“Minority Report.”Twentieth Century Fox / Dreamworks SKG
At its best, science fiction can present a captivating, inventive picture of societal trends and flaws.
The Metacritic data we compiled here to track the most critically acclaimed sci-fi films of all time traces a lineage of great films from Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” to the Tom Cruise-led “Minority Report” and Spike Jonze’s “Her.”
The resulting list includes all of the highest rated films that feature a “sci-fi” tag on the site, which turned out to be a wide-ranging categorization.
Here are the 100 best science fiction films of all time, according to critics:
100. “Movement and Location” (2015)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: “Despite its sci-fi hook, ‘Movement and Location’ turns out to be a surprisingly resonant film about how impossible it is for most people — no matter their cosmic time zone — to carve out a life that’s emotionally honest.” — Village Voice
99. “Serenity” (2005)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: “As challenging as it must have been to pilot Joss Whedon’s space opera from the TV junk pile to the big screen, the finished product is a triumph.” — San Francisco Chronicle
98. “Inception” (2010)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: “As engrossing and logic-resistant as the state of dreaming it seeks to replicate, Christopher Nolan’s audacious new creation demands further study to fully absorb the multiple, simultaneous stories Nolan finagles into one narrative experience.” — Entertainment Weekly
97. “Twelve Monkeys” (1996)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: “Gilliam, along with the gifted cinematographer Roger Pratt and production designer Jeffrey Beecroft, fashions a disturbing and dazzling lost world.” — Rolling Stone
96. “Thelma” (2017)
Critic score: 74/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: “A moody, mannered, and lingering coming-of-age story with a Stephen King-like twist.” — Boston Globe
95. “Okja” (2017)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 7.4/10
What critics said: “The picture, which never stops moving, is dense with information and feeling. Barbs of satire pop up and are washed away on streams of strong emotion. It’s all marvelously preposterous and yet, at the same time, something important is at stake.” — The New York Times
94. “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (2014)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: “The first Marvel movie to truly embrace comics-style storytelling. ” — The AV Club
93. “Captain America: Civil War” (2016)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: “Kudos to the Russo brothers, Joe and Anthony, for directing the hostilities for maximum impact and without neglecting character. Their thundering epic is also smart, snappy, politically savvy and blessedly fast on its feet.” — Rolling Stone
92. “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 9.1/10
What critics said: “‘T2’ features bigger, bolder, more energetic action sequences than its predecessor.” — ReelViews
91. “Attack the Block” (2011)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 7.2/10
What critics said: “There’s a vaguely Spielbergian quality to Cornish’s skill at balancing the sense of shared adventure with genuine danger.” — The Hollywood Reporter
90. “THX 1138” (1971)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 6.6/10
What critics said: “Testament to the emergence of a visually masterful filmmaker, capable of ingenious, low-tech special effects.” — The Washington Post
89. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1978)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 8/10
What critics said: “Set at the intersection of post-Vietnam paranoia and the myopic introspection that became hippiedom’s most lasting cultural contribution, the Philip Kaufman-directed ‘Invasion’ alternates social commentary with impeccably crafted scares.” — The AV Club
88. “Repo Man” (1984)
Critic score: 75/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: “The real thing. It’s a sneakily rude, truly zany farce that treats its lunatic characters with a solemnity that perfectly matches the way in which they see themselves.” — The New York Times
87. “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (2013)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: “Very few people will take in this spectacle of a society amusing itself to death, of ‘reality games’ and the vapid media hysteria that surrounds them, and not draw a parallel to our own televised bread and circuses. At its best, ‘Catching Fire’ is a blockbuster that bites the culture that made it.” — Boston Globe
86. “Birdboy: The Forgotten Children” (2017)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 9.5/10
