Movie Ratings & Reviews

Last film added: January 25, 2021. There are currently 1678 films in the database (since 1996).

Sci-Fi Films (1996-2024)

Search returned all science fiction movies out of 1678 total rated films.

MASTERPIECES

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) 10
A futuristic adaptation of the tale of Pinocchio, using intelligent robots with real feelings.
Arrival (2016) 10
Linguistics professor Amy Adams and the tense puzzle of 12 alien spacecraft. Deeply affecting humanity.
Dark City (1998) 10
Rufus Sewell struggles to recover his memories in a nightmarish world run by telekinetic beings.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) 10
Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories.
Gravity (2013) 10
Breathtaking masterpiece inspires profound reflection on Earth and humanity. Among the greatest films ever made.
Happy Accidents (2000) 10
Marisa Tomei wonders if her boyfriend Vincent D'Onofrio is really a time-traveler, or just delusional.
Her (2014) 10
Spike Jonze's ingenious, surreal meditation on being human, knowing one's self and falling in love.
Inception (2010) 10
Brilliant concept and direction by Christopher Nolan. A dream within a dream within a dream.
Interstellar (2014) 10
NASA explorers travel through a wormhole seeking habitable planets. Grand, quantum portrait of human endurance.
Moon (2009) 10
One man and a computer run a lunar base that supplies Earth with energy. Meditative.
Mr. Nobody (2010) 10
Nemo Nobody is the last mortal in the world. Mind-bending story across time. Perfect soundtrack.
Pi (1998) 10
A paranoid mathematician searches for a number to unlock the universal patterns found in nature.
Scanner Darkly, A (2006) 10
Richard Linklater, Philip K. Dick, Keanu Reeves, Radiohead and interpolated rotoscoping animation. Brilliant.
V for Vendetta (2006) 10
The Wachowski Brothers present the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, starring Natalie Portman.
World of Tomorrow (2015) 10
Brilliant Don Hertzfeldt short. A little girl experiences a mind-bending tour of her distant future.
World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People... (2017) 10
Dazzling and poignant sci-fi. Don Hertzfeldt reverse-engineered this sequel from audio of his five-year-old niece.
World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations... (2020) 10
Don Hertzfeldt's mind-blowing animated series continues. Clones of David and Emily through time and space.

