Spanning 1960 to 2026, these sci-fi movies simply can't be missed — they've helped define the genre and demonstrate its true range.

With that in mind, Polygon is rounding up 10 sci-fi movies that we consider to be perfect (or as close to perfect as any movie can be). These films all come at the genre in different ways, finding unique and innovative ways to elevate science fiction and tell an unforgettable story in the process.

These 1970s sci-fi films, all of which were either commercial successes and/or critical darlings in their day, haven't aged so gracefully.

Project Hail Mary took the sci-fi world by storm, but these ten hard sci-fi masterpieces are even better.

Paramount+ is about to become the only place that movie fans can find one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made. Paramount has a lot of options for fans of science fiction. This includes the Star Trek franchise,

The 1990s gave us a bunch of great science fiction movies, and some of them are just as (if not even more) watchable in the 2020s.

If you loved "Hail Mary," you might enjoy another film adapted from the same author’s work. It centers on astronaut Mark Watney, stranded alone on Mars.

A lot of the time, I find myself going back to movies weeks or even months after everyone else has already moved on, almost like I’m trying to catch up with conversations I missed. But sci-fi has always been the one genre that pulls me back in,

Having more than earned its impressive 92% critics rating, this film puts its own spin on the question of what makes a person a person,