What critics said: “‘Birdboy: The Forgotten Children’ is its own unique, damaged creature.” — Village Voice
85. “Ghost in the Shell” (1996)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 8.7/10
What critics said: “Technically, ‘Ghost in the Shell’ is astonishing, not only for its smooth meld of cell animation and state-of-the-art computer animation, but also for its imaginative storytelling and mood-setting (thanks to an eerie, non-thumping score by Kenji Kawai).” — The Washington Post
84. “10 Cloverfield Lane” (2016)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 7.7/10
What critics said: “Not an outright ‘Cloverfield’ sequel but rather, as Abrams has put it, a ‘spiritual successor.’ It’s also a better movie, one with a sense of humor about itself and its genre.” — Time
83. “Wonder Woman” (2017)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 7.7/10
What critics said: “In the recent flood of superhero films, several have managed to be quite good — but Wonder Woman ranks as one of the few great ones.” — The Wrap
82. “World on a Wire” (1973)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: N/A
What critics said: “‘World on a Wire’ is the discovery of the season, rarely screened in America but very much a key chapter in Fassbinder’s story–a step toward bigger budgets and slicker production values, yet clarifying of his core artistic legacy.” — Time Out
81. “Midnight Special” (2016)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 6.8/10
What critics said: “The most haunting part of this riskily earnest film isn’t the unmentionable effects coup of its grand finale, but the quieter beats, all in close-up, that comprise its coda: atomised, spent, and sad.” — The Telegraph
80. “Escape from New York” (1981)
Escape from New York screencap
Critic score: 76/100
User score: N/A
What critics said: “It’s a toughly told, very tall tale, one of the best escape (and escapist) films of the season.” — The New York Times
79. “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014)
Critic score: 76/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: “Overall, the writers have crafted a well-articulated universe with distinct settings and relatable, compelling characters devoted to a thrilling quest for redemption.” — The Hollywood Reporter
78. “Logan” (2017)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: “‘Logan’ is the rare blockbuster that could be a game-changer. It will certainly change the way we look at other superhero films and how history judges the entire MCU and DC Universe of films.” — RogerEbert.com
77. “Westworld” (1973)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 7.1/10
What critics said: “An excellent film, which combines solid entertainment, chilling topicality, and superbly intelligent serio-comic story values. Michael Crichton’s original script is as superior as his direction.” — Variety
76. “Evolution” (2016)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 6.5/10
What critics said: “Cloaked in a mystifying atmosphere and possessed by a transfixing, amorphous mood, Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s ‘Evolution’ is a beautifully strange hybrid of innocence and disturbance.” — The Playlist
75. “Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior” (1982)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 8.7/10
What critics said: “The experience is frightening, sometimes disgusting, and (if the truth be told) exhilarating. This is very skillful filmmaking, and ‘Mad Max 2’ is a movie like no other.” — Chicago Sun-Times
74. “WarGames” (1983)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: 9/10
What critics said: “A terrifically exciting story charged by an irresistible idea: an extra-smart kid can get the world into a whole lot of trouble that it also takes the same extra-smart kid to rescue it from.” — Variety
73. “Sleeper” (1973)
Critic score: 77/100
User score: N/A
What critics said: “In his fourth movie, Allen comes into his own as a filmmaker, providing us with the comedy of the year.” — New York Magazine
72. “2046” (2005)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 7.4/10
What critics said: “There are many places a visitor may go astray in ‘2046’ — places where the filmmaker appears to be a bit at loose ends too. Still, Wong’s invitation — ‘Let’s get lost’ — is irresistible.” — Entertainment Weekly
71. “Ex Machina” (2015)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: “With a stellar cast and seductive look, ‘Ex Machina’ is a sleek contraption for capturing our imagination.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
70. “A Clockwork Orange” (1971)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: “It seems to me that by describing horror with such elegance and beauty, Kubrick has created a very disorienting but human comedy, not warm and lovable, but a terrible sum- up of where the world is at.” — The New York Times
