Top 500 Dystopian movies of the Sci-fi world
by fodigyuri | created - 07 Nov 2011 | updated - 27 Aug 2012 | PublicTop 500 Dystopian movies:Sci-Fi , Governmental/social, Alien controlled dystopias (both governmental and societal), Corporate based dystopias (nongovernmental), Cyberpunk/techno, Post-apocalyptic, Miscellaneous, Disputed dystopias. A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος, alternatively, cacotopia,[1] kakotopia, cackotopia, or anti-utopia) is the vision of a society that is the opposite of utopia.
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1. The Fifth Element (1997)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the colorful future, a cab driver unwittingly becomes the central figure in the search for a legendary cosmic weapon to keep Evil and Mr. Zorg at bay.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm
Votes: 506,079 | Gross: $63.54M
Corporate based dystopias (nongovernmental)
2. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,052,682 | Gross: $171.48M
Governmental/social , Cyberpunk/techno
3. Brazil (1985)
R | 132 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond
Votes: 211,198 | Gross: $9.93M
Governmental/social
4. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
R | 136 min | Crime, Sci-Fi
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: 881,188 | Gross: $6.21M
Disputed dystopias
5. Blade Runner (1982)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
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: 822,956 | Gross: $32.87M
Governmental/social
6. 12 Monkeys (1995)
R | 129 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Joseph Melito
Votes: 646,610 | Gross: $57.14M
Post-apocalyptic
7. Minority Report (2002)
PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
John works with the PreCrime police which stop crimes before they take place, with the help of three 'PreCogs' who can foresee crimes. Events ensue when John finds himself framed for a future murder.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow
Votes: 584,258 | Gross: $132.07M
Governmental/social
8. Delicatessen (1991)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Crime
Post-apocalyptic surrealist black comedy about the landlord of an apartment building who occasionally prepares a delicacy for his odd tenants.
Directors: Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Stars: Marie-Laure Dougnac, Dominique Pinon, Pascal Benezech, Jean-Claude Dreyfus
Votes: 90,034 | Gross: $1.79M
Post-apocalyptic
9. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
R | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
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: 193,660 | Gross: $12.47M
Post-apocalyptic
10. Serenity (2005)
PG-13 | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The crew of the ship Serenity try to evade an assassin sent to recapture telepath River.
Director: Joss Whedon | Stars: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alan Tudyk
Votes: 305,645 | Gross: $25.51M
Governmental/social
11. Sleeper (1973)
PG | 89 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
A nerdish store owner is revived out of cryostasis into a future world to fight an oppressive government.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, John Beck, Mary Gregory
Votes: 44,814 | Gross: $2.91M
Governmental/social
12. Battle Royale (2000)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarô Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama
Votes: 194,401
Governmental/social
13. RoboCop (1987)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
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: 283,029 | Gross: $53.42M
14. The City of Lost Children (1995)
R | 112 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process.
Directors: Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Stars: Ron Perlman, Daniel Emilfork, Judith Vittet, Dominique Pinon
Votes: 71,657 | Gross: $1.51M
15. Planet of the Apes (1968)
G | 112 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
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: 193,125 | Gross: $33.40M
Miscellaneous
16. V for Vendetta (2005)
R | 132 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In a future British dystopian society, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow the tyrannical government - with the help of a young woman.
Director: James McTeigue | Stars: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Rupert Graves, Stephen Rea
Votes: 1,179,159 | Gross: $70.51M
Governmental/social
17. Gattaca (1997)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.
Director: Andrew Niccol | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Gore Vidal
Votes: 323,159 | Gross: $12.34M
Governmental/social
18. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Not Rated | 112 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In an oppressive future, a fireman whose duty is to destroy all books begins to question his task.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Oskar Werner, Julie Christie, Cyril Cusack, Anton Diffring
Votes: 45,412
Governmental/social
19. Mad Max (1979)
R | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
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: 222,294 | Gross: $8.75M
Post-apocalyptic
20. Total Recall (1990)
R | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
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: 354,480 | Gross: $119.39M
Corporate based dystopias (nongovernmental)
21. Dark City (1998)
R | 100 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt
Votes: 212,249 | Gross: $14.38M
Alien controlled dystopias (both governmental and societal)
22. District B13 (2004)
R | 84 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
In the ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and an ex-thug try to infiltrate a gang in order to defuse a neutron bomb.
