Science fiction, sci-fi, SF... however you want to abbreviate it, the genre heavily featuring future worlds, alien planets, otherworldly beings, unstoppable technology, hostile organisms, benign intergalactic forces, stun guns, camp robots and some really improbable hairstyles has produced some of cinema's finest films. Film4's critics have been at work voting on their favorite futuristic cinema, and we've unearthed some startling results. Read on to beam our list of the top 50 science fiction films of all time directly into your earthling brain.
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Stanley Kubrick
Kubrick, cinema's chilliest genius, abandons conventional narrative and presents a succession of beautifully-composed sketches on the theme of evolution, death and rebirth linked by the mystical presence of a large black monolith. We know what the year 2001 looks like now, and it doesn't look much like Kubrick's vision. But 2001: A Space Odyssey itself still looks immaculate. Spectacular, trailblazing and philosophical, it's an undisputed masterpiece.
2. Blade Runner (1982) Ridley Scott
Reviled on release, who would have thought that Ridley Scott's sci-fi noir would go on to become so influential and retrospectively acclaimed? Adapted from science fiction genius Philip K Dick's novel 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?', Harrison Ford stars as the detective who retires synthetic humans until an encounter with a beautiful android leaves him calling his own identity into question. One of the seminal sci-fi movies of the 1980s and all time.
3. Brazil (1985) Terry Gilliam
Undoubtedly Terry Gilliam's masterpiece. Visual brilliance combines with snappy satirical humour to create one of the best films of the 80s. Worrying, then, that it nearly didn t make it to the screen thanks to a furious battle with Universal who threatened to bury the film with an anti-marketing campaign. But the film s triumph in the face of adversity only makes its tale of an everyman office worker who dares to defy the system all the more poignant.
4. The Fly (1986) David Cronenberg
When a scientific experiment goes wrong, the DNA of a man becomes spliced with that of a house fly. With special effects king Chris Walas on hand to indulge his darkest fantasies, writer-director David Cronenberg shows us the mutation of man into monster in still-unsurpassed grisly detail. Chuck a dose of cracking chemistry between the then-married Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis into the mix, and you ve got one of Cronenberg s finest American movies.
5. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978) Philip Kaufman
Philip Kaufman's well-judged remake of Don Siegel's 1956 classic, based on the novel 'The Body Snatchers' by Jack Finney, works a treat. Donald Sutherland plays a health inspector who notices that his friends are beginning to act rather oddly. No prizes for guessing they have been turned into pod people, but soon the lines between who is who become more ambiguous. Very entertaining, and despite the by now over familiar-plot, pleasantly suspenseful.
6. The Thing (1982) John Carpenter
Influential horror sci-fi starring a hirsute Kurt Russell as a whiskey-swigging pilot who unwittingly becomes defender of the planet when his Antarctic research team comes in contact with a body-invading alien. Suspense maestro John Carpenter revamped the already-chilling 1951 B-movie The Thing From Another World to deliver this superbly frosty and tense exercise in being careful who you trust.
7. The Terminator (1984) James Cameron
The sci-fi action-thriller that launched the careers of James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger into the stratosphere. Still endlessly entertaining, the secret of its success is certainly not in its originality, but lies in its relentless energy, tough-as-nails heroine (Linda Hamilton) and Schwarzenegger himself as the taciturn killer robot, who in the course of the action delivers fewer than 100 words of dialogue.
8. The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) Robert Wise
A reasoned plea for peace in the face of the escalating Cold War, Robert Wise s sci-fi classic is a potent parable that remains as chillingly relevant for the 21st century as it was for the last. It also acts as a reminder that the best sci-fi is always a fusion of spectacle and strong ideas, and that purposeful direction and a literate script can more than compensate for limited resources. The high-water mark of 50s science fiction cinema.
9. The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976) Nicolas Roeg
Adapted from the novel by Walter Trevis, The Man Who Fell To Earth is a psychedelia-inflected sci-fi about loneliness and consumerism from Nicolas Roeg. The director makes the most of his inherently otherworldly star, David Bowie who plays the alien visitor of the title - a messiah of eco-friendly ideals who is educated by US TV, corrupted by capitalism and betrayed by the humans he encounters.
