12 great sci-fi movies you can watch at home
Science fiction, to echo Ursula K. Le Guin, is not predictive, but descriptive. While most science fiction films attempt (and fail) to extrapolate the ideas and concerns of their respective present to predict what the world may look like in the not-so-distant future, these extrapolations ultimately amount to stories that exist in conversation with the hopes and fears of the times in which they were conceived.
All of this is to say that science fiction (i.e., speculative fiction) is a genre of possibilities and introspection, one whose long legacy through the medium of cinema has produced countless iconic works whose thematic depth and aesthetic resonance have enlivened and inspired the imaginations of countless more generations. From Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris to Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca and more, the history and legacy of science fiction in film is one of futures past that have since gone on to shape and inform our view of the present, all while entertaining and edifying audiences new and old alike.
We’ve created a list of some of our favorite sci-fi films currently available on streaming, movies that continue to inspire us look to the future and imagine worlds and ideas both fantastical yet nonetheless inextricably rooted in our reality. Here are 12 of the best sci-fi movies available to stream on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, and more.
Sometimes animation starts to look quaint or dated as styles and technologies change, but Katsuhiro Otomo’s landmark anime movie Akira still looks as startling on the screen today as it did back in 1988. Its ultimate intent, drawn from Otomo’s much longer and more in-depth manga series, can be hard to follow, depending on which translation you get — its point about
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