Director: Pierre Morel | Stars: Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle, Tony D'Amario, Bibi Naceri
Votes: 73,872 | Gross: $1.20M
Governmental/social
23. They Live (1988)
R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
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: 145,437 | Gross: $13.01M
Alien controlled dystopias (both governmental and societal)
24. THX 1138 (1971)
R | 86 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In the 25th century, a time when people have designations instead of names, a man, THX 1138, and a woman, LUH 3417, rebel against their rigidly controlled society.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Don Pedro Colley, Maggie McOmie
Votes: 54,608 | Gross: $2.44M
Governmental/social
25. Escape from New York (1981)
R | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
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: 157,459 | Gross: $25.24M
Governmental/social
26. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
R | 100 min | Animation, Comedy, Crime
An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr., Rory Cochrane
Votes: 117,115 | Gross: $5.50M
Governmental/social
27. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
PG-13 | 146 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
A highly advanced robotic boy longs to become "real" so that he can regain the love of his human mother.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, Sam Robards
Votes: 322,978 | Gross: $78.62M
28. 1984 (1984)
R | 113 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a totalitarian future society, a man, whose daily work is re-writing history, tries to rebel by falling in love.
Director: Michael Radford | Stars: John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, Cyril Cusack
Votes: 78,987 | Gross: $8.40M
Governmental/social
29. A Boy and His Dog (1975)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
A young man and his telepathic dog wander a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Director: L.Q. Jones | Stars: Don Johnson, Jason Robards, Susanne Benton, Tim McIntire
Votes: 19,206 | Gross: $6.90M
Post-apocalyptic
30. I, Robot (2004)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
In 2035, a technophobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, Alan Tudyk
Votes: 575,264 | Gross: $144.80M
Corporate based dystopias (nongovernmental)
31. Logan's Run (1976)
PG | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A police officer in the future uncovers the deadly secret behind a society that worships youth.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan, Roscoe Lee Browne
Votes: 61,022 | Gross: $25.00M
Governmental/social
32. Strange Days (1995)
R | 145 min | Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi
A former cop turned street-hustler accidentally uncovers a conspiracy in Los Angeles in 1999.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore
Votes: 78,420 | Gross: $7.92M
Governmental/social
33. Idiocracy (2006)
R | 84 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Corporal Joe Bauers, a decidedly average American, is selected for a top-secret hibernation program but is forgotten and left to awaken to a future so incredibly moronic that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.
Director: Mike Judge | Stars: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Terry Crews
Votes: 182,231 | Gross: $0.44M
Governmental/social
34. Death Race 2000 (1975)
R | 80 min | Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
In a dystopian future, a cross country automobile race requires contestants to run down innocent pedestrians to gain points that are tallied based on each kill's brutality.
Director: Paul Bartel | Stars: David Carradine, Sylvester Stallone, Simone Griffeth, Mary Woronov
Votes: 30,891 | Gross: $8.00M
Governmental/social
35. Starship Troopers (1997)
R | 129 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Humans, in a fascist militaristic future, wage war with giant alien bugs.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Jake Busey
Votes: 321,071 | Gross: $54.81M
36. One Point O (2004)
R | 95 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
After receiving mysterious empty packages inside his apartment, a young computer-programmer begins a personal investigation into their origins.
Directors: Jeff Renfroe, Marteinn Thorsson | Stars: Richard Rees, Jeremy Sisto, Udo Kier, Deborah Kara Unger
Votes: 5,985
Corporate based dystopias (nongovernmental)
37. Equilibrium (2002)
R | 107 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In an oppressive future where all forms of feeling are illegal, a man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system and state.
Director: Kurt Wimmer | Stars: Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs
Votes: 346,974 | Gross: $1.20M
Governmental/social
38. Code 46 (2003)
R | 93 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
A futuristic Brief Encounter (1945), this is a love story in which the romance is doomed by genetic incompatibility.
Director: Michael Winterbottom | Stars: Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Om Puri, Togo Igawa
Votes: 21,129 | Gross: $0.20M
Governmental/social
39. The Omega Man (1971)
PG | 98 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Dr Robert Neville has developed an experimental vaccine which makes him the only immune survivor of a biological catastrophe. A gang of homicidal mutants blame science for their condition and attempt to kill him.
