Last Updated on 12 June 2024
The following list is the Official Definitive List of the 400 best sci-fi movies of all time.
I found 34 different ranked lists online of “best sci-fi movies of all time” and pulled them all into Excel and merged them all to get this definitive compilation. See my Methodology page for the research process that was used, including links to all 34 lists that were averaged. Below is a checklist you can print to track which ones you’ve seen, followed by the ranked list with links to IMDb.
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- Alien (1979)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
- Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Aliens (1986)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- The Matrix (1999)
- Metropolis (1927)
- The Thing (1982)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
- The Terminator (1984)
- Back to the Future (1985)
- E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982)
- Jurassic Park (1993)
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
- Children of Men (2006)
- Brazil (1985)
- Inception (2010)
- Solaris (1972)
- WALL-E (2008)
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
- Planet of the Apes (1968)
- RoboCop (1987)
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
- 12 Monkeys (1995)
- Moon (2009)
- Arrival (2016)
- Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
- A Clockwork Orange (1971)
- Forbidden Planet (1956)
- Her (2013)
- Stalker (1979)
- Ex Machina (2014)
- The Fly (1986)
- Akira (1988)
- The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
- Primer (2004)
- Gravity (2013)
- District 9 (2009)
- Minority Report (2002)
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
- Interstellar (2014)
- Total Recall (1990)
- Gattaca (1997)
- Predator (1987)
- The Fifth Element (1997)
- Donnie Darko (2001)
- The Martian (2015)
- Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
- Snowpiercer (2013)
- Under the Skin (2013)
- Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
- Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
- La Jetée (1962)
- Looper (2012)
- Star Trek (2009)
- Frankenstein (1931)
- Ghost in the Shell (1995)
- The Iron Giant (1999)
- Avatar (2009)
- The Abyss (1989)
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
- Starship Troopers (1997)
- The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
- Godzilla (1954)
- Sunshine (2007)
- Galaxy Quest (1999)
- The War of the Worlds (1953)
- Dark City (1998)
- King Kong (1933)
- Logan’s Run (1976)
- Contact (1997)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Seconds (1966)
- Threads (1984)
- Silent Running (1972)
- The Invisible Man (1933)
- Serenity (2005)
- A Trip to the Moon (1902)
- Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)
- Videodrome (1983)
- A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
- Westworld (1973)
- They Live (1988)
- Hard to Be a God (2013)
- TRON (1982)
- Get Out (2017)
- Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
- Independence Day (1996)
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
- Sleeper (1973)
- Alphaville (1965)
- Fantastic Planet (1973)
- Escape from New York (1981)
- Soylent Green (1973)
- The Truman Show (1998)
- A Scanner Darkly (2006)
- Men in Black (1997)
- Attack the Block (2011)
- Je t’aime, je t’aime (1968)
- Annihilation (2018)
- Repo Man (1984)
- THX 1138 (1971)
- Ghostbusters (1984)
- Dark Star (1974)
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
- Back to the Future Part II (1989)
- The Andromeda Strain (1971)
- The Fountain (2006)
- Strange Days (1995)
- Iron Man (2008)
- The Time Machine (1960)
- It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012)
- Things to Come (1936)
- The Avengers (2012)
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
- Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)
- Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
- Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
- Flash Gordon (1980)
- The Host (2006)
- Superman (1978)
- High Life (2018)
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
- Upstream Color (2013)
- Paprika (2006)
- Altered States (1980)
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
- Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
- Fantastic Voyage (1966)
- World on a Wire (1973)
- Black Panther (2018)
- The Brother from Another Planet (1984)
- Source Code (2011)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Them! (1954)
- Young Frankenstein (1974)
- Scanners (1981)
- The Last Starfighter (1984)
- Mr. Nobody (2009)
- Melancholia (2011)
- Timecrimes (2007)
- Starman (1984)
- A Quiet Place (2018)
- 2046 (2004)
- A Boy and His Dog (1975)
- WarGames (1983)
- Barbarella (1968)
- The Thing from Another World (1951)
- Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
- Mad Max (1979)
- This Island Earth (1955)
- The World’s End (2013)
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
- Divine Love (2019)
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
- The Prestige (2006)
- When Worlds Collide (1951)
- Cube (1997)
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
- On the Silver Globe (1988)
- Dredd (2012)
- Flight of the Navigator (1986)
- Stargate (1994)
- Atlantis (2021)
- Logan (2017)
- The City of Lost Children (1995)
- The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
- Open Your Eyes (1997)
- Rollerball (1975)
- Pi (1998)
- World of Tomorrow (2015)
- The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Cloverfield (2008)
- V for Vendetta (2005)
- The Incredibles (2004)
- The Trial (1962)
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984)
- Cocoon (1985)
- War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
- eXistenZ (1999)
- Holy Motors (2012)
- Never Let Me Go (2010)
- Pacific Rim (2013)
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
- X2: X-Men United (2003)
- The Omega Man (1971)
- It Came from Outer Space (1953)
- Outland (1981)
- War of the Worlds (2005)
- Demolition Man (1993)
- Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
- Event Horizon (1997)
- The Running Man (1987)
- The Vast of Night (2019)
