Science fiction as a genre has the potential to be rife with limitless creativity and impactful storytelling. The vast possibilities of scientific concepts, space, and technology make for a staple of cinematic storytelling, both blockbusters and indie films alike. 2025 has been no different in terms of impactful sci-fi films, ranging from well-crafted franchise films like Superman and Avatar: Fire and Ash to striking original films like Companion and Resurrection.
However, the year has been far from absolutely perfect in terms of its sci-fi offerings, as there has also been a great number of painfully ineffective sci-fi films that range from overwhelming mediocrity to being a complete embarrassment to the genre. From lackluster attempted blockbusters to jarring low-budget cash grabs, the sci-fi genre is simply too rife with potential for there not to be such cinematic disasters to be released year after year.
10
‘Lilo & Stitch’
The original Lilo & Stitch from 2002 still stands as one of the most creative and personality-driven films that Walt Disney Animation Studios has ever released, on top of easily being their best animated sci-fi film. However, the recent live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch is entirely missing the passion and charm that made the original work so well, instead feeling like a hollow husk of a film parading around as something that it so desperately wants to be.
While it’s far from the worst that these live-action Disney remakes have to offer, it still doesn’t hold a candle to the continued ingenuity and timelessness of the original film. The live-action performances and visual look of the film simply doesn’t shake up to the high standards of the original, and even Chris Sanders‘ returning to voice Stitch can only do so much to elevate this dull retelling. The worst of all, however, is the film’s changes to the plot, several of which deviate so much that they actively go against the messaging and emotional core of the original film.
9
‘M3GAN 2.0’
The original M3GAN was one of the biggest surprise hits in sci-fi horror of recent memory, playing into the campy absurdism of its concept and character to create a wildly fun time that quickly took the world by storm and made M3GAN a new horror icon. However, M3GAN 2.0, in its radical attempts to further increase the approachability and popularity of the character, entirely misunderstood what people liked so much about the first film.
Gone is the goofy, girlboss-flavored robotic killer that made the original film such a hit, now being replaced by a lackluster riff on Terminator 2 without either the compelling directing or a worthwhile new robot to make its premise actually work. It still has some levels of campiness and fun, but this flavor of sci-fi action camp is so far removed from the slasher camp of the original film that it feels like a different franchise entirely. Complete with a sickeningly transparent attempt at a pro-AI message in its final act, and it’s no wonder the film bombed at the box-office and largely disappointed fans of the original film.
8
‘Jurassic World Rebirth’
The Jurassic World franchise has been floundering and failing to achieve anything close to the magic and brilliance of Steven Spielberg‘s original film for quite some time now, with recent entries even failing to recapture the fun of the initial Jurassic World film. While not as egregiously terrible as something like Jurassic World Dominion, Jurassic World Rebirth is still a sorry excuse for a sci-fi blockbuster that feels like reheated leftovers with nothing new to offer.
This soft reboot of the franchise had some inherent potential by not attaching itself to the boring characters of previous films, yet this new batch of characters manages to be just as, if not even more forgettable and bland. Nobody important dies, so that they can return for a potential sequel, leaving the film with minimal stakes and even less tension. It simply feels like a flavorless, more uninteresting version of The Lost World that doesn’t even have that great scene of a T. rex rampaging through San Diego.
7
‘The Great Flood’
For the most part, Netflix has had a pretty lucrative success in their wide array of offerings from South Korean filmmakers, ranging from legendary series like Squid Game to great cinematic offerings like Okja and Kill Boksoon. However, massively deviating from this string of quality offerings is The Great Flood, a recent sci-fi disaster film that feels like the South Korean answer to a brainless disaster blockbluster like Greenland or Moonfall.
It would be one thing if the film was entirely focused on the disaster with no other conflict, but it attempts to cram so many unfitting sci-fi concepts and plot threads into its story that it becomes overly complicated and aggravating to keep track of. From secret space stations with uploaded human consciousness to alternate timelines created by AI children, the film jumps the shark on brainless sci-fi concepts early on, only to continue spiraling deeper into stupidity as it goes on.
6
‘TRON: Ares’
Tron is a franchise that, at the very least, has always been able to find a niche audience thanks to its exceptional worldbuilding and groundbreaking visual effects. However, with Tron: Ares spending little to no time inside the digital mainframe and having some relatively average visuals, the final product is one that is instead defined by its overwhelming mediocrity. Especially in a time when artificial intelligence is one of the most important talking points of the modern era, the fact that it decides to play it safe and has nothing insightful to say about AI is a travesty in itself.