Director: Boris Sagal | Stars: Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash, Paul Koslo
Votes: 34,069 | Gross: $8.72M
Post-apocalyptic
40. The Running Man (1987)
R | 101 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
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: 167,634 | Gross: $38.12M
Governmental/social
41. Children of Men (2006)
R | 109 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In 2027, in a chaotic world in which women have somehow become infertile, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine
Votes: 529,325 | Gross: $35.55M
Governmental/social
42. 28 Days Later (2002)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Alex Palmer
Votes: 445,578 | Gross: $45.06M
Post-apocalyptic
43. 28 Weeks Later (2007)
R | 100 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Six months after the rage virus was inflicted on the population of Great Britain, the US Army helps to secure a small area of London for the survivors to repopulate and start again. But not everything goes according to plan.
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo | Stars: Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Robert Carlyle, Harold Perrineau
Votes: 293,748 | Gross: $28.64M
Post-apocalyptic
44. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Unrated | 127 min | Horror, Thriller
During an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
Votes: 128,561 | Gross: $5.10M
45. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
R | 101 min | Action, Horror
A nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Jake Weber
Votes: 272,418 | Gross: $59.02M
46. Land of the Dead (2005)
R | 93 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The living dead have taken over the world, and the last humans live in a walled city to protect themselves as they come to grips with the situation.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: John Leguizamo, Asia Argento, Simon Baker, Dennis Hopper
Votes: 100,789 | Gross: $20.70M
47. Zardoz (1974)
R | 105 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
In the late 23rd century, a savage trained only to kill finds a way into the community of bored immortals that alone preserves humanity's achievements.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling, Sara Kestelman, John Alderton
Votes: 24,557 | Gross: $0.07M
Post-apocalyptic
48. The Handmaid's Tale (1990)
R | 108 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Under a dystopian religious tyranny, most women cannot conceive children. Those young women who can live in a form of sexual slavery to provide children for influential families.
Director: Volker Schlöndorff | Stars: Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Aidan Quinn, Elizabeth McGovern
Votes: 10,738 | Gross: $4.96M
Governmental/social
49. Demolition Man (1993)
R | 115 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A police officer is brought out of suspended animation in prison to pursue an old ultra-violent nemesis who is loose in a non-violent future society.
Director: Marco Brambilla | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, Nigel Hawthorne
Votes: 193,306 | Gross: $58.06M
Governmental/social
50. Westworld (1973)
PG | 88 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
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: 62,953 | Gross: $16.06M
51. FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions (2004)
82 min | Sci-Fi
France. A near and probable future. The Sisterhood of Metacontrol governs Europe. Angeline, an exemplary and irreproachable citizen has just joined the order... But her relationship with a ... See full summary »
Director: Carlos Atanes | Stars: Xavier Tort, Anne Céline Auche, Manel Solás, Raúl Mena
Votes: 260
Governmental/social
52. The Clonus Horror (1979)
R | 90 min | Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi
In a seemingly perfect society, one member discovers the truth about the outside world, as well as their ultimate purpose.
Director: Robert S. Fiveson | Stars: Peter Graves, Rick DiAngelo, Eugene Robert Glazer, Eileen Dietz
Votes: 2,683
Corporate based dystopias (nongovernmental)
53. Battle Royale II (2003)
Not Rated | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Three years after the failure of the last BR program, a second act is forged and a class of students is sent to an island with one objective: kill international terrorist Shuya Nanahara.
Directors: Kenta Fukasaku, Kinji Fukasaku | Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ai Maeda, Shûgo Oshinari, Ayana Sakai
Votes: 21,442
Governmental/social
54. Babylon A.D. (2008)
PG-13 | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Veteran-turned-mercenary Toorop takes the high-risk job of escorting a woman from Russia to America. Little does he know that she is host to an organism that a cult wants to harvest in order to produce a genetically modified Messiah.
