444 speculative fiction movies with sci-fi elements

by gavatara | created - 22 Aug 2011 | updated - 26 Aug 2011 | Public

Any suggestions for additional movies to watch? (preferably sci-fi that's under 3 decades...) Thanks!

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1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

G | 149 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi

84 Metascore

After 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.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter

Votes: 718,686 | Gross: $56.95M

2. Planet of the Apes (1968)

G | 112 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi

79 Metascore

An astronaut crew crash-lands on a planet where highly intelligent non-human ape species are dominant and humans are enslaved.

Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans

Votes: 192,851 | Gross: $33.40M

3. Barbarella (1968)

Approved | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

51 Metascore

In the 41st century, an astronaut partakes in sexy misadventures while seeking to stop an evil scientist who threatens to bring evil back into the galaxy.

Director: Roger Vadim | Stars: Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg, Milo O'Shea

Votes: 37,682

4. Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

G | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

46 Metascore

The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission searches for the only survivor of the previous expedition. He discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telepathic humans.

Director: Ted Post | Stars: James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, Linda Harrison

Votes: 51,226 | Gross: $19.00M

5. Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)

G | 98 min | Action, Sci-Fi

69 Metascore

The world is shocked by the appearance of three talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a U.S. spacecraft. They become the toast of society, but one man believes them to be a threat to the human race.

Director: Don Taylor | Stars: Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Bradford Dillman, Natalie Trundy

Votes: 39,048 | Gross: $12.30M

6. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

R | 136 min | Crime, Sci-Fi

77 Metascore

In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke

Votes: 880,535 | Gross: $6.21M

7. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

PG | 88 min | Action, Sci-Fi

49 Metascore

In a futuristic world that has embraced ape slavery, Caesar, the son of the late simians Cornelius and Zira, surfaces after almost twenty years of hiding out from the authorities, and prepares for a slave revolt against humanity.

Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, Ricardo Montalban, Natalie Trundy

Votes: 35,805 | Gross: $9.81M

8. Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

G | 93 min | Action, Sci-Fi

40 Metascore

Ten years after a worldwide series of ape revolutions and a brutal nuclear war among humans, Caesar must protect survivors of both species from an insidious human cult and a militant ape faction alike.

Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Natalie Trundy, Severn Darden

Votes: 33,650 | Gross: $8.84M

9. Westworld (1973)

PG | 88 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

77 Metascore

A robot malfunction creates havoc and terror for unsuspecting vacationers at a futuristic, adult-themed amusement park.

Director: Michael Crichton | Stars: Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin, Norman Bartold

Votes: 62,906 | Gross: $16.06M

10. Rollerball (1975)

Approved | 125 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Sport

56 Metascore

In a corporate-controlled future, an ultra-violent sport known as Rollerball represents the world, and one of its powerful athletes is out to defy those who want him out of the game.

Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: James Caan, John Houseman, Maud Adams, John Beck

Votes: 29,203 | Gross: $30.00M

11. Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)

G | 97 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy

60 Metascore

Two mysterious orphan children have extraordinary powers and are chased by a scheming millionaire. But where do these kids really call home?

Director: John Hough | Stars: Eddie Albert, Ray Milland, Donald Pleasence, Kim Richards

Votes: 11,345 | Gross: $20.00M

12. Carrie (1976)

R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery

86 Metascore

Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.

Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, John Travolta

Votes: 206,429 | Gross: $33.80M

13. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

PG | 138 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

90 Metascore

Roy Neary, an Indiana electric lineman, finds his quiet and ordinary daily life turned upside down after a close encounter with a UFO, spurring him to an obsessed cross-country quest for answers as a momentous event approaches.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon

Votes: 216,647 | Gross: $132.09M

14. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

PG | 115 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

75 Metascore

When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.

Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright

Votes: 69,751 | Gross: $24.95M

15. Superman (1978)

PG | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

82 Metascore

An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.

Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando

Votes: 187,372 | Gross: $134.22M

16. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

G | 143 min | Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi

50 Metascore

When 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.

Director: Robert Wise | Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan

Votes: 96,525 | Gross: $82.26M

17. Mad Max (1979)

R | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

73 Metascore

In a self-destructing world, a vengeful Australian policeman sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang.

Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley

Votes: 222,031 | Gross: $8.75M

18. Alien (1979)

R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

89 Metascore

The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright

Votes: 949,228 | Gross: $78.90M

19. Moonraker (1979)

PG | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

66 Metascore

James Bond investigates the mid-air theft of a space shuttle, and discovers a plot to commit global genocide.

Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel

Votes: 108,710 | Gross: $70.31M

20. The Shining (1980)

R | 146 min | Drama, Horror

68 Metascore

A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers

Votes: 1,105,122 | Gross: $44.02M

21. Flash Gordon (1980)

PG | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

58 Metascore

A football player and his friends travel to the planet Mongo and find themselves fighting the tyranny of Ming the Merciless to save Earth.

Director: Mike Hodges | Stars: Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Max von Sydow, Topol

Votes: 61,460

22. Superman II (1980)

PG | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

83 Metascore

Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.

Director: Richard Lester | Stars: Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Ned Beatty

Votes: 114,554 | Gross: $108.19M

23. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

R | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

77 Metascore

In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community escape a horde of bandits.

Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Max Phipps

Votes: 193,439 | Gross: $12.47M

24. Escape from New York (1981)

R | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

76 Metascore

In 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.

Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence

Votes: 157,267 | Gross: $25.24M

25. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure

86 Metascore

In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies

Votes: 1,036,056 | Gross: $248.16M

26. Blade Runner (1982)

R | 117 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

84 Metascore

A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos

Votes: 822,281 | Gross: $32.87M

27. The Thing (1982)

R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi

57 Metascore

A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.

Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur

Votes: 465,961 | Gross: $13.78M

28. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

PG | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

68 Metascore

With the assistance of the Enterprise crew, Admiral Kirk must stop an old nemesis, Khan Noonien Singh, from using the life-generating Genesis Device as the ultimate weapon.

Director: Nicholas Meyer | Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan

Votes: 129,132 | Gross: $78.91M

29. Tron (1982)

PG | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

58 Metascore

A 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.

Director: Steven Lisberger | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan

Votes: 129,166 | Gross: $33.00M

30. WarGames (1983)

PG | 114 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

77 Metascore

A young man finds a back door into a military central computer in which reality is confused with game-playing, possibly starting World War III.

Director: John Badham | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, John Wood, Dabney Coleman

Votes: 110,589 | Gross: $79.57M

31. The Dead Zone (1983)

R | 103 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi

69 Metascore

A man awakens from a coma to discover he has a psychic ability to foresee future events.

Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom

Votes: 77,227 | Gross: $20.77M

32. Superman III (1983)

PG | 125 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

44 Metascore

Synthetic kryptonite laced with tar splits Superman in two: good Clark Kent and bad Man of Steel.

Director: Richard Lester | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Margot Kidder, Jackie Cooper

Votes: 74,726 | Gross: $59.95M

33. Videodrome (1983)

R | 87 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

58 Metascore

A programmer at a Toronto TV station that specializes in adult entertainment searches for the producers of a dangerous and bizarre broadcast.

Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: James Woods, Debbie Harry, Sonja Smits, Peter Dvorsky

Votes: 102,844 | Gross: $2.12M

34. Night of the Comet (1984)

PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi

59 Metascore

A comet wipes out most of life on Earth, leaving two Valley Girls fighting against cannibal zombies and a sinister group of scientists.

Director: Thom Eberhardt | Stars: Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, Robert Beltran, Sharon Farrell

Votes: 24,094 | Gross: $14.42M

35. The Last Starfighter (1984)

PG | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

67 Metascore

High schooler Alex Rogan conquers the Starfighter video game, only to find out it was just a test, and is transported to another planet. He has been recruited to join a team of the best starfighters to defend their world from the attack.

Director: Nick Castle | Stars: Lance Guest, Robert Preston, Kay E. Kuter, Dan Mason

Votes: 45,960 | Gross: $28.73M

36. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure

57 Metascore

In 1935, Indiana Jones is tasked by Indian villagers with reclaiming a rock stolen from them by a secret cult beneath the catacombs of an ancient palace.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri

Votes: 534,850 | Gross: $179.87M

37. Firestarter (1984)

R | 114 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

50 Metascore

A couple who participated in a potent medical experiment gain telepathic ability and then have a child who is pyrokinetic.

