Few film genres spark the imagination quite like science fiction. From soaring space adventures to chilling dystopian futures and mind-bending thrillers, sci-fi consistently pushes the boundaries of storytelling and visual effects. It offers a unique lens through which to explore complex ideas about humanity, technology, and what lies beyond our current understanding.
For those keen to explore the genre’s best, we’ve compiled a definitive list. Our selection features the top 20 sci-fi movies, ensuring you’ll find quality viewing whether you’re after a classic or something more recent. Blast-off into some truly unforgettable cinematic experiences with these 20 movies!
What are the best sci fi movies?
When curating a list of the best sci-fi movies, a clear and consistent approach is essential. Our ranking system prioritises latest releases, major blockbusters, and certified favourites, ensuring a data-driven foundation for our selections. But we understand that a truly comprehensive guide requires more than just these factors, which is why we’ve also included key details for each film.
Every entry in our top 20 features its title, the director at the helm, and a summary of the main cast. We also note where you can find each movie by listing the streaming service available in Australia. This detailed breakdown ensures you have all the necessary information at your fingertips.
2:22
Thriller •Mystery •Drama •Sci-fi •Romance
Overview
Two planes almost collide after a blinding flash of light paralyzes air traffic controller Dylan Branson for a few seconds. Suspended from his job, Dylan starts to notice an ominous pattern of sounds and events that repeats itself in exactly the same manner every day, ending precisely at 2:22 p.m. Also drawn into a complex relationship with a woman, Dylan must figure out a way to break the power of the past and take control of time itself.
Director
Paul Currie
Cast
Michiel Huisman, Teresa Palmer, Sam Reid, John Waters, Richard Davies
Duration
99 minutes
28 Weeks Later
Horror •Sci-fi •Mystery •Thriller
Overview
The inhabitants of the British Isles have lost their battle against the onslaught of disease, as the deadly rage virus has killed every citizen there. Six months later, a group of Americans dare to set foot on the Isles, convinced the danger has passed. But it soon becomes all too clear that the scourge continues to live, waiting to pounce on its next victims.
Director
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Cast
Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Catherine McCormack
Duration
100 minutes
Upgrade
Sci-fi •Action •Thriller •Adventure •Mystery
Overview
A brutal mugging leaves Grey Trace paralyzed in the hospital and his beloved wife dead. A billionaire inventor soon offers Trace a cure — an artificial intelligence implant called STEM that will enhance his body. Now able to walk, Grey finds that he also has superhuman strength and agility — skills he uses to seek revenge against the thugs who destroyed his life.
Director
Leigh Whannell
Cast
Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson, Melanie Vallejo, Benedict Hardie
Duration
96 minutes
Man of Steel
Action •Adventure •Sci-fi
Overview
A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.
Director
Zack Snyder
Cast
Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe
Duration
137 minutes
Brick
Sci-fi •Mystery •Thriller •Drama
Overview
When a mysterious brick wall encloses their apartment building overnight, Tim and Olivia must unite with their wary neighbors to get out alive.
Director
Philip Koch
Duration
99 minutes
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Action •Adventure •Sci-fi •Mystery •Thriller •War •Drama
Overview
64 years before he becomes the tyrannical president of Panem, Coriolanus Snow sees a chance for a change in fortunes when he mentors Lucy Gray Baird, the female tribute from District 12.
Director
Francis Lawrence
Cast
Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman, Peter Dinklage
Duration
157 minutes
The Wild Robot
Animation •Sci-fi •Family •Kids
Overview
After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island’s animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.
Director
Chris Sanders
Cast
Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu
Duration
102 minutes
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Action •Adventure •Sci-fi •Fantasy
Overview
Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.
Director
Zack Snyder
Cast
Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams
Duration
145 minutes
Dune: Part Two
Sci-fi •Adventure •Action •Drama
Overview
Follow the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, Paul endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
Director
Denis Villeneuve
Cast
Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler
Duration
167 minutes
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Animation •Action •Adventure •Sci-fi •Fantasy •Family •Kids
Overview
After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters the Spider Society, a team of Spider-People charged with protecting the Multiverse’s very existence. But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must set out on his own to save those he loves most.
Director
Justin K. Thompson
Cast
Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jason Schwartzman, Oscar Isaac, Brian Tyree Henry
Duration
140 minutes
World War Z
Horror •Action •Adventure •Sci-fi •Mystery •Thriller
Overview
Life for former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane and his family seems content. Suddenly, the world is plagued by a mysterious infection turning whole human populations into rampaging mindless zombies. After barely escaping the chaos, Lane is persuaded to go on a mission to investigate this disease. What follows is a perilous trek around the world where Lane must brave horrific dangers and long odds to find answers before human civilization falls.
