Top 10 Sci-Fi Movies of All Time in 2027

Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film holds the top place on AFI’s Science Fiction list. It has a 91% Tomatometer from 169 reviews. It earned four Oscar nominations, and Kubrick won the Oscar for its visual effects. The Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry in 1991. The photo shows space suits from the film on display at the Stanley Kubrick exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

George Lucas’s 1977 film is No. 2 on AFI’s list. It has a 93% Tomatometer from 210 reviews and won six Academy Awards. It was one of the first films chosen for the National Film Registry, in 1989. The photo shows the Hotel Sidi Driss in Matmata, Tunisia, where the scenes of Luke’s Tatooine home were filmed.

Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film is No. 3 on AFI’s list. It has a 99% Tomatometer from 147 reviews, the highest score on this page. It received nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won four. The photo shows Culver City High School, where the shoot began.

Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film is No. 4 on AFI’s list. It has an 83% Tomatometer from 129 reviews and four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. It joined the National Film Registry in 2020. The photo shows Southmere Lake in Thamesmead, London, part of the area used as a setting for the film.

Robert Wise’s 1951 film is No. 5 on AFI’s list. It has a 92% Tomatometer from 111 reviews. It received a special Golden Globe for promoting international understanding and was added to the National Film Registry in 1995. The photo shows a replica of the robot Gort at the Robot Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh.

Ridley Scott’s 1982 film is No. 6 on AFI’s list. It has an 89% Tomatometer from 132 reviews. Vangelis’s score was nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe, and the film joined the National Film Registry in 1993. The photo shows the atrium of the Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles, a filming location.

Ridley Scott’s 1979 film is No. 7 on AFI’s list. It has a 93% Tomatometer from 210 reviews. It won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects and a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, and joined the National Film Registry in 2002. The photo shows the entrance of the H. R. Giger Museum in Gruyères, Switzerland; Giger designed the film’s alien creatures and environments.

James Cameron’s 1991 film is No. 8 on AFI’s list. It has a 90% Tomatometer from 178 reviews, won four Academy Awards and two BAFTAs, and joined the National Film Registry in 2023. The photo shows the flood-control channel at Plummer Street and Hayvenhurst Avenue in Los Angeles, where the truck-crash scene took place.

Don Siegel’s 1956 film is No. 9 on AFI’s list. It has a 96% Tomatometer from 56 reviews, the second highest on this page, and joined the National Film Registry in 1994. Its Wikipedia article lists no major awards. The photo shows Bronson Canyon in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, one of the locations used to build the film’s fictional town of Santa Mira.

Robert Zemeckis’s 1985 film is No. 10 on AFI’s list. It has a 93% Tomatometer from 119 reviews, won one Oscar (Best Sound Effects Editing), three Saturn Awards and a Hugo Award, and joined the National Film Registry in 2007. The photo shows the Gamble House in Pasadena, California, whose exterior stood in for Doc Brown’s 1955 home.