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Best Sci-Fi Movies of the 1990s, Ranked by IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDB
111 sci-fi films from the 1990s are in our catalog; the 50 best are ranked below. Top of the list is The Matrix (1999), at 8.7 on IMDb. The average IMDb score across this list is 7.3. Biggest split between audiences and critics: The Thirteenth Floor, 7.0 on IMDb against 36 on Metacritic.
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| # | Movie | Genre | IMDb | Tomato | Meta | TMDB | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Matrix '1999 | Action / Sci-Fi | 8.7 | 83% | 73 | 8.3 | Lana Wachowski |
| 2 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day '1991 | Action / Thriller / Sci-Fi | 8.6 | 90% | 75 | 8.2 | James Cameron |
| 3 | Jurassic Park '1993 | Sci-Fi | 8.2 | 91% | 68 | 8.0 | Steven Spielberg |
| 4 | Twelve Monkeys '1995 | Sci-Fi / Thriller / Mystery | 8.0 | 88% | 75 | 7.6 | Terry Gilliam |
| 5 | The Iron Giant '1999 | Animation / Drama / Sci-Fi | 8.1 | 96% | 85 | 8.0 | Brad Bird |
| 6 | Ghost in the Shell '1995 | Action / Animation / Sci-Fi | 7.9 | 95% | 76 | 7.9 | Mamoru Oshii |
| 7 | Gattaca '1997 | Sci-Fi / Drama | 7.7 | 82% | 64 | 7.6 | Andrew Niccol |
| 8 | The Fifth Element '1997 | Sci-Fi / Action | 7.6 | 70% | 52 | 7.6 | Luc Besson |
| 9 | Back to the Future Part III '1990 | Comedy / Sci-Fi | 7.5 | 79% | 55 | 7.5 | Robert Zemeckis |
| 10 | Total Recall '1990 | Action / Sci-Fi | 7.5 | 80% | 60 | 7.3 | Paul Verhoeven |
| 11 | Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion '1997 | Animation / Sci-Fi / Drama / Fantasy / Action | 8.1 | 92% | - | 8.3 | Kazuya Tsurumaki |
| 12 | Contact '1997 | Drama / Sci-Fi / Mystery | 7.5 | 69% | 62 | 7.5 | Robert Zemeckis |
| 13 | Dark City '1998 | Mystery / Sci-Fi | 7.5 | - | 66 | 7.3 | Alex Proyas |
| 14 | Star Trek: First Contact '1996 | Sci-Fi / Action / Thriller | 7.6 | 93% | 70 | 7.3 | Jonathan Frakes |
| 15 | Men in Black '1997 | Action / Comedy / Sci-Fi | 7.3 | 91% | 72 | 7.2 | Barry Sonnenfeld |
| 16 | Delicatessen '1991 | Comedy / Sci-Fi / Fantasy | 7.5 | 90% | 66 | 7.3 | Jean-Pierre Jeunet |
| 17 | Face/Off '1997 | Action / Crime / Sci-Fi | 7.3 | 93% | 82 | 7.1 | John Woo |
| 18 | Galaxy Quest '1999 | Comedy / Sci-Fi | 7.4 | 90% | 70 | 7.1 | Dean Parisot |
| 19 | Starship Troopers '1997 | Action / Thriller / Sci-Fi | 7.3 | 72% | 52 | 7.1 | Paul Verhoeven |
| 20 | Open Your Eyes '1997 | Drama / Thriller / Sci-Fi | 7.7 | 87% | - | 7.5 | Alejandro Amenábar |
| 21 | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country '1991 | Sci-Fi / Action / Thriller | 7.3 | 84% | 65 | 7.0 | Nicholas Meyer |
| 22 | A Grand Day Out '1990 | Animation / Comedy / Sci-Fi | 7.7 | - | - | 7.5 | Nick Park |
| 23 | The City of Lost Children '1995 | Fantasy / Sci-Fi | 7.4 | 80% | 73 | 7.2 | Marc Caro |
| 24 | Tremors '1990 | Comedy / Horror / Sci-Fi | 7.2 | 88% | 65 | 7.0 | Ron Underwood |
| 25 | Cube '1997 | Thriller / Sci-Fi / Mystery | 7.1 | 61% | 61 | 6.8 | Vincenzo Natali |
| 26 | Strange Days '1995 | Sci-Fi / Thriller | 7.2 | 71% | 66 | 7.0 | Kathryn Bigelow |
| 27 | Independence Day '1996 | Action / Sci-Fi | 7.0 | 77% | 59 | 6.9 | Roland Emmerich |
| 28 | Stargate '1994 | Action / Sci-Fi | 7.0 | 53% | 42 | 7.0 | Roland Emmerich |
| 29 | Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan '1993 | Animation / Sci-Fi / Action | 7.3 | - | - | 7.3 | Shigeyasu Yamauchi |
