The 15 best sci-fi movies on Amazon Prime Video
Sci-fi can do it all: Whether you're looking for a piece of explosion-heavy escapism, an existential meditation on what it means to be human, or a genre-bending laugh-fest, there's a little something for everyone. But let's face it...there are plenty of other-worldly duds out there, too, and when it comes to streaming libraries, it can be difficult to find the diamonds in the rough. That's why EW took the liberty of sifting through Amazon Prime Video to bring you its very best sci-fi offerings, from chilling classics like Invasion of the Body Snatchers to recent favorites like Jordan Peele's Nope.
Across multiple decades of film history, here are the best sci-fi movies on Amazon Prime Video.
<em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em> (1968)
Stanley Kubrick's magnum opus hits just as hard today as it did to astonished moviegoers in 1968. On paper, the film is about the journey of scientists and astronauts aboard a spacecraft traveling to Jupiter to investigate a mysterious monolith, though a mere plot description can hardly encapsulate the experience of watching 2001 in all of its experimental grandeur. Half the fun of this enigmatic sci-fi epic is parsing what it all means while it's unfolding in front of you (and long after the credits have rolled). What does the alien monolith represent? What is the root cause of supercomputer HAL's dysfunction? What are we to make of the Star Child orbiting Earth? There are no easy solutions, which is what keeps audiences and scholars coming back to this odyssey again and again. —Kevin Jacobsen
Where to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, Douglas Rain
Related content: Why 2001: A Space Odyssey was a masterpiece so ahead of its time
<em>Attack the Block</em> (2011)
A British street gang tries to rob an unsuspecting trainee nurse, only for all of them to witness a meteorite crash-land on Earth in this gonzo sci-fi comedy. After an alien emerges from the wreckage, the gang find a way to kill it, but this is not an isolated incident, as more aliens descend upon the planet. Attack the Block was a huge hit with critics upon its release, praising its slick humor, fast pace, and well-executed action sequences considering its smaller budget. It also marks the debut of future star John Boyega as the leader of the gang, with eventual Doctor Who Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker as the nurse who eventually fights alongside them. —K.J.
Where to watch Attack the Block: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Joe Cornish
Cast: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard, Luke Treadaway, Jumayn Hunter, Nick Frost
Related content: How Attack the Block became a monster hit at SXSW
<em>Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure</em> (1989)
Few buddy comedies have had the kind of lasting impact as Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure — fitting, given that, according to the film's narrative, the title characters would ultimately become pivotal figures in history. Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves star as empty-headed high school best friends who are presented with a time-travel machine from the future (it's a phone booth), which they use to collect historical figures for an important school report. What could've been a nadir for cinema as we know it actually turned out to be one of the funniest, most rewatchable films of the '80s, from Ted quoting the lyrics of Kansas' "Dust in the Wind" to Socrates, to Napoleon Bonaparte's day of fun at a water park called Waterloo. The film would ultimately inspire television series, comics, video games, and two sequels. Excellent indeed. —K.J.
Where to watch Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Stephen Herek
Cast: Alex Winter, Keanu Reeves, George Carlin, Terry Camilleri, Dan Shor, Tony Steedman, Rod Loomis, Al Leong, Jane Wiedlin, Robert V. Barron, Clifford David
Related content: Bill & Ted stars reveal the magic behind Keanu Reeves' 'Ted Hair'
<em>Children of Men</em> (2006)
Some of the best science fiction feels just a few steps removed from our own lives. Children of Men imagines a world that looks quite a bit like ours, in which humans have all but destroyed the planet, leading to global crisis including mass infertility. Clive Owen plays Theo, a bureaucrat tasked with escorting a refugee to safety, later discovering she is the only pregnant woman in the world. The harrowing journey is filmed with expert precision by director Alfonso Cuarón, with a perpetual tension that escalates with each new threat to the pair's lives. "What sets the picture apart from its poli-sci-fi forebears is Cuarón's unique, full-throttle storytelling talent for blending propulsiveness of staging and seriousness of political content into one urgent piece," wrote EW's critic in 2006. "There's no gap between entertainment and art, no lulls to make room for flights of philosophy." —K.J.
