Sci-fi Must-See List
This is a list of films that any serious fan of sci-fi should see. All are improtant to the genre for various reasons, and many of them even transcend the genre as simply great films. I will inevitably add to this list, but it’s a solid road map for the genre. Enjoy!
Metropolis (1927, Germany)
The Woman in the Moon (1929, Germany)
Frankenstein (1931)
The Invisible Man (1933)
King Kong (1933)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The Man in the White Suit (1951)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Forbidden Planet (1959)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Solaris (1972, Russia)
Rollerball (1975)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Star Wars (1977)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Alien (1979)
Mad Max (1979)
Stalker (1979, Russia)
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strkes Back (1980)
Videodrome (1980)
The Road Warrior (1981)
Escape from New York (1981)
Blade Runner (1982)
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
The Thing (1982)
Tron (1982)
The Dead Zone (1983)
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
The Terminator (1984)
Back to the Future (1985)
Brazil (1985)
Aliens (1986)
The Fly (1986)
Predator (1987)
RoboCop (1987)
The Abyss (1989)
Total Recall (1990)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
The Fifth Element (1997)
Starship Troopers (1997)
Dark City (1998)
Armageddon (1998)
Pi (1998)
The Truman Show (1998)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
The Iron Giant (1999)
The Matrix (1999)
Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
Donnie Darko (2001)
Minority Report (2002)
28 Days Later (2002)
Signs (2002)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
V for Vendetta (2005)
Children of Men (2006)
Wall-E (2008)
Avatar (2009)
District 9 (2009)
Moon (2009)
Star Trek (2009)
Source Code (2011)
Limitless (2011)
Melancholia (2011)
Cloud Atlas (2012)
Looper (2012)
Prometheus (2012)
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)