The Best Sci-Fi Movies to Watch on HBO Max

The Best Sci-Fi Movies to Watch on HBO Max


HBO Max is bursting with nice sci-fi flicks, from classics reminiscent of The Matrix and Blade Runner, to newer titles, together with Pacific Rim and an superior little Spanish gem known as Timecrimes.

Scroll down for the intensive choices obtainable on HBO Max.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

The finest Terminator film? Make your judgment by watching The Terminator sequel.

Katalyst/CNET Screenshot

The Butterfly Effect (2004)

An satisfying B-movie, The Butterfly Effect sees faculty scholar Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher) tinker with the previous and uncover how every change impacts the current.

Mosfilm/YouTube/CNET Screenshot

Make it by Stalker’s gradual begin and you’ll say you have watched an existential masterpiece of Russian cinema.

Photo by LMPC through Getty Images

Before Stalker, Andrei Tarkovsky made big leaps for sci-fi cinema, along with his complicated, character-driven piece about astronauts having wild hallucinations which will or will not be actual. The 2002 American remake of Solaris can be on HBO Max, with added George Clooney romance.

Paramount Pictures

Matt Reeves has gone on to massive issues since directing this slick found-footage monster morsel. See what he was as much as earlier than The Planet of the Apes motion pictures and 2022’s The Batman.

Sony Pictures

This immense low-budget sci-fi starring Sam Rockwell has every little thing. It has Sam Rockwell. A Clint Mansell rating. A claustrophobic retro set and gorgeously moody moonscapes. Hard sci-fi concepts. The primary premise: A person coming to the top of a three-year solitary stint on the far aspect of the moon suffers a private disaster. A must-watch.

twentieth Century Fox/YouTube/CNET Screenshot

A routine blockbuster for dependable leisure.

Manson International

A warning for the physique horror-averse earlier than hitting play on this David Cronenberg sci-fi. Scanners follows folks with particular talents, together with telepathic and telekinetic powers. Not the primary on this listing to grow to be a cult basic after a lukewarm preliminary response, Scanners left an enduring impression, not least due to a memorable scene involving a head explosion.

Miramax/YouTube/CNET Screenshot

Robert Rodriguez is not the most well-liked amongst Star Wars followers in the meanwhile, primarily for making a personality do a pointless ballerina twirl within the divisive The Book of Boba Fett finale. The Faculty, directed by Rodriguez, is not nice, nevertheless it is not dangerous both, following teenagers who examine mysterious happenings at their highschool.

Paramount Pictures

Basically Stranger Things set within the ’70s. Super 8 follows a gaggle of teenagers who’re filming their very own film when a practice derails and a harmful presence begins stalking their city.

Warner Bros.

Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi blockbuster is again on HBO Max. The epic based mostly on Frank Herbert’s novel lately scored a number of Oscars, together with finest unique rating and cinematography. Catch the sprawling story of the Atreides household, who discover themselves at warfare on the lethal planet Arrakis. Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Zendaya and extra stack out a vastly spectacular ensemble forged.

Universal Pictures

A brand new Jurassic Park film is headed to theaters this 12 months, so make amends for the (superior) unique now. 1993’s Jurassic Park kicked off the franchise, based mostly on the novel of the identical title by Michael Crichton. Spoiler: Original forged members Laura Dern, Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum are set to make a return within the upcoming 2022 flick.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Its sequel did not attain the identical lofty heights, so watch the primary monster epic within the Pacific Rim franchise. 2013’s Pacific Rim is helmed by Guillermo Del Toro, so count on a powerful brush of visible artistry over the monster mayhem.

Karbo Vantas Entertainment/YouTube/CNET Screenshot

This actually mind-bending Spanish sci-fi is a wild card to take an opportunity on for those who’re within the temper. Featuring all of the trimmings of a low-budget thriller, Timecrimes follows a middle-aged man who finds himself caught in a time loop. A stream of twists will preserve you in your toes.

twentieth Century Fox/YouTube/CNET Screenshot

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

Roland Emmerich, “grasp of catastrophe,” presents The Day After Tomorrow. The director additionally made this 12 months’s Moonfall, through which the moon falls out of its orbit on a collision course with Earth. You already know what sort of enjoyable this film goes to be.

Universal Pictures/YouTube/CNET Screenshot

Oblivion got here out of the build-a-sci-fi-movie workshop. Starring Tom Cruise, it follows people at warfare with aliens, paying homage to ’70s sci-fi movies together with The Omega Man and Silent Running. A love letter within the type of a half-decent sci-fi motion journey.

Jaap Buitendijk

Based on the favored Ernest Cline novel of the identical title, Ready Player One is a nerd’s feast, dropping over 100 references to fashionable tradition from numerous time durations, together with Minecraft, Batman and Back to the Future. There’s even a narrative in there too, a couple of dystopic society discovering solace in digital actuality.

Vertigo Releasing/YouTube/CNET Screenshot

This strong British sci-fi comes from Gareth Edwards, who went on to direct Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and 2014’s Godzilla. His mastery of ambiance, marvel and wonder is on present right here, all on a shoestring price range. Monsters follows a pair trying to cross an “Infected Zone” teeming with big tentacled monsters.

Warner Bros. Pictures

If you have not seen The Matrix, and someway do not know its main plot factors, nicely achieved for avoiding spoilers for 23 years. The sequels Reloaded, Revolutions and Resurrections are additionally on HBO Max.

Stephen Vaughan

Watch two and a half hours of atmospheric, luxurious spectacle, however do not count on any conclusions to the query posed by the unique Blade Runner: Is Rick Deckard a replicant?

Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis through Getty Images

Forever the top of neo-noir visible artistry, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner won’t ever be misplaced in time, like tears in rain.

Warner Bros.

Love it or hate it — get it or discover its “science” baffling — Tenet is eye-popping leisure. Best recommendation: Don’t query Tenet, undergo the Tenet expertise.

Warner Bros./YouTube/CNET Screenshot

The superior Christopher Nolan film on this listing.

Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET

A dystopian thriller starring Charlton Heston and set in a 2022 stricken by overpopulation, air pollution and local weather catastrophe. This is not a documentary.

Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis through Getty Images

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

“Alexa, play 2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Warner Bros./YouTube/CNET Screenshot

This sci-fi thriller from one half of the duo that created Westworld (Lisa Joy) is pure thoughts boggle, however the fascinating concepts are value a gander. Reminiscence follows Hugh Jackman’s Nick Bannister, who makes use of a machine that may see into folks’s reminiscences.

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