20 Best Sci-Fi Movies On Amazon Prime
Science fiction is one of our favorite genres. It's endlessly malleable: One minute, you can watch an icy, intellectual mind-bender, and the next, you can switch over to an all-time great popcorn movie. Science fiction can do anything. And Amazon Prime has assembled a fantastic selection of the genre's best, bringing you the finest cinema has to offer in aliens, artificial intelligence, spaceships, futuristic technology, time travel, alternate realities, dystopias, and more.
With so many films to sort through, we want to make it easy for you to find the ones you should add to your watchlist. We've sorted through Amazon's sci-fi selection to come up with our 20 favorite movies available right now.
Updated on December 30, 2021: Even without the handy aid of a time machine, we're working to keep this list up-to-date for whenever you need it. Streaming catalogs may change and new releases may appear, but our dedication to bringing you the best in sci-fi is a constant.
Alien
In this claustrophobic sci-fi horror film, we join the crew of the grubby commercial spaceship "Nostromo" as they answer a mysterious distress call. What they find will make your skin crawl. They acquire an alien passenger, a deadly and rapidly evolving creature capable of wiping out everyone on board. All around them is cold and airless darkness, and their fragile environment has a seemingly unstoppable killer in it. Everything is on the line — and not everyone is trustworthy. With gloriously gross effects and a heroine for the ages, "Alien" is a truly unforgettable film.
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Starring: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt
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Director: Ridley Scott
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Year: 1979
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Runtime: 117 minutes
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Rating: R
Archive
"Archive" brings the quest for artificial intelligence together with the universal attempt to deal with grief and loss. George Almore is close to realizing his goal of humanistic AI — and his motivations are about more than corporate success or even intellectual achievement. He wants to recapture his wife Jules, whose consciousness is preserved in a decaying digital storage known as the Archive. George has brought Jules back before, each version "better" and truer than the last — and all of them coexisting in a sometimes uneasy truce. Is he finally going to succeed? Should he? The technological, philosophical, and moral questions come to the fore amid a tense and emotional story.
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Starring: Theo James, Stacy Martin, Rhona Mitra
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Director: Gavin Rothery
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Year: 2020
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Runtime: 105 minutes
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Rating: R
Barbarella
Campy and surprisingly sweet, "Barbarella" is a far-future science fantasy starring an idealized heroine. The President of Earth tasks astronaut Barbarella with making sure a scientist and his dangerous weapon don't fall into the wrong hands. This adventure brings her into a colorful and sexually charged world of risk and excitement, as she teams up with the blind angel Pygar to fight the tyrannical aspirations of Dr. Durand Durand and the Black Queen. "Barbarella" is cheerfully over-the-top, and its '60s origins definitely show, but its sunniness and terrific production design make it a classic.
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Starring: Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Marcel Marceau
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Director: Roger Vadim
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Year: 1968
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Runtime: 98 minutes
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Rating: PG
Before I'm Dead
Nolan Cruise can't leave his apartment. His wife's murder left him in the grip of severe agoraphobia — and possibly a host of other mental illnesses, as well. Is that why he believes that reality and time itself are playing tricks on him? Are paranoia and grief getting the better of him, or has his bathroom really turned into a kind of portal through time? Dealing with everything from time travel to ghosts to cell phone footage that clashes with what he's seeing with his own eyes, Nolan has to try to make sense of what's happening around him ... and find out whether there really is any way to change what's gone wrong in his life. "Before I'm Dead" is a smartly crafted low-budget film that offers creativity, unease, and a surprising amount of flair.
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Starring: J.R. Sawyers, Denise Boutte, Stephaun Pender
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Director: J.R. Sawyers
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Year: 2021
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Runtime: 83 minutes
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Rating: TV-MA
Black Box
Nolan Wright survived the car crash that killed his wife, but as "Black Box" opens, he's still struggling to adjust to both his grief and the lingering effects of brain injuries. His memory is now so unreliable that he has trouble parenting his beloved young daughter, Ava. Desperate to get more solid ground under his feet, he tries an experimental procedure with a cutting-edge neurologist intrigued by his case — but the images and memories roused by the process are often more disturbing than helpful. And some of them, it turns out, may not really be his. This is an inventive sci-fi horror movie with great performances and a lot of twists.
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Starring: Mamoudou Athie, Phylicia Rashad, Amanda Christine
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Director: Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr.
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Year: 2020
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Runtime: 100 minutes
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Rating: NR
Children of Men
"Children of Men" opens with humanity on the brink of a slow extinction, due to mass infertility. The world is in chaos, especially once the youngest person left, 18-year-old "Baby" Diego, is murdered. In the midst of all this violence and instability, bureaucrat Theo's estranged wife, Julian, comes back into his life ... and makes him responsible for Kee, a young woman whose seemingly impossible pregnancy might just save the world. Theo and Kee are now at the center of a dangerous firestorm of competing interests. "Children of Men" deals unflinchingly with bleak material and tackles rich themes, but its propulsive storytelling keeps it incredibly exciting.