Director: Mark L. Lester | Stars: Drew Barrymore, David Keith, Freddie Jones, Heather Locklear

Votes: 36,854 | Gross: $15.10M

38. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

PG | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

56 Metascore

Admiral Kirk and his bridge crew risk their careers stealing the decommissioned U.S.S. Enterprise to return to the restricted Genesis Planet to recover Spock's body.

Director: Leonard Nimoy | Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan

Votes: 86,108 | Gross: $76.47M

39. Red Dawn (1984)

PG-13 | 114 min | Action, Drama, Thriller

53 Metascore

It is the dawn of World War III. In the west mountains of America, a group of teenagers band together to defend their town, and their country, from invading Soviet forces.

Director: John Milius | Stars: Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen

Votes: 62,986 | Gross: $38.38M

40. The Brother from Another Planet (1984)

R | 108 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi

70 Metascore

A mute alien with the appearance of a black human is chased by outer-space bounty hunters through the streets of Harlem.

Director: John Sayles | Stars: Joe Morton, Daryl Edwards, Rosanna Carter, Ray Ramirez

Votes: 6,558 | Gross: $3.70M

41. Ghostbusters (1984)

PG | 105 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy

71 Metascore

Three parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.

Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis

Votes: 449,126 | Gross: $238.63M

42. The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)

PG | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance

44 Metascore

A United States Navy destroyer escort participates in a Navy "invisibility" experiment that inadvertently sends two sailors forty years into the future.

Director: Stewart Raffill | Stars: Michael Paré, Nancy Allen, Eric Christmas, Bobby Di Cicco

Votes: 16,738 | Gross: $8.10M

43. Starman (1984)

PG | 115 min | Romance, Sci-Fi

70 Metascore

An alien takes the form of a young Wisconsin widow's husband and makes her drive him to his departure point in Arizona. Distrustful government agents, along with a more ambivalent scientist, give pursuit in hopes of intercepting them.

Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith, Richard Jaeckel

Votes: 52,006 | Gross: $28.70M

44. Back to the Future (1985)

PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

87 Metascore

Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover

Votes: 1,305,210 | Gross: $210.61M

45. Cocoon (1985)

PG-13 | 117 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi

65 Metascore

When a group of trespassing seniors swim in a pool containing alien cocoons, they find themselves energized with youthful vigor.

Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy

Votes: 68,751 | Gross: $76.11M

46. Enemy Mine (1985)

PG-13 | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

59 Metascore

During a long space war, the lives of two wounded enemies become dependent on their ability to forgive and to trust.

Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Louis Gossett Jr., Brion James, Richard Marcus

Votes: 51,388 | Gross: $4.27M

47. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

71 Metascore

After being exiled from the most advanced town in post apocalyptic Australia, a drifter travels with a group of abandoned children to rebel against the town's queen.

Directors: George Miller, George Ogilvie | Stars: Mel Gibson, Tina Turner, Bruce Spence, Adam Cockburn

Votes: 147,451 | Gross: $36.20M

48. Weird Science (1985)

PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi

46 Metascore

Two high-school nerds use a computer program to literally create the perfect woman, who promptly turns their lives upside-down.

Director: John Hughes | Stars: Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Kelly LeBrock, Bill Paxton

Votes: 97,315 | Gross: $23.83M

49. Highlander (1986)

R | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

24 Metascore

An immortal Scottish swordsman must confront the last of his immortal opponents, a murderously brutal barbarian who lusts for the fabled "Prize".

Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, Roxanne Hart

Votes: 147,288 | Gross: $5.90M

50. Aliens (1986)

R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

84 Metascore

Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.

Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser

Votes: 762,182 | Gross: $85.16M

51. Short Circuit (1986)

PG | 98 min | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi

50 Metascore

Number 5 of a group of experimental robots in a lab is electrocuted, suddenly becomes intelligent, and escapes.

Director: John Badham | Stars: Ally Sheedy, Steve Guttenberg, Fisher Stevens, Austin Pendleton

Votes: 66,270 | Gross: $40.70M

52. Dead Man's Letters (1986)

87 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

In the aftermath of nuclear holocaust, a group of intellectuals crave to find hope in the pale and colorless new world. Among them, a history teacher tries to contact via letters his missing son.

Director: Konstantin Lopushanskiy | Stars: Rolan Bykov, Iosif Ryklin, Viktor Mikhaylov, Aleksandr Sabinin

Votes: 3,801

53. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

PG | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

71 Metascore

To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales.

