How do you choose the best sci-fi movies of all time? Lucas weaves the hero's journey into the intergalactic universe, making for a compelling watch that remains entirely beloved today. What happened to chris and jeff on junkyard empire poker. The Empire Strikes Back redefined what a movie sequel could do – not only does the follow-up expand the galaxy Lucas built, but, shockingly for the time, it turned out to only be the middle part of a much wider story. Never has that been more true than with their ninth movie, WALL-E, the story of an ordinary robot who ends up saving the human race.
The Iron Giant is a layered, understated animated masterpiece. Ridley Scott's horror/sci-fi mixing masterpiece centres on the crew of the Nostromo, who are sent to investigate a distress call from an abandoned alien spaceship. So, which title takes the number one spot? It also explores the potential of its concept further than its core story making for a near flawless sci-fi movie. What happened to chris and jeff on junkyard empire cast. Conclusive proof that blockbusters can respect their audience's intelligence while also thrilling with spectacular set-pieces, Inception is a truly remarkable achievement. Director Michel Gondry's second feature collaboration with Being John Malkovich writer Charlie Kaufman is exactly what you expect from that combination of talent: a sweet, funny, heartbreaking, and maudlin wonder. Plus, the visual ambiguity of Scott's direction during the final act is an absolute masterclass in 'What's that in the shadows? ' Or are we stuck in a simulation and being harvested for electrical energy by an alien race who have taken over earth, and only The One can save us all?
Yet, amid the bleak dystopian setting is a remarkably heart-warming tale of an innocent, simple droid finding love with a futuristic companion, EVE. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. What happened to chris and jeff on junkyard empire season. A movie working on so many different levels. Do not – and we cannot stress this enough – watch on a mobile phone or laptop. Upon release, behind-the-scenes difficulties overshadowed the movie's actual content and it was an initial box-office flop. Star Trek: Wrath of Khan. Meanwhile, adults get a poignant fable of Cold War paranoia, where understanding and kindred spirit battled fear and suspicion for decades.
Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an 'extractor' who normally steals sensitive ideas from his targets' minds, but must now plant an idea in the head of his latest mark. The title might be hokey, but The Thing remains one of the most gloriously splattery and tense horrors of all time. The Giger-designed alien is as terrifying a monster as you could wish for. Director Denis Villeneuve reworks the world established by Ridley Scott's 1982 original, twists it to better reflect modern quandaries – hello, bountiful misogyny! John Carpenter's ultimate creature feature.
Immerse yourself in Kubrick's masterpiece and you'll immediately understand why we voted 2001 the best sci-fi movie of all time. Empire Strikes Back. Well, Steven Spielberg's classic's slightly different. What would the authorities do with a man claiming to be a time-traveller? And really, when is Star Trek better than when it puts the crew's humanity front and centre? Children of Men really is a parable of things to come. Star Trek: Wrath of Khan makes for a warmer movie that still features huge amounts of drama. Daydreaming of rescuing the same woman over and over, he tries to locate a terrorist – and encounters his fictional woman. The resistance sends her a protector in the form of Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), who will do anything to keep her safe. Guardians of the Galaxy is the only superhero movie to make this list.
Whereas most sci-fi of the time was more magical, A New Hope featured a dirty, lived-in universe, which somehow feels so real. When they find the wreckage, they discover something truly unexpected. Return of the Jedi does a rare thing for a trilogy closer: it picks up all the loose story strands and offers a properly satisfying conclusion to everything that came before. There are a few different cuts out there, and we recommend watching the Director's Cut. Blade Runner (a regular presence on all best sci-fi movies lists) uses its high concept – a man trying to work out whether other "people" are actually robots known as replicants – to deliver a deeply moving tale that asks questions of humanity in a nihilistic, synthetic, commodified universe. Gilliam certainly has a knack for exquisite put together sci-fi (spoilers: we'll be seeing him again on this list shortly). While both Blade Runner movies are stunning, atmospheric works of deep intelligence and profound emotional impact, the original remains the unmoved classic. Remember when Hollywood made big-budget, epic sci-fi movies aimed almost exclusively at adults? Made and set amid some of the most austere and industrially polluted Russian landscapes ever committed to celluloid, Andrei Tarkovsky's epic inquiry into freedom and faith presents an arduous journey for the spectator, but conjures up its own mystical universe with majestic conviction. Ruthless and ferociously intelligent, Khan's re-emergence forces the trainee Enterprise crew to rally harder than ever before, raising the personal stakes to new highs. The macabre vision of these murderous monsters at work is never anything less than true nightmare fuel. Having dealt with alien visitation on a planetary scale in the brilliant Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Spielberg instead focuses on a single family and their extra-terrestrial house guest.
E. remains a perfect slice of storytelling, and if you still have a dry eye come the closing credits, you're officially heartless. Adapted from Ted Hughes' story, The Iron Giant sees a colossal alien robot crash near a small town in Rockwell, Maine, in 1957. Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the first big-screen Star Trek adventure, was an epic and existential take on the series – and one criticised for not featuring enough action. Star Wars, later given the title A New Hope, introduced us to that famous galaxy far, far away, filled with lovable creatures and witty characters. Inception is a film not afraid to dream much, much bigger. The practical effects – the responsibility of a young Rob Bottin and uncredited Stan Winston – are the true stars as arms are eaten by chests, decapitated heads sprout legs, and bodies are elongated and stretched. A group of Americans – including Kurt Russell's R. J MacReady – are stationed at an Antarctic research facility and take on an alien thing that infects blood. While the effects blew everyone away (and still hold up reasonably well), it was the cohesiveness of the world that really impressed.
Terry Gilliam's slapstick homage to George Orwell's 1984 sticks two fingers to The Man over and over, all while telling one of the wackiest stories ever committed to celluloid. And, of course, turning the first movie's villain into the protector of John Connor is a stroke of genius – all praise James Cameron! The 2014 remake attempted similar levels of social commentary, but without Verhoeven's twisted sense of humour, missed the target. Wrath of Khan reaches into the Original Series' history to find a villain – Khan – who's more grounded and intimidating than the vast majority of Star Trek's other antagonists. This time, we follow Officer K (Ryan Gosling), a blade runner for the LAPD tasked with retiring "rogue" replicants, as he finds himself facing a conspiracy that threatens everything the world knows about bioengineered humans.