EXCELLENT

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) 9
Winstead awakens in a bunker. Is the outside world under widespread attack? Tense chamber piece.
2046 (2004) 9
Kar-Wai Wong presents a futuristic recapturing of a womanizing writer's memory of six past lovers.
Animation Show, The (2003) 9
A collection of short films (mostly comedy) put together by Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt.
Animation Show 2005, The (2005) 9
Don Hertzfeldt, Bill Plympton and other animators return in this second collection of excellent shorts.
Annihilation (2018) 9
Natalie Portman joins a perilous expedition into the Shimmer, a quarantined disaster area. Hallucinogenic mystery.
Another Earth (2011) 9
A second Earth from a parallel universe appears in the sky. A meditation on destiny.
Black Mirror - Seasons 1-2 (2014) 9
Provocative sci-fi satire. Explores technology's darker ramifications on society. Gamification, limitless storage, AI. Brilliant.
Children of Men (2007) 9
Humankind is facing the likelihood of its own extinction. Set in dystopian London in 2027.
Contact (1997) 9
Jodie Foster stars in this Carl Sagan story about the search for intelligent extraterrestrial life.
Cube (1998) 9
Seven complete strangers awaken one day in a cubical Kafkaesque maze filled with deadly traps.
Dark Knight, The (2008) 9
Nolan's nightmarish adaptation of Batman, Joker and Two-Face raises the bar for comic-book movies, again.
District 9 (2009) 9
Biotechnology fable about an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth. Political.
Donnie Darko (2001) 9
A complex chain of events determine the fate of a teenager and a giant bunny-rabbit.
Edge of Tomorrow (2014) 9
Cruise is caught in a time loop as Earth battles an alien invasion. Inspired blockbuster.
eXistenZ (1999) 9
Game designer Jennifer Jason Leigh creates a virtual-reality experience indistinguishable from real life.
Ex Machina (2015) 9
A young programmer is selected to help evaluate a female A.I. dubbed Ava. Thrilling, smart.
Frisky Dingo - Seasons 1 and 2 (2008) 9
A supervillain named Killface plans to destroy humanity using the Annihilatrix. Clever and often hilarious.
Gattaca (1997) 9
In a sterile, genetically-enhanced world, Ethan Hawke was born naturally, with dreams of space travel.
Grindhouse (2007) 9
Tarantino/Rodriguez double bill. A gory, witty homage to seedy 1970s B-movie thrillers, including fake trailers.
Incredibles, The (2004) 9
Pixar Animation presents a family of undercover superheroes forced into action to save the world.
Last Night (1998) 9
There are six hours until the end of the world. What would you do?
Looper (2012) 9
In 2042, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a hired assassin who kills people sent from the future.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) 9
The fourth and best chapter. Charlize Theron rebels against tyranny in post-apocalyptic Australia. Car chase!
Man from Earth, The (2007) 9
Set in a single room, this thoughtful, philosophical play might blow your mind a little.
Martian, The (2015) 9
Astronaut Matt Damon, accidentally abandoned on Mars, has just one month of supplies. Compelling realism.
Matrix, The (1999) 9
Déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.
Melancholia (2011) 9
Kirsten Dunst suffers from melancholia and a mysterious planet threatens Earth. Epic Lars von Trier.
Midnight Gospel - Season 1, The (2020) 9
Clancy explores psychedelic worlds with his faulty multiverse simulator. Existential cartoon set to podcast banter.
Minority Report (2002) 9
An excellent futuristic thriller with irrelevant distractions, including vomit, snot and anthropomorphic plants.
Open Your Eyes (1999) 9
The brilliant Amenábar film, starring Penélope Cruz, that Tom Cruise turned into Vanilla Sky.
Paprika (2007) 9
An insane anime that blurs the separation between reality, dreams, memory, cinema and the Internet.
Predestination (2015) 9
Paradoxical head-trip. A temporal agent pursues an elusive terrorist through time, tries to prevent disasters.
Prestige, The (2006) 9
A rivalry of deadly stage illusions escalates between Victorian-era magicians. David Bowie is Nikola Tesla!
Primer (2004) 9
This puzzle film of time-travel paradoxes and loopholes begins with four inventors in a garage.
Prisoner - Complete Series Megaset, The (2006) 9
Resigned secret agent McGoohan becomes trapped in an idyllic village. A 1967-68 TV cult classic.
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) 9
A man places a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel. Genuinely touching, sweet.
Source Code (2011) 9
An ingenious and exciting thriller with some gaps in logic. Profound filmmaking by Duncan Jones.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) 9
Visually ingenious comic-book mashup. Quantum insanity. A Marvel superhero movie that elevates the tired genre.
Star Trek (2009) 9
An inspired reboot of the Star Trek franchise. J.J. Abrams expertly renders the lens-flare brilliance.
Stranger Things - Seasons 1-3 (2019) 9
A small Indiana town in the 1980s has a shadowy parallel dimension. Thrilling, emotionally resonant.
Through the Wormhole - Season 1 (2010) 9
Compelling TV series that explores the deepest mysteries of human existence. Hosted by Morgan Freeman.
Timecrimes (2008) 9
Like Primer, this is a film of time-travel paradoxes, but with more voyeurism and nudity.
Truman Show, The (1998) 9
Insurance salesman Jim Carrey discovers his entire life is actually a TV show.
Twin Peaks - The Definitive Gold Box Edition (2007) 9
David Lynch's groundbreaking 1990-91 TV series. It's a paranormal murder mystery set in northern Washington.
Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) 9
David Lynch revisits the surreal, mystical character of a quaint Washington town 25 years later.
Under the Skin (2014) 9
Existential, visually mesmerizing film about loneliness by Jonathan Glazer, starring the otherworldly Scarlett Johansson.
Upstream Color (2013) 9
Shane Carruth's fragmented, hypnotic story of lost identity. Puzzling allegory via Thoreau and psychotropic grubs.
Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) 9
Aardman Animation's full-length feature of the claymation duo. Giant vegetables are protected by security systems.
WALL-E (2008) 9
Humans have left Earth, but a charming, curious robot is still cleaning up our mess.
Watchmen (2009) 9
Zack Snyder successfully films Alan Moore's graphic novel about an alternate, quantum America in 1985.

