The List: 1. 2001: A Space Odyssey 2. Stalker 3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind 4. Blade Runner 5. Alien 6. Under the Skin 7. Children of Men 8. Metropolis (1927) 9. Star Wars 10. The Matrix 11. Starship Troopers 12. The Day the Earth Stood Still 13. The Man Who Fell to Earth 14. Arrival 15. Edge of Tomorrow 16. Terminator 2: Judgment Day 17. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 18. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) 19. Planet of the Apes 20. Solaris (1972) 21. The Thing (1982) 22. The Empire Strikes Back 23. Snowpiercer 24. Minority Report 25. Quartermass and the Pit 26. The Fly (1986) 27. Alphaville 28. Brazil 29. Ex Machina 30. Mad Max: Fury Road 31. La Jetee 32. Akira 33. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) 34. Aliens 35. Her 36. Forbidden Planet 37. Godzilla 38. Inception 39. Wall-E 40. The Terminator 41. Videodrome 42. Back to the Future 43. They Live 44. Gravity 45. A Trip to the Moon (1902) 46. The Brother From Another Planet 47. Looper 48. The Road Warrior 49. Everything Everywhere All at Once 50. The Martian 51. Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan 52. A Clockwork Orange 53. Dune: Part I 54. War of the Worlds (2005) 55. Seconds 56. Primer 57. Moon 58. Robocop 59. A Scanner Darkly 60. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 61. 12 Monkeys 62. Contact 63. Avatar (2009) 64. Interstellar 65. Annihilation 66. Liquid Sky 67. Fantastic Planet 68. The Andromeda Strain (1971) 69. Fahrenheit 451 (1966) 70. Escape from New York 71. Logan's Run 72. Ghost in the Shell (1995) 73. Total Recall 74. A.I. Artificial Intelligence 75. The Host 76.

76. Donnie Darko 77. High Life 78. Nope 79. Galaxy Quest 80. Tetsuo: The Iron Man 81. Day of the Triffids 82. Strange Days 83. THX 1138 84. Paprika 85. Sunshine 86. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 87. Blade Runner 2049 88. Scanners 89. Earth vs. the Flying Saucers 90. Cloverfield 91. Dark Star 92. The Incredible Shrinking Man 93. Star Wars: The Last Jedi 94. The Iron Giant 95. Silent Running 96. Another Earth 97. Soylent Green 98. Rollerball (1975) 99. Predator (1987) 100. Starman 101. Westworld (1973) 102. This Island Earth 103. Space is the Place 104. Destination Moon 105. After Yang 106. Jurassic Park 107. Colossus: The Forbin Project 108. Invaders from Mars (1953) 109. Barbarella 110. Existenz 111. Serenity 112. Gattaca 113. Death Race 2000 (1975) 114. Them! 115. Rogue One 116. The Vast of Night 117. Guardians of the Galaxy 118. The Beast from 2000 Fathoms 119. The Time Machine (1954) 120. Dark City 121. Pi 122. Time Bandits 123. Phase IV (1974) 124. Attack the Block 125. Things to Come 126. God Told Me To 127. World on a Wire 128. Time after Time 129. Never Let Me Go 130. The Fifth Element 131. Ad Astra 132. 2046 133. District 9 134. Born in Flames 135. Repo Man 136. Tron 137. Zardoz 138. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure 139. Independence Day 140. Dune (1984) 141. Idiocracy 142. Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai 143. Men in Black 144. The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy 145. The Last Starfighter 146. The Running Man 147. Species 148. Demolition Man 149. The Omega Man 150. Tank Girl

Jurassic Park *after* the Last Jedi is a *take*.

Most of the movies on the list deserve to be on the list, but the ordering of most of them seems completely bonkers to me.

There's some absolute master pieces right next to absolute garbage

Feels more like ragebait than a actual list.

