10 Best Sci-Fi Movies for People Who Hate Sci-Fi Films

Image via Paramount Pictures Published Jul 29, 2026, 7:16 AM EDT Melissa enjoys watching shows and movies so much that all she wants to do is write about them. She is an avid lover of Marvel, Star Wars, and Disney. Sign in to your Collider account The history of cinema shares the importance of the science fiction genre. Some of the most beloved and iconic films of all time have some element of sci-fi in them, with a great deal of imagination. Like all movies, not everyone is going to be pleased with the outcome. Sci-fi movies take their audience away from reality, which at times can be too complex or far-fetched for others' tastes. However, there are still some great sci-fi films out there that can appeal to a wider audience, such as Guardians of the Galaxy, A Quiet Place, and Pacific Rim. 10 'Pacific Rim' (2013) Image via Warner Bros. Pictures As a result of the Earth being at war against colossal sea monsters known as the Kaiju, humanity worked together to create gigantic mechas that are controlled by two co-pilots via a mental link. The story follows an ex-Jaeger pilot, Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam), who works with a rookie pilot, Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi), for one last stand against the Kaiju. Guillermo Del Toro's original yet classic idea on giant robots, sea monsters, and epic fight scenes is a must-see. Humanity is on the verge of defeat, but two pilots connected to a gigantic mech can save the day by fighting huge monsters. With an iconic movie score, Del Toro showcases an irresistible sense of fun and adventure for all who watch. 9 'Guardians of the Galaxy' (2014) Image via Marvel Studios Based on the Marvel Comics superheroes of the same name, Guardians of the Galaxy follows Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) as he finds and steals a mysterious Orb that he later finds out everyone wants. After Quill runs into a strange group of extraterrestrial criminals — Rocket, Groot, Gamora, and Drax — they go on the run together to figure out what to do about the Orb. Superhero movies are wholeheartedly sci-fi, but Guardians of the Galaxy perfectly mixes action, adventure, and humor. It gives the audience a chance to get a sneak peek into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, despite leaning more towards its humor aspects. By having fascinating characters with hilarious dialogue and an interesting plot, it can appeal to a much wider audience and be considered one of the most rewatchable MCU movies. 8 'Arrival' (2016) Image via Paramount Pictures In the rush of widespread panic, twelve extraterrestrial spacecraft hover over certain areas around the Earth. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is enlisted by the United States Army as a linguist to learn how to communicate with the extraterrestrials. She's tasked with figuring out why they are here and coming up with a peaceful solution. Arrival isn't a typical alien movie as it goes beyond the sci-fi genre. It focuses on the power of language and how it can influence the way of life. Sometimes words are louder than any action as long as the right person speaks. With a linguist as the main protagonist, the fate of humanity relies on Banks, giving a transcendent viewing experience that stays with the audience past its credits. 7 'Alien' (1979) Image via 20th Century Studios After coming across a mysterious derelict spaceship on an undiscovered moon, the crew of a commercial starship, Nostromo wake up from their cryo-sleep chambers halfway through their journey home. They encounter a nest of eggs inside an alien ship that had a distress call. They find themselves up against an aggressive and deadly extraterrestrial loose on their ship. Alien is a sci-fi horror masterpiece that brings terror into the audience's nightmares. The engaging characters, a terrifying creature, and incredible plot make this one of Ridley Scott's greatest films. Despite the familiarity of aliens in various movies, this one created an entire franchise and inspired an entire generation of filmmakers. 6 'Back to the Future' (1985) Image via Universal Pictures Set in 1985, Back to the Future follows Marty McFly (Michael Fox) as he accidentally travels back in time with his scientist friend, Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd), in a time machine built from a modified DeLorean. Arriving in 1955, McFly must explore in order to get back to his own time and not change up his timeline or even existence. This 1980s sci-fi classic was ahead of its time with the technology and idea of traveling back in time. It gave a sense of hope to its audience that one day we might have the technology to do something like that. Even for someone that isn't fond of sci-fi, it's a great cinematic experience that is well-made and light-hearted for any age. Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you'd actually make it out of alive. 💊The Matrix 🔥Mad Max 🌧️Blade Runner 🏜️Dune 🚀Star Wars TEST YOUR SURVIVAL → 01 You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one. APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it. BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don't keep you alive. CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who's pulling the strings. DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it. EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can't fix a broken galaxy alone. NEXT QUESTION → 02 In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires. AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don't need resources — you can generate them. BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it. CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity. DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on. EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of. AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant. BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left. CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you're a problem, you're already out of time. DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn't even know I was playing. EThe Empire tightening its grip until there's nowhere left to run. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you deal with authority you don't trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything. ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it. BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better. CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy. DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can't beat a system you refuse to understand. EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen. NEXT QUESTION → 05 Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn't just tactical — it's physical, psychological, and very much about where you are. AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters. BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest. CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions. DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand. EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire's attention rarely reaches. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are. AA tight crew of believers who've seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose. BOne or two people I'd trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks. CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice. DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last. EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they're actually made of. AI won't harm the innocent — even the ones who'd report me without hesitation. BI do what I have to to protect the people I've chosen. Everything else is negotiable. CThe line shifts depending on who's asking and what's at stake. DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people's future, even if it'd help now. ESome lines, once crossed, can't be uncrossed. I know which ones they are. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another. AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it. BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving. CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out. DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations. EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else's boot. REVEAL MY WORLD → Your Fate Has Been Calculated You'd Survive In…Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for. The MatrixYou took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You're a systems thinker who can't help but notice the seams in things. You're drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it. You'd find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines' worst nightmare. You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it. The Matrix built an airtight prison. You'd be the one probing the walls for the door. Mad MaxThe wasteland doesn't reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That's you. You don't need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon. You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you're good at all three. You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider. In the wasteland, that distinction is everything. Blade RunnerYou'd survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely. You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer. In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional. You're not a hero. But you're not lost, either. In Blade Runner's world, that distinction is everything. DuneArrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards. Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they're survival tools. You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory. Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You'd learn its logic and earn its respect. In time, you wouldn't just survive Arrakis — you'd begin to reshape it. Star WarsThe galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn't have it any other way. You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion. You'd gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire's grip can be broken. You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn't something you're capable of. In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 5 'Ex Machina' (2014) Image via A24 In Ex Machina, a programmer at the search engine company Blue Book named Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) wins a contest to stay at his CEO Nathan Bateman's (Oscar Isaac) home for one week. Bateman reveals that he built an intelligent humanoid robot named Ava. He asks Smith to administer the Turing test on Ava to see if she genuinely has consciousness and if she is at all relatable despite being artificial intelligence. Despite the movie's small cast of characters, it keeps the audience engaged within an enclosed environment such as Bateman's home. The film explores the idea of artificial intelligence attempting to take over, which currently hits close to home. Alex Garland's movie asks the right questions about the direction of technology and gives a modern spin to a classic story. Image via Universal Pictures After aliens secretly visit Earth to gather plant specimens, one of them goes off on its own and is left behind in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Elliott Taylor (Henry Thomas), a 10-year-old boy, befriends a gentle extraterrestrial, which he has nicknamed E.T. Once the boy learns that E.T.'s alien friends have abandoned him on Earth, Elliott and his friends try to find a way to help E.T. return to his home planet. This family-favorite classic sci-fi movie is a fun adventure that touches on typical tropes of the genre such as a lost alien and the government chasing him to experiment on him. Steven Spielberg tells a fairy tale full of warmth, humor, and innocence that can resonate with its audience. 3 'Wall-E' (2008) Image via Pixar Animation Studios It's the year 2805, and all the humans have left Earth. Wall-E (Ben Burtt), a lonely robot, is stuck on this uninhabitable and deserted Earth with only one job: cleaning up all the garbage. One day, the starship Axiom sends a probe named EVE (Elissa Knight) to monitor him. The story follows along with them falling in love and visiting the humans on their ship. Pixar showcases its skills in stellar visuals and captures the hearts of anyone who watches this great sci-fi animated film. It explores themes of loneliness, love, and the importance of taking care of the planet we call home. Wall-E's stunning animation and endearing depiction of love are what made this movie so successful. 2 'Interstellar' (2014) Image via Paramount Pictures In a dystopian future, humanity is unable to survive as they experience a gravitational "anomaly." The story follows a group of astronauts tasked with traveling through a wormhole near Saturn and searching for a planet that will support life in order to find a new home for mankind. Interstellar is a beautiful masterpiece that is perfect for the big screen. It's a philosophical sci-fi adventure that encapsulates sci-fi so perfectly with its aspect of astronauts, space, and space travel. The idea of Earth being inhabitable has been done many times, but the adventure the protagonists go through leaves the audience breathless with its cinematography. 1 'A Quiet Place' (2018) Image via Paramount Pictures The post-apocalyptic world of A Quiet Place is inhabited by blind monsters that will kill you if you make a single sound. Their astounding hearing left all the remaining survivors to fend for themselves in a new world. The story follows a family of four: father (John Krasinski), mother (Emily Blunt), and two children (Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe) as they struggle to survive. Despite being one of the scariest PG-13 horror movies, various sci-fi elements spill on the screen throughout the entirety of the movie. Krasinski uses his astounding directing skills to create a stunningly terrifying movie. The lack of words from the actors showcases the need for animated expressions and extreme tension within each scene. The family dynamic truly tugs at the audience's heartstrings.