Where to watch Children of Men: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: N/A (read the review)
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Cast: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam
Related content: My résumé: Alfonso Cuaron
<em>Coherence</em> (2013)
When old friends reunite for a dinner party in a movie, you know something is about to go terribly awry. In Coherence, that "something" is the arrival of a close-passing comet — and the discovery of a house full of doppelgängers having an identical dinner party down the street. The plot is full of quantum-related twists and turns, but the film is grounded by the talented cast, which includes Buffy's Nicholas Brendon in a fun self-referential role as a former TV star. The production is just as quirky as the premise: Director James Ward Byrkit wanted to make a low-budget film that was so stripped down, it didn't even have a script. Instead, he invited a bunch of actor friends to his living room, gave them basic character motivations, and let them improvise through the entire thing. The result, while occasionally messy, is thoroughly original. —Janey Tracey
Where to watch Coherence: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: James Ward Byrkit
Cast: Emily Foxler, Maury Sterling, Nicholas Brendon, Lorene Scafaria
Related content: Things get spooky in clip from new sci-fi film Coherence
<em>Deep Blue Sea</em> (1999)
A noble effort to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease takes a grisly turn for a group of scientists studying sharks in an underwater facility. In their research, a pair of doctors extract a protein complex from a shark that subsequently goes on a murderous rampage. After the incident, one of the doctors reveals they modified the sharks' brain capacity during their study. It's hard not to think of Jaws when it comes to shark-infested horror like this (EW's critic called Deep Blue Sea an "entertainingly trashy and derivative carnivore spectacular"), but it's undoubtedly a thrill to watch the submersible's inhabitants try to outwit their genetically engineered predators. —K.J.
Where to watch Deep Blue Sea: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: N/A (read the review)
Director: Renny Harlin
Cast: Saffron Burrows, Thomas Jane, LL Cool J, Jacqueline McKenzie, Michael Rapaport, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson
Related content: The Deep Blue Sea cast explains what action films do all wrong
<em>Interstellar</em> (2014)
After turning a film as cerebral as Inception into an Oscar-winning hit, Christopher Nolan indulged in his sci-fi-loving sensibilities even further with this space epic. Matthew McConaughey delivers one of his most achingly sincere performances as Cooper, a NASA pilot living on a ravaged Earth who embarks on a last-hope mission to an exoplanet that may be capable of sustaining life. What he finds on his trip becomes a mind-bending (and time-bending) testament to humanity's fight for survival, its sense of resilience, and its profound effect on future generations. While the film refuses to hold your hand in exploring such heady themes, those who give themselves over to Nolan's vision will be bowled over by its advanced storytelling on such a grand scale. —K.J.
Where to watch Interstellar: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Caine
Related content: The science of Interstellar: A primer on black holes, wormholes, and more
<em>Invasion of the Body Snatchers</em> (1978)
In this sci-fi classic, an extraterrestrial race is populating Earth with pods that systematically replace humans with alien duplicates. The film follows a quartet of friends who try to uncover the truth and alert the authorities before it's too late, eventually waging war against pod people. Featuring one of the most chilling endings of all time, Invasion of the Body Snatchers remains a tense thrill ride and a powerful commentary on paranoia. This was the second of multiple adaptations of Jack Finney's 1955 novel The Body Snatchers, and, as EW's critic wrote of the 1978 film, "this version is the most slitheringly creepy." —K.J.
Where to watch Invasion of the Body Snatchers: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Philip Kaufman
Cast: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright
Related content: Six movie remakes that are worth watching
<em>Mars Attacks!</em> (1996)
From the director of Ed Wood (1994) comes this comedic sci-fi homage to, well, the work of Ed Wood. Taking inspiration from the notorious director's '50s-era low-budget genre fare, Tim Burton released his version of an alien invasion story with Mars Attacks!. Jack Nicholson stars as the president of the United States, who attempts to negotiate with the invaders from Mars but the situation quickly spirals out of control thanks to one of his hawkish generals. As the title promises, the aliens soon attack, causing widespread panic and death — but it's best not to take it too seriously and just enjoy the madcap ride. "Burton stages the destruction of the world as lyrically surreal spectacle," wrote EW's critic. "Even when the special effects are a parody of '50s cheesiness, they have a funky, ramshackle beauty — the wonder of a puppet show that almost looks real." —K.J.
Where to watch Mars Attacks!: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, Rod Steiger, Tom Jones, Lukas Haas, Natalie Portman
Related content: The 40 best alien movies of all time
<em>Nope</em> (2022)
Jordan Peele continued his hot streak with Nope, his third directorial feature and first cinematic venture into the world of science fiction. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer play siblings who own a horse-wrangling business in California and soon discover that their steeds are being consumed by a UFO. They decide to film further incidents as proof, enlisting a tech expert and a renowned cinematographer, but capturing the footage proves surprisingly difficult as the entity does not like being provoked. Of course, Peele injects some horror into the proceedings, using sound to great effect while delivering old-school alien thrills reminiscent of 1977's Close Encounters of the Third Kind or 2002's Signs. —K.J.