Director: Leonard Nimoy | Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan

Votes: 91,414 | Gross: $109.71M

54. Maximum Overdrive (1986)

R | 98 min | Action, Comedy, Horror

24 Metascore

A group of people try to survive when machines start to come alive and become homicidal.

Director: Stephen King | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Pat Hingle, Laura Harrington, Yeardley Smith

Votes: 35,760 | Gross: $7.43M

55. The Fly (1986)

R | 96 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi

81 Metascore

A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.

Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz, Joy Boushel

Votes: 201,630 | Gross: $40.46M

56. Solarbabies (1986)

PG-13 | 94 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

24 Metascore

In a post-apocalyptic future ruled by the military, a group of renegade teenage orphans find a legendary orb, Bohdai, that can supposedly bring the rain back to dried up Earth.

Director: Alan Johnson | Stars: Richard Jordan, Jami Gertz, Jason Patric, Lukas Haas

Votes: 4,952 | Gross: $1.58M

57. Predator (1987)

R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Horror

47 Metascore

A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.

Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Elpidia Carrillo

Votes: 454,242 | Gross: $59.74M

58. *batteries not included (1987)

PG | 106 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy

54 Metascore

Aliens help a feisty old New York couple in their battle against the ruthless land developer who's out to evict them.

Director: Matthew Robbins | Stars: Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Frank McRae, Elizabeth Peña

Votes: 37,664 | Gross: $32.95M

59. The Running Man (1987)

R | 101 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller

45 Metascore

In a dystopian America, a falsely convicted policeman gets his shot at freedom when he must forcibly participate in a TV game show where convicts, runners, must battle killers for their freedom.

Director: Paul Michael Glaser | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown

Votes: 167,477 | Gross: $38.12M

60. The Hidden (1987)

R | 97 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

69 Metascore

A cop and an FBI agent race for answers after law abiding people suddenly become violent criminals.

Director: Jack Sholder | Stars: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Nouri, Claudia Christian, Clarence Felder

Votes: 22,564 | Gross: $9.75M

61. RoboCop (1987)

R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi

70 Metascore

In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.

Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox

Votes: 282,765 | Gross: $53.42M

62. Spaceballs (1987)

PG | 96 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

46 Metascore

A star-pilot for hire and his trusty sidekick must come to the rescue of a princess and save Planet Druidia from the clutches of the evil Spaceballs.

Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Mel Brooks, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman

Votes: 206,254 | Gross: $38.12M

63. Steel Dawn (1987)

R | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

24 Metascore

In a post-apocalyptic world, a warrior wandering through the desert comes upon a group of settlers who are being menaced by the leader of a murderous gang who's after the water they control.

Director: Lance Hool | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Anthony Zerbe, Christopher Neame

Votes: 5,520 | Gross: $0.56M

64. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

PG | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

24 Metascore

The Man of Steel crusades for nuclear disarmament and meets Lex Luthor's latest creation, Nuclear Man.

Director: Sidney J. Furie | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Jackie Cooper

Votes: 52,685 | Gross: $15.68M

65. They Live (1988)

R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

55 Metascore

They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.

Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George 'Buck' Flower

Votes: 145,257 | Gross: $13.01M

Featuring one of my all-time favorite quotes: "I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass...and I'm all out of bubble gum."

66. Cocoon: The Return (1988)

PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Mystery

45 Metascore

The seniors return to Earth to visit their relatives. Will they all decide to go back to the planet where no one grows old, or will they be tempted to stay back on Earth?

Director: Daniel Petrie | Stars: Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Courteney Cox, Hume Cronyn

Votes: 17,319 | Gross: $18.92M

67. Big (1988)

PG | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

73 Metascore

After wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult.

Director: Penny Marshall | Stars: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard

Votes: 239,743 | Gross: $114.97M

68. The Blob (1988)

R | 95 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

A deadly entity from space crash-lands near a small town and begins consuming everyone in its path. Panic ensues as shady government scientists try to contain the horrific creature.

Director: Chuck Russell | Stars: Shawnee Smith, Kevin Dillon, Donovan Leitch Jr., Jeffrey DeMunn

Votes: 43,433 | Gross: $8.25M

69. Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)

PG-13 | 88 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi

43 Metascore

Aliens who look like clowns come from outer space and terrorize a small town.

