Science-fiction from the 1990s was quite a brilliant, eclectic mix of high-concept actions, classic horror, dystopian-made societies, self-reflexive parodies, and a couple of sequels. It was indeed an impressive decade for sci-fi movies and, of course, a worthy rival of the ’80s.
In this decade, the sci-fi genre attained impressive heights. What was considered impossible was now possible. Fragments of ideas in previous decades that seemed non-viable were now able to be achieved in the ’90s. There was the surfacing of CG-character tech that revolutionized some of your favorite sci-fi movies like Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Jurassic Park. No doubt, the tools available for filmmaking in this decade drastically increased.
Technology, however, remains but a tool and can only get you far, but how it is harnessed with story and character determines how firm it will stand the test of time. Filmmaking maestros like Steve Spielberg, James Cameron, and the likes were able to maximally employ the new opportunities the ’90s decade presented to them. Hence, the production of brilliant movies that has endured even to the present-day world.
Here’s our pick for the top 10 1990s Sci-fi movies!
10. Galaxy Quest (1999)
“HEY! Don’t open that! It’s an alien planet! Is there air? You don’t know!”
Sam Rockwell as Guy Fleegman in Galaxy Quest
Starting our list and making it as our number 10 is Dean Parisot’s Galaxy Quest. This sci-fi movie brilliantly gets hold of what could perhaps be a one-time joke misfire and then bring out a satirical movie parody that is indelible and exceeds expectation. It presents a thoroughly witty spoof of the USS Enterprise. Galaxy Quest is indeed a worthy addition to this list, as it excellently executes its humor with profound enthusiasm and great comprehension, thereby making its execution an absolute hit!
Galaxy Quest is a tale of a group of aging actors who happens to be once the stars of a Star Trek-like TV series that was canceled. Now, they resort to getting their star appeal from fan conventions. Funnily enough, some aliens acquire broadcasts of the show and believe that these actors are executing real-life heroic acts against the intergalactic folks. These aliens now feel they need to save their race from an evil tormentor. Hence, they come to earth to seek the help of this crew. Perhaps the actors should let the cat out of the bag? Or perhaps we should further get amused at their unwitting entry into actual life or death situation much longer? Fortunately, Dean Parisot beautifully birthed a tremendously funny, original comedy packed up with brilliant action set-pieces.
9. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
“You are an imperfect being, created by an imperfect being. Finding your weakness is only a matter of time.”
Alice Krige as Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact
This has got to be one of the ’90s best blockbusters that exudes a great sense of humor. It easily makes for one of the most accessible films in the franchise, and it sits boldly as number 9 on this list. Star Trek: First Contact is a brisk introduction for folks that are unacquainted with Picard and his crew. With the new TV show emphasizing the Borg, this movie serves as a companion piece that is undoubtedly thrilling. The story is brilliant. Acting is sure-handed. Special effects are great, all culminating for a super-entertaining package. With the numerous time travel stories flying around, this sci-fi movie stands out to excellent as it portrays a playful sense of adventure.
Here, the Enterprise, along with its crew, travel back in time to go after a Borg ship through a time ward to stop the Borg from taking over the earth. While they are stuck in the past, Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) assists the space travel creator in creating the first warp drive as Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Cmdr. Data (Brent Spiner) fight against the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) in her resilient effort to overtake the Enterprise.
8. Starship Troopers (1997)
“Correct. Violence has resolved more conflicts than anything else. The contrary opinion that violence doesn’t solve anything is merely wishful thinking at its worst.”
Michael Ironside as Jean Rasczak in Starship Troopers
This brilliant sci-fi movie by dissident Dutch filmmaker, Paul Verhoeven, is not only one of the best sci-fi movies of the ’90s but also one that presents a deeply thoughtful debate on humanity’s responsivity for societal maintenance. This movie completes his deeply satirical sci-fi trio: 1987’s RoboCop and 1990’s Total Recall (which makes this list as well!). The movie reveals a far off future, where military propaganda is the order of the day as the world wages war on an alien race of giant insect known as ‘Arachnids.’ Here, only the military is disciplined enough to keep the ferocious human inclinations in check. That’s because humanity could destroy itself in egocentrism and violence. A remarkable storyline, I must say!