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz | Stars: Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Mélanie Thierry, Gérard Depardieu
Votes: 98,463 | Gross: $22.53M
Governmental/social
55. The Island (2005)
PG-13 | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A man living in a futuristic sterile colony begins to question his circumscribed existence when his friend is chosen to go to the Island, the last uncontaminated place on earth.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Ewan McGregor, Djimon Hounsou, Steve Buscemi
Votes: 327,617 | Gross: $35.82M
Corporate based dystopias (nongovernmental)
56. 2081 (2009)
Not Rated | 25 min | Short, Action, Sci-Fi
A short film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron, 2081 depicts a dystopian future in which, thanks to the 212th Amendment to the Constitution and the unceasing vigilance of the ... See full summary »
Director: Chandler Tuttle | Stars: James Cosmo, Julie Hagerty, Armie Hammer, Patricia Clarkson
Votes: 2,687
Governmental/social
57. The Breed (2001)
R | 91 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
When a rogue vampire kills his partner, an NSA special agent reluctantly teams with another officer who is a "good" vampire in an attempt to track down the evil vampire killer.
Director: Michael Oblowitz | Stars: Adrian Paul, Bokeem Woodbine, Bai Ling, Péter Halász
Votes: 2,952
Governmental/social
58. Aachi & Ssipak (2006)
R | 90 min | Animation, Action, Comedy
In a future where energy is made from fecal matter, the government rewards defecation with "juicybars". Small-time hustlers try to get rich while fending off the mutated Diaper Gang.
Directors: Jo Beom-jin, Zack Keller, Ed Skudder | Stars: Nick Ainsworth, Yang Jeong-hwa, Zack Keller, Gyu-hwa Lee
Votes: 1,844
Governmental/social
59. Class of 1999 (1990)
R | 99 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Three ex-military robots are reprogrammed as teachers and secretly placed in a school where most students are part of organized gangs. They begin to respond violently to unruly students, and their military training starts to take over.
Director: Mark L. Lester | Stars: Bradley Gregg, Traci Lind, Malcolm McDowell, Stacy Keach
Votes: 8,637 | Gross: $2.46M
Governmental/social
60. Dark Metropolis (2010)
Not Rated | 97 min | Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Mankind has lost a 300-year war against a genetically enhanced race that man created, abused and finally tortured. Now the descendants of that race - known as the 'Ghen' - control the ... See full summary »
Director: Stewart St. John | Stars: Bailey Chase, Eric Scott Woods, Virginia Agcayab, Seher Awan
Votes: 369
Governmental/social
61. Daybreakers (2009)
R | 98 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
In the year 2019, a plague has transformed almost every human into vampires. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the fractured dominant race plots their survival; meanwhile, a researcher works with a covert band of vamps on a way to save humankind.
Directors: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Harriet Minto-Day
Votes: 134,997 | Gross: $30.10M
Corporate based dystopias (nongovernmental)
62. Death Race (2008)
R | 105 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Ex-con Jensen Ames is forced by the warden of a notorious prison to compete in our post-industrial world's most popular sport: a car race in which inmates must brutalize and kill one another on the road to victory.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane
Votes: 218,889 | Gross: $36.32M
Governmental/social
63. Dark Star (1974)
G | 83 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
In the far reaches of space, a small crew, 20 years into their solitary mission, find things beginning to go hilariously wrong.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Dan O'Bannon, Dre Pahich, Brian Narelle, Cal Kuniholm
Votes: 27,236
Disputed dystopias
64. Alien (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
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: 950,347 | Gross: $78.90M
Corporate based dystopias (nongovernmental)
65. Doomsday (I) (2008)
R | 105 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A futuristic action thriller where a team of people work to prevent a disaster threatening the future of the human race.
Director: Neil Marshall | Stars: Rhona Mitra, Bob Hoskins, Alexander Siddig, Caryn Peterson
Votes: 79,920 | Gross: $10.96M
Governmental/social
66. Planet of the Apes (2001)
PG-13 | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In 2029, an Air Force astronaut crash-lands on a mysterious planet where evolved, talking apes dominate a race of primitive humans.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Michael Clarke Duncan
Votes: 229,016 | Gross: $180.01M
Miscellaneous
67. Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997)
TV-MA | 87 min | Animation, Action, Drama
Concurrent theatrical ending of the TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995).
Directors: Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki | Stars: Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Yûko Miyamura, Kotono Mitsuishi
Votes: 64,229
Governmental/social
68. Harrison Bergeron (1995 TV Movie)
R | 99 min | Sci-Fi
In a distant future, egalitarianism has created a truly equal state. The cost? The sacrifice of everything great about humankind. The question: is peace worth the price?
