Just look at the baby faces of Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Austin Butler, and more in their very first TV and film projects. See Leonardo DiCaprio, Zendaya, and more stars in their first onscreen roles Just look at the baby faces of Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Austin Butler, and more in their very first TV and film projects. By Skyler Trepel May 6, 2026 10:00 a.m. ET Leave a Comment :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/firstroles14374b9963f248d8ae100f370b56ffe5.jpg) Harrison Ford in 1966; Meryl Streep in 1977; Leonardo DiCaprio in 1989.

Just look at the baby faces of Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Austin Butler, and more in their very first TV and film projects.

See Leonardo DiCaprio, Zendaya, and more stars in their first onscreen roles

Just look at the baby faces of Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Austin Butler, and more in their very first TV and film projects.

By Skyler Trepel

May 6, 2026 10:00 a.m. ET

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Harrison Ford in 1966; Meryl Streep in 1977; Leonardo DiCaprio in 1989. Credit:

The journey to Hollywood stardom begins with a single step. Or, should we say, role.

** delved into the resumes of modern cinematic icons in search of their very first screen credits, thus allowing fans a look at their humble beginnings. Many of these stars look back on their origins with pride, wisdom, and even a bit of embarrassment.

From legends like Samuel L. Jackson, Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep to rising stars like Zendaya, Austin Butler, and Michael B. Jordan, here’s a collection of 20 stars in their first onscreen roles.

Halle Berry: Living Dolls (1989)

Halle Berry in 1989 on a forgotten 'Who's the Boss?' spinoff.

For her performance in *Monster’s Ball* (2001), Halle Berry became the first Black woman to win the Oscar for Best Actress. Her first onscreen role came 12 years before that on the *Who's The Boss*? spinoff *Living Dolls*.

The role of model Emily Franklin just happened to dovetail with her actual life at the time.

“I was playing a model, and up until that point that's what I was doing. I was in Chicago modeling,” she told *Vanity Fair *in 2021. “I was essentially playing a version of myself in many ways and it was the first time that I really realized I could actually earn a living… through my craft.”

Berry went on to become a superhero in the *X-Men *franchise, a Bond girl in *Die Another Day *(2002), and an assassin in *John Wick: Chapter 3 *(2019).

Austin Butler: Hannah Montana (2007)

Li'l Austin Butler has a date with Hannah Montana and he's all shook up about it.

the disney channel

Austin Butler is one of his generation’s up-and-coming leading men, but he started as a supporting boy on *Hannah Montana *as Miley’s blind date, Derek. (He wasn’t such a great date, as it turned out.)

Butler previously reflected on how his early career, including bit parts on Nickelodeon shows, allowed him time to hone his talent.

“I am grateful I started young because it allowed me a lot of time to make mistakes. I had so many years of really bad acting,” Butler told PEOPLE in 2023. “I still have so much to learn, but that’s what really excites me about acting is that… it’s like anything, you can improve, and you can get better.”

After breaking through as the Manson family’s Tex Watson in *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood *(2019), he transformed into the King of Rock and Roll for *Elvis *(2023), for which he earned an Oscar nomination.

The rising star went on to steal scenes in *Dune: Part Two *(2024) and *Eddington *(2025). He also headlined *The Bikeriders *(2023) and *Caught Stealing *(2025).

Jackie Chan: Big and Little Wong Tin Bar (1962)

Yes, one of these blurry children is Jackie Chan.

Actors-first-roles322-04292026

Jackie Chan, universally regarded as one of the great martial arts actors, began his career at just 8 years old. In his film debut, 1962's *Big and Little Wong Tin Bar, *he got to sing *and *fight. He landed the role when he was in the Seven Little Fortunes performance troupe at the Chinese Drama Academy.

“In the small world in which we traveled, we Fortunes were stars. Not only were we the academy’s elite, acknowledged by all to be the best and brightest, but we also bore the responsibility of keeping the school alive, because it was our performances that generated the academy’s only revenue,” Chan wrote in his autobiography *I Am Chan*. “The most difficult instruction we had was in the aerial maneuvers that gave Chinese Opera its splendor: flips and somersaults, all learned and practiced without a net or harness… We practiced splits against the walls, against the floor, against everything.”

After years as a Hong Kong star — appearing in the *Police Story *franchise, the *Drunken Master *films, *Project A* (1983)* *and more — Chan crossed over into Western stardom, headlining *Rush Hour *(1998), *Shanghai Noon *(2000), and their various sequels.

Cher: Chastity (1969)

Cher will look much happier once she's working with Robert Altman and Mike Nichols.

Cher is best known for her musical career, both alongside Sonny Bono and for decades afterward as a solo act. Her side hustle as an actress began with little fanfare in the 1969 box-office bomb *Chastity*.

Cher didn’t act for over a decade afterward, but she was ready to make her mark even if audiences didn’t expect it.

“I ran to see [the *Silkwood *trailer]. They say, you know, Meryl Streep and everybody applauds and then they say Kurt Russell and everyone applauds and then they say Cher and everyone started laughing,” Cher said on *The Graham Norton Show *in* *2018. “It was heartbreaking… I got home and I called [director Mike Nichols] and said, ‘They may laugh in the beginning, but they won't be laughing at the end… Then I got nominated for [the] Academy Award.”

That was just the beginning. The pop icon won an Oscar four years later for *Moonstruck *(1987) in the midst of a big-screen run that included *The Witches of Eastwick *(1987), *Mask *(1985), and *Mermaids *(1990).

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Leonardo DiCaprio: The New Lassie (1989)

'You had my curiosity, Lassie - now you have my attention'.

Before becoming one of the biggest stars on the planet, Leonardo DiCaprio got upstaged by a dog on *The New Lassie*. His first role gave him an early and unexpected glimpse at the secrets of, uh, Hollywood magic.

“Lassie was… supposed to be a female dog,” the actor told David Letterman* *in 1995. “They had five different dogs that were all guys to do the tricks. I first realized how fake the whole business was when they had to do the pregnancy scene because they had to tape over Lassie's balls.”

Within a few years, the collie’s human costar was an Oscar nominee for *What’s Eating Gilbert Grape *(1993) and set the world on fire in *Titanic *(1997). Since then, he won an Oscar for *The Revenant* (2015) and forged a legendary partnership with Martin Scorsese, which includes *The Departed *(2006), *The Wolf of Wall Street *(2013), and *Killers of the Flower Moon *(2023).