69. “Under the Skin” (2014)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 6.8/10
What critics said: “At times the film is right on the border between mesmerizing and narcotizing, but it casts an otherworldly spell.” — New York Magazine
68. “Godzilla” (1954)
Critic score: 78/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: “Not that Honda’s original ‘Godzilla’ is a message movie first and foremost. It’s a horror flick, and an ingenious one at that, with visual effects so vivid that gimmicky spin-offs became an enduring staple of popular film.” — Christian Science Monitor
67. “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (2014)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: “Dynamite entertainment, especially in the rousing first hour.” — Rolling Stone
66. “Iron Man” (2008)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 8.5/10
What critics said: “When it’s idling in neutral, and we’re watching Stark putter in his workshop or seduce unsuspecting journalists, ‘Iron Man’ abounds in that rarest of superpowers: charm.” — Slate
65. “Jodorowsky’s Dune” (2014)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 8.3/10
What critics said: “Director Pavich, his first time at bat, has crafted an unalloyed pleasure of a documentary, especially for those of us who care about ‘Dune,’ about sci-fi, and about the value and power of creative passion.” — The Playlist
64. “Annihilation” (2018)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 7.2/10
What critics said: “‘Annihilation’ is a portentous movie, and a cerebral one. It’s gorgeous and immersive, but distancing. It’s exciting more in its sheer ambition and its distinctiveness than in its actual action.” — The Verge
63. “The Fly” (1986)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: “David Cronenberg’s ‘The Fly’ is that absolute rarity of the ’80s: a film that is at once a pure, personal expression and a superbly successful commercial enterprise.” — Chicago Tribune
62. “Planet of the Apes” (1968)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: “A film rich with unforgettable imagery, killer lines and physical thrills.” — Empire
61. “Time Bandits” (1981)
Critic score: 79/100
User score: 5/10
What critics said: “Parents may not approve of this dark, violent 1981 children’s film, which is what makes it such a good one. The film is resolutely, passionately antiadult, yet much of the humor has an adult sophistication and edge to it; this is one kids’ movie that doesn’t condescend.” — Chicago Reader
60. “Minority Report” (2002)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 7.0/10
What critics said: “This is the kind of pure entertainment that, in its fullness and generosity, feels almost classic.” — San Francisco Chronicle
59. “The Survivalist” (2017)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 6.8/10
What critics said: “Impressively lean and rigidly controlled, ‘The Survivalist’ achieves, at times, the primitive allure of a silent movie.” — The New York Times
58. “The Endless” (2018)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 7.4/10
What critics said: “If you have a good idea, a strong cast, a smart script, and directorial chops, you don’t need a lot of money to make a compelling movie. ‘The Endless’ is proof.” — RogerEbert.com
57. “Incredibles 2” (2018)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: “This follow-up is every bit the start-to-finish sensation as the original, and you’ll be happy to know that Bird’s subversive spirit is alive and thriving.” — Rolling Stone
56. “Melancholia” (2011)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 6.5/10
What critics said: “Nutty Danish provocateur Lars von Trier — long one of the most annoying filmmakers on the planet — turns out one of the year’s most emotionally resonant art films.” — New York Post
55. “Superman” (1978)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 7.8/10
What critics said: “Manages to capture the pure heart and spirit of this comic book Americana.” — Empire
54. “The Martian” (2015)
Critic score: 80/100
User score: 8.0/10
What critics said: “Scott’s sci-fi adventure is the kind of film you leave the theater itching to tell your friends to see. Like ‘Apollo 13’ and ‘Gravity,’ it turns science and problem solving into an edge-of-your-seat experience.” — Entertainment Weekly
53. “Sorry to Bother You” (2018)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 7.1/10
What critics said: “Mr. Riley isn’t constructing yet another postmodern playhouse out of borrowings and allusions. He’s building a raft, and steering it straight into the foaming rapids of racism, economic injustice and cultural conflict.” — The New York Times