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
- Idiocracy (2006)
- Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
- X-Men: First Class (2011)
- Spider-Man 2 (2004)
- The Endless (2017)
- The Face of Another (1966)
- In My Room (2018)
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
- Re-Animator (1985)
- Richard III (1995)
- 1984 (1984)
- Predestination (2014)
- Destination Moon (1950)
- X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
- Pitch Black (2000)
- The Hunger Games (2012)
- Godzilla (2014)
- Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
- Spaceballs (1987)
- Time Bandits (1981)
- Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
- 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
- Neon Genesis Evaneglion: The End of Evangelion (1997)
- Évolution (2015)
- Soul (2020)
- Voyage to the End of the Universe (1963)
- The Butterfly Effect (2004)
- Prometheus (2012)
- The Invisible Man (2020)
- Dune (1984)
- The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
- Quatermass 2 (1957)
- Superman II (1980)
- The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
- Back to the Future Part III (1990)
- Deadpool (2016)
- The Holy Mountain (1973)
- Enemy Mine (1985)
- Dune (2021)
- Signs (2002)
- The Man from Earth (2007)
- Delicatessen (1991)
- Upgrade (2018)
- The Blob (1958)
- The Day of the Triffids (1963)
- 28 Days Later… (2002)
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
- The Brood (1979)
- Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
- Kin-dza-dza! (1986)
- Phase IV (1974)
- The Lobster (2015)
- Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
- Liquid Sky (1982)
- Face/Off (1997)
- Island of Lost Souls (1932)
- Jaws (1975)
- Time After Time (1979)
- Marjorie Prime (2017)
- Short Circuit (1986)
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
- Isle of Dogs (2018)
- Ad Astra (2019)
- Bacurau (2019)
- Punishment Park (1971)
- Mars Attacks! (1996)
- I Am Legend (2007)
- Species (1995)
- Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America (1992)
- Big Hero 6 (2014)
- Super 8 (2011)
- Battle Royale (2000)
- Equilibrium (2002)
- The Strange Adventure of Lemmy Caution (1965)
- The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- Modern Times (1936)
- Born in Flames (1983)
- Labyrinth of Cinema (2019)
- Ant-Man (2015)
- Being John Malkovich (1999)
- Captain America: Civil War (2016)
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
- Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)
- Monsters (2010)
- The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)
- Spider-Man (2002)
- The Hidden (1987)
- Okja (2017)
- Space Is the Place (1974)
- Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
- The American Astronaut (2001)
- X-Men (2000)
- I, Robot (2004)
- Ikarie XB-1 (1963)
- Village of the Damned (1960)
- Cloud Atlas (2012)
- Eraserhead (1977)
- The Survivalist (2015)
- The Man in the White Suit (1951)
- Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
- Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (1973)
- Sorry to Bother You (2018)
- Transformers: The Movie (1986)
- Tremors (1990)
- The Quiet Earth (1985)
- The Fly (1958)
- Invaders from Mars (1953)
- Your Name (2016)
- Incredibles 2 (2018)
- The Bed Sitting Room (1969)
- Dreamscape (1984)
- The Nutty Professor (1963)
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
- Bumblebee (2018)
- Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013)
- The Crazy Ray (At 3:25) (1925)
- Dead Man’s Letters (1986)
- Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
- The Damned (1962)
- Watchmen (2009)
- Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
- Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
- The Stepford Wives (1975)
- Capricorn One (1977)
- Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
- Armageddon (1998)
- I’m Your Man (2021)
- Spontaneous (2020)
- The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
- Free Guy (2021)
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
- Explorers (1985)
- Riddick (2013)
- The Black Hole (1979)
- Days of Eclipse (1988)
- The Clone Returns Home (2008)
- Star Trek Beyond (2016)
- Demon Seed (1977)
- Jurassic World (2015)
- Elysium (2013)
- Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (1977)
- Trancers (1984)
- Coherence (2013)
- Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966)
- Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
- Life (2017)
- The Book of Eli (2010)
- Oblivion (2013)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
- Turbo Kid (2015)
- The X-Files (1998)
- Outbreak (1995)
- Day of the Dead (1985)
- Resident Evil (2002)
- Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
- Heavy Metal (1981)
- Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
- Night of the Creeps (1986)
- Shin Godzilla (2016)
- Metropolis (2001)
- Doctor Strange (2016)
- Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)
- Ready Player One (2018)
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
- Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
- The Congress (2013)
- Wizards (1977)
- Midnight Special (2016)
- Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001)
- From Beyond (1986)
- 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
- Phantasm (1979)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Grindhouse (2007)
- Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (2008)
- Palm Springs (2020)
- Weird Science (1985)
- The Last Man on Earth (1964)
- Deadpool 2 (2018)
- Death Race 2000 (1975)
- The Road (2009)
- Iron Man 3 (2013)
- Son of Frankenstein (1939)
- Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
- The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
- Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
- The Rocketeer (1991)
- Summer Wars (2009)
- Tenet (2020)
- Innerspace (1987)
- Night of the Comet (1984)
- On the Beach (1959)
- The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
- Planet Terror (2007)
- Iron Man 2 (2010)
- Battlestar Galactica (2003)
- Darkman (1990)
- Chronicle (2012)
- 28 Weeks Later (2007)
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)