Sci-fi author S. Craig Zahler's favorite sci-fi movies and television shows
This list is of movies and shows that have scientific underpinnings and evoke a sense of wonder or at least speculate on the consequences of certain scientific advances. (Note: Although I really enjoy Aliens, Starship Troopers, and Robocop, to me, these movies feel like action movies in futuristic settings, rather than science fiction.)
List activity
3.6K views
• 3 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
49 titles
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMalcolm McDowellPatrick MageeMichael BatesIn the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.
- CreatorJ. Michael StraczynskiStarsMira FurlanRichard BiggsStephen FurstIn the mid 23rd century, the Earth Alliance space station Babylon 5, located in neutral territory, is a major focal point for political intrigue, racial tensions and various wars over the course of five years.
- CreatorGene RoddenberryStarsPatrick StewartBrent SpinerJonathan FrakesSet almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.
- DirectorDuncan JonesStarsSam RockwellKevin SpaceyDominique McElligottAstronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.
- StarsEddie AllenMichael BertoliniAmy Howard WilsonIn the year 2199, a starship must make a dangerous voyage to the distant planet Iscandar and back to save Earth from an alien invasion.
- CreatorShôji KawamoriKen'ichi MatsuzakiStarsArihiro HaseMari IijimaVic MignognaAn alien spaceship crash lands on Earth and her secrets lead to a desperate war against an alien enemy sent to retrieve the ship.
- CreatorRyôsuke TakahashiHajime YatateStarsHozumi GôdaShigeru ChibaBanjô GingaThe end of the 100 year war between the planets Bavalant and Melkia does not allow Melkian soldier Chirico Cuvie a moment of peace. His accidental involvement in a clandestine mission places him in danger, requiring him to escape and attempt to survive on what is left of his war-torn homeworld.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsWilliam ShatnerLeonard NimoyDeForest KelleyWhen an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsEd HarrisMary Elizabeth MastrantonioMichael BiehnA civilian diving team is enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and faces danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.
- DirectorNaoko KusumiMizuho NishikuboMamoru OshiiStarsAkio ÔtsukaAtsuko TanakaTamio ÔkiIn the year 2032, Batô, a cyborg detective for the anti-terrorist unit Public Security Section 9, investigates the case of a female robot--one created solely for sexual pleasure--who slaughtered her owner.
- CreatorToshio OkadaStarsNoriko HidakaRei SakumaNorio WakamotoA young pilot, daughter of a deceased space captain, is selected to pilot a gigantic robot as a key point of Earth's defense during a space war.
- DirectorMizuho NishikuboMamoru OshiiStarsAtsuko TanakaIemasa KayumiAkio ÔtsukaA cyborg policewoman and her partner hunt a mysterious and powerful hacker called the Puppet Master.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsTakashi ShimuraAkihiko HirataAkira TakaradaAmerican nuclear weapons testing results in the creation of a seemingly unstoppable dinosaur-like beast.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerSharon StoneMichael IronsideWhen a man goes in to have virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars implanted in his mind, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real - or is he?
- DirectorTakashi YamazakiStarsMinami HamabeRyunosuke KamikiSakura AndôPost war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb.
- DirectorRupert WyattStarsJames FrancoAndy SerkisFreida PintoA substance designed to help the brain repair itself gives advanced intelligence to a chimpanzee who leads an ape uprising.
- DirectorJoseph M. NewmanJack ArnoldStarsJeff MorrowFaith DomergueRex ReasonAliens come to Earth seeking scientists to help them in their war.
- CreatorRick BermanBrannon BragaStarsScott BakulaJohn BillingsleyJolene BlalockA century before Captain Kirk's five-year mission, Jonathan Archer captains the United Earth ship Enterprise during the early years of Starfleet, leading up to the Earth-Romulan War and the formation of the Federation.
- CreatorLeslie StevensStarsBob JohnsonBen WrightWilliam DouglasAn anthology series of insightful science fiction tales.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsMichael RenniePatricia NealHugh MarloweAn alien lands in Washington, D.C. and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.
- CreatorTerry NationStarsMichael KeatingPaul DarrowPeter TuddenhamA group of convicts and outcasts fight a guerrilla war against the totalitarian Terran Federation from a highly advanced alien spaceship.
- DirectorJoseph KosinskiStarsTom CruiseMorgan FreemanAndrea RiseboroughA veteran assigned to extract Earth's remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself.
- DirectorJoseph KosinskiStarsJeff BridgesGarrett HedlundOlivia WildeThe son of a virtual world designer goes looking for his father and ends up inside the digital world that his father designed. He meets his father's corrupted creation and a unique ally who was born inside the digital world.
