In 1902, French film director George Méliès released Le Voyage dans La Lune (1902), which translates to A Trip to the Moon. It’s the first sci-fi film on record, taking inspiration from titles like From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon — two novels by Jules Verne. And since the movie released well over a century ago, filmmakers from around the world have been reinventing the medium thanks to their creative science fiction endeavors.
This list will detail the years that will be written about within the history books of film in which multiple, quality science fiction films were released. Not too many qualifications to keep up with. Whether their value is based on critical acclaim upon release, how well the film has aged, or in some cases, numbers grossed at the box office, these are ten years with great science fiction movies.
10 1986
Both Aliens (1986) by James Cameron and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) were among the top grossing films of their year. They were also absolute hits with critics, and subsequently, they’ve aged just wonderfully. They’re right up there to be considered the best film of their respective franchise, although those cases are frequently made for Alien (1979) and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982).
Another noteworthy science fiction film was The Fly (1986) by David Cronenberg. Its body-horror nature might have appalled some fans of the genre at hand, but tread lightly — the film’s massive cult following will likely have your head.
9 2016
With this the most recent year on the list, the second highest grossing film was Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016). From a fan standpoint, this very well could remain the most favorable entry of the new Star Wars films, and even the best since the original trilogy. But 2016 also saw a sequel of another juggernaut science fiction franchise with Star Trek Beyond (2016), directed by Justin Lin. It made great money, and garnered even more impressive thoughts from critics.
Other sci-fi films from this year include Arrival (2016), directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Amy Adams, which was nominated for eight Academy Awards and went down as a staple of modern science fiction. Plus, 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) could be considered a psychological thriller, but it could easily be classified in the genre at hand, too.
8 1997
What stands out so significantly about this 12-month period are the many sub-genres tackled by its collection of science fiction movies. Most prominent, perhaps, was the sci-fi action film: The Fifth Element (1997) by Luc Besson, Face/Off (1997) by John Woo, and Starship Troopers (1997) by Paul Verhoeven all fit into this bracket.
But there were also two sci-fi horror movies in Mimic (1997) by Guillermo Del Toro and Cube (1997) by Vincenzo Natali, along with a sci-fi comedy thanks to Men in Black (1997) by Barry Sonnenfeld. And what’s more is that most of these films were not just critical darlings, but also commercial successes.
7 2015
If mainstream titles are your thing, 2015 was a great year for sci-fi flicks: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) and Jurassic World (2015) came in at numbers one and two respectively at the box office. And still, they remain in the top ten highest-grossing movies ever made.
Obviously, those are on the more popular side of the science spectrum, with sequels still being pumped out from both franchises. The Martian (2015) by Ridley Scott made great money at the box office, too, while also receiving eight nominations at the 88th Academy Awards. It wouldn’t win any of them, but Ex Machina (2015) by Alex Garland did bring home gold for Best Visual Effects. It’s probably the standout title from 2015 in terms of sheer quality, and it helped land the year here at number eight.
6 1984
Frankly, there are several science-fiction films worth noting from this highly-revered year in cinema. Perhaps the most noteworthy, though, was The Terminator (1984) by James Cameron. It put the blockbuster American filmmaker on the map, and provided cinema with some classic moments that have since stood the test of time. Other significant releases include Dune (1984) by David Lynch, Starman (1984) by John Carpenter, and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) by Leonard Nimoy.
However, the most influential film from this year very well could have been The Last Starfighter (1984), which was directed by Nick Castle. It barely doubled its $15 million budget, and it only has a 76% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it’s since garnered a cult following, and it will be forever remembered for its influence on the use of computer-generated imagery.
5 1999
Just after the time of release, once tickets had been tracked and numbers were all accounted for, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (1999) was the second-highest grossing movie ever made. Not much time will be spent here on George Lucas and his juggernaut franchise — more on them later — but it is worth noting that this was undoubtedly the highest-quality entry of the prequel trilogy.
One film without a doubt worth discussing, though, was The Matrix (1999) by Lana and Lilly Wachowski. This is one of those that really transcended the genre in that science fiction nerds weren’t the only ones raving about its fight sequences with engaging cinematography while referencing blue pills and red pills. And the other film that 1999 had going for it was Galaxy Quest, a sci-fi comedy that starred Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman. It holds up wonderfully today.
4 1979
If readers were to be polled, it’s likely that Alien (1979) would come out on top as the fan-favorite of any movie on the list. Directed by Ridley Scott, the film follows Ellen Ripley as part of the Nostromo spaceship crew combating a death-dealing alien life form that’s boarded the Nostromo, and the project was an absolute hit. It made $185 million on an $11 million budget, and has since been selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being, “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
It also holds a whopping 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, one of the highest scores you’ll read about today. The winner in that regard, however, undoubtedly goes to Mirror (1979) by Andre Tarkovsky. With a 100% approval rating, it’s constantly mentioned among the greatest sci-fi films ever made, and ultimately, it lands 1979 here at number four.
3 1968
For starters, it’s impossible to overstate the power and influence of Stanley Kubrick’s science fiction epic, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Its existence alone is enough to warrant this year a spot on the list, as A Space Odyssey been inducted in the National Film Registry and will forever go down as one of the finest films ever framed. However, that wasn’t all this year had to offer.
Mere months before Kubrick’s masterclass, Franklin J. Schaffner released Planet of the Apes (1968). The film is preserved in the National Film Registry, and it’s spawned multiple twenty-first century sequels. There weren’t a ton of noteworthy science fiction films from 1968, but those two are among the most important entries the genre has seen. And they came out just a couple of months apart.
2 1977
At the 50th Academy Awards, a budding film composer named John Williams found himself nominated for Best Score not for one movie, but two. Star Wars (1977) by George Lucas will forever be the most important movie the genre has ever seen, and with good reason. The other film for which Williams was nominated — Close Encounters of the Third King (1977) — saw direction under Steven Spielberg.
Of course, everyone knows the extent to which the original Star Wars (1977) changed movies — and the entertainment industry, in general, from comics and video games to television and amusement parks. But Close Encounters seems to fall further by the wayside with every passing year. Which makes it interesting that, when they were filming their respective projects, George Lucas speculated that Spielberg’s movie would triumph over his. He couldn’t have been more incorrect.
1 1982
If there was a year that materialized in the minds of readers upon reading the title of this article, 1982 was undoubtedly the one. Without it, science fiction films and the industry as a whole might not be as far along as they are today, and thanks to numerous titles that released in this 12-month period. Most prominently, the revolutionary extent to which computer-generated effects were utilized in Steven Lisberger’s Tron (1982) still reverberate throughout the industry today.
Other sci-fi films from this year, though, include E.T. the Extra-terrestrial (1982), the powerhouse blockbuster by Stephen King, on top of both Blade Runner (1982) and The Thing (1982) — two of the more revered science fiction films of all time. After adding Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) into the mix, it becomes abundantly clear that this was the greatest year for science fiction.