He scored his sixth and seventh acting Oscar nominations for *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood *(2019) and *One Battle After Another *(2025).

Idris Elba: Crimewatch

'A lot of actors don’t like to admit they did Crimewatch, but I’m not embarrassed by it'.

David Cheskin/PA Images via Getty

Idris Elba is a big name now, but his very first role was so small it’s not even on his IMD page. In the early '90s, he played a murderer during a crime reconstruction scene on the British show *Crimewatch. *

“It sounds weird but, at the time, getting a job on *Crimewatch* was the first rung on the ladder,” he said in 2020 prior to receiving a BAFTA Special Award. “A lot of actors don’t like to admit they did *Crimewatch*, but I’m not embarrassed by it.”

The actor and musician broke through as Stringer Bell on *The Wire *before finding a long-term home as maverick detective John Luther in the *Luther *franchise. He’s been a regular in the MCU, won a SAG for the *Beasts of No Nation *(2015), and canceled the apocalypse in *Pacific Rim *(2013).

Elba’s output also includes *Prometheus *(2012), *The Suicide Squad *(2021), *Three Thousand Years of Longing *(2022), and the Apple TV hit *Hijack*.

Harrison Ford: Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966)

Yes, the coolest smuggler and professor in movie history began as a mere bellboy.

In the beginning, Harrison Ford was told he’d never amount to anything. He signed on to a low-paying studio contract and debuted as a bellboy with one line in *Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round*. His boss was less than impressed.

“I was under contract to Columbia Pictures at the time for $150 a week and all the respect that that implies. I was called into the office of the Head of the New Talent program and he told me that I had no future in the business,” Ford previously told *Variety*. “I didn't last that long. It lasted about a year and a half of a seven-year contract. Yeah, I met him later across a crowded room. He had sent me a card on which he had written, ‘I missed my guess.’”

Of course, he went on to play some of the most iconic roles in Hollywood history, from Han Solo to Indiana Jones to Rick Deckard. He scored an Oscar nod for *Witness *(1985) and starred in *Working Girl *(1988), *Presumed Innocent *(1990), *The Fugitive *(1993), and *Air Force One *(1997), among many others.

Recently he’s found a second home on TV with Taylor Sheridan’s *1923* and the hit dramedy *Shrinking*.

Whoopi Goldberg: The Color Purple (1985)

Whoopi Goldberg's film debut was an all-timer.

Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett

Most people don't get Oscar nominations for their first movie, but most people aren't Whoopi Goldberg. It was the actress and comedian's Grammy-winning one-woman Broadway show that caught the attention of Steven Spielberg, who wanted her to audition for his upcoming adaptation of *The Color Purple*.

“At the time I thought, ‘Show Steven the show that he couldn't come see in New York.’ I thought it was just going to be he and I. I step out and it's Quincy Jones and there's Michael Jackson… and I thought where am I? I really felt like E.T. like I stepped off into some new planet,” Goldberg told AFI. “I did the show that I'd been doing on Broadway and then I asked him if I could do an extra character that I had written that was based on E.T. called Blee-T…. I did it and he laughed and he said, ‘I’m gonna be directing *The Color Purple *and we would like you to play Celie.’”

Goldberg later took home an Academy Award for *Ghost *(1990). She also led films such as *Sister Act *(1992) and *Boys on the Side *(1995).

The EGOT winner has been cohosting *The View *since 2007.

Ryan Gosling: Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1995)

One of the biggest movie stars of his generation, back when he was just a dork on Canadian TV.

Before he was just Ken, Ryan Gosling was just a child actor starting out on a classic Canadian horror show. He was Jamie Leary, the mischievous brother of a death-obsessed boy in an episode of *Are You Afraid of the Dark*?

“I’m glad I did it when I was young… I think your brain doesn't fully form until you're 25, so I was 16 and I didn't know any better,” Gosling said in 2017. “It just felt like I didn't realize… how much of an opportunity for failure there was. I think if I had started later on I might not have taken the risk.”

He became an instant heartthrob thanks to *The Notebook *(2004) and went on to earn three Oscar nominations for his work in *Half Nelson *(2006), *La La Land* (2016), and *Barbie *(2023). In 2026, he helped turn *Project Hail Mary* into a box-office smash.

Tom Hanks: He Knows You're Alone (1980)

Tom Hanks gets his Screen Actor Guild card and (hopefully) a free scarf.

MGM/courtesy Everett

Tom Hanks is known for many things. What he’s *not* known for is horror. Yet his first role was in the low-budget slasher *He Knows You're Alone*, about a young woman who believes (correctly) that she's being hunted by a serial killer. Hanks played a smart-aleck psychology student. He cheekily referred to this as a “knife rack” movie.

“The innocent girl who's going to get married is washing the dishes in the kitchen and right next to her on the wall is a ‘knife rack’ that has all the knives in one place,” Hanks explained in 2023. “She hears a noise and… goes into the other room to check…. then she goes back to finish washing the dishes and a knife is missing from the knife rack!”

After *Bosom Buddies* and a string of comedies, he scored a hit as the star of *Big *(1988). Back-to-back Oscars for *Philadelphia* (1993) and* Forrest Gump *(1994) followed, not to mention *Sleepless in Seattle *(1993), *Apollo 13 *(1995), *Saving Private Ryan *(1998), *The Green Mile *(1999), and *Cast Away *(2000).

The icon’s more recent work includes *Bridge of Spies *(2015), *A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood *(2019), and *Asteroid City *(2023).

Samuel L. Jackson: Together for Days (1972)

On the left, Samuel L. Jackson in 1993, when he was famous. On the right, his debut in 1972, when he was not.

Ron Galella Collection via Getty

He’s one of the highest-grossing actors of all-time, but Samuel L. Jackson started out in a film that’s almost impossible to find today: the independent Blaxploitation flick *Together for Days*.

Directed by Michael Schultz, who went on to helm classics *Cooley High *(1975) and *Car Wash *(1976), it revolves around the cultural reactions to a radical Black activist entering into a relationship with a white woman. Jackson had a supporting role.

In 2010, Jay Leno told Jackson he looked for it and couldn't find it; the actor revealed it had been re-released under the title *Black Cream*. Then again, in 2017 Jackson offered simple advice for curious fans: “Don't go looking for it.”