Director: Bruce Pittman | Stars: Sean Astin, Miranda de Pencier, Eugene Levy, Howie Mandel
Votes: 2,649
Governmental/social
69. Resident Evil (2002)
R | 100 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A special military unit fights a powerful, out-of-control supercomputer and hundreds of scientists who have mutated into flesh-eating creatures after a laboratory accident.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Ryan McCluskey, Oscar Pearce
Votes: 288,378 | Gross: $40.12M
Corporate based dystopias (nongovernmental)
70. Hot Fuzz (2007)
R | 121 min | Action, Comedy, Mystery
An overachieving London police sergeant is transferred to a village where the easygoing officers object to his fervor for regulations, all while a string of grisly murders strikes the town.
Director: Edgar Wright | Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy
Votes: 535,216 | Gross: $23.64M
Governmental/social
71. The Hunger Games (2012)
PG-13 | 142 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Katniss Everdeen voluntarily takes her younger sister's place in the Hunger Games: a televised competition in which two teenagers from each of the twelve Districts of Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death.
Director: Gary Ross | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci
Votes: 1,003,556 | Gross: $408.01M
Governmental/social
72. Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Survivors of the Raccoon City catastrophe travel across the Nevada desert, hoping to make it to Alaska. Alice joins the caravan and their fight against the evil Umbrella Corp.
Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Oded Fehr, Iain Glen
Votes: 205,472 | Gross: $50.65M
Corporate based dystopias (nongovernmental)
73. The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
R | 138 min | Action, Sci-Fi
Freedom fighters Neo, Trinity and Morpheus continue to lead the revolt against the Machine Army, unleashing their arsenal of extraordinary skills and weaponry against the systematic forces of repression and exploitation.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 630,475 | Gross: $281.49M
Governmental/social , Cyberpunk/techno
74. The Terminator (1984)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield
Votes: 923,999 | Gross: $38.40M
Cyberpunk/techno
75. I Am Legend (2007)
PG-13 | 101 min | Action, Drama, Horror
Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure.
Director: Francis Lawrence | Stars: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Votes: 814,027 | Gross: $256.39M
76. Metropolis (1927)
Not Rated | 153 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In 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.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Votes: 185,491 | Gross: $1.24M
Governmental/social
77. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick
Votes: 1,173,790 | Gross: $204.84M
Cyberpunk/techno
78. Waterworld (1995)
PG-13 | 135 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In a future where the polar ice-caps have melted and Earth is almost entirely submerged, a mutated mariner fights starvation and outlaw "smokers," and reluctantly helps a woman and a young girl try to find dry land.
Director: Kevin Reynolds | Stars: Kevin Costner, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Dennis Hopper, Tina Majorino
Votes: 209,898 | Gross: $88.25M
Post-apocalyptic
79. Judge Dredd (1995)
R | 96 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
In a dystopian future, Joseph Dredd, the most famous Judge (a police officer with instant field judiciary powers), is convicted for a crime he did not commit and must face his murderous counterpart.
Director: Danny Cannon | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante, Rob Schneider, Jürgen Prochnow
Votes: 124,914 | Gross: $34.69M
Governmental/social
80. Videodrome (1983)
R | 87 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
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: 102,953 | Gross: $2.12M
Cyberpunk/technoCyberpunk/techno
81. Silent Running (1972)
G | 89 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a future where all flora is extinct on Earth, an astronaut is given orders to destroy the last of Earth's botany, kept in a greenhouse aboard a spacecraft.
Director: Douglas Trumbull | Stars: Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, Jesse Vint
Votes: 31,460 | Gross: $0.69M
82. Survivors (1975–1977)
50 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A community of survivors struggle to stay alive in the wake of a global pandemic known as the Death that wiped out 99.98% of humanity.
Stars: Lucy Fleming, Ian McCulloch, Denis Lill, Stephen Dudley
Votes: 1,436
Post-apocalyptic
83. Kin-dza-dza! (1986)
PG-13 | 135 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
Two Russians push the wrong button on a strange device and end up on the telepathic planet Pluke with its strange societal norms.
Director: Georgiy Daneliya | Stars: Stanislav Lyubshin, Evgeniy Leonov, Yuriy Yakovlev, Levan Gabriadze
Votes: 13,751
Governmental/social
84. Land of the Blind (2006)
R | 110 min | Drama, Thriller
A soldier recounts his relationship with a famous political prisoner attempting to overthrow their country's authoritarian government.
