There is a wide range of genres that make big waves at the box office, and science fiction movies have remained as popular as ever. The best sci-fi films craft stunning worlds that truly make audience members feel like they’ve been transported to some new place.
Sci-fi movies sometimes get so lost in plot and action that they let their bold, new world speak for itself. However, some science fiction films work as well as they do because of their elegant world building and the lore that they intentionally create.
Updated March 24, 2023 by Daniel Kurland: Science fiction remains one of storytelling’s most limitless genres, immersing audiences in unbelievable worlds. Sci-fi is a broad genre that caters towards many extremes, some of which are accessible to audiences of all ages. Others are intricate, challenging, and designed for the hardcore genre fans. World building is a crucial element that can make or break sci-fi movies. A lot of the time a strong story or courageous characters come across as meaningless if their governing world doesn’t make any sense. Fortunately, some sci-fi movies put lore and world building above everything else.
15 Edge Of Tomorrow
Release Date: May 28, 2014
Edge of Tomorrow is the best video game movie that's not based on a video game. A loose adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka's All You Need Is Kill light novel, Edge of Tomorrow is essentially Groundhog Day meets Independence Day. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt star in the surprising sci-fi/action hybrid.
Edge of Tomorrow is set in a futuristic version of the world that doesn't feel that outlandish, but the complex world building comes in regarding the rules and circumstances that surround the time loop that's consumed Cruise's Bill Cage. It's extremely entertaining when Cage clues into all of this and begins to take advantage of his never-ending purgatory.
14 Inception
Release Date: July 13, 2010
Christopher Nolan has practically become a genre himself at this point and even though his films don't always penetrate hard sci-fi, its exceptional cinematic experiences like Inception that will forever define Christopher Nolan's brand. Inception is the perfect mix of Nolan's deeply layered narratives with visually inventive action set pieces.
The heist film dives deep into the act of dreams, and Inception carefully breaks down the rules, differences, and obstacles that accompany each descending level of the dream world. A lot of exposition helps flesh out Inception's dream world, but it also consistently proves its points through visual spectacles, which help underscore the movie's dense ideas.
13 District 9
Release Date: August 14, 2009
Neill Blomkamp is one of the most exciting modern voices in science fiction. Blomkamp’s films always feature compelling, original ideas, even if they don't always come together. District 9 is Blomkamp's feature film debut, and it's still considered to be his finest work. District 9 tells an unconventional alien invasion story that's set in South Africa and becomes a larger parable for xenophobia and social inequality.
District 9 gradually morphs into a vicious body horror story, but its smartest decision is to set its extraterrestrial invasion two decades in the past. District 9 begins with such a well-defined world where these aliens are now not only normalized, but prejudiced against.
12 Children Of Men
Release Date: December 25, 2006
Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men presents a stark and desperate dystopia where mankind is on the precipice of extinction after widespread infertility rattles the world. Clive Owen stars as Theo Faron, an unlikely figure who becomes responsible for humanity's survival, as he shepherds a pregnant woman to safety.
Children of Men doesn't wear its sci-fi tropes on its sleeve, but the conditions that surround the planet's infertility and humanity's efforts to adapt and survive are fascinating on a sociological level. It’s an enlightening science fiction film for those who aren’t interested in space, aliens, or advanced futuristic technology.
11 Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets
Release Date: July 21, 2017
Luc Besson's 2017 adaptation of the French comic, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, attempts to supplant decades of lore and world building into a single film, which ends up feeling rushed and bloated beyond recognition. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets doesn't capture the same magic that Besson did with The Fifth Element.
A jumbled story about space cops in the 28th century crumbles under the weight of poor casting and studio interference. Valerian suffers on a storytelling level, but it's a marvel to look at and there's clearly such a detailed world. Besson has more than 200 unique alien species on display in Valerian.
10 Warcraft
Release Date: June 10, 2016
Duncan Jones has directed some intelligent and challenging science fiction movies. World of Warcraft is one of the most popular video game franchises of all time, so a cinematic adaptation makes a lot of sense. However, Jones makes the curious decision to turn the tense politics and relationships between orcs and humans into the movie's centerpiece.
There are amazing monsters and a truly foreign world that's on display in Warcraft. It may not make for the most exciting film, but its attention to detail and world-building over warfare definitely make Warcraft a curious experiment.
9 Dune
Release Date: October 22, 2021
Frank Herbert’s foundational science fiction literature series, Dune, was considered impossible to faithfully adapt for the longest time. Denis Villeneuve is a fearless filmmaker who’s taken on progressively ambitious projects, and his modern interpretation of Herbert’s classic is a largely successful endeavor.
