Sci-fi movies - and genre movies in general - are usually denied the highest levels of critical acclaim, but there are some exceptions. Sci-fi, fantasy and horror movies don't always get the respect they deserve, with a certain class of critics looking down on them as lesser forms of art. Genre classics like Star Wars and Back to the Future could hardly be classed as "masterpieces," given the fact that they are usually relegated to a lesser status.

For a movie to be considered a masterpiece, it must receive near-universal praise for its craft and its ideas, with the common opinion that it transcends the form and speaks to the human condition. This label is mostly reserved for artistic dramas, but there are a select few sci-fi movies which reach such levels of prestige. Directors like Stanley Kubrick, Ridley Scott and Denis Villeneuve have all created sci-fi masterpieces, proving that the genre has more artistic potential than some people think.

10 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Kubrick Redefined The Possibilities Of Sci-Fi Movies

Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey helped push the boundaries of the science-fiction genre, and it remains just as captivating over 50 years later. Sci-fi movies from before 2001: A Space Odyssey often seem kitschy and cheap in retrospect. The majesty of the movie's technical achievements have allowed it to stand the test of time, but this could all be for nought if the story weren't similarly captivating.

2001: A Space Odyssey is the most ambitious and grandiose of all sci-fi movies, charting a path from humanity's origins of fighting in the sun-baked dust toward the awe-inspiring mystery of outer space. While Kubrick creates plenty of stunning visual scenes, the real power of 2001: A Space Odyssey lies in the fact that images like the giant space baby, the foreboding black monoliths and the wormhole aren't given explicit meaning. Even the 2001: A Space Odyssey leaves everything open to interpretation, inviting the audience to consider humanity's place in the universe.

9 Children Of Men (2006)

Alfonso Cuarón Focuses On The Human Stakes In His Dystopian Sci-Fi

Alfonso Cuarón's post-apocalyptic thriller Children of Men was famously a box office flop, but it didn't take long for audiences and critics to recognize its quality. Children of Men is an interesting synthesis of the old and the new. While post-apocalyptic stories have been around since the dawn of sci-fi, very few have been executed with the finesse and creativity of Children of Men.

Cuarón has a few techniques which make Children of Men stand out from the crowd of similar dystopian sci-fi movies. One eye-catching element of Children of Men is Cuarón's masterful use of long takes. These long takes carry an explosive impact in the action scenes, but Cuarón also uses them to create a more immersive atmosphere in the movie's quieter moments. This allows the story to unfold organically.

8 The Matrix (1999)

The Wachowski Sisters Created A Singular Genre Mash-Up

As well as being one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking sci-fi movies of all time, The Matrix is also a classic martial arts movie. The Wachowski sisters blended eastern and western influences to create an action movie like no other, and the key is that they devised a compelling world which allowed them to come up with surreal fight scenes that still had intense personal stakes.

As well as being one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking sci-fi movies of all time, The Matrix is also a classic martial arts movie.

While The Matrix floats the idea that all human life could be a neatly designed computer program, it doesn't linger on this premise. The Matrix constantly finds new angles to explore, and it raises a few interesting philosophical conundrums. Chiefly, it questions the value of reality as opposed to joy and peace. However somebody answers this question will have real-world ramifications for their life, regardless of whether they see themselves as a string of code.

7 WALL-E (2008)

Pixar's Ambition Soared To New Heights With WALL-E

WALL-E does a few things which animated movies for younger audiences simply don't do. Firstly, it features a largely silent protagonist with few recognizably human features. It also makes the bold choice of leaving WALL-E to explore the rubble of a post-human Earth in an extended opening sequence that relies on visual storytelling. It's an impressive achievement that WALL-E manages to make these scenes feel funny, intriguing, and just as compelling as anything else.

After it sets the scene, WALL-E unfolds a stunning love story with just as much care and patience. There are a lot of interesting ideas for audiences to pick apart in WALL-E, especially those which relate to artificial intelligence and climate change. However, WALL-E is a children's movie first and foremost, so it never neglects its duty to accessible entertainment. The way that WALL-E balances its lighthearted humor with jaw-dropping sci-fi adventure is part of what makes it one of the best animated movies ever.

6 Akira (1988)

Akira Shows What Animated Action Is Capable Of

Like WALL-E, Akira pushes the limits of animation. One key difference is that Akira is decidedly not made for children, with plenty of blood and gore. Animated movies rarely feel as visceral and weighty as live-action, which is why they aren't usually suited to the action genre. Akira is a bold exception to this rule, delivering edge-of-your-seat thrills without betraying the colorful 2-D animation.

