27
votes
Science fiction movie recommendations
I just signed back up for the Netflix dvd subscription and am looking for some sci-fi movie recommendations. I tend to not like the horror themes but am open to just about anything else (even "bad" movies that are so bad they are good). Looking for movies that have come out in the last decade or so. May also be open to television series that can be had on dvd that were not on Netflix streaming.
Hmm. What good scifi is likely to be lying around on DVD in their archives.
Also look into the Maze Runner series, I think there's four of them now. Not entirely terrible and some great moments.
There's more in my library here but that'll set you for the last decade. I haven't seen all of these yet myself but I left the derpy ones (that I knew about) and anything with a horror theme off the list. That should get you started. If I saw it and liked it, I made a note. I can do this all the way back to 1927 if you like. :)
Thanks for the list! It has a lot of stuff I liked so I will check out what I haven't watched yet.
I would add two more to it:
A few more to consider
The Mandalorian 2019 - save it to your queue and hope for the best
Planet of the Apes has about three remakes of the Heston original, All three are totally brilliant.
Westworld 2016 remake of the 1973 Yul Brynner Classic. The first season is better than the original movie. The second season.... lost me.
District 9 2009 classic.
Wall-E 2008 Pixar movie that has no dialogue for about the first 15 minutes, yet speaks a thousand words.
Dr Who 2005-now, the new doctor is brilliant.
The Day the Earth Stood Still 1950 classic that you have not seen and shame on you because it is brilliant.
One Cut of the Dead is the Einstein of horror movies. It is that fucking smart. Horror. Not Sci Fi. Highly underrated.
Black Mirror is netflix streaming.
The Boys is Prime Video.
Sorry. You are missing out on those last two.
Made me cringe, don't know why it keeps getting recommended.
That being said, de gustibus non est disputandum.
I’ll agree with the suggestion that Annihilation is a great sci-fi movie and is gorgeous and you should watch it while disagreeing that it isn’t that smart. You should watch it!
Man I feel like the only person who thought that Snowpiercer was a horrible movie.
I enjoyed Elysium, but District 9 was a much better movie. Although, it's funny how often I think about Elysium as I watch society progress towards that seemingly inevitable fate.
You're not alone, I can't believe Snowpiercer gets the praise that it does. Besides some good production design, bleh.
I don't know if these are on Netflix, but I enjoyed these two:
Brazil -- The UK in 1985 was fucking weird and scary. Thatcher was in power; we feared nuclear destruction (eg our geography lessons included maps of the UK with fallout plumes overlaid on certain towns); interacting with government was a baffling experience. So Brazil really tapped into this level of bureaucratic paranoia.
Upstream Color I like this film more than the critics do. Critics always try to describe the film and the plot, and that's a mistake. You need to set aside some time and just go along for the ride. Allow the world building to grab you. I love his work.
If you are looking for good recommendations, I'll put forth Arrival and Cloud Atlas.
If you are looking for bad recommendations, I'll recommend the live-action Ghost in the Shell, Ready Player One, Jupiter Ascending, and Tomorrowland. They may be bad, but I liked them anyways.
Everyone hated Valerian but I think that it was one of the best movies of the decade.
I actually left Valerian off my list for the derp factor. It's not that bad, just one of those overdone CGI festivals that wear thin on me.
We have not seen most of these, but the trailers look exactly like what we're looking for (so much so, that I would love to see any other recommendations in any other genre that you like).
Only partly apropos this thread, i just watched Battle Beyond the Stars. Is that whence your username?
My username is 100% original. But this is not the first time I have found something else using my name.
Altered Carbon was awesome. I've watched the first season enough times that I can background it to go to sleep (except the first episode where I always have to pop in and watch the first real interaction with Poe).
I read the book first and it unfortunately ruined the show for me. The plot was made a mess and many characters were merged together to fit on TV. I know it's not required, but the fact many characters were also so different from the book created a lot of dissonance personally. A shame, since I absolutely love the setting.
Quincidentally I found there is some kind of anime adaptation also on netflix. Will have to take a look, although it doesn't have very good reviews..
I didn't read the book, but I thought the show had a good start and quickly degenerated. Might be one of the worst sci-fi I've ever watched.
All quite different to each other, and all amazing in my opinion.
District 9
Also, Moon (this is one of my all time favorite movies, highly recommend). I didn't link to the Wikipedia article for Moon, because it's really important you don't spoil anything. Here's all the background you need to know for Moon: it's the future, and humanity's primary source of energy is Helium-3 harvested from the moon in an almost fully-automated mining operation that still requires at least one human caretaker. Moon is just about what happens during the last two weeks of the latest caretaker's five year contract before returning home back to Earth to his family. But it's also so much more... Watch it! You won't be disappointed :)
Time for round two. Let's do 2000-2009, because I'm sick of watching politics today. :P
The further back in time we go the better I'll be at this, since scifi as a genre has been on the decline at least in film for some time now. I'd appreciate any I missed, I'm sure there are lots of unsung gems out there, particularly in foreign films.