52. “Paprika” (2007)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: “It happens to be one of the most wildly (and disturbingly) inventive animated films I’ve seen.” — Newsweek
51. “District 9” (2009)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: “A memorable, monstrous fable that’s consistently gripping.” — New York Daily News
50. “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” (2015)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 6.9/10
What critics said: “What a beautiful, thrilling, joyous, surprising and heart-thumping adventure this is.” — Chicago Sun-Times
49. “The World’s End” (2013)
Laurie Sparham / Focus Features
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: “What ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and ‘Hot Fuzz’ did for zombie and cop flicks ‘The World’s End’ does for sci-fi fatalism, respecting its doomsday tropes while presenting them with cheeky wit and a refreshing strategy of sensory underload.” — Tampa Bay Times
48. “Battle Royale” (2000)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.0/10
What critics said: “American fans of ‘The Hunger Games’ may not embrace – or even be permitted to see – ‘Battle Royale,’ which is too bad. It is in many ways a better movie and in any case a fascinating companion, drawn from a parallel cultural universe. It is a lot uglier and also, perversely, a lot more fun.” — The New York Times
47. “Upstream Color” (2013)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 7.0/10
What critics said: “Part science fiction scare movie, part offbeat romance, part completely unclassifiable, ‘Color’ is also one-man filmmaking of a remarkable sort.” — Los Angeles Times
46. “Little Shop of Horrors” (1986)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 7.7/10
What critics said: “This is the kind of movie that cults are made of, and after ‘Little Shop’ finishes its first run, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it develop into a successor to ‘Rocky Horror Show,’ as one of those films that fans want to include in their lives.” — San Francisco Chronicle
45. “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (1976)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 6.9/10
What critics said: “It may be time to stop calling Nicolas Roeg’s sexed-up sci-fi film that vaguely demeaning term – a cult classic – and start addressing it as what it is: the most intellectually provocative genre film of the 1970s.” — Time Out
44. “Arrival” (2016)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: “Such a beautiful and thought-provoking film that it almost singlehandedly makes up for every bad aliens-coming-to-Earth film you’ve ever seen. Yes, even ‘Independence Day: Resurgence.'” — USA Today
43. “Blade Runner 2049” (2017)
Critic score: 81/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: “Stands with the likes of ‘The Godfather Part II’ and ‘Terminator 2’ and ‘Aliens’ as a sequel worthy of the original classic.” — Chicago Sun-Times
42. “Isle of Dogs” (2018)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: “The film is not only hilariously entertaining, but also firmly in the tradition of such political parables as George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm.'” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
41. “Marjorie Prime” (2017)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 7.3/10
What critics said: “The sci-fi chamber drama ‘Marjorie Prime’ is exquisite — beautiful, intense, shivering with empathy.” — New York Magazine
40. “A Quiet Place” (2018)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 7.5/10
What critics said: “As a celebration of the physical expressiveness and visual storytelling of silent cinema, ‘A Quiet Place’ speaks volumes without a word being uttered.” — The Washington Post
39. “Star Trek” (2009)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 7.9/10
What critics said: “In the pop high it delivers, this is the greatest prequel ever made.” — Boston Globe
38. “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 6.9/10
What critics said: “With ‘2001,’ Stanley Kubrick proved that a sci-fi movie could be philosophical rather than pulpy, profound rather than pedantic.” — Premiere
37. “The Lobster” (2016)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 6.9/10
What critics said: “A wickedly funny protest against societal preference for nuclear coupledom that escalates, by its own sly logic, into a love story of profound tenderness and originality.” — Variety
36. “Face/Off” (1997)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: “Face/Off is a summer movie extraordinaire: violent, imaginative, crazily funny and, oddly moving. Hollywood has finally wised up and let Hong Kong auteur John Woo strut his stuff in all its undiluted, over-the-top glory.” — Newsweek