Of course, he went on to a prolific career that truly took off in the late 1980s. By now, he has about 150 films to his credit, including decades-long collaborations with Spike Lee, Quentin Tarantino, and Marvel.

The living legend has an Oscar nomination for *Pulp Fiction *(1994) and received an honorary Oscar in 2022.

Michael B. Jordan: The Sopranos (1999)

Michael B. Jordan (center) bullies a little boy named Tony Soprano.

Michael B. Jordan’s road to stardom began with a small part on a classic show. In a season 1 episode of *The Sopranos*, he briefly appeared as a bully who used to torment a young Tony Soprano.

“I was about 12 years old and I was just, you know, one of the extras, one of the background kids. I might’ve snuck in a couple lines,” Jordan told *Vanity Fair*. “At that point I think the most exciting thing about being on set was the fact that I was not in school. I think it was one of the first times that I got a chance to skip school to go to the city and work. At that time *The Sopranos*…* *we didn't know that it was going to be, you know, as epic of a show as it is today.”

From there, he landed on *The Wire *and *Friday Night Lights *before becoming a bonafide movie star thanks to *Creed *(2015). His Killmonger in *Black Panther *(2018) turned him into a formidable big-screen villain, and his dual performance in *Sinners* (2025) landed him an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Jennifer Lawrence: Monk (2006)

Jennifer Lawrence as a mascot on 'Monk.' It was all downhill from there.

Jennifer Lawrence has an embarrassing story about her debut in an episode of *Monk*. While dressed as a cougar mascot at a high school basketball game, Lawrence jumps on the title character’s back. She expected a different role — and even told her fellow churchgoers about it.

“Everybody was like, ‘Oh, we can't wait to watch it.’ [I] find out I'm not playing that part, I'm the mascot, and so everybody watched it after I just told them I was going to have this great, huge part, and I was just the mascot,” she said on *Late Night with Conan O’Brien*. “I've never been back to church since.”

The Kentucky native scored an Oscar nomination for her performance in 2010's *Winter’s Bone*, which paved the way for her star turn as Katniss Everdeen in the *Hunger Games* franchise.

Lawrence later won an Academy Award for *Silver Linings Playbook *(2012) and went on to further acclaim in *American Hustle *(2013), *Mother! *(2017), and *Die, My Love *(2025).

Rita Moreno: So Young, So Bad (1950)

Rita Moreno serenades her fellow reform school rebels in 'So Young, So Bad'.

After a run of small gigs, Rita Moreno earned her first major role at 18 years old in 1950’s *So Young, So Bad, *as a chronic reform school runaway.

“I’d put on my flat shoes and I’d literally walk and visit these little agencies. I was 13, 14, 15 and I would go there, meet the receptionist, and I’d say, ‘I would like to leave my picture and my resume with you,’” Moreno told *Elle*. “Once in a while, I would get a gig dancing, and little by little, some of the agencies began to know me. And eventually that led to being in my very first movie.”

She booked supporting parts in *Singin’ in the Rain *(1952) and *The King and I *(1956) before landing her Academy Award-winning role as Anita in *West Side Story *(1961).

With an EGOT under her belt, she returned as a new character in Steven Spielberg’s remake 60 years later.

Jack Nicholson: NBC Matinee Theater (1956)

Jack Nicholson, seen here in 1958, offically debuted two years earlier on NBC's live drama, 'Matinee Theater'.

Herbert Dorfman/Corbis via Getty; NBC

Another GOAT candidate, Jack Nicholson spent years under the radar before making it big. His first onscreen role was in an episode of NBC’s daytime drama *Matinee Theater*, “Are You Listening?”

He was acting on stage during those years as well — for cheap.

“I made $14 a week. During the run I got my first agent, as well as some work on *Matinee Theatre, *a live TV daytime drama.” Nicholson told *Film Comment *in 1985. “While I was doing this, I got the lead in my first movie, *Cry Baby Killer*… I read for it just like every other actor in town. I screamed and yelled — I know I gave the loudest reading, if not the best. And when I got the part I thought: ‘This is it! I’m made for this profession.’ Then I didn’t work for a year.”

He now has three Oscars under his belt — for *One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest *(1975), *Terms of Endearment *(1983), and *As Good As It Gets *(1997) — in addition to era-defining classics like *Easy Rider *(1969), *Carnal Knowledge *(1971), *Chinatown *(1974), and *Reds *(1981).

Brad Pitt: Another World (1987)

A very young Brad Pitt on 'Another World.' He booked a McDonald's commercial not long afterward.

Before becoming a Hollywood sex symbol, Brad Pitt was just another hunk on a soap opera. His first role came as basketball player Chris in two episodes of *Another World*.

“I did a few weeks on *Another World*,” Pitt told *Tiger Beat* at the time. “I had to go to New York for that, and I had never been there. Then I got* Dallas*, and in between filming those, I did a *Growing Pains* episode. I did a Mountain Dew commercial — got to waterski in Florida. And I just got a McDonald’s commercial today! My mom is so proud!”

Pitt eventually got his breakout in *Thelma and Louise *(1991), which led to acclaimed turns in *Seven *(1995), *12 Monkeys *(1995), and *Fight Club *(1999). The Oklahoma native took home an Oscar in 2020 for *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*.

Meryl Streep: The Deadliest Season (1977)

Meryl Streep's debut in 1977. Then she starred in back-to-back Best Picture winners.

In 1977, Meryl Streep made her onscreen debut in the TV movie *The Deadliest Season*, playing the wife of a hockey player (Michael Moriarty) on trial for accidentally killing someone during a game.

She had faced plenty of rejection already, even being told she wasn’t pretty enough for *King Kong *(1976).

“I walked in and [producer Dino De Laurentiis’ son] was sitting there very excited that he brought in this new actress and the father said to his son in Italian… ‘Why did you bring me this ugly thing,’” Streep told *The Graham Norton Show *in 2015*. *“So I said to him [facetiously]… ‘I understand what you’re saying. I’m sorry I’m not beautiful enough to be in *King Kong*.’”

In no time, Streep had her first of three Oscars, this one for *Kramer vs. Kramer *(1979). She now has a record 21 acting nominations, including wins for *Sophie’s Choice *(1982) and *The Iron Lady *(2011).