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Starring: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Clare-Hope Ashitey
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Director: Alfonso Cuarón
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Year: 2006
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Runtime: 109 minutes
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Rating: R
Coherence
"Coherence" is a great case for the virtues of the low-budget science fiction film: It may have a small scale and very minimal effects, but it's a creative mindbender that will haunt you. It starts with an ordinary dinner party that could be straight out of any indie drama. There are minor tensions in the friend group, and people are harboring regrets, secrets, and grudges. They're struggling over decisions. And then, just as a comet passes over them, the power goes out — and things start getting weird. They find a lockbox that has their pictures in it, all numbered, along with a ping-pong paddle. Unraveling the mystery eventually leads to unexpected places and a very satisfying ending.
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Starring: Emily Foxler, Maury Sterling, Nicholas Brendon
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Director: James Ward Byrkit
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Year: 2013
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Runtime: 88 minutes
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Rating: NR
Encounter
Widespread disaster follows in the wake of an asteroid's collision with Earth. In the midst of a plague of blood parasites (and the dangerous human efforts set up to contain them) Marine Corps veteran Malik Khan tries to get his two young sons to safety. The result is a dangerous and excruciatingly tense drive across the desert that melds horror, thriller, and apocalyptic sci-fi elements to great effect. The genre-blending is well-done and the desert cinematography is striking, but the performances are probably the biggest draw here: They provide the movie with plenty of nuance and deeply resonant feeling.
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Starring: Riz Ahmed, Octavia Spencer, Janina Gavankar
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Director: Michael Pearce
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Year: 2021
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Runtime: 108 minutes
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Rating: R
The Endless
Years ago, brothers Aaron and Justin fled Camp Arcadia. Justin insists that it was a death cult, but Aaron has nothing but fond memories — and when they receive an invitation to return, he convinces his brother to go back with him. They find friendly, welcoming people ... and a lot of secrets and mysteries. Justin can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen here, as the usual rules of physics seem to be off the table, and there's a second moon rising in the sky. But his brother is less interested in working out what's going on and more interested in returning to the community's embrace. Well-developed characters, creative effects, and haunting storytelling make this a gem.
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Starring: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Callie Hernandez
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Directors: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
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Year: 2017
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Runtime: 111 minutes
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Rating: NR
Europa Report
"Europa Report" is a sleek found footage movie about a mission to one of Jupiter's moons. The crew is traveling to this far edge of the solar system in a search for life, but this kind of quest unavoidably puts their own lives in severe peril. As storms, harsh environments, and technical failures plague the crew, eliminating them one by one, they doggedly continue their mission, chasing the source of a mysterious blue light that may have incredible significance. The found footage styling gives this an additional verisimilitude and amounts to much more than a mere gimmick, and the hard sci-fi approach is engrossing.
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Starring: Anamaria Marinca, Michael Nyqvist, Karolina Wydra
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Director: Sebastian Cordero
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Year: 2013
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Runtime: 90 minutes
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Rating: PG-13
Galaxy Quest
The washed-up cast of a "Star Trek"-like show called "Galaxy Quest" get some out-of-this-world career rejuvenation when it turns out that real-life aliens have mistaken their series for a documentary. The sweet and vulnerable Thermians transport their "heroes" to a completely faithful recreation of their TV show's ship and expect their help fighting off the evil General Sarris, but this crew of B-list actors are out of their depth when it comes to actual derring-do. Not many spoofs give their source material this kind of funny, loving attention, and almost none of them have this much heart. "Galaxy Quest" is a rare delight.
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Starring: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman
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Director: Dean Parisot
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Year: 1999
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Runtime: 102 minutes
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Rating: PG
Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe
"Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe" reboots the series of kaiju films focused on this enormous, dangerous, but often lovable fire-breathing turtle. Here, scientists discover the ancient Gamera along with a flock of giant birds known as Gyaos — and when the creatures start wreaking havoc, the world strikes back. But there's a big difference between Gamera and Gyaos, and the psychic bond Gamera forms with young Asagi lets us know it. Gamera isn't really a threat: He's humanity's best protection against the Gyaos. With vivid adventure, a touching girl-and-her-giant-turtle emotional arc, and a whole lot of fun, "Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe" illustrates the best the series has to offer.
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Starring: Tsuyoshi Ihara, Akira Onodera, Shinobu Nakayama
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Director: Shusuke Kaneko
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Year: 1995
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Runtime: 95 minutes
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Rating: NR
The History of Time Travel
"The History of Time Travel" is a clever and twisty mockumentary detailing an alternate world where Cold War-era physicists develop time travel for reasons both personal and political. Dr. Edward Page was tasked with making the project work during World War II, in a parallel to the race for nuclear arms, and his family suffers from his obsessive focus. It takes his son to finish his work, and his use of time travel then kicks off personal and global changes that ingeniously play out in the "documentary" itself. Make sure to pay attention to the background details as the history of this world shifts around even as you're watching it.