Let's plug three that everyone missed because Matrix...
We have to knock down a few series here since some of them had releases in the 2000s.
As for Star Wars, calling it scifi is pushing it - it's fantasy in a scifi wrapper. Only Harmy's Despecialized Edition of the original trilogy exists. All other star wars properties are just an online conspiracy theory. :P
You may have also noticed that scifi took a dive into the gutter and fetishized dystopias the last two decades. Finding scifi films that aren't set in a post-apocalyptic hellscape or focused on military conflicts is rare now.
Edit: Man, I'm reviewing these trailers and wow, in retrospect 90s/00s trailers are just the worst.
Re: The Butterfly Effect, it's a decent enough movie however the alternate ending from the DVD makes it a great movie, IMO. It's way darker.
Primer is probably the best time travel movie I ever watched.
Coherence is a mindblowing story made with zero budget.
"Primer" is probably the most realistic example of time travel in film, but it's pretty confusing (not that that's bad).
"Predestination" has perhaps the most well tied up and solid time travel premise I've ever seen, it's great.
I wouldn’t call Primer confusing, but rather intricate. It doesn’t shy away from the inherent complexity of time travel.
Predestination is based on the awesome short story All You Zombies, which is worth checking out.
I'm gonna go a bit against the grain here and recommend some older (pre-90s) scifi movies since everyone has covered the modern stuff admirably already. And beyond the classics, I will also try to include a bunch of relatively unknown/overlooked/underrated but still solid ones too. You may not actually be able to get a lot these on DVD anymore, especially through Netflix, but if you can find them they are all worth watching, IMO.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
It's incredible how well this movie holds up. The 2008 remake was decent, but honestly wasn't anywhere near as good as the original.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Different enough to both be worth watching. I personally prefer the 1978 movie, but the original is still very good too.
Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
This is an incredibly underrated movie. I have never once seen it mentioned when people talk about classic scifi, but it deserves to be up there with the other greats, IMO.
THX 1138 (1971)
Not the greatest movie, but still very good. Makes me wish George Lucas kept making more scifi outside of Star Wars.
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
An absolute classic for a reason. It's a solid, suspenseful scifi flick, but admittedly does feel a bit dated these days.
Silent Running (1972)
Definitely not for everyone, since it's quite slow. However I think it's a lovely character piece about isolation, similar to 2009's Moon.
Solyaris (1972)
Also definitely not for everyone, since it's also quite slow. But this is one of the best scifi films to ever come out of Russia, and ranks among my all-time favorite scifi movies. The 2002 American remake was not horrible, but far, far inferior.
Logan's Run (1976)
This movies is 70s as hell... so can be incredibly campy at times, and it's very cheesy looking, but still great, and an absolute classic.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Suspenseful, mysterious, and a beautiful Spielberg classic. Richard Dreyfuss also absolutely kills it in this movie. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor a remedy that immediately.
Alien (1979)
What can I really say that hasn't already been said about this movie. It's a classic for good reason.
Mad Max (1979)
Despite also being a classic, this one is a bit harder to recommend. The other Mad Max movies are far better, IMO.
Stalker (1979)
I can't in good conscience recommend this movie without some serious caveats. It's sloooooooooooooooooooow, doesn't have a traditional plot structure, and at times doesn't make any logical sense. However, if you can just relax your critical thinking long enough to let the movie immerse you in the world it creates, I think it's incredibly beautiful and thought-provoking.
Altered States (1980)
Bizarre, trippy, and thought-provoking, but undeniably flawed. Not for everyone, but I found it incredibly compelling.
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
If you haven't seen this movie, I feel bad for you, but also jealous since you get to watch it for the first time. ;) Go watch it now!
Escape from New York (1981)
John Carpenter + Kurt Russel. What more could you want? It's campy, and cheesy as hell, but intentionally so, and a boatload of fun as a result.
Outland (1981)
Somewhat mindless action, but still lots of fun. It's Sean Connery in spaaaaaaace. ;)
The Thing (1982)
John Carpenter at his absolute best. One of the best scifi horror film ever made, IMO. The entire cast is great in it too.
Videodrome (1983)
Very similar to Altered States; see above.
