The Top Sci-Fi Movie From Every Decade
Writing from the Chicagoland area in Illinois, Robert is an avid movie watcher and will take just about any excuse to find time to go to his local movie theaters. Robert graduated from Bradley University with degrees in Journalism and Game Design with a minor in Film Studies. Robert tries his best to keep up with all the latest movie releases, from those released in theaters to those released on streaming. While he doesn't always keep up with the latest TV shows, he makes it a goal to watch nearly every major new release possible. He has been honing his craft and following any and all movie news all his life, leading up to now, where he has a vast knowledge of film and film history. He also logs every movie that he watches on his Letterboxd page, and has hosted a weekly online movie night with his closest friends for over 6 years.
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The vast possibilities of science fiction as a genre have found success in all different mediums of storytelling, yet the visual components and exceptional craft required to bring a feature film to life also work perfectly in terms of bringing amazing sci-fi worlds and stories to life. Even in the very beginning of the film industry with icons like A Trip to the Moon and Metropolis, sci-fi stories have worked wonders in the realm of cinema as one of the best venues for this exceptional genre.
However, both what is possible and what is popular in sci-fi filmmaking and sci-fi culture as a whole have massively changed and evolved over the years, as what makes a great sci-fi film in the 1930s is completely different than what makes a great sci-fi film in the 2020s. All of these films are icons of science fiction for their respective era, as well as being massively important for setting the standard and history for the genre in the decades to come. They're the absolute highlights of what sci-fi storytelling is capable of for their respective decades.
10 'Frankenstein' (1931)
In the early years of post-silent-era filmmaking, many of the most prominent sci-fi films took the form of monster movies, with unbelievable creatures or man-made monsters reflecting humanity's symbolic pains. While films like The Invisible Man and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were certainly celebrated, the undeniable choice for the best sci-fi film of the 1930s is James Whale's adaptation of Mary Shelley's iconic novel, Frankenstein.
With beautiful black-and-white visuals and a legendary performance by Boris Karloff as the monster, the film has been heralded as one of the all-time greatest monster movies since its release. It's a film whose reputation and stature has only continuously grown in the decades since its release, being considered the quintessential method of experiencing Shelley's legendary story in the eyes of many fans to this day. Even nearly 100 years later, the visuals of this film are still what many everyday people think of when Frankenstein's monster comes to mind.
9 'Krakatit' (1948)
The 1940s were a surprisingly limited decade when it came to sci-fi filmmaking, with the very few sci-fi films being released during the 10 years being awkward monster movie sequels that were never going to live up to the classics from the previous decade. However, the major exception to this, and the massively underrated sci-fi mystery film that earns the title of best sci-fi film of the 40s, is the Czechoslovakian film Krakatit.
The film is adapted from a novel of the same title, following the story of a chemist who begins to experience overwhelming regret and pain following his involvement in the creation of a powerful explosive device. While its premise may sound eerily similar to Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, the difference is all in the execution, as Krakatit's fictional story is shown through a blur of hallucinations and sci-fi nightmares. This soft sci-fi film is notable for being one of the first films to really sound the alarm on the dangers of the Cold War right as it was beginning, and is deserving of much more recognition and praise for being so ahead of its time.
8 'Godzilla' (1954)
Long before the 50-foot atomic monster became a franchise juggernaut and blockbuster icon of the modern day, Ishirō Honda's original Godzilla was a breathtaking icon of sci-fi monster filmmaking, with powerful themes of nuclear weaponry and human greed that still hold power over 70 years later. This icon of Japanese filmmaking is far from the only great sci-fi film of the 50s, yet it certainly has the most timeless legacy and exceptional filmmaking to make it the clear choice as the best sci-fi film of the 50s.
While many of the Godzilla sequels would largely lean into the spectacle and action of giant monster battles, the original Godzilla film was so amazing not just for its sense of scale, but for how it utilized it for a powerful metaphor and warning for humanity's capability of destruction. Combined with some exceptional practical filmmaking that still holds up today, there is a reason that the original Godzilla film is still considered by many the very best in the franchise.
7 '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968)
With all of the massive interest in intergalactic travel and NASA missions in the 60s, this subsequently translated to an uptick in interest in sci-fi storytelling during the decade. Combined with newer technological advancements, many of the best sci-fi films of the 60s were so exceptional and well-crafted that they transformed the genre into a mainstay of filmmaking that hasn't ever gone away since. The undeniable icon of this uptick in excitement for the genre is Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
More than just the greatest sci-fi film of the 60s, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a genuine contender for what could be the greatest sci-fi film ever made, with exceptional, groundbreaking visuals and a powerful, deeply layered story, making it the gold standard for sci-fi epics. It's a film whose strengths only grow more impressive with each passing year, an inescapable monolith of the genre whose greatness goes without question and will continue to be celebrated for decades to come.
