
What critics said: "At once the most realistic and beautifully
choreographed film ever set in space, Gravity is a thrillingly realized
survival story spiked with interludes of breath-catching tension and
startling surprise." — The Hollywood Reporter
1. "Metropolis" (1927)
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: "A masterpiece of art direction, the movie has
influenced our vision of the future ever since, with its imposing white
monoliths and starched facades." — San Francisco Chronicle
--
Dems & the media want Trump to be more like Obama, but then he'd
have to audit liberals & wire tap reporters' phones.
moviePig
Aug 12, 2018, 10:58:41 AM8/12/18
to
On 8/12/2018 9:57 AM, Ubiquitous wrote:
> At its best, science fiction can present a captivating, inventive
> picture of societal trends and flaws.
>
> The Metacritic data we compiled here to track the most critically
> acclaimed sci-fi movies of all time traces a lineage of great films
> from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" through the Tom Cruise-
> led "Minority Report" and Spike Jonze's "Her."
>
> The resulting list includes all of the highest-rated movies that
> feature a "sci-fi" tag on the site, which turned out to be a wide-
> ranging categorization.
>
> Here are the 100 best science fiction movies of all time, according to
> critics:
>
> 100. ...
> At its best, science fiction can present a captivating, inventive
> picture of societal trends and flaws.
>
> The Metacritic data we compiled here to track the most critically
> acclaimed sci-fi movies of all time traces a lineage of great films
> from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" through the Tom Cruise-
> led "Minority Report" and Spike Jonze's "Her."
>
> The resulting list includes all of the highest-rated movies that
> feature a "sci-fi" tag on the site, which turned out to be a wide-
> ranging categorization.
>
> Here are the 100 best science fiction movies of all time, according to
> critics:
>
Any ordered 100-best list of a popular genre has to contain more than a
few absurdities, but sci-fi fans may want to note that this fan, e.g.,
picked up a promising handful of new queue additions.
--
- - - - - - - -
YOUR taste at work...
http://www.moviepig.com
SLGreg
Aug 12, 2018, 11:37:24 AM8/12/18
to
On Sun, 12 Aug 2018 10:58:38 -0400, moviePig <pwal...@moviepig.com>
wrote:
King Kong (1933) is sci-fi?
--
- greg
wrote:
--
- greg
moviePig
Aug 12, 2018, 12:34:26 PM8/12/18
to
Michael OConnor
Aug 12, 2018, 1:00:35 PM8/12/18
to
Interesting list, I don't know that I would classify some of them as sci-fi though, such as "War Games" and "Wonder Woman" and "Face Off". "Wonder Woman" is more mythology, like "Thor", which falls into the fantasy category with "Lord of the Rings". I think a number of the comic book films like "Iron Man" and "Spider Man 2" do not really qualify as sci-fi, although "Guardians of the Galaxy" does.
I think "Gravity" and "Her" are both rated way too high, but "Superman II" is rated higher than "Superman the Movie"? And where is "Interstellar"? Or "The Matrix"? Or "Contact"? How about "Gattaca"? "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"?
I think "Gravity" and "Her" are both rated way too high, but "Superman II" is rated higher than "Superman the Movie"? And where is "Interstellar"? Or "The Matrix"? Or "Contact"? How about "Gattaca"? "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"?
Your Name
Aug 12, 2018, 6:12:56 PM8/12/18
to
On 2018-08-12 21:44:21 +0000, super70s said:
> In article <5ec368a5-ace7-4b5e...@googlegroups.com>,
> Forbidden Planet...War of the Worlds...in fact only one film in there
> (Godzilla) from the 1950s
Or "Galactica 1980" ;-)
It was shown in cinemas in some countries!
> In article <5ec368a5-ace7-4b5e...@googlegroups.com>,
> Michael OConnor <mpoco...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>> And where is "Interstellar"? Or "The Matrix"? Or "Contact"? How about
>> "Gattaca"? "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"?
>
> or The Day the Earth Stood Still...The Incredible Shrinking Man...
>
>> And where is "Interstellar"? Or "The Matrix"? Or "Contact"? How about
>> "Gattaca"? "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"?
>
> Forbidden Planet...War of the Worlds...in fact only one film in there
> (Godzilla) from the 1950s
Or "Galactica 1980" ;-)
It was shown in cinemas in some countries!
Your Name
Aug 12, 2018, 6:16:20 PM8/12/18
to
On 2018-08-12 13:57:13 +0000, Ubiquitous said:
>
> At its best, science fiction can present a captivating, inventive
> picture of societal trends and flaws.
>
> The Metacritic data we compiled here to track the most critically
> acclaimed sci-fi movies of all time traces a lineage of great films
> from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" through the Tom Cruise-
> led "Minority Report" and Spike Jonze's "Her."
>
> The resulting list includes all of the highest-rated movies that
> feature a "sci-fi" tag on the site, which turned out to be a wide-
> ranging categorization.
>
> Here are the 100 best science fiction movies of all time, according to
> critics:
<snip>
>
> At its best, science fiction can present a captivating, inventive
> picture of societal trends and flaws.
>
> The Metacritic data we compiled here to track the most critically
> acclaimed sci-fi movies of all time traces a lineage of great films
> from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" through the Tom Cruise-
> led "Minority Report" and Spike Jonze's "Her."
>
> The resulting list includes all of the highest-rated movies that
> feature a "sci-fi" tag on the site, which turned out to be a wide-
> ranging categorization.
>
> Here are the 100 best science fiction movies of all time, according to
> critics:
Ah dear, another pointless list by "critics" who, just like awards
judges, wouldn't know a good movie it if bit them on the backside. :-\
JTEM
Aug 19, 2018, 1:14:59 AM8/19/18
to
List like these aren't so much a reflection of
the quality of any films but, rather, a testament
to the very poor recollections of the critics.
...Six of the Top-10 came out after the year
2000! That's as far back as they can remember?
And "Threads" is a SciFi film? Since when?
Disney's "Fantasia" would be a better fit to the
list than many of the films there, and certainly
a Top-10 entry due to it's impact and longevity.
Forbidden Planet? Without it any list is garbage...
Seriously, just because daddy was able to get you
a job writing about films doesn't make you a film
critic. It makes you spoiled rotten.
-- --
http://jtem.tumblr.com/post/177126230730
JTEM
Aug 19, 2018, 1:18:52 AM8/19/18
to
Michael OConnor wrote:
> Interesting list, I don't know that I would classify
> some of them as sci-fi though, such as "War Games"
> and "Wonder Woman" and "Face Off".
I found "Face Off" to be absurd. The entire premise
> Interesting list, I don't know that I would classify
> some of them as sci-fi though, such as "War Games"
> and "Wonder Woman" and "Face Off".
was too incredible to swallow, John Woo's directing
was terrible and it was probably the worst acting I
have ever seen Nicholas Cage deliver in a film. I can
not imagine a "Best Of" list long enough to include
Face Off.
-- --
http://jtem.tumblr.com/post/177126230730
John Doe
Jan 26, 2019, 2:44:53 AM1/26/19
to
Dickbreath troll...
--
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> Subject: Re: The 100 best science fiction movies of all time, according to critics
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> Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.past-films
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