Where to watch Nope: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Jordan Peele
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, Brandon Perea, Keith David
Related content: Nominated for nothing: The Academy should've said 'yes' to Nope
<em>A Quiet Place Part II</em> (2021)
In 2018's A Quiet Place, director and star John Krasinski introduced us to a silent postapocalyptic world, where blind extraterrestrials with super-hearing attack if you make the smallest sound. Part II expands on that premise, as Emily Blunt's grieving widow Evelyn leaves home with her two children and newborn to search for other survivors. They eventually encounter an old family friend, a new character played by Cillian Murphy, but it's Millicent Simmonds' Regan who takes center stage, as her ability to debilitate the aliens with her cochlear implant becomes key to their survival. The movie isn't perfect: Once the characters split into two groups, the plot becomes unwieldy. But, in the end, Part II does everything a great sequel is supposed to do: expand the mythology while doubling down on what was great about the original, especially the nerve-wracking sound design. And even when the film ends abruptly, you know it's only because they already have a Part III threequel and a Day One prequel in the works. As EW's critic put it, "When you've put in the work for this kind of world-building, it's not a one-and-done sequel; it's a franchise." —J.T.
Where to watch A Quiet Place Part II: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: John Krasinski
Cast: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Djimon Hounsou
Related content: A Quiet Place spinoff will go back to Day One as a prequel film
<em>Snowpiercer</em> (2014)
Adapted from the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, Snowpiercer tells the high-stakes story of passengers aboard a self-sustaining train circling the planet in the wake of a climate disaster that ushered in a new Ice Age. The passengers are segregated according to class, a stricture that leads to a revolt from the lower class as they attempt to make their way to the front of the train to confront those in charge. Featuring the kinds of memorable visuals, thrilling plot twists, and cultural commentary we've come to expect from director Bong Joon Ho, Snowpiercer is one of the most audacious sci-fi action films of the modern age. As EW's critic wrote, "It leaves you with the all too rare sensation that you've just witnessed something you've never seen before...and need to see again and again." —K.J.
Where to watch Snowpiercer: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Cast: Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Ewen Bremner, Go Ah-sung, John Hurt, Ed Harris
Related content: Everything you need to know about Snowpiercer
<em>Train to Busan</em> (2016)
Zombie movies have been done to death, pun intended, though most have moved away from the social commentary that once defined the genre. Enter: Train to Busan. The majority of this South Korean horror movie takes place, as you might have guessed, on a commuter train to Busan, as a workaholic father (Gong Yoo) travels with his estranged daughter while an epidemic breaks out across the country. Along the way, the apocalypse becomes a potent commentary on class divides: think Snowpiercer with zombies. The walking dead are rabid and fast-moving, with terrifying set pieces reminiscent of World War Z. But, as EW's critic writes, Train to Busan boasts "an emotional core the Brad Pitt-starring extravaganza often lacked," namely the central relationship between father and daughter. —J.T.
Where to watch Train to Busan: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Cast: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an, Choi Woo-shik, Ahn So-hee, Kim Eui-sung
Related content: Train to Busan sequel Peninsula picks up the zombie action four years later
<em>V for Vendetta</em> (2006)
Set in a futuristic Britain, this adaptation of Alan Moore's best-selling graphic novel is an engrossing political allegory — and feels more relevant with each passing year. V for Vendetta follows the masked anarchist V (Hugo Weaving) through his attempts to take down the fascist government, which freely punishes its opponents through imprisonment or execution. V rescues Evey (Natalie Portman), a young woman whose activist parents died in prison, and must now avoid capture herself. The film blends multiple genres — political thriller, action drama, dystopian sci-fi — but remains clear-eyed in its message of hope and perseverance, serving as a powerful rallying cry for the disenfranchised. —K.J.
Where to watch V for Vendetta: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: N/A (read the review)
Director: James McTeigue
Cast: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea, John Hurt
Related content: Behind the scenes of V for Vendetta
<em>The Vast of Night</em> (2020)
This underrated sci-fi indie centers on a pair of teenage friends living in 1950s New Mexico who investigate a cryptic audio signal that suddenly interrupts a radio program. Putting the pieces together, they unravel a conspiracy that may suggest proof of alien life. With a budget of just $700,000, director Andrew Patterson pulls off a number of stunning shots, transporting us to a specific time and place. As EW wrote following the film's success, "Just the setting and veneer of the film — it's framed as an episode of a Twilight Zone-esque anthology TV series — should be enough for you to guess more or less where it's headed." —K.J.
Where to watch The Vast of Night: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Andrew Patterson
Cast: Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz
Related content: How The Vast of Night pulled off its stunning tracking shot