VERY GOOD

Adjustment Bureau, The (2011) 8
Politician Matt Damon and a ballerina are affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart.
Aerial, The (La Antena) (2008) 8
Near-silent black and white film from Argentina. A voiceless city. German Expressionism for the 2000s.
April and the Extraordinary World (2016) 8
Alternate universe ruled by coal and steam engines. Scientists have been disappearing. Fun French steampunk.
Arrival, The (1996) 8
Astronomer Charlie Sheen discovers intelligent alien life, but the aliens are keeping a deadly secret.
Attack the Block (2011) 8
A rowdy teen gang in South London exuberantly defends their block from an alien invasion.
Avatar (2009) 8
Cameron delivers a forbidden love story set in an extraordinary, photorealistic alien world. 3D wonderment.
Avengers, The (2012) 8
Nick Fury brings together Marvel superheroes to save the Earth from Loki. Very balanced effort.
Batman Begins (2005) 8
The prequel to the Batman series, directed by Christopher Nolan, includes an awesome Batmobile.
Big Hero 6 (2014) 8
A robotics prodigy and inflatable robot Baymax become covert heroes of San Fransokyo. High-tech Pixar.
Black Panther (2018) 8
The advanced African kingdom of Wakanda, powered by vibranium, is in transition. Socially conscious Marvel.
Box, The (2009) 8
Richard Kelly's third film is intriguing, frustrating, surreal and brimming with water imagery. Haunting absurdity.
Buster's Mal Heart (2017) 8
A motel concierge (possibly lost at sea), Y2K, and a cosmic event called the Inversion.
Cell, The (2000) 8
Psychotherapist Jennifer Lopez journeys inside a comatose serial killer's mind, hoping to recover information. Graphic.
Chronicle (2012) 8
Don't abuse your children or they might grow up to destroy Seattle with powerful telekinesis.
Cloud Atlas (2012) 8
An ambitious, sprawling epic from the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer. Complex, spectacular, gimmicky and disjointed.
Cloverfield (2008) 8
It's Godzilla epicness, Blair Witch Project shakiness, and Alien viciousness concealing a Manhattan love story.
Comet (2014) 8
Bittersweet, jumbled retelling of moments from a couple's six-year relationship. Dreamlike references to parallel universes.
Congress, The (2014) 8
Ambitious, futuristic amalgam of Hollywood actor digitization and animated illusory utopia. Trippy. Robin Wright stars.
Dark Knight Rises, The (2012) 8
Very emotionally dark film that rises to an impressive, satisfying finale for Nolan's Batman trilogy.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) 8
Ten years after the simian flu pandemic, human survivors and apes are drawn into battle.
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008) 8
Joss Whedon's three-part online musical miniseries. Filmed during the writers' strike, starring Neil Patrick Harris.
Fountain, The (2006) 8
Three stories of love/mortality that weave in the legendary quest for the Fountain of Youth.
Franklyn (2009) 8
In a future metropolis (see Dark City, Blade Runner) and contemporary London, Eva Green stars.
Girl Who Leapt Through Time, The (2008) 8
A Tokyo teen discovers she can suddenly time-travel. She mostly does it frivolously, and paradox-free.
I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (2007) 8
A troubled girl who attempts to charge her body with electronics meets another eccentric patient.
Incredibles 2 (2018) 8
Pixar superhero sequel that's much like the original, featuring mysterious villain Screenslaver. Jack-Jack has powers!
Iron Giant, The (1999) 8
A boy makes friends with a giant alien robot that the government wants to destroy.
Iron Man (2008) 8
Robert Downey Jr. builds an armored suit and decides to use the technology against evil.
K-PAX (2001) 8
Kevin Spacey is either extraterrestrial or delusional. And he eats a banana without peeling it.
Kung Fury (2015) 8
In 1985, a Miami cop goes back in time to kill Hitler. Over-the-top crowdfunded action-comedy.
Lobster, The (2016) 8
Absurd allegory for how society regards romantic relationships and loneliness. A provocative, original love story.
Men in Black (1997) 8
Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones must save the world from an intergalactic terrorist.
Monsters (2010) 8
Six years after aliens invaded Earth, two Americans enter the Infected Zone. Satisfying, affecting road-movie.
Nothing (2005) 8
Vincenzo Natali, the director of Cube, presents a film about nothing with his two friends.
Planet Terror (2007) 8
Rodriguez's half of Grindhouse. Rose McGowan mows down flesh-eating, mutating zombies with a machine-gun leg.
Prometheus (2012) 8
Waxes philosophical and connects the Aliens franchise with Chariots of the Gods and Jesus Christ.
Quiet Place, A (2018) 8
In the post-apocalypse, people live in silence while hiding from blind creatures with supersensitive hearing.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) 8
How the Rebel Alliance stole the Death Star plans. Occurs between Episodes III and IV.
Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, A (2020) 8
Aardman Animations with more endearing stop-motion slapstick, now featuring floppy-eared blue aliens on a farm.
Six-String Samurai (1998) 8
In a post-apocalyptic America, samurai guitarist Buddy Holly journeys to Lost Vegas to become king.
Skin I Live In, The (2011) 8
Almodóvar's dark-as-hell portrait of a plastic surgeon working to perfect synthetic human skin. Gorgeous, perverse.
Snowpiercer (2014) 8
Earth's remaining inhabitants are confined to a class-divided train circling the frozen globe. Stylish allegory.
Solaris (2002) 8
Soderbergh's remake is quite good, with much credit due to George Clooney and Natascha McElhone.
Spider-Man 2 (2004) 8
Tobey Maguire continues his demanding double life as student and superhero. Enter supervillain Dr. Octopus.
Splice (2010) 8
Intelligent creature feature focused on ethical quandaries in biotechnology. What's the worst that could happen?
Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013) 8
Well-crafted Abrams sequel explores the bromance between Kirk and Spock, introduces their most famous nemesis.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) 8
Abrams redeems the franchise as much as could be expected. WTF, giant Lincoln Memorial Gollum.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) 8
Another one! Rey finds hermit Luke Skywalker, then battles Kylo Ren and the First Order.
Sunshine (2007) 8
Could've been great science fiction, but it slips away with B-movie horror and religious metaphors.
Super 8 (2011) 8
In 1979, a mysterious train crash provides a monster-movie backdrop to a sweet love story.
THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut (2004) 8
Lucas restored his influential 1971 film, enhancing it with CGI magic (including lame shell dwellers).
Venture Bros. - Seasons One and Two, The (2006) 8
The warped misadventures of a middle-aged mad scientist, his teenage sons, and their maniac bodyguard.
X-Files: The Complete Collector's Edition, The (2002) 8
FBI agents Mulder and Scully investigate paranormal cases and discover alien conspiracies within our government.