10. Metropolis (1927) Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang's spectacular, highly-influential vision of a teeming, politically dubious urban future is a seminal landmark in film, never mind science fiction. Lang depicts a society of bustling streets and skyscrapers in which people live in comfort. Below is an expressionist nightmare of men and women as machines - a vision of a future where society is divided into the haves and have-nots. Boasting 30,000 extras and costing $2 million in 1926, the lavish set pieces still astonish.
11. Frankenstein (1931) James Whale
English luvvie James Whale gives Mary Shelley's seminal novel the Universal horror treatment to sublime effect, making a star of Boris Karloff in the process. Despite being a first-time director, Whale wasn t afraid to court controversy, making the monster the most sympathetic character in the movie and turning Frankenstein into a callous megalomaniac. A masterpiece of vintage horror. Entertaining, creepy and stylish.
12. Le Voyage Dans La Lune (1902) Georges Melies
From 1902, cinema's first science fiction film, from French director Georges Melies, inspired by the writings of Jules Verne. A team of wizardy-looking astronomers rocket to the moon where they encounter a troupe of acrobatic exploding aliens. The fantastical sets and costumes are a delight and the special effects groundbreaking for their time.
13. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Steven Spielberg
Shamelessly sentimental it may be, but Spielberg s blockbusting tale of boy meets alien remains a cinematic milestone. Shot in chronological order to coax emotionally compelling performances from its child cast including a very young Drew Barrymore and lifted by John Williams soaring score, E.T. can still jerk tears from the most cynical of souls.
14. Escape From New York (1981) John Carpenter
Massively entertaining, small-budget action film enlivened by a surprisingly high profile cast, not least the swaggering, one-eyed Kurt Russell, doomed to explode if he fails to save the president from a gang of Mad Max-style maniacs. Carpenter may have only had a $7 million budget to work with, but the film he's come up with is an action adventure on a grand scale and the premise that Manhattan has become a massive walled prison is a surefire winner.
15. Donnie Darko (2001) Richard Kelly
An astonishingly imaginative, poignant, genre-defying tale of teen love, insanity and time travel from debut director Richard Kelly. The then up-and-coming Jake Gyllenhaal stars as the film s troubled hero, forewarned of the end of the world by a rabbit-costumed visitor from the future. Brimming with ideas and satirical humour, it s one of the most original films to emerge from the US in the Noughties.
16. Dark Star (1974) John Carpenter
John Carpenter made his directing debut with this sci-fi comedy about a bored crew drifting along on the Dark Star space cruiser, with nothing more than a rubber chicken, pet alien and suicidal bomb for company. With its irreverent dissection of Kubrick's masterpiece and some very funny hippy philosophizing, Dark Star will appeal to sci-fi buffs, Carpenter aficionados and stoners alike. Oh, and it s co-scripted by Dan O'Bannon, who went on to write Alien - essentially a horror retelling of the same basic story.
17. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Steven Spielberg
Hollywood granted a short-lived amnesty for aliens with Spielberg's often spellbinding and technically flawless sci-fi epic. The casting of French new-wave director Truffaut as the kind ufologist helping Richard Dreyfuss to prove that aliens are our friends is inspired, and (at least on the big screen) the effects are breathtaking and audacious. John Williams' score awe-evoking as ever gets to play its part in the plot too. Another classic from Spielberg s most fertile period.
18. Back To The Future (1985) Robert Zemeckis
Gleeful, thoroughly entertaining 80s time travel yarn that stars Michael J Fox as a teen who heads back in time, only to muddle his own parents' courtship. The De Lorean time machine-cum-car and special effects date it slightly, but this is a film almost unique for 1980s Hollywood, one that is charming, clever and genuinely weird (check Crispin Glover's discomforting turn and the undisguised Freudian plot).
