In sci-fi, the possibilities are endless. Whether it’s aliens from outer space with the ability to create human duplicates, moral quandaries about the ethics and power of robotics or space wizards with laser swords, sci-fi fuels cinema with ideas.
Science fiction is the genre of ideas, the place where traveling among the stars, exploring the space-time continuum and bringing dinosaurs back to life can be welcome. Science fiction is quite simply one of the most popular genres of film that we have. The creation of faraway places and futuristic technology seems to be exactly what the medium of film was designed to create. The best sci-fi movies make you believe the impossible, usually via a combination of brilliant storytelling, memorable characters, and spectacular visuals – often the effects can be ample to justify the price of a cinema ticket by themselves. Remember that feeling when you first saw Star Destroyer flew overhead in the original Star Wars or when Doc Brown’s pooch Einstein became the first-ever time traveler in Back to the Future? Then you know what we say. Science fiction on film has been around for as long as there have been movies. But which ones are the best? Figuring that out is a nearly impossible task. But, we're going to do it anyway :
1. INTERSTELLAR (2014)
The world is running out of natural resources. Humanity is in danger. A group of American explorers has left everything behind to take an important mission that is discovering another place could safe human millions of lives. On the outer space, they find something unbelievable about the famous black hole. Making use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage. Interstellar has started a whole new century about astronomy and people imagination.
2. AVATAR (2009)
On the lush alien world of Pandora live the Na'vi, beings who appear primitive but are highly evolved. Because the planet's environment is poisonous, human/Na'vi hybrids, called Avatars, must link to human minds to allow for free movement on Pandora. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paralyzed former Marine, becomes mobile again through one such Avatar and falls in love with a Na'vi woman (Zoe Saldana). As a bond with her grows, he is drawn into a battle for the survival of her world.
3. THE MATRIX (1999)
A hacker called Neo discovers that everything around us is not what it seems. The whole world is fictional, and people are just a source of energy for the higher mind, the Matrix. Neo (Keanu Reeves) believes that Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), an elusive figure considered to be the most dangerous man alive, can answer his question -- What is the Matrix? Neo is contacted by Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), a beautiful stranger who leads him into an underworld where he meets Morpheus. They fight a brutal battle for their lives against a cadre of viciously intelligent secret agents. It is a truth that could cost Neo something more precious than his life.
4. The Martian.
From legendary director Ridley Scott comes a gripping tale of own strength and the will to survive. When astronauts blast off from the planet Mars, they leave behind Mark Watney (Matt Damon), presumed dead after a fierce storm. With only a meager amount of supplies, the stranded visitor must utilize his wits and spirit to find a way to survive on the hostile planet. Meanwhile, back on Earth, members of NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring him home, while his crewmates hatch their own plan for a daring rescue mission.
5. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
The action unfolds in a near future, when an alien race called Mimics hits the Earth, grinding to dust large cities and destroying millions of lives. World’s armies unite forces to join the final battle with hordes of aliens, knowing that they won’t have the second chance. Major William Cage has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission, practically unprepared and poorly armed. Cage gets killed within minutes, but he manages to take the life of one alien. He finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop forcing him to combat and die over and over. With each day Cage becomes more fierce and understands Mimics better, fighting alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski. And, as Cage and Rita take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy.
6. Armageddon (1998).
An asteroid is approaching the Earth. Its fall will erase humanity from the planet’s surface. There is only one chance to change the trajectory of the asteroid. Fir this, the US government sends a team of professional drillers into space to plant nuclear warheads under asteroid’s surface. This leads to renowned driller Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis), who agrees to helm the dangerous space mission provided he can bring along his own hotshot crew. Among them is the cocksure A.J. (Ben Affleck), who Harry thinks isn't good enough for his daughter (Liv Tyler) until the mission proves otherwise.