GOOD

28 Days Later (2002) 7
Four weeks after a deadly virus spreads throughout the UK, a few survivors seek sanctuary.
28 Weeks Later (2007) 7
Bloody sequel to 28 Days Later. The rage virus annihilated Mainland Britain six months earlier.
9 (2009) 7
A visually stunning, steampunk world inhabited by robot rag dolls. Ending is weak, plot underdeveloped.
Advantageous (2015) 7
Dystopian future where a middle-aged woman undergoes a drastic biomedical procedure to support her daughter.
Alien: Resurrection (1997) 7
Part four of the series, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Stars Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder.
Animatrix, The (2003) 7
An anthology of nine short anime films detailing the backstory of the Matrix.
ARQ (2016) 7
Stuck in an accidental time loop in a dystopian future, a disoriented couple attempts survival.
Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, The (2005) 7
My childhood memories, now on DVD. A first-rate reMASTERing of this moralizing homoerotic 1980s toy-advert.
Bird Box (2018) 7
An almost unbearable horror that the survival of four-year-olds depends on them carefully following directions.
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) 7
Steve Rogers volunteers for a top-secret research project that turns him into Captain America. Charming.
Chappie (2015) 7
Both brazenly ridiculous and ingenious. Die Antwoord teaches a conscious AI how to do crimes.
Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury, The (2004) 7
Peter Chung's animated short film bridges the Riddick story between 'Pitch Black' and 'The Chronicles'.
Collection of 2005 Academy Award Nominated Short Films, A (2006) 7
Death abounds. I enjoyed Six Shooter and Jasper Morello. Hated the Moon and the Son.
Color Out of Space (2020) 7
Nicolas Cage in a grotesque H.P. Lovecraft adaptation. A glowing purple meteorite crashes into Massachusetts.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001) 7
On Mars in the year 2071, the Bebop crew tries to contain a deadly virus.
Elysium (2013) 7
In 2154, only the wealthy are citizens of a space station orbiting the ruined Earth.
Europa Report (2013) 7
Six astronauts travel to Jupiter's moon in search of life. NASA-style realism through found footage.
Fifth Element, The (1997) 7
New York cab driver Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich star in this futuristic action film.
Frankenweenie (2012) 7
Tim Burton's stop-motion love story between a boy and his (undead) dog. Classic horror homage.
Frequencies (2014) 7
Ambitiously explores philosophical notions of fate and free will in an alternate reality of frequencies.
Galaxy Quest (1999) 7
A funny parody of Star Trek-style sci-fi television shows, starring Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver.
Ghost in the Shell (2017) 7
Scarlett Johansson, now cyber-enhanced, is the perfect weapon. A big-budget spectacle that honors the anime.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) 7
Goofy, formulaic Marvel Universe blockbuster. Can an oddball group of intergalactic criminals save the galaxy?
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) 7
The ragtag, intergalactic crew fights to stay together and unravels the mystery of Quill's father.
H. (2016) 7
Two women named Helen struggle to cope following strange atmospheric phenomena in Troy, NY. Unsettling.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The (2005) 7
So long, and thanks for all the fish, Douglas Adams. And thanks for Zooey Deschanel.
Hunger Games, The (2012) 7
Jennifer Lawrence's soulfulness carries this televised survival competition in which teenagers fight to the death.
Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The (2013) 7
Jena Malone helps Jennifer Lawrence carry the sequel about rebellion following the 74th Hunger Games.
I, Robot (2004) 7
In 2035, detective Will Smith investigates a murder. Based on Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.
I Am Legend (2007) 7
Will Smith, sole survivor in New York City, seeks a cure for the deadly virus.
I Cannot Go on as I Am (2015) 7
Silent musical by Edgardo Flores. A woman loses her job and lover. Meaning in stillness.
Ink (2009) 7
High-concept visual thriller that weaves the conscious with the subconscious. Falls down on unconvincing acting.
Iron Man 2 (2010) 7
Fun, explosion-packed sequel that's almost as good as the first. Downey Jr. and Rourke shine.
Island, The (2005) 7
It's Logan's Run utopia meets Philip K. Dick paranoia, starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson.
Jurassic World (2015) 7
An enjoyably self-conscious, formulaic blockbuster of dinosaur de-extinctions. Part four! Bryce Dallas Howard is fun.
Lilo & Stitch (2002) 7
A Hawaiian girl adopts an unusual pet who is actually a notorious extraterrestrial fugitive.
Limitless (2011) 7
An experimental drug enables a struggling writer's success. Fun fantasy. Requires major suspension of disbelief.