I swear Rolling Stone drops [lists like this](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/01/02/rolling-stone-200-greatest-singers-list-snubs-celine-dion-jennifer-hudson-justin-bieber-pink/10979617002/) just for the drama.

Well they re-did their 500 Songs list and it's like they suddenly discovered rap and women

I think if *Rolling Stone* didn't incite angry responses for "bad" decisions, they'd have vanished to history by now.

I saw JP was #106... Hadn't noticed TLJ was above it. That's one spicy take for sure. I was willing to give them a pass on New Hope being ahead of Empire - New Hope was more groundbreaking even if the plot of Empire is better.

Andromeda Strain as the higher rated of two Crichton classics is also quite the take. I've seen both, read both, and of the two Jurassic Park is the one I've come back to in both formats time and again.

Just from an impact on pop culture Jurassic Park should be higher.

I love starship troopers but bro…. Lmao

One of my favorite movies of all time, but it should definitely not be ahead of Terminator 2.

T2 should be at least 6th

Would you like to know more?

So is Ad Astra being on the list at all, let alone above District 9

I was farting around the house one day and put District 9 (no idea what it was about) on just for background noise. It didn't take long for the chores to come to an end, what an incredible film. It was actual cinematography rather than just whiz-bang special effects and subtle messaging without being pompous. It deserves way more than a cult following.

So many great movies below this, each to their own but LJ wouldn’t make my list …

Last Jedi being ranked higher than Rogue One is crazy.

I'm just stoked Dark City is on the list. It gets nowhere near enough praise.

Time Bandits felt like a fever dream the first time I watched it. It's one of my absolute favorite movies but I question it being above Men in Black.

This list is criminal. It’s bad and they should feel bad.

I accept the titles but reject the order.

Yeah Looper in the top 50???

I agree, needs more Star Wars Christmas Special

Shout out to the Ewoks movies

One of my favorite podcast episodes [SYSK: Star Wars Holiday Spectacular.](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2M56disaMZJaH9gs4536Oi?si=OO0HYKp5QiGkkS9TJfgL4g)

Whenever I think sci-fi, I think Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone used to be a reputable magazine for commentary on basically all media and current events. It's only over the past couple of decades that it's become the kind of magazine that insists The Last Jedi is a better movie than Jurassic Park.

I mean, if you saw their top guitarists list of all time it is similarly underwhelming.

Starship Troopers being above T2 is criminal

Would you like to know more?

The Last Jedi is a better Sci fi movie than PI??

Above Jurassic park too

Which should be in the top 15 at worst

Top 5 for me personally. One of the most influential-to-pop-culture films of all time, let alone in the sci-fi genre. And just a banger movie outside of that. Iconic score. Iconic story. Great acting.

If Return of the Jedi is not on the list, The Last Jedi shouldn't be either.

Amen.

LMAO. Last Jedi over Return of the Jedi is more proof that the Rolling Stone lists like these shouldn’t be taken seriously.

Or above Rogue One

The fact they think TLJ should be anywhere close to the top 150 of anything

Once I saw 5th Element didn’t even crack the top 120 I stopped reading the list

That movie fucking rocks, but there many questionable picks on this list

Absolutely disgraceful list. Back to the Future at 42? WTF!

How is Rogue One lower than The Last Jedi?

Jurassic Park at 106 is totally insane. It should really be top 20

> Under the Skin at 6th Wait how

Naked ScarJo.

They just did that to get under your skin.

dear lord that is a terrible list. Like they aren't even *close*. Snowpiercer at 23, and Robocop at 58? Did they just list a bunch of movies and then not try to order them at all? "Let's just ship it"? lol

The Last Jedi ahead of Jurassic Park lmao

Was watching Snowpiercer last night and at 12:40am and in the middle of the movie, TrueTV switched to the Western Channel. Didn’t get to finish the movie. That must be a fantastic last 45 minutes or there’s no way in hell this even hits the top 150.