Starship Troopers presents a story where Earth wars against an alien race of giant insects. Not much is known about these creatures except that they are bent on eradicating all humans. However, before the war, a mobile infantry moves to a distant planet and takes the war to these vicious bugs. The ruthless enemies are bent on the survival of their species at all cost!
7. Jurassic Park (1993)
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
Jeff Goldblum and Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park
Number 7 on this list is Steven Spielberg’s quintessential blockbuster, Jurassic Park! It birthed a long-lasting franchisewith its mind-blowing effects, lovable characters, and top-notch story. It hints at man’s constant battle with nature and the futile attempts to control it. Jurassic Park is indeed an intelligent literary adaptation whose fantastic CGI brilliantly accentuated the action. This movie excels at CGI, ingenious music, iconic humor, stunning practical effects, and of course, excellent direction!
The story is carved around Alan Grant (Sam Weill), Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), both Paleontologists, and Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), who is a mathematician. The three of them are part of the individuals selected into a group to tour a park (built like an island) populated by dinosaurs using prehistoric DNA. The genius behind the park-island idea, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), convinces everyone that the park is safe, but in the process, the opposite becomes the case as the dangerous wild creatures break loose and begin to hunt people down.
6. Men in Black (1997)
“Fifteen hundred years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was flat. And fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.”
Tommy Lee Jones as Agent Kay in Men in Black
Barry Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black (1997) is proudly our number 6 on this list! This sci-fi movie is still one of the grossly reigning cop movies of all time. It was a flawless showcase for Will Smith and the amazing CGI. The effects employed are topnotch, making creative use of visual effects in ways that accentuate the film’s nature’s geekiness. The combination of the duo buddy cop, Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in this absurd sci-fi romp is a stroke of ingenuity. How Will Smith particularly gives the everyman vibes and merges it with heroic endeavors makes the trademark humor in the movie sublime!
Jay (Will Smith) and his partner Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) are top-secret agents working for an unofficial but greatly funded government agency. Their major work is to regulate alien activities on earth, control immigration logistics, and conduct secret investigations. While working on some cases, they reveal the plan of terrorists who are out to perform an assassination in New York City.
5. 12 Monkeys (1995)
“I’m insane, and you are my insanity.”
Bruce Willis as James Cole in 12 Monkeys
12 Monkeys makes it as number 5 on this list! That’s because Terry Gilliam was able to creatively deliver a sci-fi movie that exudes remarkable imagination and an outstanding witty twist on time travel. It’s a twisty thriller that is creatively set in a post-apocalyptic future. The sense of desperation in this movie can pierce your skin, and the constant weird feeling of dread is choking. 12 Monkeys feels surreal at times, especially when the hero finds himself trapped in a psychiatric facility. Who wouldn’t feel excited at the meticulous pacing that drives the movie as the mystery unfolds? No doubt, 12 Monkeys is one of the ’90s best sci-fi movies!
In this movie, James Cole (Bruce Willis) is a modern-day convict/prisoner – the 2030s. While serving time, he volunteers for recruitment to a time-traveling mission to the 1990s, given the duty of gathering information about a plague outbreak that eliminates almost all of the world’s entire population. So, he is sent on this mission to gather information to help scientists create a cure to the plague, and while on the mission, he meets several difficulties.
4. The Fifth Element (1997)
“I don’t like warriors. Too narrow-minded, no subtlety. And worse, they fight for hopeless causes. Honor? Huh! Honor’s killed millions of people, it hasn’t saved a single one.”
Gary Oldman as Zorg in The Fifth Element
The third runner up for this list is no other but Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element! It is a well-executed sci-fi movie that features a space fantasy that draws extensively from the well of Blade Runner to produce a bewildering mixed result. It is succinctly an epic, mind-blowing, fun movie to look out for. One of the major highlights of this movie is that the enemy is an evil entity that surfaces every 5,000 years. The only way to defeat it is with the fifth element – love! This is no doubt Besson’s best move ever since The Big Blue (1988) as it equals it in artistic terms but surpasses it in entertainment value.
In a battle between good and evil forces, which determines the survival of planet earth, this movie presents humanity’s saving grace to be a woman and a cab driver who are on a mission to secure mystical stones needed to protect planet earth.
