1 / 50
#50. Mars Attacks! (1996)
- Director: Tim Burton
- Stacker score: 73.4
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 52
- Runtime: 106 minutes
Best '90s sci-fi movies
People tend to think the movies they grew up watching represented the golden era of cinema. Those who came of age in the 1950s feel like they don't make thrillers like "Rear Window" and "Vertigo" these days, and children of the 1960s stand by the spaghetti Westerns of their time. Anyone who grew up in the 1970s probably believes science-fiction movies peaked in that decade, when director George Lucas combined elements of the genre with fantasy to make the legendary "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope," kicking off one of the greatest movie trilogies ever. But 1990s kids probably have a thing or two to say about that.
The last decade of the 20th century produced some of the most groundbreaking sci-fi films in cinematic history—in fact, many of these movies are still making a major impact 30 years on. A fifth entry into the "Matrix" franchise is in development, as is a reboot of "Starship Troopers" from Neill Blomkamp.
To look back on some of the sci-fi genre's top hits, Stacker compiled a list of the best '90s sci-fi movies based on our own Stacker score, a weighted index split evenly between IMDb user rating and Metascore. To qualify, the film had to have sci-fi as one of its genres on IMDb, have a Metascore, and have at least 5,000 IMDb user votes. Data was collected in November 2022, and ties were broken by votes.
From "Mars Attacks!" to "The Matrix" and "Face/Off" to "The Fifth Element," see how your favorite '90s sci-fi flick stacks up.
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2 / 50
#49. Event Horizon (1997)
- Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
- Stacker score: 73.7
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 35
- Runtime: 96 minutes
3 / 50
#48. Alien³ (1992)
- Director: David Fincher
- Stacker score: 74.1
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 59
- Runtime: 114 minutes
4 / 50
#47. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
- Director: George Lucas
- Stacker score: 74.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 51
- Runtime: 136 minutes
5 / 50
#46. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
- Director: Jonathan Frakes
- Stacker score: 74.7
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 64
- Runtime: 103 minutes
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6 / 50
#45. Demolition Man (1993)
- Director: Marco Brambilla
- Stacker score: 74.7
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: 34
- Runtime: 115 minutes
7 / 50
#44. Darkman (1990)
- Director: Sam Raimi
- Stacker score: 74.8
- IMDb user rating: 6.4
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 96 minutes
8 / 50
#43. Flatliners (1990)
- Director: Joel Schumacher
- Stacker score: 74.8
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 115 minutes
9 / 50
#42. Space Jam (1996)
- Director: Joe Pytka
- Stacker score: 75.2
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 59
- Runtime: 88 minutes
10 / 50
#41. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
- Director: Steven Spielberg
- Stacker score: 75.2
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 59
- Runtime: 129 minutes
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11 / 50
#40. The Rocketeer (1991)
- Director: Joe Johnston
- Stacker score: 75.4
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 61
- Runtime: 108 minutes
12 / 50
#39. The Faculty (1998)
- Director: Robert Rodriguez
- Stacker score: 75.4
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 61
- Runtime: 104 minutes
13 / 50
#38. Armageddon (1998)
- Director: Michael Bay
- Stacker score: 75.5
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: 42
- Runtime: 151 minutes
14 / 50
#37. Star Trek: Generations (1994)
- Director: David Carson
- Stacker score: 75.8
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 118 minutes
15 / 50
#36. Blast from the Past (1999)
- Director: Hugh Wilson
- Stacker score: 76.1
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: 48
- Runtime: 112 minutes
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16 / 50
#35. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
- Director: Steve Barron
- Stacker score: 76.5
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: 51
- Runtime: 93 minutes
17 / 50
#34. Kafka (1991)
- Director: Steven Soderbergh
- Stacker score: 77.0
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 46
- Runtime: 98 minutes
18 / 50
#33. Bicentennial Man (1999)
- Director: Chris Columbus
- Stacker score: 77.6
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: 42
- Runtime: 132 minutes
19 / 50
#32. The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
- Director: Josef Rusnak
- Stacker score: 78.0
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: 36
- Runtime: 100 minutes
20 / 50
#31. Stargate (1994)
- Director: Roland Emmerich
- Stacker score: 78.7
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: 42
- Runtime: 116 minutes
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21 / 50
#30. Until the End of the World (1991)
- Director: Wim Wenders