The concluding half of Dune’s story is on the way and likely to deliver a comparable level of quality to its predecessor. There’s so much to digest in Dune, but Villeneuve thrives with the universe’s world-building and his presentation of different planets and their tribes.
8 Alita: Battle Angel
Release Date: February 14, 2019
Robert Rodriguez has become one of the absolute best when it comes to crafting artificial worlds that are able to seamlessly blend together with reality. Alita: Battle Angel is a rare live-action anime adaptation that rises to the occasion and lovingly translates the source material's distinct futuristic society to the big screen.
The rampant technology, emphasis on cyborgs, and kinetic sports like Motorball are all in service of defining the film's world. Hopefully, Rodriguez will eventually get the opportunity to make an Alita sequel and explore even more of this universe.
7 Avatar
Release Date: December 18, 2009
James Cameron’s continued commitment to a series of Avatar sequels has become a bit of a running joke, but it’s impossible to ignore the mark that the original film left on the film industry. Avatar isn’t immune to criticism, but its lush world of Pandora is far and away the movie’s most successful element.
Some audiences even experienced depression after the movie ended and they had to leave the fantasy world of Pandora. Disney World has even tried its best to recreate Avatar’s beloved universe and the heights of its sequel, The Way of Water, have only enriched Avatar's world and fandom.
6 The Matrix
Release Date: March 31, 1999
There’s a very real compulsion that exists where individuals believe that reality is actually just a simulation and that they’re merely a cog in some drastically different world. There are many movies that dissect this destabilizing premise, but few are as visually ambitious and psychologically nuanced as The Matrix.
The Matrix is such an evergreen success because it’s not just a slick action movie and it treats its central world and philosophies with just as much importance. World building is a crucial tenet to The Matrix and part of the experience's joy.
5 Brazil
Release Date: December 1, 1985
Terry Gilliam is responsible for some wonderfully creative and ambitious feature films, and it's a shame that the director's most recent offerings don't capture the same indescribable magic of his strongest cinematic contributions. Brazil is a delirious adventure about freedom from conformity and the importance of individuality and free will.
Brazil explores all of this through a highly exaggerated depiction of a surreal future. Brazil's blend of the urban with the fantastical results in such a unique world that the audience won't want to leave. It’s such a powerful mix of the mundane with the absurd.
4 Jupiter Ascending
Release Date: February 6, 2015
The Wachowskis have earned an infinite free pass due to the radical ways in which they’ve helped action and sci-fi cinema advance. Jupiter Ascending is a flawed movie that suffers from a messy and rushed story, but it’s a visual extravaganza at every turn.
The movie’s secret weapon is its world building, and it’s clear that Jupiter Ascending was designed to just be one piece of a larger whole. The narrative’s full story may never come to fruition, but there’s a Star Wars level of world-building that’s present in the many diverse alien species and galactic hierarchy that exists between planets.
3 Pacific Rim
Release Date: July 12, 2013
Guillermo del Toro is a director who always puts as much stock into the atmosphere and world building as he does in character and story. All of del Toro’s movies are set in fantastical worlds, and Pacific Rim is the director’s love letter to the giant kaiju and robot genre.
The chaotic movie caters towards bewildering spectacles, but the movie also establishes the state of its universe and its history with these problematic monsters from another realm. The fact that Pacific Rim has received a formal sequel and an anime spin-off series is a testament to the layered world that the movie creates.
2 Blade Runner
Release Date: June 25, 1982
The detailed, mysterious world that Blade Runner creates is the gold standard for how to establish an effective and original cyberpunk dystopia. Video games, an anime series, and a recent sequel have returned to Blade Runner’s rich world and expanded upon it in even more enlightening ways.
There’s so much to digest in Blade Runner, but the movie triumphs due to its character-driven focus on its central mystery. Blade Runner confidently allows its futuristic world to stand on its own and allows the audience to fill in the blanks.
1 Dark City
Release Date: February 27, 1998
Alex Proyas' 1998 masterpiece, Dark City, flew under the radar upon its initial release, but it's gone on to acquire a monumental following and without it, there wouldn't be other seismic genre pictures like The Matrix. Dark City creates an effortless atmosphere with its bleak, despondent world that mixes neo-noir sensibilities with science fiction aesthetics.
Dark City's set and art design create a fascinating world that demands to be dissected and could easily fuel a sprawling franchise of films. It's a tragedy that Dark City'strench coat-wearing Strangers don't receive the same accolade as The Matrix's Mr. Anderson.