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Starring: Stephen Adami, Krista Ales, Valerie Black
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Director: Ricky Kennedy
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Year: 2014
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Runtime: 71 minutes
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Rating: PG-13
Infinity Chamber
"Infinity Chamber" tells the tense story of Frank Lerner, who finds himself trapped in an unconventional high-tech prison cell. He doesn't remember how he got there or why he was arrested, and his only companions are Howard — an AI "life support officer" — and his own vivid flashbacks. The facility is searching Frank's brain for a secret, manipulating his memories and perceptions to try to get the answers it needs about his "crime." Meanwhile, Frank strives to escape, making an ally of a malfunctioning and increasingly human Howard. This ambiguous high-concept thriller deploys plenty of smart, mind-bending twists.
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Starring: Christopher Soren Kelly, Cassandra Clark, Cajardo Lindsey
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Director: Travis Milloy
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Year: 2016
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Runtime: 105 minutes
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Rating: NR
Megamind
What does a supervillain do without a superhero to thwart? Megamind has always fought — often ineffectively — the heroic Metro Man, but when he achieves a sudden and unexpected victory, he finds that control of the city isn't all it's cracked up to be. Listless and looking for new purpose, he decides to create a new hero to battle against. Things soon go horribly (and hilariously) wrong. This animated family film combines superhero genre parody with great voice actors to result in mega fun.
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Starring: Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill
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Director: Tom McGrath
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Year: 2010
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Runtime: 96 minutes
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Rating: PG
Phantasm
One of the weirdest and most deliciously surreal sci-fi horror franchises around kicks off with the classic "Phantasm." Young Mike just wants to be close to his older brother, Jody, so he tags along to the funeral of one of Jody's friends ... and witnesses something bizarre. The local mausoleum is under the control of the Tall Man — played by Angus Scrimm, who brings real mystery and menace — an otherworldly figure who abducts, revives, and repurposes the dead. Working by a dreamlike logic, "Phantasm" blends unforgettable horror images with the moving theme of a boy grappling with death.
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Starring: A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister
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Director: Don Coscarelli
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Year: 1979
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Runtime: 89 minutes
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Rating: R
Predator
If you want science fiction action, it doesn't get much better than "Predator." A military team ventures into a Central American jungle to rescue some hostages: They're capable men on a mission. But the tables soon turn, making them the prey. An alien has come to Earth for the thrill of the hunt, and it's more physically powerful than any human and more technologically advanced. The team — and a guerrilla fighter they pick up along the way — must do what they can to survive. But eluding the predator is hard enough; taking it down is going to be almost impossible.
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Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo
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Director: John McTiernan
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Year: 1987
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Runtime: 107 minutes
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Rating: R
The Tomorrow War
Time travel, aliens, and military sci-fi all add up to a blast of an action-adventure movie. Critics were lukewarm, but audiences have definitely had a lot of fun. Humanity gets a sudden news alert from the future: The world will soon be attacked and effectively wiped out by creatures known as the Whitespikes. Chris Pratt's Dan, a former Green Beret, gets drafted into the future's war. The time travel gives him a chance at saving the human race — even granted that it turns out to be more complicated than it looked at first glance — but Dan also needs it to give him a heads up about how to keep his own family together in the here and now.
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Starring: Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J.K. Simmons
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Director: Chris McKay
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Year: 2021
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Runtime: 138 minutes
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Rating: PG-13
The Vast of Night
"The Vast of Night" is an eerie, well-acted, and well-shot period piece. A young DJ and his switchboard operator friend pick up unusual — unearthly? — sounds and radio signals, and they get drawn into trying to figure out where they're coming from. Finding the answer means wading into a government conspiracy. But with the help of some oddly assembled allies, they'll step right into the heart of the mystery. Old-fashioned craftsmanship makes "The Vast of Night" an immensely satisfying revisiting of a classic sci-fi theme, but the film also manages to feel fresh and surprising.
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Starring: Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz, Gail Cronauer
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Director: Andrew Patterson
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Year: 2019
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Runtime: 89 minutes
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Rating: PG-13
Vivarium
If you're in the mood for something deeply weird and disturbing, check out "Vivarium," starring Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots as a young couple who get sucked into a kind of bizarre suburbia. After being stranded in an inescapable neighborhood of identical houses, they're forcibly conscripted into acting as foster parents for an alien child. They're desperate to escape, but the claustrophobia never lets up. And as the child grows, it gets harder and harder to even try to love — and even more impossible to control. Can they find an escape, or were they doomed the second they stepped in the house?
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Starring: Imogen Poots, Jesse Eisenberg, Jonathan Aris
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Director: Lorcan Finnegan
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Year: 2019
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Runtime: 97 minutes
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Rating: NR