7. Minority Report (2002).
In the year 2054, murder has been eliminated. The future is seen and the guilty punished before the crime has ever been committed. From a nexus deep within the Justice Department's elite Pre-Crime unit, all the evidence to convict--from imagery alluding to the time, place and other details - is seen by "Pre-Cogs," three psychic beings whose visions of murders have never been wrong. It is the nation's most advanced crime force, a perfect system. One day, the head of the unit John Anderton becomes the suspect himself. He is accused of killing a man he has never seen before. The only chance to prove his innocence is to show that the program mistakes and is not as perfect as everyone thought.
8. Total recall (2012).
Douglas Quaid is a factory worker who lives in a small apartment in a run-down district somewhere in the future New Asia. Although he is quite satisfied with his life, he can’t shake the feeling that it’s not enough. Need for new thrilling experiences brings him to Rekall, the service that implants false memories of a life they would like to have without the need to risk in real life. While Douglas is choosing what memories he wants to get implanted, SWAT storms the room and takes him under arrest. But to his own surprise, he easily destroys the entire squad using incredible fighting skills…
9. PROMETHEUS (2012)
The discovery of a clue to mankind's origins on Earth leads a team of explorers to the darkest parts of the universe. Two brilliant young scientists lead the expedition. Shaw (Noomi Rapace) hopes that they will meet a race of benevolent, godlike beings who will in some way verify her religious beliefs, while Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) is out to debunk any spiritual notions. However, neither the scientists nor their shipmates are prepared for the unimaginable terrors that await them.
10. Oblivion (2013).
After the war with aliens, Earth became deserted. Those people, who survived, want to find another planet on which there are conditions for life. Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) works as a security repairman on an Earth left empty and devastated after a war with aliens. Jack has two weeks left before his mission ends and he joins his fellow survivors on a faraway colony. However, Jack's concept of reality comes crashing down after he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. He was able to save only one member of the crew. This event will radically change his future soon.
11. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977).
Tatooine. A desert planet. Aged Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi saves young Luke Skywalker when he was trying to find the missing droid. From that moment, Luke realizes his true purpose: he is one of the Jedi Knights. While the civil war engulfed the galaxy and the rebel forces are fighting against the forces of the evil Emperor, a desperate mercenary pilot Hans Solo captain of the Millennium Falcon, and two droids R2D2 and C-3PO join Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan to find the leader of the rebels, Princess Leia. The brave squad will have to fight with terrifying Darth Vader, the right hand of the Emperor and his secret weapon, help the Rebel Alliance, and restore freedom and justice to the Galaxy.
12. SNOWPIERCER (2013).
Directed by Bong Joon-ho, Snowpiercer takes place in a fictional future in which an environmental experiment has plunged the World into a new ice age, and the survival of humankind hinges on the constant motion of the self-sustaining titular train. Because the train lives under an inequitable caste order, a group of lowest-class citizens orchestrates a rebellion led by Curtis Everett (Chris Evans). The most expensive Korean feature film ever made, Snowpiercer received overwhelming acclaim. It serves as both a chilling dystopian examination of poverty as well as a scathing criticism of class order.
13. Equilibrium (2002).
In a futuristic world, a regime has eliminated war by suppressing emotions: books, art, and music are strictly forbidden and feeling is a crime punishable by death. Clerick John Preston (Christian Bale) is a top-ranking government agent responsible for destroying those who resist these rules. When he misses a dose of Prozium, a mind-altering drug that hinders emotion, Preston, who has been trained to enforce strict laws of the new regime, suddenly becomes the one capable of overthrowing it.
14. Last Sunrise (2019)
A future reliant on solar energy falls into chaos after the sun disappears, forcing a reclusive astronomer and his bubbly neighbor out of the city in search of light in the perpetual darkness.
15. ARQ (2016).
The oil supply has run dry, and corporations fight against nations for the world's remaining energy supplies. Trapped in a house and surrounded by a gang of mysterious masked intruders, an engineer (Robbie Amell) must protect a technology that could deliver unlimited energy and end the wars that have consumed the world. The only problem is that the technology has created a time loop that condemns him and his friends to relive the same day over and over.