Her illustrious career includes *Defending Your Life *(1991), *The Bridges of Madison County *(1995), *Adaptation *(2002), *The Devil Wears Prada *(2006), and *Mamma Mia* (2008).

Reese Witherspoon: The Man in the Moon (1991)

Reese Witherspoon makes her debut in a coming-of-age gem alongside Jason London.

Reese Witherspoon’s Hollywood career began thanks to an advertisement in her local newspaper. After starring in a few commercials, she auditioned for the starring role in the coming-of-age drama *The Man in the Moon*.

“There was an ad in the local paper that said, ‘Do you want to be in a movie? We're looking for a 14-year-old Southern girl. Do you think you could act some of the lines or read one of the scenes?’ I was like, ‘Yes I think I can!’ I auditioned that day, but then I didn't hear anything for a month,” she recalled on Instagram in 2020. “I came home from softball practice and my mom said, ‘Reese, I need to talk to you. They're calling and asking if you'll go to Los Angeles for a screen test.’”

Her performance paved the way for her breakthrough roles in *Pleasantville *(1998), *Election *(1999), *Cruel Intentions *(1999), and *Legally Blonde *(2001). She won an Academy Award for *Walk the Line *(2005) and earned another nomination for *Wild *(2014).

In recent years, the Louisiana native has found small-screen success with *Big Little Lies* and *The Morning Show*.

Michelle Yeoh: The Owl Vs. Bombo (1984)

Michelle Yeoh makes her debut alongside George Lam.

Fortune Star Media Limited

Before ascending to Hollywood’s A-list, Michelle Yeoh was a Hong Kong action star. It all began with the low-budget *The Owl vs. Bombo*, about two thieves blackmailed by a detective into becoming teachers at a reform center. Yeoh plays Miss Yeung, a fellow teacher.

The young actress, who had a dance background, wanted to try her hand at the stunts.

“I went up to my producers and I say… ‘How about you let me try to do some action?’” Yeoh told *Vanity Fair *in 2025. “I was new in town and they thought, ‘What have we got to lose? Right?’ Because action comedies were the biggest sellouts in Hong Kong cinema at the time.”

Yeoh’s physical chops paid off. She went on to star in action classics like *Yes, Madam! *(1985), *The Heroic Trio *(1993), and *Police Story 3: Supercop *(1992). Years of international success led her to become a Bond girl in *Tomorrow Never Dies *(1997). The Malaysian actress later co-headlined *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon *(2000) and took on supporting roles in *Memoirs of a Geisha *(2005) and *Sunshine *(2007).

In 2023, she won an Oscar for her performance in *Everything Everywhere All at Once*.

Zendaya: Shake It Up (2010)

Zendaya, just a few years away from being one of the biggest stars on the planet.

She’s far from the only superstar whose career got launched on the Disney Channel, but Zendaya may be the biggest. Alongside Bella Thorne, she was one half of a backup dancing duo on *Shake It Up*’s show-within-a-show. The slapstick sitcom was just the ticket for the burgeoning star.

“I am [a Disney kid] and to a degree, I am grateful for that. That’s where I started, and I learned so much from that experience,” Zendaya told Carey Mulligan in a *Variety* Actors on Actors interview. “It’s just kind of been this slow progression, and I am happy that it’s all been to prove it to myself and not to anybody else… I embrace it a little bit. It’s part of my heritage.”

After continuing with Disney for *K.C. Undercover*, Zendaya won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her less-than-wholesome performance as drug-addicted teenager Rue on HBO's *Euphoria*.

She launched her movie career as MJ in the *Spider-Man *franchise, which led to the *Dune *trilogy and widespread acclaim for *Challengers *(2024). After her buzzy role in *The Drama *(2026), the Oakland native is set for Christopher Nolan’s *The Odyssey *(2026).

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Travel through space, time, and genre as you parse EW's list of the 35 best scifi movies of all time. The 35 best scifi movies of all time Travel through space, time, and genre as you parse EW's list of the 35 best scifi movies of all time. By Randall Colburn :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/RandallColburnauthorphotoe7e8b48d9f8645588439077e721a5f48.jpg) Randall Colburn Randall Colburn is a writer and editor at . His work has previously appeared on The A.V. Club, The Guardian, The Ringer, and many other publications. EW's editorial guidelines and Kevin Jacobsen on May 8, 2026 7:24 a.m.

Travel through space, time, and genre as you parse EW's list of the 35 best sci-fi movies of all time.

The 35 best sci-fi movies of all time

Travel through space, time, and genre as you parse EW's list of the 35 best sci-fi movies of all time.

By Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn

Randall Colburn is a writer and editor at **. His work has previously appeared on The A.V. Club, The Guardian, The Ringer, and many other publications.

EW's editorial guidelines

and Kevin Jacobsen

on May 8, 2026 7:24 a.m. ET

Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty in ‘Blade Runner’; David Prowse as Darth Vader in ‘Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back’; Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in ‘Alien’. Credit: Everett Collection (3)

Who are we? How did we get here? And where are we going next? As technological advancement outpaces human understanding, people are left to wonder about our place in the universe. Have we optimized existence to such an extent as to render humanity irrelevant? Science fiction movies consider these questions and provide audiences with thoughtful, brilliant, and terrifying theories on issues of humanity, nature, God, science, and more of life's great mysteries.

Nobody knows what’s next for our species, but these films are full of intellectual wormholes into which audiences can dive. Here, in alphabetical order, are the 35 best sci-fi movies of all time.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Keir Dullea as Dr. Dave Bowman and Gary Lockwood as Dr. Frank Poole in '2001: A Space Odyssey'. Warner Bros. Pictures

Like so many of the best films on this list, *2001* feels alien. It has shape, weight, and a clear sense of itself. We leave it knowing we've seen something truly awesome, even if we can't quite articulate what exactly we saw. Stanley Kubrick's dizzying achievement towers in the pantheon of film like the monolith that beguiles its cast, a lush and indelible exploration of ideas that, more than a half-decade later, continue to fascinate: artificial intelligence, space exploration, the evolution of consciousness. So, too, do its audio and visual elements: The awe-inducing blare of "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," the space station's humbling grandeur, and the lonely drift of an unleashed astronaut, lost to the cosmos. One of a kind in any genre. —*Randall Colburn*

Where to watch *2001: A Space Odyssey*: HBO Max

Alien (1979)