Dune (1984)
Dune is by far my favorite scifi books series, which I have reread countless times now... and despite everyone else who is a Dune fan generally shitting on this movie, I actually quite like it. It's campy, and a bit slow, and doesn't hold up amazingly well, but I still love it.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Similar to MM2... go watch it now!
The Quiet Earth (1985)
A somewhat standard post-apoc "last man on Earth" type movie from Australia. It not the greatest, but is still worth watching, IMO.
Brazil (1985)
Words cannot really describe this movie. It's bloody bizarre and brain breaking, but brilliant. One of my all-time favorite movies by one of my all-time favorite directors (Terry Gilliam).
Enemy Mine (1985)
It's basically the ST:TNG episode Darmok, but made 6 years before it, and with slightly more compelling action.
Aliens (1986)
Also one of the best scifi horror film ever made, IMO. Go watch this now, if you haven't seen it yet!
Flight of the Navigator (1986)
It's ostensibly a kids' movie even though it's quite dark, and it's not the greatest movie... but it's still one of my absolute favorites. I usually rewatch this every couple years, along with my other favorite "kids' movies"; Labyrinth, NeverEnding Story, Princess Bride, The Goonies, etc. So that should tell you at least some of the company I think it keeps.
The Fly (1986)
Cronenberg body horror classic. Not much more to say. Go watch it. It's great.
Kin-dza-dza! (1986)
This is stretching my "still solid" promise at the start, since it's incredibly slow, and verges on "so bad it's good" territory at times. It is interesting regardless though, and at times feeling a bit like Waiting for Godot in spaaaaaace. Plus, even if you can't find the DVD, you can watch the digitally remastered version for free on the film-makers YouTube channel (make sure to turn on subs).
Predator (1987)
Mindless action, but awesome nonetheless. Again, if you haven't seen this, you're missing out and should remedy the situation immediately!
Spaceballs (1987)
You can never go wrong with Mel Brooks, and this is no exception. If you like Star Wars, and like parody comedy, then this is the movie for you. I can quote most of it by heart I have seen it so many times. ;)
Innerspace (1987)
Comedy scifi adventure. Not the greatest, but funny and a lot of fun, IMO.
The Running Man (1987)
This movie is absolutely terrible, IMO... but it's so terrible it's good. Dumb as hell, but lots of fun.
RoboCop (1987)
It's RoboCop. It's fucking great. What more can I say?
They Live (1988)
Also not the greatest, but a lot of fun as well. Cult classic for a reason.
Akira (1988)
One of the best anime movies ever made, IMO. Dark, bizarre, and beautiful.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
I recently rewatched this before playing Grounded (which is clearly inspired by it) with a friend, and it holds up surprisingly well. The movie was far better than the game. ;)
Yes yes yes, back when scifi was less dystopian. I'll plug...
Tron and Blade Runner are also 80s children.
Oof. You just made me feel legitimately ashamed for forgetting to mention Short Circuit, The Abyss, Time Bandits (another Gilliam classic), Tron, and Blade Runner (one of the best scifi films ever made... the Final Cut of it, anyways). I will also second Millennium, The Last Starfighter, Starman, and Ice Pirates as well. And I will have to check out Gandahar, The Wraith, Starchaser, and 2010 since I haven't actually seen them.
p.s. The Black Hole (1979) is another campy but fun one we both failed to mention as well.
Well if we get to go old school, you forgot Alphaville, Liquid Sky, and Red Dwarf. Also maybe Repo Man and a movie i can no longer find any reference to fromthe late 80’s but whoch was top notch scifi, Split.
Edit: found split.
I can’t remember how old they are, but two of my recent favorites are Moon and Europa report. Mandy was also excellent but maybe that’s more horror. I say it because i don’t care much for horror either but really enjoyed it.
Primer is GREAT. You should also check Upstream Color while you're at it.
Just thought of a lighter sci-if: Star Trek: First Contact. It’s got Star Trek TNG, the Borg, time travel, and pre-contact earth all rolled into one!
Late to the party, but I recently saw Mutafukaz (MFKZ), a 2017 animated Franco-Japanese production, which was quite nice.
Children of Men is a must-watch.
Saw that one in theater and I second the recommendation.
My queue is super full now, and I still haven't looked at all the trailers! Though I have seen most of the older movies listed, there are some I haven't that I am looking forward to watching. Thank you to everyone for your suggestions.
Not movies, but Dark is the best science fiction show I've ever seen, and it's not particularly close.
Also, The Expanse (Amazon Prime) is a pretty good adaptation of a better book series.
I don't know. Do they? I don't mind foreign sci-fi as long as I can get sub-titles.
Just in case you missed it, @monarda is talking about their DVD-by-mail service, which has a much greater library.
I should have put that in my title. Sorry about the confusion!