35. “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back” (1980)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: “A stunning successor, a tense and pictorially dazzling science-fiction chase melodrama that sustains two hours of elaborate adventure while sneaking up on you emotionally.” — The Washington Post
34. “War for the Planet of the Apes” (2017)
Critic score: 82/100
User score: 8.1/10
What critics said: “There is a scene toward the end of ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ that is as vivid and haunting as anything I’ve seen in a Hollywood blockbuster in ages, a moment of rousing and dreadful cinematic clarity that I don’t expect to shake off any time soon.” — The New York Times
33. “Alien” (1979)
Critic score: 83/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: “I recognize how few horror films I’ve seen before or since that ever manage to capture such a tangible feeling of menace.” — Salon
32. “Spider-Man 2” (2004)
Critic score: 83/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: “A masterpiece of pop filmmaking — a fantastic, exuberant entertainment that manages to be both sleek and substantial without being patronizing.” — Miami Herald
31. “Avatar” (2009)
Critic score: 83/100
User score: 7.5/10
What critics said: “A quantum leap in movie magic; watching it, I began to understand how people in 1933 must have felt when they saw ‘King Kong.'” — Chicago Reader
30. “Snowpiercer” (2014)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 7.1/10
What critics said: “Politically provocative and visually spectacular ‘Snowpiercer’ – the best action film of 2014, and probably the best film, period.” — Salon
29. “The Terminator” (1984)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 7.2/10
What critics said: “From the slam-bang direction to the relentless pace to the not-a-word-wasted dialogue and even the driving synth score, everything else about The Terminator just works.” — Time Out
28. “Looper” (2012)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: “A remarkable feat of imagination and execution, entertaining from start to finish, even as it asks the audience to contemplate how and why humanity keeps making the same rotten mistakes.” — The AV Club
27. “Aliens” (1986)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: “Tautly paced and expertly directed, this roller coaster ride of a motion picture offers a little bit of everything, all wrapped up in a tidy science fiction/action package.” — ReelViews
26. “Children of Men” (2006)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 8.4/10
What critics said: “It’s a work of art that deserves a space cleared for its angry, nervous beauty.” — Entertainment Weekly
25. “Holy Motors” (2012)
Critic score: 84/100
User score: 7.5/10
What critics said: “An electrifying, confounding, what-the-hell-just-happened exercise in unbounded imagination, unapologetic theatricality, bravura acting and head-over-heels movie-love.” — The Washington Post
24. “The Iron Giant” (1999)
Critic score: 85/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: “Remarkably unassuming, genuinely playful, and superbly executed, ‘The Iron Giant’ towers over the cartoon landscape.” — The Village Voice
23. “The Host” (2007)
Critic score: 85/100
User score: 6.8/10
What critics said: “A great piece of filmmaking and a legitimate science-fiction/horror classic.” — San Francisco Chronicle
22. “Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi” (2017)
Critic score: 85/100
User score: 4.5/10
What critics said: “Easily its most exciting iteration in decades — the first flat-out terrific “Star Wars” movie since 1980’s ‘The Empire Strikes Back.'” — Los Angeles Times
21. “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” (1985)
Critic score: 86/100
User score: N/A
What critics said: “Hayao Miyazaki’s animated adventure, from 1984, is a magnificent anomaly—a rousing vision of scorched earth.” — The New Yorker
20. “Back to the Future” (1985)
Critic score: 87/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: “There aren’t many films we’d describe as perfect, but Robert Zemeckis’s oh-so-’80s time travel tale fits the bill.” — Time Out
19. “Superman II” (1981)
Critic score: 87/100
User score: 6.6/10
What critics said: “A stylish, well-paced film with a good variety of moods and moves.” — Time
18. “Black Panther” (2018)
Critic score: 88/100
User score: 6.7/10
What critics said: “Believe the hype: Black Panther transcends its comic-book origins, achieving a mythic grandeur that’s nothing short of exhilarating.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
17. “Donnie Darko: The Director’s Cut” (2004)
