In case you missed the memo, science fiction isn’t just for nerds anymore. In truth, it never really was. While often marginalised as a niche interest, the best sci-fi films do what every good movie strives to do: tell us something about ourselves and the world around us. The only difference is that it might invent an entirely different world – if not an entire universe – to do so. Ultimately, the sci-fis that stick out are the ones that deal with themes and issues anyone can relate to, not just the geeks writing 4000-word theoretical treatises on fan forums – and that was true even before it became one of entertainment’s most bankable genres.
To that end, in order to put together our list of the 100 best sci-fi movies ever made, we asked a wide-ranging panel of experts, from Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Sir Paul Nurse, to Oscar-decorated film director Guillermo del Toro, to Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin, along with a few regular old Time Out writers. As a result, it’s a list that crisscrosses the sci-fi universe, from Tatooine to Arrakis, Metropolis to Los Angeles circa, uh, 2019.
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🦄 The 50 best fantasy movies of all-time
😲 The 100 best thrillers of all-time
🧨 The 101 best action movies of all-time