Director: Stephen Chiodo | Stars: Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, John Allen Nelson, John Vernon

Votes: 45,401 | Gross: $15.63M

70. My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988)

PG-13 | 105 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi

47 Metascore

A creature from another planet tries to seduce a shy Earth physicist to gain control over his researches. The result of this important mission much exceeded her expectations.

Director: Richard Benjamin | Stars: Dan Aykroyd, Kim Basinger, Jon Lovitz, Alyson Hannigan

Votes: 27,716 | Gross: $13.85M

71. Back to the Future Part II (1989)

PG | 108 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

57 Metascore

After visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985...without interfering with his first trip.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Tom Wilson

Votes: 571,923 | Gross: $118.50M

72. Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)

PG | 100 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

66 Metascore

A Southern California girl befriends three furry aliens after their spaceship lands in her swimming pool.

Director: Julien Temple | Stars: Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans

Votes: 25,200 | Gross: $3.92M

73. Millennium (1989)

PG-13 | 108 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

26 Metascore

An NTSB investigator seeking the cause of an airline disaster meets a warrior woman from 1000 years in the future.

Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Kris Kristofferson, Cheryl Ladd, Daniel J. Travanti, Robert Joy

Votes: 6,956 | Gross: $5.78M

74. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

PG | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Music

50 Metascore

Two rock-'n-rolling teens, on the verge of failing their class, set out on a quest to make the ultimate school history report after being presented with a time machine.

Director: Stephen Herek | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin, Terry Camilleri

Votes: 141,529 | Gross: $40.49M

75. Cyborg (1989)

R | 86 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller

24 Metascore

A martial artist hunts a killer in a plague-infested urban dump of the future.

Director: Albert Pyun | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Deborah Richter, Vincent Klyn, Alex Daniels

Votes: 34,175 | Gross: $10.17M

76. Ghostbusters II (1989)

PG | 108 min | Action, Comedy, Fantasy

56 Metascore

The discovery of a massive river of ectoplasm and a resurgence of spectral activity allows the staff of Ghostbusters to revive the business.

Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis

Votes: 224,413 | Gross: $112.49M

77. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)

PG | 93 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family

63 Metascore

The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them.

Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer, Marcia Strassman, Kristine Sutherland

Votes: 166,171 | Gross: $130.72M

78. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

PG | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

43 Metascore

Captain Kirk and his crew must deal with Mr. Spock's long-lost half-brother who hijacks the Enterprise for an obsessive search for God at the center of the galaxy.

Director: William Shatner | Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan

Votes: 64,155 | Gross: $52.21M

79. The Abyss (1989)

PG-13 | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Mystery

62 Metascore

A civilian diving team is enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and faces danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.

Director: James Cameron | Stars: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn, Leo Burmester

Votes: 192,952 | Gross: $54.46M

80. Total Recall (1990)

R | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

60 Metascore

When 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?

Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Rachel Ticotin

Votes: 354,112 | Gross: $119.39M

81. The Blood of Heroes (1989)

R | 90 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Sport

In a future where most of mankind and technology is wiped out, six people travel from place to place playing a brutal form of football with a dog skull. They hope one day to play in the league in a city.

Director: David Webb Peoples | Stars: Rutger Hauer, Joan Chen, Delroy Lindo, Anna Katarina

Votes: 7,565 | Gross: $0.88M

82. Leviathan (1989)

R | 98 min | Adventure, Horror, Mystery

51 Metascore

Perched on the hull of a wrecked Soviet freighter, a team of deep-sea miners led by head oceanographer Steven Beck comes face to face with a mutant creature that's the product of a failed genetic experiment.

Director: George P. Cosmatos | Stars: Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays, Daniel Stern

Votes: 23,737 | Gross: $15.70M

83. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure

65 Metascore

In 1938, after his father goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones finds himself up against the Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott

Votes: 810,288 | Gross: $197.17M

84. Predator 2 (1990)

R | 108 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

46 Metascore

The Predator returns to Earth, this time to stake a claim on the war-torn streets of a dystopian Los Angeles.

Director: Stephen Hopkins | Stars: Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Kevin Peter Hall, Rubén Blades

Votes: 182,307 | Gross: $30.67M

85. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

PG-13 | 105 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

74 Metascore

The solitary life of an artificial man - who was incompletely constructed and has scissors for hands - is upended when he is taken in by a suburban family.

Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall

Votes: 523,395 | Gross: $56.36M

86. Arachnophobia (1990)

PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller

67 Metascore

A new species of South American killer spider hitches a lift to a small California town in a coffin and starts to breed, leaving a trail of deaths that puzzle and terrify the young doctor newly arrived in town with his family.

Director: Frank Marshall | Stars: Jeff Daniels, Julian Sands, John Goodman, Harley Jane Kozak

Votes: 75,734 | Gross: $53.21M

87. Tremors (1990)

PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Horror

65 Metascore

Natives of a small isolated town defend themselves against strange underground creatures which are killing them one by one.

Director: Ron Underwood | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross

Votes: 150,308 | Gross: $16.67M

88. Back to the Future Part III (1990)

PG | 118 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

55 Metascore

Stranded in 1955, Marty McFly learns about the death of Doc Brown in 1885 and must travel back in time to save him. With no fuel readily available for the DeLorean, the two must figure how to escape the Old West before Emmett is murdered.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Tom Wilson

Votes: 480,297 | Gross: $87.73M

89. Flatliners (1990)

R | 115 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi

55 Metascore

Five medical students experiment with "near death" experiences, until the dark consequences of past tragedies begin to jeopardize their lives.

Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin

Votes: 93,333 | Gross: $61.49M

90. Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)

PG | 93 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

61 Metascore

A tyrant from the future creates evil android doubles of Bill and Ted and sends them back to eliminate the originals.

Director: Peter Hewitt | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, William Sadler, Joss Ackland

Votes: 80,992 | Gross: $38.04M

91. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

PG | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

65 Metascore

On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace.

Director: Nicholas Meyer | Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan

Votes: 80,849 | Gross: $74.89M

92. Forever Young (1992)

PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi

During a cryogenics test, a pilot frozen in 1939 awakes in 1992 but time is running out, as his body starts to age rapidly.

Director: Steve Miner | Stars: Mel Gibson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Elijah Wood, Isabel Glasser

Votes: 50,041 | Gross: $55.96M

93. Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)

R | 91 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

31 Metascore

In the future, Highlander Connor MacLeod must prevent the destruction of Earth under an anti-ozone shield.

Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Virginia Madsen, Michael Ironside

Votes: 48,067 | Gross: $15.56M

94. Encino Man (1992)

PG | 88 min | Comedy

25 Metascore

When they find a frozen caveman in their back yard, two high school outcasts thaw him and introduce him to modern life while he in turn gets them to actually enjoy life.

Director: Les Mayfield | Stars: Sean Astin, Brendan Fraser, Pauly Shore, Megan Ward

Votes: 45,200 | Gross: $40.69M

95. Fortress (1992)

R | 95 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi

48 Metascore

In a future, private underground prison/Fortress, the inmates are computer controlled with CCTV, dream readers and devices that can cause pain or death. John and his illegally pregnant wife are inside but want to escape before birth.

Director: Stuart Gordon | Stars: Christopher Lambert, Loryn Locklin, Kurtwood Smith, Clifton Collins Jr.

Votes: 30,444 | Gross: $6.74M

96. Alien³ (1992)

R | 114 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

59 Metascore

Returning from LV-426, Ellen Ripley crash-lands on the maximum-security prison Fiorina 161, where she discovers that she has unwittingly brought along an unwelcome visitor.

Director: David Fincher | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance, Paul McGann

Votes: 319,094 | Gross: $55.47M

97. Universal Soldier (1992)

R | 102 min | Action, Sci-Fi

35 Metascore

Soldiers who were killed in action are brought back to life in a top secret military experiment that creates superhuman warriors.

Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Ally Walker, Ed O'Ross

Votes: 96,101 | Gross: $36.30M

98. Death Becomes Her (1992)

PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror

56 Metascore

When a fading actress learns of an immortality treatment, she sees it as a way to outdo her long-time rival.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, Isabella Rossellini

Votes: 131,113 | Gross: $58.42M

99. Freejack (1992)

R | 110 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi

34 Metascore

Bounty hunters from the future transport a doomed race car driver to New York City in 2009, where his mind will be replaced with that of a dead billionaire.

Director: Geoff Murphy | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, Rene Russo, Anthony Hopkins

Votes: 17,446 | Gross: $17.13M

100. Groundhog Day (1993)

PG | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

72 Metascore

A narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.

Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky

Votes: 684,220 | Gross: $70.91M



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