| 30 | The Thirteenth Floor '1999 | Thriller / Sci-Fi / Mystery | 7.0 | 29% | 36 | 7.1 | Josef Rusnak |
| 31 | Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound '1993 | Action / Animation / Sci-Fi | 7.1 | - | - | 7.2 | Yoshihiro Ueda |
| 32 | The X-Files '1998 | Mystery / Sci-Fi / Thriller | 7.0 | 66% | 60 | 6.9 | Rob Bowman |
| 33 | Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn '1995 | Animation / Action / Sci-Fi | 7.6 | - | - | 7.6 | Shigeyasu Yamauchi |
| 34 | Bicentennial Man '1999 | Drama / Romance / Sci-Fi | 6.9 | 38% | 42 | 7.3 | Chris Columbus |
| 35 | Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge '1991 | Action / Animation / Sci-Fi | 7.0 | - | - | 7.0 | Mitsuo Hashimoto |
| 36 | Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon '1995 | Animation / Action / Sci-Fi | 7.4 | - | - | 7.4 | Mitsuo Hashimoto |
| 37 | Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku '1990 | Animation / Action / Sci-Fi / Drama / Fantasy | 7.8 | - | - | 7.6 | Mitsuo Hashimoto |
| 38 | eXistenZ '1999 | Action / Thriller / Sci-Fi | 6.8 | 77% | 70 | 6.8 | David Cronenberg |
| 39 | Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler '1992 | Action / Animation / Sci-Fi | 6.9 | - | - | 6.5 | Daisuke Nishio |
| 40 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles '1990 | Sci-Fi / Action / Comedy | 6.8 | 46% | 51 | 6.7 | Steve Barron |
| 41 | Dragon Ball Z: Broly - Second Coming '1994 | Animation / Action / Sci-Fi | 6.5 | - | - | 6.8 | Shigeyasu Yamauchi |
| 42 | Fire in the Sky '1993 | Sci-Fi / Mystery / Thriller / Drama / Horror | 6.5 | 52% | 42 | 6.7 | Rob Lieberman |
| 43 | Demolition Man '1993 | Crime / Action / Sci-Fi | 6.7 | 67% | 34 | 6.8 | Marco Brambilla |
| 44 | The Rocketeer '1991 | Sci-Fi | 6.6 | 73% | 58 | 6.5 | Joe Johnston |
| 45 | Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might '1990 | Action / Animation / Sci-Fi | 6.7 | - | - | 6.5 | Daisuke Nishio |
| 46 | Armageddon '1998 | Action / Sci-Fi | 6.7 | 42% | 42 | 6.8 | Michael Bay |
| 47 | Pokémon the Movie 2000 '1999 | Fantasy / Animation / Sci-Fi | 6.1 | - | 28 | 6.8 | Kunihiko Yuyama |
| 48 | Star Trek: Generations '1994 | Sci-Fi / Action / Thriller | 6.6 | 48% | 55 | 6.5 | David Carson |
| 49 | The Faculty '1998 | Horror / Sci-Fi | 6.6 | 57% | 61 | 6.6 | Robert Rodriguez |
| 50 | Flatliners '1990 | Drama / Sci-Fi / Horror | 6.6 | 50% | 55 | 6.5 | Joel Schumacher |
Our catalog covers roughly the 8,800 most-rated films on TMDB, so lesser-known titles may be missing. Order uses a confidence-weighted IMDb score so a perfect score from a handful of votes does not beat a well-established classic; the scores shown are the raw ones.
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Other genres in the 1990s
Action of the 1990s Animation of the 1990s Comedy of the 1990s Crime of the 1990s Drama of the 1990s Fantasy of the 1990s Horror of the 1990s Mystery of the 1990s Romance of the 1990s Thriller of the 1990s
Directors on this list
Lana Wachowski James Cameron Steven Spielberg Terry Gilliam Brad Bird Andrew Niccol Luc Besson Robert Zemeckis Paul Verhoeven Alex Proyas Barry Sonnenfeld John Woo
Actors on this list
Keanu Reeves Laurence Fishburne Arnold Schwarzenegger Sam Neill Laura Dern Bruce Willis Jennifer Aniston Ethan Hawke Uma Thurman Milla Jovovich Michael J. Fox Christopher Lloyd