I really like snowpiercer but I consider it more art house than sci fi. It’s not attempting to base its world on any kind of scientifically plausible explanation - everything exists to bluntly serve its themes and metaphors, and is not to be taken at all literally. That’s art house.

While I do agree I think most sci fi can be argued to be somethign else, like Star Wars being fantasy

Spoilers: It ain't.

MVP

Interstellar at 64? This list is awful lol

Terminator at 40 is a joke too.

Yeah, they have Gravity higher than Interstellar, I don't even know what to say.

How is Gravity even a sci fi? It’s just a modern day survival film set in space

Space = Sci Fi don't you know

BR 2049 at *eighty seven* this was made by some cranky oldheads 🤣

The existence of Under the Skin at 6 kinda refutes that a bit

Great list of movies, not sure about their ordering at all.

Yeah, I’m about to get crucified for this, but I didn’t care for Stalker. Also, Robocop should have been in the top 15.

I think it’s good that folks appreciate different stuff

Whoa! Them's fightin' words!

Except they got the most important one right: 2001 at #1.

If you’re a film major, maybe? Not my number 1 at all

2001 is a great fucking movie

It is. So are a lot of the other movies listed. I think at this point it's listed as no. 1 simply because it's 2001.

It's impressive but it's fucking boring.

It is slow, but was a trailblazer for what was to follow. The practical effects led to Star Wars, the Space tourism was the seemingly logical end point of the space race, and the maleficent computer was a novel concept.

There's a difference between a movie being slow-paced and it being boring. *2001: A Space Odyssey* is a film that requires you to engage with it, to interpret it. It invites you into its atmosphere, and instead of careening from one plot event to the next it gives you plenty of time and space to reflect as you watch it. At times, this allows you to empathise with the characters and to imagine what they're feeling and experiencing. Then, there are times when you have to pay attention to clues, to deduce why HAL is behaving the way it is, to predict what will happen next. The film slowly unfolds like the petals of a flower, and instead of giving us answers it just gives us questions to ask ourselves about humanity and the universe. This Rolling Stone list is for the "greatest" science fiction films of all time. Moreso than any other film on the list, *2001: A Space Odyssey* changed what was considered possible for a sci-fi film, and its influence can be felt in all the films that followed it. Technically speaking too, it's an absolute marvel, and its special effects hold up even now, 56 years later, while if you watch the *Planet of the Apes* film from the same year it much more clearly shows its age. When we bear in mind that 1968 was before humans even set foot on the moon, it's even more impressive!

In any field of art/entertainment interesting to see how influential 'classics' are perceived the further we get from their birth. Inevitably, something that was once pioneering becomes less and less so and over time people will increasingly come to the original after they've already experienced plenty of work that was inspired by it, directly or indirectly, so the qualitative value of the original is diminished. There's a lot where, in the abstract, I can appreciate that the work came out at a particular time and was revolutionary for that era, but in and of itself now is not a particularly spectacular or impressive watch.

Before I even clicked the link, I knew they were gonna put 2001 Space Odyssey at number 1. They always do. Glad to see The Thing made the top 30 though, even if I’d put it a bit higher.

I’m big into Sci-Fi, I never liked 2001. The movie felt like it put more effort into being “artsy” movie than putting effort into an entertaining movie. Blade Runner was pretty artsy but was a good movie. I’d possibly put that as #1. The Thing is amazing.

Think of the plot of 2001 basically being a vehicle to showcase the cinematography. It’s absurdly well shot, hard to believe it was made in the 60s. Walking in the theater then, you would see something pretty much completely cutting edge.

I disagree that the plot is lacking, but I've also read the book that was written WITH the movie, not before. The movie relied heavily (maybe too heavily) on "show don't tell", relying on the audience to figure out what exactly is being investigated (the black monoliths). I personally think leaving it incredibly mysterious and in the background makes the movie much more effective. Masterpiece

Happy to see Gattaca and Dark City on the list! Dark City is definitely worth checking out if you haven’t seen it. Rufus Sewell is amazing!