Love & Teleportation (2013) 7
A disgraced quantum mechanics professor invents a teleportation machine in his garage. Clever, charming ending.
Lucy (2014) 7
Stylish, fast-paced existential thriller. But you must concede the utter nonsense about 10% brain capacity.
Lunopolis (2009) 7
Pseudo-documentary about aliens on the moon and a secret Scientology-like group. A fun, riveting conspiracy.
Matrix Reloaded, The (2003) 7
Part two of the Matrix trilogy. Agent Smith returns as a destructive computer virus.
Matrix Revolutions, The (2003) 7
Part three of the Matrix trilogy. The machine army reaches the human city of Zion.
Metropia (2010) 7
Bleak dystopian future of Europe with a fascinating, photomontage animation style. An unsettling Orwellian plot.
Mimic (1997) 7
Mutant cockroaches evolve into creatures able to mimic and destroy their predators. Stars Mira Sorvino.
Nines, The (2007) 7
The lives of a troubled actor, TV producer and video-game designer intertwine in mysterious ways.
Oblivion (2013) 7
A dazzling, futuristic Tom Cruise space vehicle. Sadly overexplains the post-apocalyptic mystery. Fuck you, Sally.
Okja (2017) 7
A Korean girl's best friend is a GMO created by a powerful corporation. Over-the-top antics.
Perfect Sense (2012) 7
Follows Ewan McGregor and Eva Green as an epidemic robs people of their sensory perceptions.
Pitch Black (2000) 7
Marooned space travelers struggle to survive on a deserted, sun-scorched world. Vin Diesel is Riddick.
Platform, The (2020) 7
A vertical prison with a food platform that descends each day. Grotesque metaphor of capitalism.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) 7
Interesting franchise origin story with dull characters. Heavy on special effects and light on significance.
Robot & Frank (2012) 7
An aging ex-jewel thief bonds with a robot butler programmed to look after him. Predictable.
Robot Stories (2004) 7
Four stories about a futuristic society grappling with its relationship to the growing robot population.
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) 7
As a deadly asteroid approaches, neighbors Steve Carell and Keira Knightley end up traveling together.
See You Yesterday (2019) 7
Two teen prodigies build makeshift time machines. A tragic Brooklyn police shooting gives them purpose.
Serenity (2005) 7
Finale to the cancelled Firefly TV series. Features space-age weaponry, martial arts, and witty dialogue.
Spider-Man (2002) 7
Tobey Maguire is bitten by a genetically engineered spider and subsequently wins Kirsten Dunst's love.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) 7
Anakin becomes Darth Vader. Woodenly acted, but better than the first two episodes it is.
Steamboy (2005) 7
In 1860s Britain, a boy inventor becomes involved in a revolution of steam power technology.
Superman Returns (2006) 7
Bryan Singer's reverent reboot of the Superman franchise. Good, but lacks surprises and new ideas.
Third Contact (2012) 7
Psychological thriller explores madness, depression, quantum suicide and immortality. It's a dark, puzzling poem.
Time Lapse (2015) 7
A mysterious device takes pictures 24 hours into the future. Engaging time-machine premise, passable acting.
TiMER (2010) 7
A biotech implant counts down to the moment you're supposed to meet your soulmate. Charming.
Tin Man (2007) 7
Dark re-imagining of the Land of Oz. Zooey Deschanel stars in this three-part Sci-Fi miniseries.
Tomorrowland (2015) 7
I can't resist the retro-futurism of 1960s World's Fairs. Magical adventure into an alternate dimension.
Turbo Kid (2015) 7
Good-natured 1980s nostalgia. A post-apocalyptic wasteland with bicycles. Fun homage. Laurence Leboeuf is a delight.
Transformers (2007) 7
Spectacularly rendered Autobot and Decepticon destruction. ADHD kids love these plotless nonsensical blasts.
TRON: Legacy (2010) 7
The son of virtual-world designer Flynn enters The Grid, 20 years after his father's disappearance.
Uncanny (2015) 7
A groundbreaking A.I. exhibits emergent behavior. Quite similar to 'Ex Machina' but actually predates it.
When Time Becomes a Woman (2013) 7
Dialogue-driven sci-fi filmed at Jordan's Dead Sea. Mysterious narrative about how the world could end.
World War Z (2013) 7
U.N. employee Brad Pitt races around the world trying to stop the deadly zombie pandemic.
X-Files: Fight the Future, The (1998) 7
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson must fight the government in a conspiracy about alien colonization.
X-Men (2000) 7
The superheroes from a private academy for mutants must oppose a powerful mutant terrorist organization.
X2: X-Men United (2003) 7
Mutants continue to struggle against fearful human society and are attacked by military forces.
Z for Zachariah (2015) 7
A radioactive global catastrophe. Three survivors? Mesmerizing first half. Weak love triangle. Clever water wheel.
Zero Theorem, The (2014) 7
A computer hacker trying to discover the meaning of life keeps being interrupted by Management.