19. Aliens (1986) James Cameron
James Cameron's follow-up to Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi shocker is that rare thing - a sequel that's actually as good as (or even better than?) its predecessor. A subtle shift of genre re-casts the Vietnam-style war drama in deep space, having taken a heavy cue from Robert Heinlein's novel 'Starship Troopers' (itself later adapted by Paul Verhoeven). Sigourney Weaver reprises the role of intergalactic extra-terrestrial basher Ellen Ripley and gets to utter one of the most quotable lines in sci-fi movie history: Get away from her, you bitch.
20. Alien (1979) Ridley Scott
The film that gave us the action heroine, in the shape of Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley, and presented space travel as just another job. Superb performances add to Scott's stylish direction and, if a film can be judged by the amount of rip-offs it generates, Alien must rank as one of the most influential movies ever. A must-see tour-de-force of suspense, slasher antics and good old-fashioned sci-fi.
21. Akira (1988) Katsuhiro Otomo
Katsuhiro Otomo's film is still the benchmark movie in anime. Based on manga characters created by Otomo in 1982, the film is set in a chaotic future version of Tokyo, where secret government experiments on the telepathic powers of children go disastrously awry. The complex plot may get a bit boggling for Western minds at times, but Akira is rightfully considered one of the greatest ever accomplishments in sci-fi storytelling.
22. A Clockwork Orange (1971) Stanley Kubrick
Famous for the controversy surrounding copycat violence and Kubrick's decision to withdraw it in 1973, A Clockwork Orange can now be judged for what it is: an intelligent, visually stunning, disturbing and yet queasily entertaining adaptation of what was already a great work of literature. The film is stacked with superb performances from younger, hairier versions of talents that went on to become stalwarts of the British acting aristocracy, including Steven Berkoff, Warren Clark and, of course, Malcolm McDowell as Beethoven s most horror show admirer, Alex.
23. Planet Of The Apes (1968) Franklin J. Schaffner
Inspired by Pierre Boulle's novel, this quality sci-fi is given profound power by its central metaphor of apes personifying human cruelty. One of the most enduring blockbusters of its era, it still has the power to provoke thought, and Charlton Heston is at his rugged, moral best. And, of course, it features some of the most quoted lines in cinema: Goddamn you all to hell!
24. The Matrix (1999) Andy and Larry Wachowski
The Wachowski siblings groundbreaking, morphing and shattering sci-fi spectacular, featuring a winsomely deadpan Keanu Reeves and kung fu like you've never seen it before. The effects are astonishing. It's funny, it's dark, it's smart and it's filled with guns, lots of guns. A landmark film and quite possibly the ultimate expression of cyberpunk.
25. Twelve Monkeys (1995) Terry Gilliam
Richly detailed, deliriously realized time-travel thriller from Terry Gilliam, starring Bruce Willis as time-hopping convict James Cole, who is sent from his futuristic prison back to the 1990s to prevent mankind from being destroyed by a virus. Brad Pitt used his role as the mental patient who may be the catalyst for Armageddon to prove that he was more than just a pretty face, bagging a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for his efforts.
26. Jurassic Park (1993) Steven Spielberg
Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern visit the island theme-park of Richard Attenborough, who has been breeding dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong? Based on the novel by Michael Crichton, spectacle tends to triumph over sense, but with effects this effective resistance is futile. John Williams score, as ever, adds to the majesty of the occasion.
27. A Boy And His Dog (1974) L. Q. Jones
In a post-apocalyptic future, Don Johnson (of Miami Vice fame) is the illiterate, homeless scavenger who survives by communicating telepathically with his dog. When he is taken in by the leaders of an underground society, it looks as though things might improve - but they intend to use him purely for reproductive purposes. Although future-sucks movies are all too commonplace, this one is a true original, which carries its premise all the way through to its genuinely shocking finale.
28. Forbidden Planet (1956) Fred M. Wilcox
Fun, superior sci-fi that sets Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' in outer space. Headed by handsome young commander Leslie Nielsen (he wasn't always old, grey and deadpan you know), a crew of US spacefarers arrive on the colourful planet Altair to rescue a missing expedition with humorously camp results. A smart script and-ahead-of their-time effects elevate this one from a cult classic to a landmark of the genre.
