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Ah, the 1990s.
In the 1990s, sci-fi movies specifically continued to draw in millions of moviegoers.
But which of the decade’s sci-fi movies are actually the greatest of all time?
Throughout the 1990s, computers rapidly evolved to afford filmmakers brand new tools to experiment and push the envelope.
But like the L.A. noirs of yesteryear, Douglas finds himself suspected of murdering his own mentor.
Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
Before he hacked into The Matrix, Keanu Reeves was Johnny Mnemonic.
But a whole 20 years earlier, there was The Arrival.
All the while, John evades shadowy forces called “The Strangers.”
Around 2010, in discussing his hit movie Inception, Christopher Nolan cited Dark City as a touchstone.
Foster plays a SETI scientist who comes across possible evidence of extraterrestrial life.
She is immediately thrust into the position of becoming Earth’s emissary, the representative for all mankind.
Small Soldiers (1998)
Sometimes, big movies come in very small packages.
Joe, Small Soldiers is no mere toy story.
Together, the two team up to stop an ancient evil threat from destroying Earth.
Oh, you need a little more?
Independence Day (1996)
17.
Stargate (1994)
The movie that launched the Stargate empire.
Armageddon (1998)
Don’t close your eyes, because you don’t wanna miss a thing.
(Add in Liv Tyler to the mix, playing Willis' daughter and Affleck’s vivacious girlfriend.)
It’s silly, it’s loud, it’s peak Michael Bay.
(1996)
Ak ak!
is a loving lampoon of vintage science fiction movies, especially those by director Ed Wood.
lands a direct hit.
Event Horizon (1997)
Not since Alien has there been an effective science fiction/horror hybrid like Event Horizon.
But something is aboard, and it isn’t friendly.
But strong word-of-mouth has made the movie a proper ’90s cult classic.
If it bleeds, you’re free to kill it, but nothing can kill Predator 2.
In 1995, the British director cemented his legacy with the time travel thriller 12 Monkeys.
The result is one of the finest sci-fi movies to let loose at the end of the ’90s.
(Or, you know, something like that.)
On paper, The End of Evangelion ostensibly wraps up the show’s plot.
(In this case, Robert A. Heinlein’s 1959 book of the same name.)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
The Terminator was a big movie.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is somehow, impossibly, even bigger.
Few sequels eclipse the original, but Terminator 2 manages to blow away its own predecessor.
The Matrix (1999)
All these years later, there is still nothing like it.
Jurassic Park (1993)
Truly, life finds a way.
Their collaboration is now immeasurable, just like the eons of years since dinosaurs walked the Earth.