FAIR

4th Dimension, The (2008) 6
Feels inspired by Eraserhead and Pi, but this Aphex Twin-scored meditation on reality ultimately disappoints.
Anon (2018) 6
Stylish but contrived. Amanda Seyfried is fun as the mystery hacker. DFE (delete fucking everything).
Butterfly Effect, The (2004) 6
An excellent concept. Did you really think Ashton Kutcher and friends could pull it off?
City of Ember (2008) 6
An underground city is falling apart after 200 years. Fairly dark for a kids' movie.
CQ (2002) 6
The story of a young sci-fi filmmaker in Paris. Model Angela Lindvall serves as eye-candy.
Deep Impact (1998) 6
Who will survive when a comet collides with Earth? It sucks much less than Armageddon.
Déjà Vu (2006) 6
Are you ready for the space-time continuum to get Bruckheimered? Explosions! Insulted intelligence! More explosions!
Embers (2015) 6
Survivors of a global neurological epidemic, unable to make memories, live entirely in the present.
Equilibrium (2002) 6
In a super-serious fascist future, Christian Bale has mastered the technique of the gun kata.
Face/Off (1997) 6
Undercover agent John Travolta and terrorist Nicolas Cage assume each other's identities by exchanging faces.
Faculty, The (1998) 6
High school students Jordana Brewster and Clea DuVall suspect that their teachers are becoming aliens.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005) 6
Beautifully rendered CGI could not hold my interest. For Final Fantasy video game fans only.
Forgotten, The (2004) 6
Julianne Moore is told that her nine-year-old son never existed. Who is fabricating reality?
Godzilla (2014) 6
Godzilla rises again in this nuclear-powered remake that spans the Pacific. Awesome monsters, dull humans.
Heroes - Seasons 1-3 (2009) 6
Cleverly structured graphic novel in TV-show format about people with diverse superpowers. It became unwatchable.
Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, The (2014) 6
Jennifer Lawrence's charisma is the only thing holding this trilogy together. Sadly underdeveloped, yet overdone.
In Time (2011) 6
Promising concept plays like a contrived mishmash of Logan's Run, Robin Hood, Bonnie and Clyde.
Incredible Hulk, The (2008) 6
Too bad the awkward computer-generated creatures killed the movie, despite Edward Norton. Noisy and boring.
Independence Day (1996) 6
Gigantic spaceships piloted by a mysterious alien species approach Earth. Then the White House explodes.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) 6
Indy battles the Soviets in 1957. Spielberg/Lucas feature Area 51 and interdimensional cosmic Mayan nonsense.
Into the Forest (2016) 6
Post-apocalyptic survivalist story with surprisingly limited hardship. The sisterhood of the talented Page and Wood.
John Carter (2012) 6
Hectic, violent CGI epic about Mars. Sort of fun, but I was never emotionally invested.
Love (2012) 6
Lonely astronaut stranded aboard the ISS develops cabin fever, becomes one with the universe. Posthumanism.
Multiplicity (1996) 6
Michael Keaton never has enough time, and so he has himself cloned. Andie MacDowell costars.
Next (2007) 6
Nicholas Cage can see the future. An unsatisfying Philip K. Dick adaptation of slow-mo explosions.
Origin: Spirits of the Past (2007) 6
In a post-apocalyptic anime future, cell-animated humans battle sentient forests with CG war machines.
OtherLife (2017) 6
Biological software can induce time-compressed virtual realities, or make false memories. A lonely, cautionary tale.
Pacific Rim (2013) 6
Predictable monster-robot movie that's smarter than Transformers, but silly. I expected more from del Toro.
Parallels (2015) 6
A mysterious building is the gateway to infinite parallel Earths. Interesting concept, but mediocre execution.
Push (2009) 6
Dakota Fanning was the only compelling part of this telekinetic incoherence set in Hong Kong.
Revolt (2017) 6
Amnesiac soldier Lee Pace wakes up during a cataclysmic alien invasion in the Kenyan countryside.
Self/less (2015) 6
Explores the premise of transplanting minds into new bodies. Turns into a conventional action movie.
Small Soldiers (1998) 6
When missile technology is used to enhance toy action figures, the toys go to war.
Southland Tales (2007) 6
Richard Kelly's dystopian, genre-defying mess of destruction and pop-culture doom. Bad actors cast on purpose?
Space Cowboys (2000) 6
A humorous bunch of geriatric NASA astronauts take turns bickering, apologizing, and being implausibly heroic.
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) 6
Jar Jar is muzzled, Yoda breaks out his light-saber, and Natalie Portman bares her midriff.
Tetsuo: The Bullet Man (2010) 6
The third film in Tsukamoto's series about technology's dehumanizing influence. Human bodies as weapons.
These Final Hours (2015) 6
Just hours before a global extinction event, most people go crazy. One man finds redemption.
Thirteenth Floor, The (1999) 6
A sci-fi thriller about computer-simulated universes where people only believe they are real.
Upside Down (2013) 6
If you can somehow accept the ludicrous science/impossible physics, it's charming. An ambitious love story.
Vanilla Sky (2001) 6
Tom Cruise's useless remake of Open Your Eyes. Penélope Cruz reprises her role, in English.
Wild Blue Yonder, The (2005) 6
Werner Herzog fashions a boring sci-fi documentary from beautiful undersea Antarctica footage and NASA video.
Yesterday Was a Lie (2010) 6
Ambitious indie that explores the sci-fi film noir genre. Packed with Jung and consciousness theories.
Zathura (2005) 6
A fairly charming family movie that explores childhood adventure. It's basically Jumanji in outer space.