3. Total Recall (1990)
“We Hope You Enjoyed The Ride.”
Robert Picardo as the voice of Johnnycab in Total Recall
Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall is the first, and perhaps the finest adaptation of science fiction legend Philip K. Dick’s We Can Remember It for You Wholesale. The result of his adaptation is the pure class at its best! Hence, this movie is our pick for the number 3 spot. This sci-fi movie embraced the wild and insane plot, creating a rather strange yet compelling adventure. The visuals in this movie are astonishing with the alien landscapes and futuristic visual imaginations. The special effects accentuate the visual technicality of the movie. It is, no doubt, a sci-fi that presents a fabulously cerebral adventure!
This science fiction story is set in the future and centers on a man named Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger). He’s a man that seeks to escape his normal life, and in the long run, he signs up for a type of program that transports his mind on an adventure. Soon, he ends up in a location where a conspiracy takes place on the colonized society of Mars.
2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
“You did. Thirty-five years from now, you reprogrammed me to be your protector here, in this time.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator in Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The first runner up of this list goes to James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a sequel that transcends his fantastic action sequences. With Arnold Schwarzenegger starring as the protector and not the destroyer this time. This classic sci-fi blockbuster pierces deep into artificial intelligence and the human condition, thereby bringing a holistic relationship between them. It hints at the greatest flaws and strength of humanity, with the inclusion of empathy and self-destruction. The film further explores everything that made the original a huge success in greater detail. The action in Terminator 2: Judgment Day gets to be way sweeter with the use of CGI!
Here, John Connor (Edward Furlong) finds himself as the quarry of the shapeshifter T-1000 (Robert Patrick), a terminator sent from the future to kill him and stop him from leading the human resistance. Just as he is being hunted, another cyborg/terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who had formerly hunted Connor and his mom, is sent from the future by the resistance to protect them.
1. The Matrix (1999)
“I know why you’re here, Neo. I know what you’ve been doing… why you hardly sleep, why you live alone, and why night after night, you sit by your computer. You’re looking for him. I know because I was once looking for the same thing. And when he found me, he told me I wasn’t really looking for him. I was looking for an answer. It’s the question that drives us, Neo. It’s the question that brought you here. You know the question, just as I did.”
Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity in The Matrix
At the very top of the list is no other but Wachowski’s breakout film, The Matrix. It richly possesses a profound compilation of creativity and ideas that remains the very pinnacle of the sci-fi genre for the ’90s decade. The techy sides in this movie are unimaginably astonishing, and the bullet time is the favorite of many. This sci-fi movie brilliantly peers deep into the simplistic form of human nature. But it delves deeper into the destructive relationship humans could have with technology. It questions conformity, the nature of reality, fate, faith, and purpose. It feels like a paradoxical tale of freedom and rebellion, all garnished with mind-blowing martial arts, twists, bullet-time, and suspense.
In the story, after a series of events, computer hacker Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers a very shocking truth: the deceptive work of evil cyber-intelligence has trapped humanity in a simulated reality. As Neo discovers the truth, he is led to more questions. He then believes that only Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), who is believed to be the most dangerous man in existence, can answer the greatest question of them all: what is the matrix? The truth is important, and Neo must unravel it at all costs.
Final Thoughts
The ’90s beautifully presents a science-fiction renaissance that explores the beauty of special effects, unique artistry, high concept ideas, and successful box-office endeavors. The sci-genre had a massive breakthrough in the ’90s, making it a decade that flourished the genre seamlessly. All movies on this list had major wins in their respective time, and many would agree to find all movies in this list as part of the highlights of the ’90s decade!
Author: Chris Ingledue
Contact: email
Bio: I’m the founder and owner of Wheeljack’s Lab pop Culture and Toy Shop. My vision has always been to reunite customers with their favorite childhood toys and pop culture, triggering fond memories, and reigniting their imaginations. Every day I work in the “lab” where it’s Christmas 365 days a year; scouring the internet – like we did the Sears Catalog of yesteryear – for the next great treasure, awaiting the arrival of the postman as if he was Santa Claus himself and helping collectors worldwide with their own versions of Christmas. Every day as a vintage toy buyer is an absolute joy!