The 25 Best Sci-Fi Movies of the Last 15 Years

[Deset Gled]

I dont mind familiarity. You can take a well told story and tell it again in a fresh and interesting way. It was a great film until the third act despite being derivative and predictable.

Are we taking about Ex Machina or Avatar?

 

[Thunderfoot]

I'm surprised by the number of these that I've seen and the number of these on this list I would have included as absolute trash.

Mad Max at number 1 is a travesty. Mad Max on this list is a slap in the face to the original franchise. Pacific Rim was almost as good as the movie Battleship, which is to say. Blech.

And while The Quiet Place is well written, beautifully shot amd superbly acted, I would drop it more along the lines of psychological thriller than sci-fi. (just because aliens are in it doesn't make it sci-fi)

I would put Wall-E higher on the list because it probably holds to the older standards of sci-fi better than any other movie with the exception of Looper, and *the In-*movies.

I think my problem with most modern Sci-Fi is a focus in visuals over story and context. Sci-fi has always been fantastical but the best always has some sort of subtle (or in some cases not so subtle) contextual exposition, whether political, social or environmental. So while I agree that Avatar shouldn't be on this list because it wasn't very good, at least it qualifies unlike some if these effects fests.

 

[Ryujin]

Are we taking about Ex Machina or Avatar?

Yes.

 

[Ryujin]

I'm surprised by the number of these that I've seen and the number of these on this list I would have included as absolute trash.

Mad Max at number 1 is travesty. Mad Max on this list is slap in the face to the original franchise. Pacific Rim was almost as good as the movie Battleship, which is to say. Blech.

And while The Quiet Place is well written, beautifully shot amd superbly acted, I would drop it more along the lines of psychological thriller than sci-fi. (just because aliens are in it doesn't make it sci-fi)

I would put Wall-E higher on the list because it probably holds to the older standards of sci-fi better than any other movie with the exception of Looper, and *the In-*movies.

I think my problem with most modern Sci-Fi is a focus in visuals over story and context. Sci-fi has always been fantastical but the best always has some sort of subtle (or in some cases not so subtle) contextual exposition, whether political, social or environmental. So while I agree that Avatar shouldn't be on this list because it wasn't very good, at least it qualifies unlike some if these effects fests.

Completely agree on "Pacific Rim." I've been a Kaiju fan since a Japanese friend introduced me to Godzilla and Ultraman in the late '60s, and mechanics in PR put me right off.

The only thing mildly amusing about "Battleship" was that the aliens' primary weapon looked like a peg.

 

[payn]

Mad Max at number 1 is travesty. Mad Max on this list is slap in the face to the original franchise.

Wut?

 

[Thunderfoot]

Wut?

The new Mad Max film was utter garbage. Drivel, poop on a stick. I'm not sure how much more clear I can be.

 

[payn]

The new Mad Max film was utter garbage. Drivel, poop on a stick. I'm not sure how much more clear I can be.

Wow, I guess there is a first for everything.

 

[Thomas Shey]

And while The Quiet Place is well written, beautifully shot amd superbly acted, I would drop it more along the lines of psychological thriller than sci-fi. (just because aliens are in it doesn't make it sci-fi)

As I said, if it wasn't quite focused on how the aliens work and how that leads to finding a solution to them, I'd find that more compelling.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Wow, I guess there is a first for everything.

I never liked any of the Max Max films. Not the original and not Fury Road. They are all style over substance.

 

[Mannahnin]

Fury Road was fantastic art. I was disappointed by the plot, but otherwise it's a masterpiece of film making. IMO it's very much a worthy successor to the first three movies, albeit let down a bit by the writing. One has to accept that it's not realistic.

I dont mind familiarity. You can take a well told story and tell it again in a fresh and interesting way. It was a great film until the third act despite being derivative and predictable.

Are we taking about Ex Machina or Avatar?

With Ex Machina we (ie: audiences familiar with the tropes) absolutely should know where it's going, but it's gorgeous, tense, beautifully acted and written.

Avatar is a big shiny triumph of visual effects blinding people to just terrible writing the entire way through.

17.Safety not Guaranteed (2012)

This is such a great little film. I'm hesitant to classify it as actually being science fiction, but it probably counts.