Yaphet Kotto as Parker, Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, and Ian Holm as Ash in 'Alien'. Everett Collection

It's the endless expanse that sets the stage, the sense that, despite being surrounded by so much open space, there is absolutely nowhere to run. There's no dialogue for the first six minutes of *Alien*, nor is there music. It's just ambient sound, as cold and alienating as the crowded, grimy halls of the *Nostromo*, cinema's most notorious intergalactic haunted house. All the crew members — an out-of-this-world ensemble consisting of Tom Skeritt, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto, and, of course, Sigourney Weaver — have are each other, so when a creature bursts from their buddy's chest and begins picking them off one by one, the ugly, pipe-strewn walls close in. Director Ridley Scott embraces the claustrophobia, embedding his Xenomorph into the fabric of the ship and, by extension, our nightmares. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Alien*: HBO Max through May 20

Arrival (2016)

Jeremy Renner as Ian Donnelly and Amy Adams as Louise Banks in 'Arrival'.

Jan Thijs/Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

What if, instead of fighting alien invaders, we made an effort to understand them? This heady sci-fi masterpiece from Denis Villeneuve tackles such a concept with thought and care, showing that a blockbuster doesn't have to be mindless. After alien pods mysteriously appear around the world, a linguist named Louise (Amy Adams, in one of her best performances to date) is brought in to try to crack the code of what they want from Earth's inhabitants. She ultimately discovers that their understanding of time varies from our own, leading to a deeply moving conclusion. —*Kevin Jacobsen*

Where to watch *Arrival*: Paramount+

Back to the Future (1985)

Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown and Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly in 'Back to the Future'. Ralph Nelson/Universal

It's wild that *Back to the Future* is one of the most beloved movies ever, one that families still gather around the TV to watch, given that its story centers on a teenager who unwittingly travels back in time only to threaten his existence after his mother gets intensely horny for him. On the other hand, the discomfort would overwhelm, but Robert Zemeckis' clever, fleet-footed direction and Bob Gale's inventive yet impeccably structured script endear us immediately to this world and its eccentric characters. It's a shockingly emotional movie, using its time-hopping adventure to witness that pivotal moment when a child learns to see their parents as, well, people. And, like any time travel narrative, it touches on the fragility of our realities, the notion that our fates hinge on the smallest of moments. One small move and the entire house of cards collapses. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Back to the Future*: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982)

Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty in 'Blade Runner: The Final Cut'. Everett Collection

Pluck any quote from the mouth of Rutger Hauer's Roy Batty and you'll land upon a classic. "It's not an easy thing to meet your maker," for instance. He speaks as a human-engineered replicant, of course, but try turning that concept back on ourselves — what would we do if we met our creator? The ideas overflow in Ridley Scott's sci-fi masterpiece, a flop upon its release that, after receiving numerous director's cuts, has firmly planted itself in the cultural consciousness. But it's not all philosophy; *Blade Runner* is a spectacle, its choked, dystopian, post-capitalist cityscapes growing more and more familiar as the years pass. The film's exquisite clutter extends to its eccentric ensemble, a collection of enigmas that brim with weariness and wonder. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Blade Runner: The Final Cut*: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

The mothership in 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. Everett Collection

There are plenty of jokes to be made at the expense of Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), the UFO obsessive in Steven Spielberg's *Close Encounters of the Third Kind**. *He abandons his wife and family for aliens! What a s---ty dad! But isn't this what makes Spielberg's movie so interesting, the idea that mysteries are sometimes so compelling that one can't help but chase them to the outer reaches? Like so many films on this list, it's a testament to the lure of science fiction, to a reality that exists outside society's portrait of a life well lived. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Close Encounters of the Third Kind*: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

Contact (1997)

Jodie Foster as Dr. Eleanor 'Ellie' Ann Arroway in 'Contact'. Everett Collection

Robert Zemeckis' ambitious adaptation of Carl Sagan's 1985 novel is that rarest of films: a philosophical blockbuster. Jodie Foster is steely yet open-hearted as Ellie Arroway, a scientist who discovers schematics for a single-occupant space vessel buried in transmissions from a distant star system. As the vessel is constructed and Ellie prepares for first contact, a stacked ensemble — Matthew McConaughey, Angela Bassett, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt — navigates the tensions between science and faith with charm and nuance. Zemeckis, meanwhile, balances the script's bigger questions with white-knuckle awe. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Contact*: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

Dark City (1998)

Kiefer Sutherland as Dr. Daniel P. Schreber (center) in 'Dark City'.

New Line Cinema/Everett Collection

"When was the last time you remember doing something during the day?" It's such a chilling line, and one that teases the mysteries at the heart of Alex Proyas' masterful *Dark City*. Set in a murky metropolis that echoes the paintings of Edward Hopper, the film stars Rufus Sewell as a man who, after waking in a hotel bathtub with no memories, stumbles upon the puppet masters who have long manipulated his surroundings. The pale, floating beings are called Strangers and their goal is to rebuild their dying alien civilization by unlocking the secrets of the human soul via frequent experimentation. That means injecting their subjects with new memories and rebuilding the city to explore new possibilities. It's eerie, gripping stuff, a sci-fi noir that raises the biggest question of all: How much of our lives are truly ours? —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Dark City*: Tubi

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Harry Lauter as Platoon Leader and Michael Rennie as Klaatu in 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'. Everett Collection

To watch Robert Wise's *The Day the Earth Stood Still* today is to view it through the prism of film history; it's near-impossible for a modern audience to separate the movie (and Bernard Herrmann's score) from the iconography it helped popularize. Flying saucers, space lasers, hulking silver humanoids — to this day, they continue to manifest in homage, parody, art, and subversion. It's worth a revisit, though, as Wise's film, based on a short story by Harry Bates, remains an enduring (and fittingly cynical) work of satire. Nearly 75 years later, the thought of a unified front and nuclear disarmament remains as elusive as ever. Klaatu would stand even less of a chance. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *The Day the Earth Stood Still*: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

Dune (2021)

Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides in 'Dune'.

Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures

Frank Herbert's *Dune* has bested not one, but two of cinema's best storytellers. David Lynch's '84 adaptation, though it has its defenders, was a critical and commercial dud, while Alejandro Jodorowsky crumbled beneath the weight of his own vision. In his adaptation of the first half of Herbert's novel, Denis Villeneuve opts for a sober approach that wisely emphasizes story and character over eccentricity. He also, though, understands that the grandeur of Herbert's vision is part of what makes *Dune** *so uniquely, well, *Dune*. Everything from the architecture to the sandworms that swim through these sweeping desert vistas is as massive as the spice war's impact on the saga's political and religious machinations. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Dune*: HBO Max

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Henry Thomas as Elliott (center, in red hoodie) in 'E.T.'.

Universal/Everett Collection

Who needs adults? *E.T.* is a marvel of the popular genre — a vibrant, sweet, funny, and magical movie. But one of director Steven Spielberg's most inspired choices is to cloak many of the film's authority figures (parents, teachers, government stooges) in shadow and silhouette. Why? Because a leathery little scamp like E.T. is lovable only in the uninhibited mind of a child; fear, distrust, and paranoia are born of experience and disappointment. It's not that adults are evil in the world of *E.T.*, it's just that their curiosity isn't rooted in compassion. Why help a creature phone home when there's use for him here? Kids don't think that way. *E.T. *doesn't, either. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial*: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

The Fly (1986)

Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle in 'The Fly'. Everett Collection

*The Fly* is disgusting. It's also beautiful? Because you're rooting for Seth (Jeff Goldblum) and Ronnie (Geena Davis), and it's unfair that an errant fly joins Seth inside his new teleportation device, fundamentally altering his DNA and destroying his mind and body. People love to talk about David Cronenberg's penchant for body horror, but *The Fly* amounts to more than mere goopiness, serving as a gutting allegory for the ways physical and mental illness can ravage a relationship that was once beautiful. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *The Fly*: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

Galaxy Quest (1999)

Tim Allen as Jason Nesmith, Alan Rickman as Sir Alexander Dane, and Sigourney Weaver as Gwen DiMarco in 'Galaxy Quest'. Everett Collection

One of the first comedies to pay homage to the legion of sci-fi diehards that flooded the early internet, Dean Parisot's hilarious *Galaxy Quest* stars Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver as the senescent stars of a bygone *Star Trek*-like phenomenon who are unwittingly swept up in an honest-to-goodness sci-fi adventure. The intergalactic Thermians, thinking Allen's Jason Nesmith and Weaver's Gwen DeMarco are truly the characters they play on TV, are relying on these conceited actors to save them from an all-too-real adversary. By positing the aliens as fans and offering these performers a real moment to be heroes, *Galaxy Quest* both satirizes and celebrates fandom, acknowledging the genuine impact fictional touchstones ultimately have on their most devoted consumers. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Galaxy Quest*: Paramount+

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Major Motoko Kusanagi (voice: Atsuko Tanaka) 'Ghost in the Shell'. Everett Collection

James Cameron, whose fingerprints will forever be imprinted on modern sci-fi, called Mamoru Oshii's *Ghost in the Shell* "the first truly adult animation film to reach a level of literary and visual excellence," per Far Out Magazine. Anime stans will surely take issue with such a sweeping statement, but his endorsement speaks to both the film's crossover appeal and the magnetism of its ideas. It follows Motoko Kusanagi, a cyborg public-security agent in 2029 Japan, as she pursues a hacker known as the Puppet Master, but the film isn't about the hacker's threat so much as our fear of it. What happens when technology overwhelms humanity? Is it to be feared or embraced? —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Ghost in the Shell*: Amazon Prime Video

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Donald Sutherland as Matthew Bennell in 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'. United Artists/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

Yeah, it's a remake, but Philip Kaufman's spin on Don Siegel's 1956 film (and Jack Finney's 1955 novel) trades Cold War anxiety for post-Vietnam paranoia in ways that strengthen and sharpen the source material. The plot is more or less the same: A Bay Area health inspector discovers humans are being replaced by alien duplicates that possess none of the pesky emotions that make life lovely and unbearable. A blessing, perhaps? It was hard not to live in a state of distrust following Vietnam, Watergate, Chappaquiddick, and the assassinations of JFK and RFK. The true horror of Kaufman's *Invasion*, though, is that acquiescence gives way to McCarthyism; in conformity, old friends become new enemies. Also, what's the deal with that Robert Duvall cameo? —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Invasion of the Body Snatchers*: Tubi

Jurassic Park (1993)

A Tyrannosaurus rex in 'Jurassic Park'.

Murray Close/Getty

Few movies have ever rivaled the level of wonder and magic evoked when Laura Dern's Ellie Sattler witnesses a live dinosaur in person for the first time (as John Williams' majestic score swells) in *Jurassic Park*. Steven Spielberg's iconic blockbuster about a trio of scientists who investigate an island on which a business magnate has created a theme park of cloned dinosaurs will simply never be topped — no matter how many sequels Hollywood tries to spawn. After all, as Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) quips in the film, "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." The 1993 original is thrilling, fear-inducing, and altogether entertaining, thanks in part to the then-innovative visual effects that still hold up today. —*K.J.*

Where to watch *Jurassic Park*: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

The Matrix (1999)

Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity and Keanu Reeves as Neo in 'The Matrix'.

Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection

*The Matrix* is one of the defining movies released at the turn of the century, tapping into existential crises and technological anxieties of the time. Computer programmer Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves), a.k.a. Neo, has his entire perspective shaken upon learning that the world he lives in is a simulated reality called the Matrix, designed by hyper-intelligent machines that secretly use human bodies as an energy source. Neo joins a team of rebels fighting back against the machines to free humanity. Wildly ambitious and endlessly thought-provoking, *The Matrix* is a one-of-a-kind sci-fi epic, still resonant decades later. —*K.J.*

Where to watch The Matrix: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)**

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Metropolis (1927)

Rudolf Klein-Rogge as Rotwang (right) in 'Metropolis'. Everett Collection

One of the first feature-length science-fiction movies doubles as one of the most influential films of all time. Fritz Lang's stunning *Metropolis* unfolds in a futuristic urban dystopia, one heavily influenced by Art Deco architecture and flooded with Biblical imagery, where the rich live carefree lives above ground while workers toil below. It's the son of the city's leader, who has fallen for a working-class woman, who hopes to bring unity between the classes — a notion so naive that Lang himself scoffed at it in his later years. Still, the film's primitive effects dazzle to this day, as does the sweep of its imposing cityscape. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Metropolis*: Tubi