6 'Star Wars' (1977)
Arguably the most popular sci-fi blockbuster movie ever made, George Lucas's original 1977 Star Wars has in some ways even eclipsed the sci-fi genre itself, being the first story that many people think of when considering sci-fi storytelling in any medium. This complete cultural domination is what gives it the edge as the best sci-fi film of the 70s, although it had some fiercely tough competition against the likes of Ridley Scott's Alien.
Star Wars blends together the best elements of sci-fi worldbuilding and a fantasy tone to create the quintessential adventure film, with a distinct charm and flair that has cultivated it into becoming the starting point for one of the biggest media franchises of all time. Still, even after all of the sequels, spinoffs, and branching off into other artistic mediums, there is something so inherently charming about the 1977 original that still has audiences returning to the galaxy far, far away time and time again.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Star Wars Crew Should You Join? Falcon · Ghost · Skeleton Crew · Razor Crest
Eight honest questions about how you actually are: what your friends come to you for, how you handle a night that falls apart, what you want out of work, what keeps you going. Answer them and we will tell you which ship has your seat. Four crews are hiring: the smugglers, the rebels, the kids who got hopelessly lost, and the one man who works alone until he does not.
🚀Falcon(Original Trilogy)
👾Ghost(Star Wars Rebels)
🗺️Skeleton Crew(Skeleton Crew)
🪖Razor Crest(The Mandalorian)
01
What role do you play in your friend group? Everybody has one, whether they admit it or not.
02
How do you pack for a trip? This says more about people than it should.
03
Your plans collapse an hour before. What do you do? Everybody reacts to this differently.
04
What would you actually want out of a job? Be honest rather than impressive.
05
What do people come to you for? You already know which one it is.
06
How do you handle a disagreement with a friend? This is where people differ most.
07
What does a really good Saturday night look like? No wrong answers, but there are revealing ones.
08
What actually keeps you going? Eight questions in, this is the one that picks your crew.
Docking Clamps Released Your Crew Is…
Four ships, four completely different reasons to be up there at all. Here is the one that has your seat, what flying with them would cost you, and what it would give back.
Millennium Falcon
You belong on the fastest piece of junk in the galaxy, with a crew that took the job for the payday and then quietly stopped caring about the payday. Nothing on the Falcon has ever gone according to plan, and everybody aboard prefers it that way.
- You improvise better than you prepare, which is why you keep ending up in situations that a careful person would have avoided.
- The Falcon is the only ship on this list that is genuinely funny, and half of that comes from it breaking at the worst possible moment.
- You would pretend the whole thing is transactional right up until somebody you like is in trouble, and then the pretending stops instantly.
- This crew is the reason the rebellion had a chance at all, and not one of them would ever admit to that out loud.
The Ghost
You belong with the crew that turned a tiny cell of misfits into an actual rebellion. The Ghost is a home before it is a ship, and everybody who boards it arrived with something broken that the rest of them decided to look after.
- Found family is the whole engine here, and Rebels earns it by making you watch these people choose each other over and over again.
- You are in it for the cause, but what actually keeps you going is the four people who would notice immediately if you stopped showing up.
- Hera is one of the best captains in the franchise, and the show is smart enough to make her competence the quiet centre of everything.
- This crew pays for its wins, which is exactly what makes the wins land the way they do.
The Skeleton Crew
You belong with the four kids who found a buried ship, launched it by accident and are now extremely lost in a galaxy that eats people like them. Nobody here knows what they are doing, and that turns out to be the fun of it.
- Your instinct is to open the door that says do not open, and you would do it again tomorrow.
- Skeleton Crew is the closest Star Wars has come to an eighties adventure movie, where the stakes are real but the wonder never gets sanded off.
- You make friends out of whoever is standing next to you when things go wrong, which is a genuinely useful survival skill.
- The pirates in this one are properly frightening, and that is precisely why the kids being out of their depth works so well.
The Razor Crest
You belong in the quietest ship in the galaxy, with one small passenger and a code you have never explained to anybody. You told yourself this was a job, and then it stopped being a job somewhere around the second week.
- You work alone by preference and by habit, which lasts exactly as long as it takes for somebody small to need looking after.