- Stacker score: 78.8
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 63
- Runtime: 158 minutes
22 / 50
#29. eXistenZ (1999)
- Director: David Cronenberg
- Stacker score: 79.3
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 68
- Runtime: 97 minutes
23 / 50
#28. Blade (1998)
- Director: Stephen Norrington
- Stacker score: 80.3
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: 47
- Runtime: 120 minutes
24 / 50
#27. Independence Day (1996)
- Director: Roland Emmerich
- Stacker score: 80.5
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: 59
- Runtime: 145 minutes
25 / 50
#26. The X Files (1998)
- Director: Rob Bowman
- Stacker score: 80.6
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: 60
- Runtime: 121 minutes
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26 / 50
#25. Strange Days (1995)
- Director: Kathryn Bigelow
- Stacker score: 82.3
- IMDb user rating: 7.1
- Metascore: 66
- Runtime: 145 minutes
27 / 50
#24. Cube (1997)
- Director: Vincenzo Natali
- Stacker score: 82.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 61
- Runtime: 90 minutes
28 / 50
#23. Starship Troopers (1997)
- Director: Paul Verhoeven
- Stacker score: 82.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 51
- Runtime: 129 minutes
29 / 50
#22. Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
- Director: Jim Mallon
- Stacker score: 83.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 73 minutes
30 / 50
#21. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
- Director: Nicholas Meyer
- Stacker score: 83.2
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 110 minutes
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31 / 50
#20. Back to the Future Part III (1990)
- Director: Robert Zemeckis
- Stacker score: 84.3
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 118 minutes
32 / 50
#19. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999)
- Director: Hiroyuki Okiura
- Stacker score: 84.7
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 59
- Runtime: 102 minutes
33 / 50
#18. Men in Black (1997)
- Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
- Stacker score: 84.9
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 71
- Runtime: 98 minutes
34 / 50
#17. Pi (1998)
- Director: Darren Aronofsky
- Stacker score: 85.0
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 72
- Runtime: 84 minutes
35 / 50
#16. Total Recall (1990)
- Director: Paul Verhoeven
- Stacker score: 85.6
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 57
- Runtime: 113 minutes
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36 / 50
#15. Galaxy Quest (1999)
- Director: Dean Parisot
- Stacker score: 85.9
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 70
- Runtime: 102 minutes
37 / 50
#14. Contact (1997)
- Director: Robert Zemeckis
- Stacker score: 86.1
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 62
- Runtime: 150 minutes
38 / 50
#13. Face/Off (1997)
- Director: John Woo
- Stacker score: 86.1
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 82
- Runtime: 138 minutes
39 / 50
#12. The Fifth Element (1997)
- Director: Luc Besson
- Stacker score: 86.1
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 52
- Runtime: 126 minutes
40 / 50
#11. The City of Lost Children (1995)
- Director: Marc Caro
- Stacker score: 87.3
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 73
- Runtime: 112 minutes
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41 / 50
#10. Dark City (1998)
- Director: Alex Proyas
- Stacker score: 87.6
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 66
- Runtime: 100 minutes
42 / 50
#9. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
- Director: Jonathan Frakes
- Stacker score: 88.1
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 71
- Runtime: 111 minutes
43 / 50
#8. Gattaca (1997)
- Director: Andrew Niccol
- Stacker score: 89.5
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 64
- Runtime: 106 minutes
44 / 50
#7. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
- Director: Kevin Altieri
- Stacker score: 89.6
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 76 minutes
45 / 50
#6. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
- Director: Mamoru Oshii
- Stacker score: 91.8
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Metascore: 76
- Runtime: 83 minutes
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46 / 50
#5. 12 Monkeys (1995)
- Director: Terry Gilliam
- Stacker score: 92.7
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 74
- Runtime: 129 minutes
47 / 50
#4. Jurassic Park (1993)
- Director: Steven Spielberg
- Stacker score: 94.2
- IMDb user rating: 8.2
- Metascore: 68
- Runtime: 127 minutes
48 / 50
#3. The Iron Giant (1999)
- Director: Brad Bird
- Stacker score: 94.9
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Metascore: 85
- Runtime: 86 minutes
49 / 50
#2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- Director: James Cameron
- Stacker score: 99.2
- IMDb user rating: 8.6
- Metascore: 75
- Runtime: 137 minutes
50 / 50
#1. The Matrix (1999)
- Director: Lana and Lilly Wachowski
- Stacker score: 100.0
- IMDb user rating: 8.7
- Metascore: 73
- Runtime: 136 minutes
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