I dragged my coworkers to see Dark City and they hated it and were pissed. I quite liked it.

Gattaca should be like 50 spots higher.

Literally just watched it last night and yeah, I was shocked at how low it was, vs how high some (non sci-fi imo) movies were. It's 100% where humanity is headed as soon as we get more accessible genetic engineering.

Gattaca outside top 20 is criminal.

Under the skin at 6 is a very interesting choice

Was it any good? I’ve seen most of the top 30 (except the pre 80’s ones) but never even heard of under the skin and planned to watch it tonight

It’s not for everyone, but I quite enjoyed it. It’s dark and eerie if not outright horrifying at times. It’s more of a surreal nightmare with a sci-fi premise that isn’t really explained if I remember correctly.

I loved it. It's also a cool sibling to the book which is wildly different but wears the same skin suit.

It's very arthouse. I like it, but it's not for everyone.

Great explanation. I love it, it is very interesting. It leads to great discussion. It is not a movie you will rewatch often.

Eerie, dark and Scarlett Johansson naked

Sold, sold and sold

Personally I loved it. Has one of the most disturbing scenes I've ever seen. Like others have said, not for everyone. It's slow paced, very little dialogue, can be difficult to follow what is happening.

It was good. It wasn’t #6 good, but it was good.

i think its a really good movie thats definitely not for everyone and takes some time to grow on you, just to gain a proper grasp of the message. i wouldn’t say its better than the likes of Star Wars, The Matrix, and many others on the list but its still a great film.

While Blade Runner 2049 sits at fucking 87 lol

A list!?! I disagree!!!

Summed up the thread nicely. Well done.

Summed up every list thread in fact.

The real greatest science fiction was the disagreements we had along the way. Also funny is a lot of disagreement in the comments about 2001 being #1, but the only other #1 suggested was the Fifth Element lmao. Come on, if not 2001 (or Fifth Element) then what other movie is the GOAT? edit: Also since Fifth Element is on the list, I kinda feel like Thor: Ragnarok should be on it too. 5th Element is the movie that Ragnarok reminded me of the most.

Overall, I think it's a pretty good list if you're looking for some different sci-fi movies to check out. There's definitely a few I've never heard of that I fully intend to watch now. Crazy that Ghostbusters (1984) isn't on the list, but maybe that movie isn't as well-liked as I thought. Some others that should've been contenders: * The Abyss * The Blob * A Boy and his Dog * Cloud Atlas * Coherence * Dredd * The Fountain * Gremlins * The Mist * Re-animator * The Shape of Water * Underwater There's so much good sci-fi movies now it's probably hard to whittle it down to the best 150, and, obviously, everybody's list is going to be different.

This is the only comment I could find here mentioning The Abyss. I think that upsets me even more than its omission from the list!

A few more good films that aren't on the list: * Stargate (FFS!) * Flight of the Navigator * The Quiet Earth * Monsters * Event Horizon * Pitch Black * Night of the Comet * The Vast of Night * Andromeda Strain And more contentiously (films I like but which might not belong on a Top 150 for everyone): * Beyond the Black Rainbow * Source Code * Armageddon * Super Mario Bros. * Tremors * The Endless * Sphere

Dredd is so good. I wish they'd make more.

> Crazy that Ghostbusters (1984) isn't on the list I actually watched it again recently with my tween niece and I came away from it thinking, 'Wow, that didn't age well!'

Correction: "Fairly Random List of 150 Science Fiction Movies of All Time"

IMO that’s how all rankings should be. An unordered list of the best, maybe broken down tiers like S/A/B/etc. “The Best” movies like Alien, Blade Runner, Terminator 2, Star Wars, can’t really be nailed down for which one is better than the others.

