The science fiction genre has produced some of the most iconic and recognizable movies in cinema history, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, The Matrix, and Blade Runner. However, the genre is also full of impressive films that have gradually disappeared from mainstream conversation. Some were overshadowed by bigger releases, while others simply found their audiences too late. As a result, there are plenty of excellent sci-fi movies that you probably forgot, or didn’t even know, existed.
Some of the best forgotten sci-fi movies don’t have as big a cultural footprint as the genre’s biggest classics, but they’re particularly rewarding watches. From dystopian societies and unexplained mysteries to alien friendships and environmental warnings, some of the genre’s most underrated films deserve a second look, or an opportunity to be discovered for the first time by a new audience.
6
The Last Starfighter is More Than a Star Wars Copycat
Released: 1984
1984’s The Last Starfighter centers on Alex Rogan, a teenager who lives in a trailer park and spends most of his free time playing an arcade game called Starfighter. When Alex achieves the game’s high score, he uncovers the dark truth that Starfighter was actually created as a training simulation for an interstellar war. Its creator, Centauri, recruits Alex to an alien defense force, offering him the chance to see whether his video-game skills can translate into real-world combat.
The Last Starfighter’s premise sounds like yet another galactic adventure during an oversaturated decade, but the movie commits wholeheartedly to this surprisingly charming idea. What’s more, the film’s central concept was far ahead of its time; the idea of an ordinary teenager discovering that a video game has secretly prepared them for a real-world adventure feels kind of obvious now, but in 1984, it allowed The Last Starfighter to connect arcade game culture with traditional space opera in a unique way.
With impressively ambitious visual effects, including extensive computer-generated imagery for spaceships and battles, The Last Starfighter has since become an enduring cult favorite. Still, its modest cultural footprint means it’s now much easier to encounter as just a piece of nostalgia than a genuinely important experiment in computer-generated filmmaking. The Last Starfighter is a sincere and entertaining sci-fi adventure, but many people often downplay its achievements as just another Star Wars knockoff.
5
Enemy Mine’s Mixed Critical Reception Lets It Down
Released: 1985
Set during a war between humanity and the reptilian Dracs, Enemy Mine follows human pilot Willis Davidge after he crash-lands on a hostile, volcanic alien planet called Fyrine IV. His dangerous situation becomes even more complicated when he discovers another survivor: Jeriba “Jerry” Shigan, a Drac soldier he’d been trying to kill. The two initially consider each other enemies, but Fyrine IV’s dangers force them to cooperate, gradually transforming their relationship from mutual hatred into friendship. Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr. carry much of Enemy Mine, and their characters’ relationship gives the conventional survival story a much more human touch.
Rather than using the alien species as an excuse for spectacle, Enemy Mine instead explores how prejudice can survive even when people are forced to recognize their similarities. Despite its profound themes, an appropriately strange atmosphere, and two impeccable performances that place bigger focus on trust and connection than action sequences, Enemy Mine should’ve been a sure-fire hit. Unfortunately, the movie only earned $12.3 million domestically, and its reception was mixed.
That commercial disappointment helps explain why Wolfgang Petersen’s film never became a mainstream hit. Enemy Mine has been somewhat reevaluated in more recent years, which is a good thing: its central idea is much more memorable and enjoyable than its reputation suggests, and its status as a box office bomb shouldn’t put any sci-fi fans off.
4
Silent Running is Too Good to Overlook
Release: 1972
Silent Running takes place after Earth’s plant life has become extinct, with Freeman Lowell living aboard a space station containing some of the last surviving samples of Earth’s forests and vegetation. When Lowell and his crew are ordered to destroy the greenhouse domes, so the spacecraft can return to ordinary duties, Lowell becomes determined to protect the plants at any cost. He and his three robots embark on increasingly desperate attempts to preserve the remnants of nature, turning Silent Running into a melancholic space movie about environmental responsibility, isolation, and obsession.
The environmental concerns aren’t a side issue in Silent Running; the plants are the emotional center of the story, and director Douglas Trumball (known for his ground-breaking visual effects work) creates an unusual contrast between the fragile beauty of the greenhouses and the enormous emptiness of space. Bruce Dern’s vulnerable performance as Lowell also gives Silent Running an intimate quality, which separates the movie from the larger-scale sci-fi films of the era.