Night of the Creeps (1986)

'The Night of the Creeps'. Everett Collection

Fred Dekker's cult favorite opens on some of cinema's goofiest-looking aliens before spiraling into a feverish homage to the B-movies of yesteryear. As hilarious as it is grotesque, Dekker uses its extraterrestrial threat as a springboard to a whole host of familiar horrors, from slack zombies and demon dogs to axe murderers and feather-haired frat bros. Horror legend Tom Atkins gets the best one-liners — "Thrill me" — and the chance to flex his flamethrowing skills. It's classic, Spanky. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Night of the Creeps*: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

Nope (2022)

Daniel Kaluuya as OJ Haywood Jr. in 'Nope'. Universal Pictures

The latest of three features directed by Jordan Peele and released within a five-year period, *Nope* is a sci-fi horror set on a horse ranch outside Los Angeles. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer play OJ and Em Haywood, siblings who inherit their family's business of wrangling horses for Hollywood projects after their father is killed by debris falling from a UFO. Determined to cash in and save their ranch, the Haywood siblings decide to take a photo of the otherworldly object to sell as proof of its existence. Written and executed in Peele's signature style, which straddles the line between social satire and genre love letter, *Nope *lassos the viewers' suspended disbelief while also interrogating the place where entertainment and exploitation intersect. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Nope*: Peacock

Nowhere (1997)

Alan Boyce as H---job, Chiara Mastroianni as Kriss, Debi Mazar as Kozy, and Jeremy Jordan as Bart in ‘Nowhere’.

Fine Line Features/Getty

Some of the best sci-fi films use classic tropes of the genre to inform their characters' inner lives. While few would classify Gregg Araki's satirical, hyper-saturated acid trip of a movie as sci-fi first, its inclusion of a reptilian alien who terrorizes the streets of Los Angeles serves as a fun metaphor for this story of disaffected, alienated youth. Released in 1997, the film also highlights the end-of-the-world anxiety of the approaching millennium, and what this does to a group of teens whose whole lives are ostensibly ahead of them. —*K.J.*

Where to watch *Nowhere*: The Criterion Channel

Planet of the Apes (1968)

A still from 'Planet of the Apes'.

20th Century Fox Film Corp.

If concerns about white nationalism and immigration have taught us anything over the last several decades, it's that a vocal sect of white Anglo-Saxons are increasingly scared of losing their status as the dominant force in the United States. Franklin J. Schaffner's *Planet of the Apes* satirizes that anxiety, telling the story of an astronaut (Charlton Heston) who crash-lands on a planet in which apes are the dominant species, having adopted a human-like intelligence and speech, only to discover that (gasp!) the planet is a future version of the Earth he's always known. It's been parodied time and again — most hilariously as a musical on *The Simpsons* — but the film remains an entertaining and well-constructed adventure, a hair above the numerous sequels and spinoffs it spawned. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Planet of the Apes*: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

Predator (1987)

Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dutch in 'Predator'. Everett Collection

Sometimes you just want to see the strongest, sweatiest men get their asses handed to them by an alien. John McTiernan's beloved brawler stars a never-better Arnold Schwarzenegger as the leader of a paramilitary rescue team sent to free hostages in a guerrilla-held territory of a Central American rainforest. There, flitting between the trees, is a humanoid creature with a plasma cannon and an invisibility cloak that proves more formidable than any guerrilla grunt. Yeah, it's funny — "Stick around" and "Get to da choppa!" are all-time Arnold one-liners — but McTiernan gets his hands dirty, too, immersing us in the jungle's terrors while building to a killer climax that strips away the technological frippery in favor of old-fashioned fisticuffs. Grisly, relentless, and dripping with machismo. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Predator*: Hulu

Primer (2004)

David Sullivan as Abe in 'Primer'. Everett Collection

Made for just $7,000, *Primer* took home Sundance's Grand Jury Prize with what's got to be the most normcore depiction of time travel ever put to film. Writer, director, composer, editor, and star Shane Carruth elides exposition and layman's speak for realism, relying instead on scientific shorthand, technical jargon, and elliptical storytelling to spin this story of two not-so-eccentric engineers who somewhat accidentally invent a time machine. The 78-minute thriller is chilly and often opaque, but Carruth's narrative restraint allows the dread dripping from its philosophical implications to sink in that much deeper. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Primer*: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

Solaris (1972)

Natalya Bondarchuk as Khari and Donatas Banionis as Kris Kelvin in 'Solaris'. Everett Collection

Though the two filmmakers weren't fans of each other's meditative space epics, Stanley Kubrick's *2001 *and Andrei Tarkovsky's *Solaris* both touch on a singular notion: What we perceive as reality on Earth takes on a different shape in space. In *Solaris*, a psychologist played by Donatas Banionis is sent to a space station orbiting a distant planet to diagnose whatever malady appears to have fallen upon its inhabitants. It isn't long before the strange affliction takes hold of him as well, spawning visions (or are they?) of his deceased former wife. *Solaris* demands patience from its viewer, but its philosophical explorations of human interiority and the manifestations of our most painful memories are deeply rewarding. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Solaris*: HBO Max

Snowpiercer (2013)

Chris Evans as Curtis Everett, Tilda Swinton as Minister Mason, and Octavia Spencer as Tanya in 'Snowpiercer'. Radius/The Weinstein Company

Set on a speeding train in a postapocalyptic world undone by hubristic climate engineering, *Snowpiercer*'s tale of class warfare is thrilling, bloody, and not quite what it seems. Directed by genre alchemist Bong Joon Ho, who would revisit similar themes a few years later with the Academy Award-winning *Parasite* (2019), the film melds action with horror, humor, and a healthy dose of queasy drama. Chris Evans is as good as he's ever been as rebel leader Curtis, but Tilda Swinton steals the show as a toothy, grotesque spokesman for the upper crust. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Snowpiercer*: Tubi

Stalker (1979)

Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy as Stalker and Anatoliy Solonitsyn as Writer in 'Stalker'. Everett Collection

