Sci-Fi Movies

A thief who steals secrets from dreams is offered one last job: plant an idea instead of stealing one, four layers deep inside a stranger's subconscious.

Editor's note

“I have shown Inception to people who insisted they did not like action films. It has never once failed. That is the closest thing to proof a ranking like this can offer.”

From the first bone thrown into the sky to a mind beyond the infinite, Kubrick maps human evolution as a cold, beautiful mystery.

Editor's note

“Watch the first ten minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey with the sound up and no distractions. If it has not got you by then, this collection may not be for you — and that is genuinely fine.”

A replicant hunter uncovers a buried miracle that could shatter the fragile order between humans and the synthetic people built to serve them.

Editor's note

“Blade Runner 2049 is the entry our readers write to us about most. Half of those letters disagree with the placement. We read all of them and we have not changed our minds.”

A hacker learns his world is a simulation and joins a rebellion fought inside the machine that farms humanity.

A commercial towing crew answers a distress signal and brings something aboard that treats their ship as a hunting ground.

A man pays to have an ex-girlfriend deleted from his memory, then spends the procedure trying to hide her somewhere the machine can't reach.

Paul Atreides joins the Fremen and walks knowingly into the role of messiah, aware that the holy war he leads will consume worlds.

Editor's note

“I have shown Dune: Part Two to people who insisted they did not like science fiction films. It has never once failed. That is the closest thing to proof a ranking like this can offer.”

A lonely boy hides a stranded alien in his suburban bedroom and builds him a way home.

A survivor who remembers her lost world takes a road trip across the galaxy with a girl seeking revenge, and finds out what she is willing to be.

Science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction.

Struggling to find his place in the world while juggling school and family, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales is unexpectedly bitten by a radioactive spider and develops unfathomable powers just like the one and only Spider-Man. While wrestling with the implications of his new abilities, Miles discovers a super collider created by the madman Wilson "Kingpin" Fisk, causing others from across the Spider-Verse to be inadvertently transported to his dimension.

Editor's note

“We nearly moved Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse three places in either direction, twice. It stayed because Peter Ramsey does one thing here that nobody has improved on since, and you will know it when you reach it.”

The epic saga continues as Luke Skywalker, in hopes of defeating the evil Galactic Empire, learns the ways of the Jedi from aging master Yoda. But Darth Vader is more determined than ever to capture Luke. Meanwhile, rebel leader Princess Leia, cocky Han Solo, Chewbacca, and droids C-3PO and R2-D2 are thrown into various stages of capture, betrayal and despair.

Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.

As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment - the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.

After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos' actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store.

Editor's note

“Every revisit turns up another detail hiding in plain sight. Avengers: Endgame remains our internal benchmark — when we argue about a new release, this is the film someone inevitably reaches for.”

After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters the Spider Society, a team of Spider-People charged with protecting the Multiverse's very existence. But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must set out on his own to save those he loves most.

Princess Leia is captured and held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to take over the galactic Empire. Venturesome Luke Skywalker and dashing captain Han Solo team together with the loveable robot duo R2-D2 and C-3PO to rescue the beautiful princess and restore peace and justice in the Empire.

A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.

After hundreds of years doing what he was built for, WALL•E— a robot designed to clean up the earth—discovers a new purpose in life when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL•E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report to the humans. Meanwhile, WALL•E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most imaginative adventures ever brought to the big screen.

Editor's note

“Every revisit turns up another detail hiding in plain sight. WALL·E remains our internal benchmark — when we argue about a new release, this is the film someone inevitably reaches for.”

Ten years after the events of the original, a reprogrammed T-800 is sent back in time to protect young John Connor from the shape-shifting T-1000. Together with his mother Sarah, he fights to stop Skynet from triggering a nuclear apocalypse.

After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island's animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.

When an unexpected enemy emerges and threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins!

In a near-future Britain, young Alexander DeLarge and his pals get their kicks beating and raping anyone they please. When not destroying the lives of others, Alex swoons to the music of Beethoven. The state, eager to crack down on juvenile crime, gives an incarcerated Alex the option to undergo an invasive procedure that'll rob him of all personal agency. In a time when conscience is a commodity, can Alex change his tune?

Editor's note

“We nearly moved A Clockwork Orange three places in either direction, twice. It stayed because Stanley Kubrick does one thing here that nobody has improved on since, and you will know it when you reach it.”

Peter Parker is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a super-hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.