Silent Running isn’t flawless, and even its modern critical consensus recognizes that some of its ambitious themes aren’t always fully realized, but it’s endured as a cult classic precisely because it offers such a unique viewing experience. Its obscurity and status as a forgotten gem is partly a consequence of Silent Running being a quieter, melancholy film than the genre’s most famous space adventures, making it an easy movie to overlook.
3
George Lucas’s First Movie Was THX 1138
Released: 1971
Before George Lucas created Star Wars, he made THX 1138, a bleak dystopian sci-fi movie about a society in which humans are controlled by mandatory medication that suppresses their emotions. THX 1138 and LUH 3517 begin to reject the rules and fall in love, even though sexual intercourse is prohibited. Their rebellion turns them into fugitives, android police pursue them, and THX is forced to confront the reality of the society that he had previously accepted without question. Robert Duvall takes the titular character on an emotional awakening in an incredible performance, while Donald Pleasance and Maggie McOmie also give phenomenal turns.
THX 1138 is a fascinating watch that reveals just how different Lucas’s filmmaking was before Star Wars. There are no colorful heroes, sweeping space battles, or conventional adventure sequences; instead, Lucas creates a sterile world where individuality and personal identity have been systematically stripped away. It’s a deliberately cold film, with sound, production design, and stark white environments make THX’s setting feel completely inhuman. Its story can be obtuse, but its visual and sonic experimentation makes it an important piece of the genre.
THX was a commercial failure when it was released, which helps explain why it was eclipsed by everything Lucas made afterward and became largely forgotten by audiences. However, THX 1138 is an interesting glimpse at the director before he became synonymous with Star Wars and a genuinely compelling, strange, and chilling story.
2
Other Sci-Fi Movies Overshadowed Gattaca
Released: 1997
With Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law leading the cast, Gattaca imagines a future in which genetic engineering has become so advanced that society effectively ranks people according to their DNA. Vincent Freeman wants to travel to space, but he’s considered genetically inferior and therefore is unable to pursue the career he really wants. He eventually assumes the identity of the genetically engineered “valid” Jerome Morrow, allowing him to enter the Gattaca space program while hiding the fact he was born naturally. A murder investigation only complicates matters, and Vincent has to prove that his genetic profile doesn’t determine what he’s capable of achieving.
Gattaca keeps its central question right at the surface throughout its entire runtime: how much of a person’s future should be determined before they have a chance to live it? The movie uses genetic discrimination to explore class, ambition, prejudice, and the human tendency to turn measurable differences into social hierarchies. Gattaca is remarkably restrained, often avoiding typical sci-fi spectacle in favor of a controlled, clinical visual style that reflects the world it depicts. It’s smart, poses interesting ethical questions, and boasts incredible performances, but Gattaca sadly underperformed at the box office.
Earning a mere $12.5 million against a reported budget of $36 million, Gattaca was a box office failure. That commercial performance, combined with an influx of popular late-’90s sci-fi movies like Men in Black, The Matrix, and The Phantom Menace helped push Gattaca into the category of forgotten sci-fi flicks that were overlooked by general audiences.
1
Dark City
Released: 1998
Dark City follows John Murdoch, a man who wakes up in a strange hotel with no memory of how he got there and is told he is wanted for a series of murders he can’t remember committing. His desperate search for answers leads him into a bizarre world controlled by mysterious beings known as Strangers, who can manipulate the city’s physical environment and the memories of its inhabitants. Murdoch goes on to investigate his own identity, eventually realizing that the entire world around him may be artificial. It’s a compelling premise that blends film noir, mystery, psychological thriller, and sci-fi, becoming increasingly ambitious as the movie goes on.
Alex Proyas, Dark City’s director, creates a gloomy, dreamlike city that feels simultaneously futuristic and impossibly old, while the story continually questions whether memory, personality, and experience are enough to define who someone really is. Dark City was majorly overshadowed by The Matrix, which released a year later, but both films are often compared as they each feature a protagonist who discovers the reality they know is not what it seems. Dark City is very much its own movie, though, and its visual identity and existential concerns give it a distinctive character.
Roger Ebert was one of Dark City’s most enthusiastic supporters, even naming it the best film of 1998 and including it in among his “Great Movies.” Yet Dark City only earned around $14 million at the domestic box office, meaning its influence never translated into the kind of mainstream cultural presence enjoyed by The Matrix. That combination of commercial disappointment, an unusual premise, and The Matrix’s later release makes Dark City perhaps the biggest example of a great sci-fi movie that audiences simply forgot about.