An Akira live-action adaptation directed by Taika Waititi has been trapped in development hell for years.

Akira is a pulse-raising thriller that still finds time in between explosive action scenes to paint a picture of an immersive techno-dystopia. At a time when western animation was floundering far behind Japan, Akira arrived as the greatest example yet that big American animation studios needed to change their entire mindset. It's a mature, intelligent thriller that makes the most of the freedom which animation allows it, but it manages to feel real all the while.

5 Brazil (1985)

Terry Gilliam's Inimitable Style Works Wonders In Brazil

Terry Gilliam's post-Monty Python career has seen him develop his unorthodox style, resulting in several movies that only he could ever have made. While these aren't all universally popular, Brazil is one of his hits that has come to be recognized as a shining work of genius. It maintains some of the surreal humor of Monty Python, but it's also more coherent, much darker, and it has more to say.

Brazil's absurd bureaucracy gives Gilliam an opportunity to present a darkly satirical assessment of modern life, as well as a grim portent of a potential future. He conjures a blinding array of confronting, nonsensical images and thrusts them in front of his audience's faces, but it amounts to more than mere provocation. The key to making it all tick is Jonathan Pryce's everyman performance, which offers a way in to such a bewildering world.

4 Alien (1979)

Ridley Scott's Horror Classic Has Been Imitated But Never Topped

Alien has had a powerful impact on the sci-fi genre for decades. Its outline has been traced countless times, often by the Alien franchise itself, but it has never been beaten. Ridley Scott's haunted house movie in outer space takes elements of the slasher genre and repurposes them for its bleak dystopia. After all, the true monster in Alien isn't the xenomorph itself, but the faceless corporation that sends its employees on suicide missions.

Alien has had a powerful impact on the sci-fi genre for decades.

Alien created a legendary movie monster, but the xenomorph still isn't as important as Ripley. She is the beating heart which makes Alien more compelling than the vast majority of horror movies. Sigourney Weaver and Ridley Scott give her plenty of relatable character details that make her someone worth rooting for on board the Nostromo. She's also a great conduit for the audience as she gradually discovers more information about the fascinating alien slowly picking off the rest of her crew.

3 Blade Runner (1982)

Blade Runner Is A Fascinating Take On The Neo-Noir Genre

Three years after Alien, Ridley Scott delivered another undisputed sci-fi classic, although Blade Runner is a much different prospect. Some elements of Blade Runner seem similar to Alien, such as the bleak color palette of the dystopian future, but it puts a spin on the neo-noir genre rather than horror movies. Blade Runner is a detective story about a man forced into a dangerous manhunt, although he finds some uncomfortable questions that he has to ask about himself.

Film noir often focuses on the blurred line between heroes and villains, with detectives and outlaws often being similarly immoral characters who are simply divided by the arbitrary battle lines of the law. Blade Runner takes this one step further, as Deckard faces the mystery of whether he is really human or not. The best sci-fi movies have always been about the big questions, and Blade Runner examines what it means to be human in a society that snuffs out individuality.

2 Arrival (2016)

Denis Villeneuve Adapts A Brilliant Short Story

Arrival is based on Ted Chiang's award-winning short story "Story of Your Life," and it's a masterclass in adaptation. Arrival expands on the key points of Chiang's thought-provoking story, as well as adding in some intelligent touches that could only be achieved through the medium of film. Denis Villeneuve has established himself as one of the best directors working in sci-fi in the 21st century. Arrival could be his greatest gift to the genre.

Arrival is based on Ted Chiang's award-winning short story "Story of Your Life," and it's a masterclass in adaptation.

Arrival's non-linear structure reinforces the movie's dissection of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which asserts that language can affect the way people perceive and understand the world around them. It takes this idea to illogical extremes, but this turns out to be the most interesting way to interrogate the confines of human languages. Arrival's alien and ship designs are completely unique, which adds to the unnerving feeling of otherness.

1 Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

The Oscar-Winner Makes A Multiverse That Means Something

Sci-fi movies don't often win Best Picture, but Everything Everywhere All at Once is deserving of the honor. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's surreal multiverse adventure draws from a broad variety of influences, but it still has plenty of original ideas mixed in with its loving homages. Everything Everywhere All at Once throws a lot at its audience, from a Ratatouille parody with a raccoon to a scene with two silent rocks conversing using title cards.

The breathless procession of surreal imagery works so well because it's linked to the deeper Everywhere Everything All at Once. The random chaos isn't just the movie's sense of humor; it's the basis of its entire philosophy. The Daniels offer a kind of optimistic nihilism, in which there are infinite possibilities branching off from every point forever, but the only thing that matters is human connection.