Even those looking to turn their brain off and enjoy a mixture of great music and stellar sci-fi action are only going to get half of this proven formula, as while Nine Inch Nails delivers on the soundtrack front, the action is about as basic and generic as it gets. It feels more focused on an array of tired blockbuster tropes like a forced romance, comically inept villains, and cheap nostalgia pandering over anything actually compelling. While it isn’t a complete trainwreck, it easily stands as one of 2025’s biggest disappointments.
5
‘The Electric State’
One of the most expensive films of all time and one of the latest attempts by Netflix to show that they are capable of producing cinematic experiences at a blockbuster scale, The Electric State only proves that an abundance of money can only do so much to save a lackluster film. In the film’s attempt to appeal to as many audiences as possible to create a worldwide sensational hit, the complete lack of any risks or creative flourishes brought about one of the most boring and uninteresting so-called blockbusters of the modern era.
The Electric State has all the pieces and potential to tell a compelling dystopian sci-fi story that sees a world where we grew alongside a robotic society, yet it only ever scratches the surface of this potential and instead focuses its efforts on the most generic, predictable family story imaginable. Nearly everyone involved in front of and behind the camera is clearly putting minimal effort into the film, and without any passion or drive to make this a worthwhile watch, it quickly devolves into a slog that drags on for a painful 2 hours.
4
‘Star Trek: Section 31’
Star Trek as a franchise has had a multitude of ups and downs over the years, especially with its modern offerings and various television shows and reboots, yet their straight-to-streaming feature film Star Trek: Section 31 may just be one of the worst things the franchise has ever done. The Star Trek: Discovery spin-off feels like it’s ashamed to even carry the Star Trek name, instead trying too desperately to be a fun sci-fi action film akin to Guardians of the Galaxy, only to fail at every opportunity to do so.
Made even worse by its by-the-numbers story and complete waste of a proven sci-fi talent like Michelle Yeoh, the film is an absolute embarrassment that does very little right, if anything at all. Especially for long-time fans of Star Trek, the film came across as a massive insult to everything that the series stood for, with its half-baked execution failing to win over even the biggest die-hard fans of the franchise.
3
‘Run’
A laughably bad attempt at a low-budget sci-fi thriller, Run is the type of exceptionally terrible sci-fi film that almost feels like a practical joke is being played against the audience. It sports some of the funniest and most absurdly ineffective alien designs of recent memory, some entirely brainless characters that are difficult to root for, and a constant stream of goofy, ineffective action. Its basic alien invasion story is largely undone by the sheer failure of filmmaking that happens at every opportunity.
More jarring than the film’s terrible execution is that it was actually released in theaters instead of being randomly dumped into the bargain bin where it belongs. At the very least, the film’s frequent failures manages to create a great deal of unintentional comedy that can at times make it much more watchable than the other films on this list. One may require some heavy drinking and a group of friends to get through it, but laughing at the stupidity of Run certainly has its merits, yet none of these merits make the film any better than bottom-of-the-barrel slop.
2
‘Predator: Wastelands’
It has become an increasingly prevalent but often ignored aspect of the filmmaking industry that the biggest and most popular releases will inevitably be the target of mockbusters, a genre of ripoff film created to find minuscule success off of the name brand of an already popular film. Sci-fi has been no different in creating a wide variety of strange mockbusters, with Transmorphers and Atlantic Rim coming to mind, yet 2025’s standout mockbuster disaster is easily that of Predator: Wastelands, a cheap riff on Predator: Badlands.
The film falls into all the classic hallmarks of an especially terrible mockbuster film, with lackluster visual effects, an increased focus on cookie-cutter human characters over any actual action, and not an ounce of care towards the film that it’s blatantly ripping off. The Asylum has been home to this style of soulless filmmaking for decades now, with Wastelands simply being one of the most recent attempts at tricking audiences into experiencing its worthlessness.
1
‘War of the Worlds’ (2025)
Considering just how timeless and well-crafted H.G. Wells‘ original sci-fi novel masterpiece continues to stand into the modern day, it’s all the more shocking and laughable when a modern adaptation like War of the Worlds (2025) completely drops the ball in every conceivable way. The screen-life failure completely dilutes the messaging and brilliance of the original story into a toxic cesspool of bad editing, stilted performances, and some of the worst product placement in modern film history.
Few releases by major studios have managed to be this consistently terrible and unwatchable, as the film manages to one-up itself in terms of sheer ineptitude with each passing scene, eventually turning into a farcical affair of over-the-top sci-fi failure. Even if it weren’t directly connected to one of the most legendary sci-fi novels of all time, it would still be loathed by critics and audiences alike. As it stands, the film is not only one of the worst adaptations of all time, but even rivals the likes of Battlefield Earth as one of the worst sci-fi movies of the 21st century.