Director
Marc Forster
Cast
Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Ludi Boeken
Duration
111 minutes
The Hunger Games
Sci-fi •Action •Adventure •Thriller •Mystery
Overview
Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. The world will be watching.
Director
Gary Ross
Cast
Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks
Duration
143 minutes
Edge of Tomorrow
Sci-fi •Action •Adventure
Overview
Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again… and again – as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop.
Director
Doug Liman
Cast
Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton, Jonas Armstrong
Duration
113 minutes
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Sci-fi •Family •Kids •Fantasy •Action •Adventure
Overview
An alien is left behind on Earth and saved by the 10-year-old Elliot who decides to keep him hidden in his home. While a task force hunts for the extra-terrestrial, Elliot, his brother, and his little sister Gertie form an emotional bond with their new friend, and try to help him find his way home.
Director
Steven Spielberg
Cast
Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Robert MacNaughton, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace
Duration
110 minutes
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Sci-fi •Action •Adventure
Overview
As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.
Director
George Miller
Cast
Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, George Shevtsov
Duration
148 minutes
Godzilla Minus One
Action •Drama •Sci-fi •Horror •Adventure
Overview
In postwar Japan, a new terror rises. Will the devastated people be able to survive… let alone fight back?
Director
Takashi Yamazaki
Cast
Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka
Duration
125 minutes
Mad Max: Fury Road
Action •Adventure •Sci-fi
Overview
An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order.
Director
George Miller
Cast
Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne
Duration
120 minutes
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Sci-fi •Action •Adventure •Mystery •Thriller
Overview
Set ten years after the events of the original, James Cameron’s classic sci-fi action flick tells the story of a second attempt to get rid of rebellion leader John Connor, this time targeting the boy himself. However, the rebellion has sent a reprogrammed terminator to protect Connor.
Director
James Cameron
Cast
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick, Earl Boen
Duration
137 minutes
Dredd
Action •Sci-fi •Crime •Adventure
Overview
In a violent, futuristic metropolis, a law-enforcement officer and his rookie trainee become caught up in a high-stakes conflict with a vicious prostitute-turned-drug lord.
Director
Pete Travis
Cast
Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey, Wood Harris, Langley Kirkwood
Duration
92 minutes
Tenet
Action •Sci-fi •Thriller •Mystery •Adventure
Overview
Armed with only one word – Tenet – and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.
Director
Christopher Nolan
Cast
John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh, Dimple Kapadia
Duration
144 minutes
Frequently asked questions
Science fiction films typically explore speculative concepts, often involving advanced technology, future societies, space travel, or extraterrestrial life. They use these elements to tell engaging stories, frequently examining what it means to be human, the impact of scientific progress, or challenging our understanding of reality. You’ll find a blend of imagination and thought-provoking ideas.
While many top-tier sci-fi films are available to stream in Australia, availability can vary. Streaming services regularly update their libraries, so a movie might be on one platform today and another tomorrow, or even rotate off services entirely. Our list aims to provide current availability, but it’s always a good idea to double-check.
Our selections are carefully made using a clear methodology. For this sci-fi list, we focused on films with high IMDb ratings to ensure popular and critically acclaimed choices. We then cross-referenced these with Australian streaming availability to offer you genuinely streamable recommendations.
The sci-fi genre is incredibly diverse! You’ll often come across space opera, with its grand adventures and epic conflicts, like Star Wars, while dystopian futures, showing bleak societies, are another common theme, as are mind-bending thrillers that play with perception and reality. Other popular types include cyberpunk, alien invasion stories, and time travel narratives.
Our list embraces a wide range of sci-fi films, spanning various eras. You’ll find beloved classics that have stood the test of time alongside more recent blockbusters. The aim is to give you a well-rounded selection of the genre’s best, regardless of their release year, all ranked by their IMDb scores.
The IMDb rating is a widely recognised and respected metric, reflecting a large audience’s collective opinion on a film’s quality. By using it as our primary ranking factor, we aim to provide a credible and objective foundation for our “best of” list, making it easy for you to identify highly regarded movies.
Some of the films on our list might occasionally be available on free streaming services in Australia, particularly those with ad-supported models. However, the majority of the top-rated sci-fi movies typically reside on subscription-based platforms. We’ll always indicate which service hosts each film.
We strive to keep our content current and relevant. Streaming availabilities and IMDb ratings can shift, so we regularly review and update our “best of” movie lists. This ensures that the information you find here is as accurate and helpful as possible for your next sci-fi movie night.
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