Space is the end-all, be-all of the science fiction genre. Since so little is known about what resides in the stars, filmmakers believe that their stories can fill in the gaps. James Cameron is enjoying playing around in the final frontier with the Avatar franchise, which follows humanity’s invasion of a distant planet and its subsequent stripping of all its resources. Cameron’s long-time colleague, Steven Spielberg, who already has his fair share of space-inspired movies under his belt, including E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and War of the Worlds, is also giving the great beyond another shot with his upcoming film Disclosure Day.
As fun as movies about space can be, though, they sort of hog all of the attention. Sci-fi covers all elements of science, not just the ones that reside above Earth’s atmosphere, and it’s easy to forget that. Fortunately, there are plenty of films out there that are ready to remind the world that the genre is more than just aliens and spaceships. Here are seven great sci-fi movies not about space.
7) The Terminator
Cameron wasn’t always focused on humans destroying another world because, in The Terminator, they do it to their own. The premise of the 1984 movie needs no introduction, as it’s been done to death. However, all the missteps after the first two installments in the franchise don’t damage the legacy of the first. The Terminator makes a dense time-travel story palatable by making its main character as confused as the audience, and it also isn’t lacking in the action department.
6) Companion
A movie giving itself decades to marinate certainly helps it land on this list, but it isn’t a requirement. 2025’s Companion follows Iris, a woman who’s excited to go on a trip with her boyfriend. However, after arriving at their destination, the mood shifts, and she learns that she’s not a human but a robot companion that her partner purchased. Iris takes her new reality in stride but doesn’t go down without a fight. By the end of Companion, viewers can’t help but wonder whether being human is about more than having flesh and blood.
5) Snowpiercer
Bong Joon Ho is one of the best directors working today, taking home three Academy Awards for his film Parasite, including Best Picture and Best Director. As good as Parasite is, though, it might not be Ho’s best film because it has to compete with Snowpiercer. Set on a train in the distant future, humanity lives out its days in the cars, with status determined by wealth. That arrangement doesn’t sit right with the less fortunate, who revolt and try to take control of the train. Snowpiercer has a lot to say about how the rich treat the poor.
4) RoboCop
Detroit has seen better days at the start of RoboCop. Criminals are running the streets, and the police don’t have the resources to fight back. Well, they don’t until one of their own, Alex Murphy, nearly dies but gets a second chance thanks to the RoboCop project. While most movies would fail to make such a ridiculous premise work, RoboCop leans in to its more absurd elements and delivers something memorable.
3) Jurassic Park
Spielberg might love aliens, but he also holds a special place in his heart for dinosaurs. Jurassic Park imagines a world where scientists discover a way to bring dinosaurs back, and in typical human fashion, rich people get their hands on them and exploit them for money. Of course, everything goes wrong after that, but Jurassic Park understands how to balance all of its moving parts. Only Spielberg can make a movie so full of both wonder and horror.
2) War for the Planet of the Apes
A few of the entries in the Planet of the Apes franchise deal with space. In at least two of them, an astronaut returns from a mission, only to find themselves on a planet controlled by apes. War for the Planet of the Apes cuts out all the fluff by handing the spotlight over to Caesar and his crew. Their fight for survival is hard to watch at times, but it’s also rewarding because the apes never become the monsters their enemies believe them to be. Despite only giving a few lines to human characters, War for the Planet of the Apes is as human a movie as there is.
1) Inception
No list about great sci-fi films is complete without at least one Christopher Nolan entry. Unfortunately, Interstellar doesn’t qualify for this list, but another movie is waiting in the wings. Inception is about a crew of thieves who enter people’s dreams and take what they want. But the line between what’s real and fake starts to blur, forcing Cobb and Co. to wrestle with their pasts. With an all-time ending, there really isn’t another sci-fi movie like Inception.
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