Though very different movies, Andrei Tarkovsky's *Stalker *shares with his previous *Solaris *a concern with the otherworldly as it impacts the imperfect soul of man. Dense and dogged in its philosophical exploration, the film follows a writer (Anatoly Solonitsyn) and a professor (Nikolai Grinko) as an oddball known as the Stalker (Alexander Kaidanovsky) guides them through a mysterious, perilous, and heavily guarded site ominously called the "Zone." There, beyond a wasteland that can't help but summon visions of nuclear fallout, lies a room that's said to grant a person's innermost desires. It's this grand notion of human desire that's interrogated across the film, and while Tarkovsky offers no simple conclusions, it's the accumulation of the debate that lingers, that longing to know ourselves. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Stalker*: HBO Max

Starship Troopers (1997)

Casper Van Dien as Johnny Rico (right) in 'Starship Troopers'. Everett Collection

Fascist imagery and thudding allusions to World War II-era propaganda films permeate Paul Verhoeven's *Starship Troopers*, but because the provocative Dutch filmmaker didn't explicitly spell out his satire, it went over the heads of many upon its release. But time has been good to the action-comedy, perhaps because its gleefully cynical portrait of nationalism and a war-hungry populace would resonate that much more in the years following 9/11 and the Iraq War. That said, those interested in the simpler pleasures of watching bugs go splat will also find plenty to like, from its gnarly, goo-slinging action set pieces to CGI effects that stand up to today's technology. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Starship Troopers*: Netflix

Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

David Prowse as Darth Vader in 'Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back'. Lucasfilm Ltd.

*Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back* didn't need to be this good. Even if director Irvin Kershner, working off a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, had recycled everything that made George Lucas' *Star Wars* such a hit, it still would've drawn audiences in droves. But *Empire*, the gold standard of a sequel that surpasses its predecessor, turns a potential franchise into an honest-to-goodness saga. As Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) comes into his own as a Jedi, Kershner guides us through fresh locales rich in potential lore, punishing snowscapes and colorful cloud cities, while Brackett and Kasdan complicate an otherwise simple story with conflicted notions of good and evil. There's also that twist and the downer of an ending that chases it; decades later, the franchise is still trying to recapture that magic. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Star Wars: Episode V —* *The Empire Strikes Back*: Disney+

Sunshine (2007)

Cillian Murphy as Robert Capa in 'Sunshine'. Everett Collection

The Sun is dying, and a bomb the size of Manhattan is all that can save it in this thrill ride from protean filmmaker Danny Boyle. Penned by Alex Garland, *Sunshine* transcends its sensational premise by grappling with how the vastness of space exposes the fallibility of man, forcing him to reckon with the prospect of an all-knowing creator. Boyle's dazzling, eye-melting direction finds beauty and terror in juxtaposing the smallness of man against the monolithic star. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Sunshine*: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)

The Terminator (1984)

Arnold Schwarzenegger as Terminator in 'The Terminator'.

Orion Pictures Corporation/Courtesy Everett Collection

The "unkillable killer" is a given by this point in genre filmmaking, but the sci-fi staple — think of *The Day the Earth Stood Still*'s Gort — cemented its place in modern action cinema with Arnold Schwarzenegger, a man whose massive, marbled physique may as well have been carved in another dimension. It's difficult to imagine anyone but the Governator playing the namesake of James Cameron's breakthrough blockbuster, which pits Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and a time-traveling soldier (Michael Biehn) against a relentless cyborg assassin (Schwarzenegger) who slaughters without thought or remorse. It's thin gruel, but Cameron's eye for carnage is as poetic as his humor is wry. It's chaos that winks, a blueprint for many a cinephile's favorite era of action filmmaking. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *The Terminator*: HBO Max

Them! (1954)

James Whitmore as Sgt. Ben Peterson in 'Them!'. Everett Collection

Filmed before self-awareness defanged much of the '50s sci-fi genre, *Them!* is a relic of the "nuclear monster" era that, 70-plus years later, retains much of its original glow. Sure, it's about big ants terrorizing the States, but it's also about everyday people grappling with their justified fears of a post-nuclear world in which everything they've come to know has been tainted and made dangerous. Those ideas ripple, but there's also a queasy revulsion baked into the idea that the pests we've spent much of our lives stomping could do the same to us. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Them!*: Tubi

The Thing (1982)

Kurt Russell as MacReady and Charles Hallahan as Norris in 'The Thing'.

Universal/Everett Collection

Though reviled upon release, John Carpenter's vicious remake of the 1951's *The Thing From Another World*, itself an adaptation of John W. Campbell's 1938 novella *Who Goes There?*, has established itself as one of the genre's most inventive, resonant, and gut-churning visions. Kurt Russell stars as MacReady, one of a handful of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter an alien parasite with an uncanny ability to infest and imitate its host. And while the assimilation process is plenty frightening in itself — the memes flood social media to this day — it's the ensuing paranoia that pervades, dividing this tiny community with an escalating litany of fears that mirrors any number of political and spiritual obsessions. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *The Thing*: The Criterion Channel

Under the Skin (2013)

Scarlett Johansson as the Female in 'Under the Skin'. A24

In different hands, this stark and disquieting adaptation of Michel Faber's 2000 novel could have been an effects-heavy sci-fi spectacle. Jonathan Glazer, the English visionary behind *Sexy Beast* (2000) and *Birth* (2004), saw a different story between the pages, one about a predatory alien's drift towards empathy on a planet whose citizens are only growing more isolated. Mica Levi's violent, viola-forward score will give you nightmares. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *Under the Skin*: Netflix

WALL-E (2008)

WALL-E (voice: Ben Burtt) in 'WALL-E'. Disney/Pixar

Pixar's ninth feature begins by indulging our most cynical fears: The world as we know it will one day be overrun by garbage, undone by corporate monopolization. A touch rich coming from a Disney-owned company? Sure, but *WALL-E*'s heart is in the right place, a story of an adorable trash-collecting robot alerting young viewers to the perils of environmental disregard and unchecked human consumption. Director Andrew Stanton treats his youthful audience as equals, elevating the animation with complex shots that mimic live-action cinematography and allowing them to unfold across long stretches that feature not a single line of dialogue. —*R.C.*

Where to watch *WALL-E*: Disney+

- Sci-Fi & Fantasy Movies

Original Article on Source

Source: "EW Sci-Fi"

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Source: Sci-Fi

Published: May 8, 2026 at 02:38PM on Source: RED MAG

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The 35 best sci-fi movies of all time

Travel through space, time , and genre as you parse EW's list of the 35 best scifi movies of all time . The 35 best scifi movies ...

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