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Science Fiction

Science fiction as a genre of film making has been an element of the cinema experience since the earliest days of the motion picture industry. These films have explored a great range of unique topics, including many that cannot be readily presented in other genre. Science fiction films have been used to explore sensitive social and political issues, while often providing an entertaining story for the more casual viewer. Today, science fiction films are in the forefront of new special effects technology, and the audience has become accustomed to displays of realistic aliens, space battles, energy weapons, faster than light travel, and distant worlds. This genre has produced many memorable films, as well as a number that can be considered mediocre or even among the worst examples of film production. It took many decades, and the efforts of talented teams of film producers, for the science fiction film genre to be taken seriously as an art form by many critics. The very best of these films may be scrolled below, or for Sci-Fi TV Series, select the green 'Televison Shows' heading on left, and then the 'TV Sci-Fi' option.

Planet of the Apes (1967)

5.7/10
Director: Franklin J Schaffner
Starring: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, Jame...

The original, classic sci-fi film based on Pierre Boulle's novel "Monkey Planet" stars Charlton Heston as Taylor, an astronaut who ends up stranded on... Read more

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

7.7/10
Director: Nicholas Meyer
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Ricardo Montalban

It is the 23rd century. The Federation starship U.S.S. Enterprise is on routine training maneuvers, and Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) seems... Read more

Alien (1979)

8.5/10
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hu...

On its way back to Earth, a spacecraft is re-routed to a remote planet to investigate a distress call. When a member of the landing party returns to t... Read more

Melancholia (2011)

7.1/10
Director: Lars von Trier
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Charlotte Rampling, John Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, Kirsten...

Sci-fi-infused drama from acclaimed director Lars Von Trier follows the story of a chronically depressed young woman (Kirsten Dunst) whose frailties m... Read more

Event Horizon (1997)

6.7/10
Director: Paul W S Anderson
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson, Sean Pertwee

The year is 2047. Years earlier, the pioneering research vessel Event Horizon vanished without a trace. Now a signal from it has been detected, and th... Read more

The Time Machine (2002)

5.9/10
Director: Simon Wells
Starring: Guy Pearce, Samantha Mumba, Jeremy Irons, Mark Addy, Orlando Jones

The H.G. Wells' fantasy classic is given a new treatment, directed by Simon Wells, the authors great-grandson. Guy Pearce is a shy inventor in the lat... Read more

I, Robot (2004)

7.1/10
Director: Alex Proyas
Starring: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell, Chi McBride, Alan...

In the year 2035, robots are an everyday household item, and everyone trusts them, except one, slightly paranoid detective (Will Smith) investigating... Read more

Men In Black (1997)

7.3/10
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio, Rip Torn, Tony...

Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith are the nattily-dressed government agents whose top secret job is to track down any extraterrestrials landing on Earth... Read more

The Fountain (2006)

7.3/10
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Hugh Jackman, Mark Margolis, Rachel Weisz, Cliff Curtis, Sean Pat...

Darren Aronofsky directs his wife, Rachel Weisz, and Hugh Jackman in this abstract sci-fi odyssey about one man's thousand-year quest to save the woma... Read more

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1969)

6.1/10
Director: Ted Post
Starring: James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, Charlton Heston

The second film in the simian series features James Franciscus as an astronaut searching for his missing comrades, only to find the ape rulers and a m... Read more