8 of the Best Sci-Fi Films of All Time

Goodfellas

When I Googled the definition of ‘sci-fi’, I discovered that some of the determining aspects include science, technology and time travel. As such, only one film seemed plausible: Martin Scorsese’s 1990 classic Goodfellas. 

Let’s start with science, and in particular the way Henry (Ray Liotta) and Sandy (Debi Mazar) cut their cocaine in order to double their profit margins. They’ve got scales, metal ball things. Probably a bunsen burner. I dunno. It looks scientific though. And technology? Forget about it. We’ve got cars, guns, planes, recording devices. You name it. Which brings us to time travel – half the film is set in 1955, and half is set in the late seventies. Mind blowing. Ashley Carter (Editor)

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

People often criticise the Star Wars prequels. They’re stupid, some say. They’re slow and self-indulgent, others claim. Their CGI aged like James Gunn’s Twitter account, the rest attest. Well, all of these people are dead wrong. The prequels are individual gems, coalescing to create one extended masterpiece. And which film in the trilogy represents its pinnacle? Well, where it all began, of course. 

Rag on Jar Jar Binks all you like, but he proved critical in protecting the safety and security of Naboo when everyone else in the galaxy had left them for dead. Mug off pod racing if you fancy, but remember that young Anakin has more game than every one of you readers combined. And complain that the script is a cringe-worthy, lethargic and dialogue-heavy example of the horrors that an unsupervised George Lucas can inflict upon the world should you feel like it, but understand that you’re failing to appreciate an in-depth interrogation of inter-galactic politics at its most tantalising. You see, The Phantom Menace is no menace at all – it’s the finest sci-fi film of all time. George White (Screen Co-Editor) 

The End of Evangelion

Sci-fi films often get a bad rap for being too complex, but The End of Evangelion takes inaccessibility to another level. Impossible to make sense of without watching the preceding 26-episode TV series, and not much easier to comprehend even if you have, Hideaki Anno’s magnum opus is as esoteric as a film about giant robots can get.

That said, try your best to keep up with Anno’s grandiose ideas and you’ll discover that this surrealist epic is one of the most fervent depictions of depression ever brought to the big screen, using apocalyptic stakes to amplify the inner struggles of its trauma-stricken protagonists. Its unforgettable visuals and stirring character arcs place it among the sci-fi genre’s most essential works – and those seriously impressive mecha fight scenes are not to be missed. Jamie Morris (Screen Co-Editor)

Alien

Forty years after its release, sci-fi horror has never been as visceral as in Alien, and Ridley Scott's masterpiece still has an unparalleled insidiousness. The creature itself, a writhing, oozing, steampunked manifestation of our darkest fears, is something that has lurked amongst the nether regions of our subconscious for what seems like forever. 

Ridley Scott and the fantastic cast's handling of the socio-economic tensions of the Nostromo - a story of class division, greed and malpractice resulting in a tragedy that could have been prevented if not for human error - feels all too timely. Alien is ultimately about the disembowelment of the human ego; for all of our technological expansion and exploration, all it takes is an uncontainable force of nature, a ‘perfect organism… unclouded by conscience, remorse or delusions of morality’, to slash us down the food-chain. Aaron Roe

Silent Running

Before Wall-E, there was Dewey. Dewey is a robot trained to tend plants that have been rescued from a post-apocalyptic Earth and are now growing in huge spaceships. But orders have come in to destroy the plant life and return the ships to freight services. Plants and trees are a luxury that humans have decided to do without, with the exception of Bruce Dern’s character Lowell, a kaftan-wearing environmentalist who decides to disobey orders and take serious steps to ensure their survival.

While some called the treatment of environmental issues heavy handed and sentimental, the film is still relevant today in terms of humankind’s casual disregard of the planet. Watching it as a child, its melancholy nature had a huge impact on me and it remains a quiet classic. Sue Barsby

On the Silver Globe

Andrzej Zulawski started work on On the Silver Globe in the mid-seventies after he asked to return to native Poland (having been previously exiled). However, the Polish Minister of Culture ordered the production to be stopped and all content to be destroyed. Fortunately, the footage was eventually released in 1988 and, whilst being incomplete, it is an incredibly unique and dense science-fiction film. 

Silver Globe follows a group of scientists who leave Earth in search of starting afresh on a new planet. Zulawski has a fairly pessimistic view on humanity, and it doesn't take long before the new world has plunged into many of the evils that happened on Earth. Otherworldly is really the only way to describe this film; every scene seems imbued with this genuine sense of unearthliness. It is a must see for anyone interested in weird art flicks. Oliver Parker

The Martian

For me, The Martian has always been a stand-out film. I rarely rewatch a movie, but I must have seen this four or five times since its initial release. The reason? It's a film that has absolutely refused to fall into any stereotypes of the sci-fi genre. There are no bad guys, the fate of the world isn't at risk, and there aren't any attempts to bend the rules of physics (too far, at least). It's a movie with humour and heart; it's about endurance and ingenuity. And the best part? Friendship shapes the whole narrative, with a group of scientists risking it all to rescue their stranded colleague before he goes completely insane or dies in the wilderness of Mars (oh, and there is a truly brilliant bit where he refers to himself as a pirate). Hollie Anderson

Blade Runner 2049

The 1982 Blade Runner is a bonafide classic, and its sequel, Blade Runner 2049, expands and improves on the original in every single way. Director Denis Villeneuve makes the cyberpunk world feel more alive, every character more nuanced, and each frame more striking - managing to do justice to Ridley Scott’s vision without abandoning what made the first film sci-fi royalty.

Agent K’s journey, from run-of-the-mill Blade Runner to replicant prophet and back again, is powerful and worryingly relatable as 2049 once again analyses what it means to be human in a world where it’s harder and harder to tell the difference. If that somehow hasn’t sold you already, then two and half hours of a broody Ryan Gosling putting in the performance of his career ought to do the trick. It’s a true modern masterpiece and can go toe-to-toe with any movie in the genre. Nathan Warby