29. The War Of The Worlds (1953) Byron Haskin
Fifties Hollywood gets its teeth into HG Wells' classic of Victorian sci-fi, transposing the alien attack to contemporary America. HG Wells' classic novel set in the London area in 1890 is updated to contemporary California and brought vividly to the screen by special-effects wizard turned director Byron Haskin. In spite of the characteristic and predictable influence of the Cold War, it s tightly structured, extremely tense and, oddly, believable.
30. Westworld (1973) Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton makes his feature film writer-director debut with this tale of technology gone mad (what else?) set in a futuristic holiday park where punters get to play out their fantasies with lifelike androids. Yul Brynner's remorseless cowboy robot anticipates The Terminator in his determinedness to destroy. The subtexts are considerably more adult than the similarly-themed Jurassic Park, also penned by Crichton, and the overall result is a prescient and efficient thriller, if a little short on directive flair in the film s final acts.
31. District 9 (2009) Neill Blomkamp
Witty, low-budget science fiction about rising tensions between humans and extra-terrestrial refugees who have been living in a shanty town outside Johannesburg. Expanded from a short by the film s director Neill Blomkamp, it s an intriguing, inventive and energetic social parable which plays out like a cross between Alien Nation and The Fly. Peter Jackson produced the film, and his splatter-happy enthusiasm is apparent throughout.
32. La Jetee (1962) Chris Marker
The only fictional work of experimental and documentary filmmaker Chris Marker, La Jetee is a dauntingly beautiful short made up almost entirely of stills. Its focus is Hanich, the subject of a scientific experiment, who is sent back and forwards in time with the aim of saving mankind from certain peril. The film inspired a generation of sci-fi directors, though Terry Gilliam denies that it was his inspiration for the similarly-themed Twelve Monkeys.
33. Minority Report (2002) Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg directs Tom Cruise in this exciting but convoluted sci-fi thriller based on a Philip K Dick short story. A future police department has eliminated murder, thanks to clairvoyants who predict crimes - but is the system really flawless? A classy vision of the future, full of interesting sci-fi conjecture and coupled with top-form performances from Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell and Samantha Morton.
34. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) James Cameron
Arnold Schwarzenegger reteams with James Cameron to reprise his career-defining role as the near-indestructible robot in this sequel that is as spectacular as it is thought-provoking, heavy in both special effects and subtexts. Despite the special effects distracting somewhat from the narrative (not a problem in the first film), this remains one of the greatest and most adored action movies of the 1990s.
35. Sunshine (2007) Danny Boyle
Eight astronauts carrying an explosive payload the size of Manhattan are on a mission to bomb the dying sun back into life in Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's spectacular sci-fi thriller. As audacious high concepts go, it's audaciously high, but the film more than delivers thanks to its neo-psychedelic visual style and terrific performances from its cast, especially the otherworldly Cillian Murphy.
36. Starship Troopers (1997) Paul Verhoeven
Paul Verhoeven's satire is so cutting it even makes fun of its target audience. Turning World War II on its head and blasting it off into space, the 'good guys' are a bunch of fascists intent on annihilating a race of alien invaders. There's sick violence inflicted on beautiful bodies, one hell of a lot of nuke action and a stand-out minor for Michael Ironside. Medic!
37. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Irvin Kershner
The second and darkest instalment in the Star Wars saga, in which - as if you didn't know - Luke learns about the force from Yoda, Leia and Han get it on and Darth Vader reveals a shattering secret. A more mature instalment than its predecessor, loaded with spectacular special effects and efficiently written, this may well be the pinnacle of the saga.
38. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) George Lucas
George Lucas serves up his own homage to the Saturday morning adventure serials he loved as a kid, in the process creating one of the most revered and successful films ever. Made on a relatively low budget ($11m), Star Wars is relentlessly inventive. The attention to minute details gives it a rich texture and there are some fantastic set pieces. Is it the best film of all time? Certainly not. But it definitely is one of the most enduring, and it's hard not to be seduced.
39. Soylent Green (1973) Richard Fleischer
Charlton Heston stars in a sci-fi dystopia set in a not-too-distant future where food resources are scarce and humans must take desperate measures to survive. It's shockingly portrayed and the eventual conclusion of the film is impressively enigmatic, with Heston's powerfully evoked desperation leaving a lingering impression.