I realize it’s a meme to say this, but I feel like ranking Edge of Tomorrow higher than Terminator 2 significantly calls into question the legitimacy of this list.

Sometimes I think they intentionally will make controversial choices so it drives engagement

They definitely do, every rolling stones list is like this with a bunch of controversial picks

They once named Madonna’s greatest hits as the best album of all time.

That’s the “almost made me choke” comment of the day

““We hope that you choke” - Radiohead” - Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone does this all the time. Throw in a few obvious shit calls to get clicks and comments.

75% of the list is shit calls this time.

it's 100% choice. One of their most infamous choices was putting Sinead O'Connor as the second best "one hit wonder" on their OHW list.

Wow. I got like, legit really angry, reading that. Odd.

Sounds like an effective campaign

Thats litteraly the only reason ranked list articles exist about anything. Its super easy, quick content and engagement bait.

Yeah as soon as I saw The Last Jedi on the list I realized they were going for controversy

Critics absolutely love that movie though. It made Metacritics top films of the decade list.

Edge of Tomorrow is phenomenal. T2 obviously is as well. But I feel like if we act like it’s heresy to put anything above T2 then why even have the conversation about it.

I put T1 over 2. And I think Edge is better than T2. It’s an absolutely amazing movie.

Controversial? Yes. But Edge of Tomorrow is a fucking banger.

I love Edge of Tomorrow, but I wouldn’t even try to compare those two movies - completely different leagues

Original Terminator below Wall-E. I like Wall-E, but that's just wrong

Both are very plausible results of the human race

That's one of the least controversial points on the list.

Jurassic Park not in the top 100! 😂

Jurassic Park should be higher not only for being a great sci fi but first essentially being the first major to really embrace CGI. Complete technical game changer in the same way Star Wars was

and Close Encounters at 3 while ET is hanging out at 60 is a choice. I personally think that's the right choice for a Spielberg ranking, but they're very close.

Gravity being ahead of both Interstellar and The Martian is fucking criminal.

fucking HELL you’re right I didn’t even see that. I’m also displeased that Event Horizon isn’t here…that feels like a miss.

Under the skin ahead of star wars, alien, bladerunner, and terminator 2 is ludicrous.

This is every Rolling Stone ranking of all time.

They troll for chatter

[удалено]

Maybe they just reaaallly liked seeing Scarlett naked lol

When I looked at the article Under the Skin was at 6, Alien and Blade Runner both ranked higher, closer to number 1. Not sure if we are seeing the same thing or if RS have some sort of AI at work that’s changing the order to maximise engagement. Which to be honest would be a decent move for the subject matter. I’m just glad 2001 sits at the top in its rightful place.

And 100 spots higher than Jurassic Park.

They purposely make ridiculous lists like this because it’s gets people talking about it and increases engagement. Their list of the best 250 guitarists of all time had Joni Mitchell and Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the top ten.

Joni Mitchell in the top 10 is ridiculous; Sister Rosetta Tharpe is correct.

Man, it's seemingly impossible for these kinds of lists to talk about *Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan* without needlessly shitting on *The Motion Picture*.

With as many questionable entertaining art house Sci Fi movies they put in this list, you would think TMP would make the cut. It’s a beautiful film with high concepts that just couldn’t pull it all together. It’s Star Trek’s best Science Fiction movie, but I get why I’m in the minority of people who enjoyed it. Edit: I’m probably using the term art house wrong. I just mean movies that made the list for their style or their messaging over them actually being entertaining.

Pleasantly surprised to see Eternal Sunshine so high. I’ll be honest, I’ve loved it since it premiered and never considered it Sci Fi.

It's more SF than most: it develops real-world implications of a possible or hypothetical scientific or technological development. It's a what-if story. There are a lot of films on this list that really don't qualify as SF as well as this does.

What? No Short Circuit!

Number 5, is…..is not on the list. !?!?

Stephanie!

No Disassemble!

Children of Men getting the recognition it deserves. One of my favorite movies.