ADEQUATE

2012 (2009) 5
So soulless and insulting that we don't care about billions dying in the global cataclysm.
Æon Flux (2005) 5
Charlize Theron is a stunning, athletic heroine. But they've destroyed the meaning of the series.
Beyond, The (2018) 5
Faux-documentary of astronauts, wormholes, cybernetics, alien life. Far-fetched pseudoscience. Solid visual effects.
Chronicles of Riddick, The (2004) 5
Five years after Pitch Black, wanted criminal Riddick arrives on a new planet. Weak script.
Cloverfield Paradox, The (2018) 5
Absurd, unstable jumble of sci-fi space horror that connects to the previous two Cloverfield movies.
Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) 5
Bizarre, nonsensical sequel packed with bad dialogue/acting. Devoid of Cube's existentialism and simplicity.
Evolution (2001) 5
I kept wishing for the alien life forms to kill David Duchovny and Orlando Jones.
Extinction (2018) 5
A father is plagued by nightmares of a deadly alien invasion. But there's a twist.
Fantastic Four (2005) 5
Exposure to cosmic radiation creates superhero scientists: Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, Thing, and Jessica Alba.
Frequency (2000) 5
A firefighter receives future-sent communications via a ham radio and some silly fluke involving sunspots.
Girl from Monday, The (2005) 5
Citizens have become property traded on the stock exchange, but aliens are supporting the resistance.
Halo Legends (2010) 5
Collection of seven Halo stories. Starts out heavy-handedly and badly animated, but eventually gets better.
Hellevator: The Bottled Fools (2005) 5
Had me with the underground dystopia and telepaths, lost me with the overdone elevator bloodbath.
Home (2015) 5
Adorable cuttlefish-like aliens attack Earth, then learn to love Rihanna's music. I guess? Zany, underdeveloped.
Host, The (2013) 5
From the writer of Twilight comes a poorly structured alien-human romance, presumably for adolescent girls.
How It Ends (2018) 5
After an apocalyptic event, a man travels west toward Seattle. How it ends is stupidly.
Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, The (2015) 5
The downhill slide concludes. Was almost wishing Katniss would shoot every character with an arrow.
iBoy (2017) 5
A teen gains superpowers after smartphone fragments enter his brain. Bruv, mind-hacking everything is easy!
Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) 5
Brendan Fraser travels to Iceland looking for Verne's lost subterranean world. Turn off your brain.
Knowing (2009) 5
A disappointment from Alex Proyas. I was ready for the apocalypse after two long hours.
Last Survivors, The (2015) 5
A teen girl tries to evade masked marauders in drought-stricken, post-apocalyptic Oregon. High body count.
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The (2003) 5
In an alternate Victorian Age world, Captain Nemo, Tom Sawyer, and Dr. Jekyll join forces.
Martian Child (2007) 5
It's emotional manipulation from Mars. This is K-PAX with a six-year-old instead of Kevin Spacey.
Men in Black II (2002) 5
A semi-amusing replica of the original popcorn flick. The train-station locker creatures steal the show.
Mist, The (2007) 5
A fairly derivative, depressing creature-horror film with too much religious ranting. Final scene is staggering.
Orbiter 9 (2018) 5
An engineer boards a young woman's spaceship, upends her sense of reality. Promising but unfocused.
Pandorum (2009) 5
Derivative sci-fi thriller on a spaceship. Crewmembers wake up with no knowledge of their mission.
Planet of the Apes (2001) 5
Tim Burton reimagines the original film, poorly. Absurd plot, bad satire, pirouetting apes, no significance.
Race to Witch Mountain (2009) 5
Good, family-friendly Disney fun that damages your will to live. Spectacularly bland and poorly written.
Reconstruction of William Zero, The (2015) 5
A geneticist with amnesia awakes under the care of his identical twin. Clever, but clumsy.
Resident Evil (2002) 5
That scene where Milla Jovovich kicks the crap out of undead Dobermans is pretty cool.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) 5
Skinny white chicks with guns brazenly kick zombie ass while trying to escape Raccoon City.
Spider-Man 3 (2007) 5
Boring/incoherent/awkward for 90 minutes, then three minutes of cool, then Venom and the climactic battle.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) 5
Terribly written dialogue combined with expensive special effects. Jar Jar Binks is unbelievably annoying.
Starship Troopers (1997) 5
Future humans battle giant alien bugs in a fight for survival, with nude co-ed showers.
Superstorm (2007) 5
Scientists attempt to divert or weaken a Miami-bound hurricane using cloud seeding. A miniseries docudrama.
Surrogates (2009) 5
Soulless industrial entertainment. Most humans live in isolation and interact entirely via glamorous surrogate robots.
Titan A.E. (2000) 5
In 3028, cartoon Earth prepares for an attack by the Drej, a vicious alien race.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) 5
Unrelenting sound and fury. I appreciated the alternate Apollo and Chernobyl histories. But it's vapid.
Wrinkle in Time, A (2018) 5
I watched for the tesseracts. So much promise, an enormous budget, with TV-grade acting. Perplexing.