Director: Robert Edwards | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Donald Sutherland, Tom Hollander, Lara Flynn Boyle
Votes: 3,890 | Gross: $0.01M
Governmental/social
85. Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
G | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
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: 51,345 | Gross: $19.00M
Miscellaneous
86. The Final Cut (2004)
PG-13 | 95 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Set in a world with memory recording implants, Alan Hakman is a cutter, someone with the power of final edit over people's recorded histories. His latest assignment is one that puts him in danger.
Director: Omar Naim | Stars: Robin Williams, Jim Caviezel, Mira Sorvino, Mimi Kuzyk
Votes: 34,494 | Gross: $0.55M
Corporate based dystopias (nongovernmental)
87. Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
G | 98 min | Action, Sci-Fi
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: 39,158 | Gross: $12.30M
Miscellaneous
88. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
PG | 88 min | Action, Sci-Fi
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: 35,888 | Gross: $9.81M
Miscellaneous
89. Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
G | 93 min | Action, Sci-Fi
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: 33,737 | Gross: $8.84M
Miscellaneous
90. The Trial (1962)
Not Rated | 119 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
An unassuming office worker is arrested and stands trial, but he is never made aware of his charges.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Anthony Perkins, Arnoldo Foà, Jess Hahn, Billy Kearns
Votes: 24,017
Governmental/social
91. WALL·E (2008)
G | 98 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.
Director: Andrew Stanton | Stars: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard
Votes: 1,200,223 | Gross: $223.81M
Post-apocalyptic
92. The Warriors (1979)
R | 93 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A street gang known as the Warriors must fight its way from the Bronx to its home turf on Coney Island when its members are falsely accused of assassinating a respected gang leader.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Michael Beck, James Remar, Dorsey Wright, Brian Tyler
Votes: 110,666 | Gross: $22.49M
Miscellaneous
93. Sunshine (2007)
R | 107 min | Sci-Fi, Thriller
A team of international astronauts is sent on a dangerous mission to reignite the dying Sun with a nuclear fission bomb in 2057.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Cliff Curtis
Votes: 267,387 | Gross: $3.68M
Miscellaneous
94. Fortress (1992)
R | 95 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
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: 30,466 | Gross: $6.74M
Corporate based dystopias (nongovernmental)
95. The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
R | 129 min | Action, Sci-Fi
The human city of Zion defends itself against the massive invasion of the machines as Neo fights to end the war at another front while also opposing the rogue Agent Smith.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 543,402 | Gross: $139.31M
Governmental/social , Cyberpunk/techno
96. The Bothersome Man (2006)
Not Rated | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
In a strange city where every person seems content beyond reason a new man arrives in town and stirs up trouble by asking too many questions.
Director: Jens Lien | Stars: Trond Fausa, Petronella Barker, Per Schaanning, Birgitte Larsen
Votes: 18,066
Governmental/social
97. Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike (2012)
PG-13 | 111 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Railroad owner Dagny Taggart and steel mogul Henry Rearden search desperately for the inventor of a revolutionary motor as the U.S. government continues to spread its control over the national economy.
Director: John Putch | Stars: Samantha Mathis, Jason Beghe, Esai Morales, Patrick Fabian
Votes: 7,641 | Gross: $3.34M
Governmental/social
98. Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Railroad executive Dagny Taggart and steel mogul Henry Rearden form an alliance to fight the increasingly authoritarian government of the United States.
Director: Paul Johansson | Stars: Taylor Schilling, Grant Bowler, Matthew Marsden, Edi Gathegi
Votes: 14,319 | Gross: $4.75M
Governmental/social
99. Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 (2001)
PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Megiddo is a supernatural ride into a world teetering on the edge of the Apocalypse. It follows the rise of a Machiavellian leader bent on amassing the armies of the world for the battle of... See full summary »
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith | Stars: Michael York, Michael Biehn, Joseph Makkar, Guy Siner
Votes: 2,965 | Gross: $6.05M
Governmental/social
100. Never Let Me Go (2010)
R | 103 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
The lives of three friends, from their early school days into young adulthood, when the reality of the world they live in comes knocking.
Director: Mark Romanek | Stars: Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Izzy Meikle-Small
Votes: 153,244 | Gross: $2.43M
Governmental/social
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