- The Mandalorian works because almost nothing gets said out loud, and the armour does the acting that a face usually would.
- Your loyalty is narrow and absolute, so there are very few people on your list and nothing will move you off it.
- The Mandalorian and Grogu took all of that to the big screen over Memorial Day 2026, the first Star Wars film in seven years.
5 'Blade Runner' (1982)
There are so many 80s sci-fi masterpieces to choose from to take this spot, from the lighthearted fun of Back to the Future to the haunting horror of The Thing. However, time has proven Ridley Scott's Blade Runner to be the true sci-fi masterpiece of the decade. While critics were largely hesitant and dismissive of the film when it first released, the passage of time, hindsight, and a really great director's cut have made many reexamine Blade Runner as one of the greatest sci-fi films ever made and an ahead-of-its-time 80s masterpiece.
Featuring a sleek cyberpunk aesthetic and powerful, resonating themes on free will and what it truly means to be human, this love letter to noir in a sci-fi setting exemplifies everything that makes sci-fi worlds work in the medium of film. The film continues to be a point of inspiration for just about every story centered around a cyberpunk dystopia, with Scott's masterful directing being the key element that makes this film so engaging to watch all these decades later.
4 'The Matrix' (1999)
As sci-fi as a genre was finding itself becoming increasingly reliant on sequels and franchises in the 90s, The Matrix was exactly the shot in the arm that the genre needed to prove that striking, powerful original sci-fi films on a massive scale could still be created in the new age of digital technology. Thanks to the combination of groundbreaking visual effects, top-notch camerawork, and high-flying action choreography, the Wachowski sisters ended the millennium with one of the most groundbreaking sci-fi films ever released.
It certainly helped that it featured one of the most immediately engaging and open-ended concepts of any sci-fi film, with the confines and painful feelings of being trapped in the loop of daily life and yearning for a hidden truth just beyond the surface that can be applied to so many aspects of daily life. While it ended up being one of the last sci-fi films released in the 90s, it ended the decade and the millennium in about the best way possible for the genre.
3 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' (2004)
Sci-fi filmmaking doesn't inherently have to involve a massive scale or sprawling adventures across space with aliens, as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind may be the perfect example of soft sci-fi to create an abstract, one-of-a-kind psychological romance. It's a beautiful work of art that utilizes inventive sci-fi concepts to tell a beautiful story of memory and all that encompasses love, both good and bad. With two brilliant lead performances from Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, the film has been a fan favorite of many ever since its debut.
The abstract, non-traditional elements of its story, brought to life by screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, play a major part in the film's endless charm, as it delves into so many wild and intricate concepts without ever feeling too overwhelming to the audience. This beautiful balancing act keeps the focus squarely on the human emotions at its center. It makes for one of the most emotionally palpable sci-fi films out there, as it has forever impacted the hearts of many audiences who have witnessed it.
2 'Interstellar' (2014)
Much like 2001: A Space Odyssey before it, Christopher Nolan's Interstellar sets out to be a gargantuan sci-fi epic that pushes the genre to new heights thanks to the latest technologies to create a blockbuster experience that was never possible before in film history. Even 12 years after its release, the film is still one of the most visually breathtaking sci-fi films to have ever been released, further amplified by a powerful story of the perseverance and power of love at its center.
It also speaks volumes that in a decade that was absolutely dominated by reboots and IP adaptations in the world of sci-fi, the seemingly unanimous decision for the best sci-fi movie of the 2010s is a completely original film made by one of the greatest filmmakers working today. Time has only been kind to this legendary work of art, with several even considering it Nolan's magnum opus as a filmmaker and one of the greatest movies of the 21st century.
1 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' (2022)
The jury is still out as to what the best sci-fi movie of the 2020s is going to be, considering the fact that the decade isn't complete yet and prominent releases like Dune: Part Three and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse are just on the horizon. However, as far as what has already been released so far in the decade, the immediate choice for best sci-fi film of the 2020s is Everything Everywhere All at Once. This wild, unrestrained multiverse action film also manages to hold the title of the only sci-fi film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The film excels thanks to its overwhelming sense of personality and passion from beginning to end, with captivating action sequences and high-concept multiverse shenanigans proving to elevate what is, at its core, a story of generational trauma and the beauty of human connection. Everything Everywhere All at Once has an uncanny ability to tug at the heartstrings of audiences, speaking to the younger sci-fi fans of the current era in a way few other modern sci-fi films have even come close to replicating.
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