FROM BAD TO WORSE

Armageddon (1998) CRAP
A deep-core drilling team pretends to be astronauts in this Jerry Bruckheimer popcorn flick.
Astronaut's Wife, The (1999) CRAP
Astronaut Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron star in this stupid update of Rosemary's Baby.
Batman & Robin (1997) CRAP
Batman George Clooney, Uma Thurman and Alicia Silverstone starred in this contrived, colossal waste.
Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 (2000) CRAP
In the year 3000, an alien race tries to enslave humanity. Scientologist John Travolta presides.
Deep Rising (1998) CRAP
A giant squid attacks a luxurious cruise ship. At least jewel-thief Famke Janssen doesn't suck.
Event Horizon (1997) CRAP
In 2047, Laurence Fishburne captains a questionable crew of astronauts prone to hallucinations and death.
Gamer (2009) CRAP
Brainless, ultraviolent sci-fi mishmash of bad writing, bad acting, jerky editing, digital effects and boobs.
Ghosts of Mars (2001) CRAP
Unintentional comedy, starring Natasha Henstridge and Ice Cube, in which Mars colonists become possessed.
Godzilla (1998) CRAP
A giant Japanese-inspired, American-ruined CGI spectacle of capitalistic entertainment.
Hollow Man (2000) CRAP
Who would you rape or kill if you could turn invisible? This is boringly dumb.
Impostor (2002) CRAP
A Philip K. Dick adaptation gone wrong. Is engineer Gary Sinise actually an alien android?
Lost in Space (1998) CRAP
Danger Will Robinson! You are Earth's only hope. But your space movie sucks, a lot.
Mission to Mars (2000) CRAP
A boringly sentimental movie about a Mars Recovery Mission. Stars Gary Sinise and Tim Robbins.
New Rose Hotel (1999) CRAP
Incoherent, completely worthless adaptation of a William Gibson story. An insufferable, redundant waste of time.
Red Planet (2000) CRAP
Val Kilmer and Carrie-Anne Moss are on Mars in 2050, trying to save humanity.
S. Darko (2009) CRAP
Cash-grab follow-up to Donnie Darko. Huge plot holes and weak characters, but exceeded worst expectations.
Signs (2002) CRAP
M. Night Shyamalan and Mel Gibson really crapped the bed with this lame alien-invasion movie.
Species II (1998) CRAP
American astronauts land on Mars. Even Natasha Henstridge's nudity can't redeem this lame sci-fi bloodbath.
Sphere (1998) CRAP
An underwater sci-fi thriller with Dustin Hoffman and Samuel L. Jackson that somehow really sucks.
Stranded (2003) CRAP
Astronauts crash onto the surface of Mars. Intriguing concept, but bad science and idiotic script.
Supernova (2000) CRAP
A deep-space search and rescue mission that, like the film, goes horribly wrong.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) CRAP
A tedious and loathsome sequence of explosions. Despite childhood nostalgia, I hoped everyone might die.
Tuxedo, The (2002) CRAP
Chauffer Jackie Chan wears a special gadget-laden tuxedo. Jennifer Love Hewitt is also present.
Virus (1999) CRAP
Jamie Lee Curtis fights an electromagnetic alien lifeform. It's a nicely polished turd.
White Noise (2005) CRAP
A crummy paranormal movie, but watch the DVD's cool special features about Electronic Voice Phenomena.
Wild Wild West (1999) CRAP
Stars gunslinger Will Smith and Salma Hayek. Features a giant steam-powered spider, with Gatling guns.

Statistical ratings distribution of these 306 films

bell curve

6.5

CRAP

6.9

10:

5.6%

16.3%

17.3%

24.8%

14.4%

13.1%

CRAP:

8.5%

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Movie Ratings & Reviews

Sci-Fi Films (1996-2024)