- CreatorAkiva GoldsmanAlex KurtzmanJenny LumetStarsAnson MountEthan PeckChristina ChongA prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, the show follows the crew of the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike.
- DirectorFred M. WilcoxStarsWalter PidgeonAnne FrancisLeslie NielsenA starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization.
- DirectorSteven LisbergerStarsJeff BridgesBruce BoxleitnerDavid WarnerA computer hacker is abducted into the digital world and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of a heroic security program.
- CreatorCharlie BrookerStarsWunmi MosakuMonica DolanDaniel LapaineFeaturing stand-alone dramas -- sharp, suspenseful, satirical tales that explore techno-paranoia -- "Black Mirror" is a contemporary reworking of "The Twilight Zone" with stories that tap into the collective unease about the modern world.
- StarsRichard CraneSally MansfieldScotty BeckettCruising the galaxy in his space ship "The Orbit Jet" Space Ranger, Rocky Jones, Vena Ray, and 10 year-old Bobby defend the Earth and themselves against space-bound evil doers.
- CreatorGene RoddenberryStarsWilliam ShatnerLeonard NimoyDeForest KelleyIn the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.
- CreatorChris CarterStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonMitch PileggiTwo F.B.I. Agents, Fox Mulder the believer and Dana Scully the skeptic, investigate the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.
- DirectorKurt NeumannStarsJeff MorrowBarbara LawrenceJohn EmeryAliens from another world send a huge robotic accumulator to invade the Earth and absorb all energy it comes in contact with.
- DirectorShane CarruthStarsShane CarruthDavid SullivanCasey GoodenFour friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.
- StarsJane BadlerMichael DurrellFaye GrantA seemingly peaceful alien race, arrives at earth and asks for help to ensure their own planets survival. However, the visitors agenda turns out be much darker.
- DirectorAlex GarlandStarsAlicia VikanderDomhnall GleesonOscar IsaacA young programmer is selected to participate in a ground-breaking experiment in synthetic intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a highly advanced humanoid A.I.
- DirectorRintarôYoshitake SuzukiEiichi YamamotoStarsJunji ChibaMichiru HojoKazuko ImaiThe story of Astroboy, a robot created by Dr Elephant, in the image of a boy, who has super strength and could fly.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJude LawJennifer Jason LeighIan HolmA game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBrigitte HelmAlfred AbelGustav FröhlichIn a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
- DirectorJohn BadhamStarsMatthew BroderickAlly SheedyJohn WoodA young man finds a back door into a military central computer in which reality is confused with game-playing, possibly starting World War III.
- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsMika ShinoharaMakoto ShinkaiSumi MutohThe love of Japanese high school students Mikako Nagamine and Noboru Tera is tested when Mikako is sent to fight aliens in a distant universe and voice mails to and from Earth become months to years in transmission.
- CreatorRick BermanMichael PillerStarsAvery BrooksRene AuberjonoisCirroc LoftonIn the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, the Federation space station Deep Space Nine guards the opening of a stable wormhole to the far side of the galaxy.
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsSandra BullockGeorge ClooneyEd HarrisDr Ryan Stone, an engineer on her first time on a space mission, and Matt Kowalski, an astronaut on his final expedition, have to survive in space after they are hit by debris while spacewalking.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsJoaquin PhoenixAmy AdamsScarlett JohanssonIn a near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.
- DirectorDuncan JonesStarsJake GyllenhaalMichelle MonaghanVera FarmigaA soldier wakes up in someone else's body and discovers he's part of an experimental government program to find the bomber of a commuter train within 8 minutes.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHaley Joel OsmentJude LawFrances O'ConnorA highly advanced robotic boy longs to become "real" so that he can regain the love of his human mother.
- CreatorShôji KawamoriStarsEdward MannixBryan CranstonMichael ForestTwo old friends/rivals find themselves rival test pilots in competing projects while a mutual old flame returns to them with her own secrets.
- StarsShirô SaitôAtsuko TanakaOsamu SakaThe futuristic adventures of a female cyborg counter intelligence agent and her support team.
- CreatorMasayoshi KubotaStarsHiroya IshimaruKaneto ShiozawaTesshô GendaIn 2808 A.D., three convicts are conscripted by the Cyber Police to fight crime in the hi-tech metropolis of Oedo - while being forced to wear collars that can kill them at any time.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsJodie FosterMatthew McConaugheyTom SkerrittDr. Ellie Arroway, after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, sending plans for a mysterious machine.