40. Solaris (1972) Andrei Tarkovsky
Enigmatic and profound, Tarkovsky s Soviet sci-fi psychodrama is a deeply moving exploration of loss, memory and longing, and a fine response to the challenge laid down by 2001: A Space Odyssey. Haunting, provocative, beautifully shot and infused with an irresistible, tender sadness, this is sci-fi, and indeed cinema, at its most powerful and
41. Avatar (2009) James Cameron
Say what you will about the trite man vs nature storyline, Avatar was undoubtedly a game-changer in terms of visual effects. James Cameron really pushed the envelope with the 3D technology, using it to create a sense of tremendous depth, a window onto a fastidiously-rendered fantastical world. For many directors, Avatar would be a career best. For James Cameron, it is simply excellent work. But best see it on the big screen.
42. Silent Running (1971) Douglas Trumbull
The elegiac directorial debut of FX man Douglas Trumbull, Silent Running is a virtuous science-fiction classic in which Bruce Dern's lone astronaut champions the last remnants of Earth's plant life. Co-scripted by Michael Cimino (writer-director-producer of The Deer Hunter), it s among the most intelligent and entertaining sci-fi films of the 1970.
43. Serenity (2005) Joss Whedon
After a future war, a group from the losing side ply a trade of smuggling and theft - until they get involved with a girl whose secret could change the balance of power in the galaxy. Whip-smart big screen adaptation of Joss Buffy the Vampire Slayer Whedon's short-lived cult television series 'Firefly' which deserves more credit than it got at the time of release.
44. Seconds (1966) John Frankenheimer
An unfulfilled, middle-aged banker (Rock Hudson) pays to fake his own death and joins a community of mysteriously-energised swingers, all enjoying a second lease of life. A lost gem, this unsettling, cerebral psychodrama raises a whole load of interesting questions about identity, value and society and, in its own bleak way, answers them too.
45. Mad Max 2 (1981) George Miller
Mel Gibson returns to the role that defined his early career in this bigger-budget sequel that offers still more manic anarchy in post-apocalypse Australia. The bangs to bucks ratio is high. When that's coupled with Gibson's surly hero and a heavy dose of cruel Australian humour, the result is one of the great action movies of the 1980s which overtakes its influential forerunner with ease.
46. Tron (1982) Steven Lisberger
The film that trailblazed both notions of virtual reality and the use of digital special effects. Villainous David Warner traps a digitised Jeff Bridges inside a videogame world, where he joins forces with Bruce Boxleitner's titular game hero. Dated yes, convoluted certainly, and silly in its fetishised use of geek buzzwords. But Tron is also stunning and cultish, especially among men who were teenage computer geeks when Disney first released it.
47. Moon (2009) Duncan Jones
An astronaut's three-year shift working alone on the dark side of the moon takes a weird turn when he discovers an injured version of himself on the surface. Hipster SF one-hander starring Sam Rockwell and the voice of Kevin Spacey as a sort of neo-HAL. An outstanding feature debut from Bafta-winning director Duncan Jones (aka Zowie Bowie).
48. Robocop (1987) Paul Verhoeven
Violent but intelligent and witty sci-fi satire from Paul Verhoeven. Peter Weller plays the decent cop killed and reincarnated as a mechanised, computerised policing cyborg. As with most Verhoeven movies, the gore is extensive, but so over-the-top that it seems neither gruesome nor gratuitous, while a string of violent set pieces - RoboCop preventing a rape in truly painful fashion, an original cyborg prototype taking his orders too seriously - are edgily comic and hugely memorable.
49. The Fifth Element (1997) Luc Besson
The screenplay for The Fifth Element was famously based on a novel Luc Besson wrote when he was 16 and it shows. A big-budget, futuristic sci-fi extravaganza, it s crammed with wonderfully pervy costumes, daft spectacle and manic overacting (step forward Gary Oldman and Chris Tucker). But it s worth watching for the visual effects alone and there s no denying that Milla Jovovich looks hot in her masking-tape outfit.
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