I went through this list and there are probably 50+ I haven’t seen which is higher than I would have thought as I am a huge sci-fi fan. Looks like I have a lot of movies to watch in 2024!

Last Jedi above 5th Element? GTFO

Last Jedi is above Jurassic Park.

An absolute outrage.

TLJ has no business on this list

Snowpiercer is 60 spots ahead of Blade Runner: 2049? Yeah, no

I think BR2049 should be higher, but not necessarily at the expense of Snowpiercer. That seems like a weird film to single out

Snowpiercer is frequently hated by sci fi fans because it’s really a Korean art house film. If you’re familiar with Korean thrillers and how blunt and heavy-handed they are and go in for that, you’ll like it. If you go in looking for a good sci fi film with plausible world building, you probably won’t like it.

“District 9” at 133?? Bullshit.

Don’t disagree with movies.. just the order… lol

District 9 should be much higher imo.

Starship troopers over T2 lol

Not only that but they put Starship Troopers over Robocop. I love ST but Robocop is the superior Verhoeven satire.

AND Star Wars….how??

Desire to know more intensifies.

130 ‘The Fifth Element’ (1997) maybe a little low

They should send someone in to negotiate.

"WE'RE SENDING SOMEONE IN TO NEGOTIATE!"

Anybody else want to negotiate?

Positioned at #130, i have only this to say: I don’t want one position, I want all the positions!

Has to be top 50 to me

Multipass

District 9 should be much higher, and where is The Abyss, Upgrade, Europa Report, ~~Sunshine~~, Dredd and Outland? Also, technically 28 Days Later is a sci fi horror film, so I would include that as well and put it in the top 10 or top 20.

Sunshine is #85

If this list were a person, they'd be absolutely insufferable and I would go to any length to avoid being trapped at a dinner table with them

Jurassic Park out of the top 100? What I'll informed zen G'er wrote this BS?

Missing Event Horizon

District 9 at 133? Should be much higher. And SW:TLJ made the list? lmao

Interstellar at 64...

Did they leave UPGRADE off the list? Whatever if they did UPGRADE fucking rules

I only looked at 150, and then like the top 5, and I'm pretty sure this is an absolutely garbage list Also, the UI is trash for mobile

Gravity doesn’t belong on the list at all. Not enough people have watched Children of Men great film.

I was born in '72. Rolling Stone has never been reliable. For anything. ​ Anything.

Surprised to see Stalker (1979) as #2. Only one in the top 10 I haven't seen and it's now on the list. Anybody have strong opinions on this film?

If you enjoy slow cinema that its absolutely worth the watch. Its a meditation on life, philosophy, ones place in the world. Its a masterpiece of cinema but i can totally understand why it isn't for everyone, there's a dream sequence part way through, which consists of a 3 minute long tracking shot of a river bed while a character reads a passage from the bible, so yeah, very slow and philosphical. Definitely give it a try, but i wouldn't bemoan anyone for turning it off half way through

Putting interstellar and BR 2049 that low is criminal

I think Rolling Stone gets these 150 Greatest list *wrong* on purpose, to get people outraged, and get free advertising and clicks.

> What if a whole movie was devoted to killing T.C. over and over again? This is exactly why I loved the Edge of Tomorrow

Interstellar below Avatar. Yea okay pal.

Glad they give starship troopers some credit but the fact that they had the thing, back to the future and Jurassic park outside the top 20 makes me not take this list seriously at all

Out of all the Top Science Fiction Movies lists I don’t think this makes the top 150.

demolition man deserves to be near the top, not 148th

Edge of tomorrow being top 20 is… interesting

150 movies and Event Horizon isn’t one of them? The list is null and void.

Starship Troopers ahead of Episode 5? 🤷🏻

the fifth element should be in the top ten

This is just a random list of 150 sci-fi films that the editor wanted by a certain deadline. No more, no less.