Critic score: 88/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: “A ferociously creative 1985 black comedy filled with wild tonal contrasts, swarming details, and unfettered visual invention–every shot carries a charge of surprise and delight.” — Chicago Reader
16. “Brazil” (1985)
Critic score: 88/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: “A ferociously creative 1985 black comedy filled with wild tonal contrasts, swarming details, and unfettered visual invention–every shot carries a charge of surprise and delight.” — Chicago Reader
15. “Blade Runner” (1982)
Critic score: 89/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: “At once the most realistic and beautifully choreographed film ever set in space, ‘Gravity’ is a thrillingly realized survival story spiked with interludes of breath-catching tension and startling surprise.” — The Hollywood Reporter
14. “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” (1977)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: “There is something dazzling about a sci-fi film that manages to call upon the energies of both futurism and long-held faith. The movie is not to be compared in ferocity of imagination with Kubrick’s “2001”—significant that the music here is merely illustrative, never caustic or memorable, and that there is nothing of Kubrick’s vision of a blanched form of existence—but it is exuberantly entertaining.” — Time Out
13. “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: “Marrying the biting frenzy of Terry Gilliam’s film universe with the explosive grandeur of James Cameron, Miller cooks up some exhilaratingly sustained action. But the key to this symphony of twisted metal is how the film never forgets that violence is a sort of madness.” — Time Out
12. “Hard to Be a God” (2015)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 5.2/10
What critics said: “The late director Aleksei Guerman’s last film is a grandly arbitrary carnival of neo-medieval depravity. It’s also a mudpunk allegory of Russian barbarism and backwardness.” — The New Yorker
11. “King Kong” (1933)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.8/10
What critics said: “Despite its various deficiencies and occasionally antiquated style, ‘King Kong’ remains not only a milestone of movie-making, but a magical experience.” — ReelViews
10. “It’s Such a Beautiful Day” (2012)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 9.0/10
What critics said: “Warped keyhole-size images stack atop one another in a Frankenstein-ian collage that evokes the films of Terrence Malick, David Lynch, Stan Brakhage, and Bruce Conner.” — Village Voice
9. “Solaris” (1972)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.2/10
What critics said: “An amazing celluloid poem by a filmmaker whom Ingmar Bergman called ‘the greatest.’ He very nearly was. He was also, perhaps, too pure a creator and reckless a citizen to survive unscathed.” — Chicago Tribune
8. “Her” (2013)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: “‘Her’ may be the most technologically astute movie since Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: a Space Odyssey.'” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
7. “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977)
Critic score: 90/100
User score: 7.8/10
What critics said: “The movie is emotionally tumultuous and evenhanded and serene. It celebrates the odd pockets of imagination and individuality that can be nurtured in middle-class suburbia.” — Baltimore Sun
5. “Werckmeister Harmonies” (2001)
Pierre Grise Distribution
Critic score: 92/100
User score: 8/10
What critics said: “A stunning feature — another hypnotic meditation on popular demagogy and mental manipulation.” — Variety
4. “Threads” (1984)
Critic score: 92/100
User score: 6/10
What critics said: “It wasn’t until I saw ‘Threads’ that I found that something on screen could make me break out in a cold, shivering sweat and keep me in that condition for 20 minutes, followed by weeks of depression and anxiety.” — The Guardian
3. “WALL-E” (2008)
Critic score: 95/100
User score: 8.9/10
What critics said: “The new Pixar picture ‘Wall-E’ is one for the ages, a masterpiece to be savored before or after the end of the world.” — New York Magazine
2. “Gravity” (2013)
Critic score: 96/100
User score: 7.8/10
What critics said: “At once the most realistic and beautifully choreographed film ever set in space, Gravity is a thrillingly realized survival story spiked with interludes of breath-catching tension and startling surprise.” — The Hollywood Reporter
1. “Metropolis” (1927)
Critic score: 98/100
User score: 8.6/10
What critics said: “A masterpiece of art direction, the movie has influenced our vision of the future ever since, with its imposing white monoliths and starched facades.” — San Francisco Chronicle
