Visually stunning in its depiction of an utterly believable future world, no other sci-fi film ranks as highly for sheer poetry. Features an ensemble cast of brillliant actors and a superb soundtrack.

While "future noir" may have been created in Blade Runner, Jim Cameron gave us a violent sci-fi fairytale that would help shape the eighties and beyond.

Scott and Cameron share credits for making you scream in space. The first film has been copied by nearly everything. The second is a bravura piece of action filmmaking.

After the flop of the first picture, the Star Trek franchise proved it could still boldly go, just as it had on TV years before the first "modern" sci-fi picture. Pulp, yes. Camp, yes. Brilliant, yes.

Got an Oscar for special effects when it came out. Shot in gorious technicolour, the story is genuinely affecting, although the Morlocks are a bit cheesy by today's standards.

Beautiful Japanese anime that contains more detail than any other animated film I've ever seen. Bold, very futuristic, masively influential.

Kubrick's banned film. Need I say more? Okay, so it's got flaws. But it's genius also and full of bleakly comic dark humour.

Michael Crichton plays with theme parks yet again. This time a murderous wild west experience to forget. Gruondbreaking depiction of robots gone wild.

Groovy sixties sci-fi rebellion in a sterile city of tomorrow where people reaching thirty have one choice, die or "run".

Leslie Nielson in space! This sci-fi classic holds up remarkably well and created themes that would dominate the genre for decades to come.