When talking about some of the bestsci-fi moviesout there, it’s hard not to miss one every now and then. There have just been an absolute ton ofsci-fimovies that have been released over the years. That’s because the subject is one that has so many different stories and ideas to pull from. Whether talking about robots, aliens, cloning, or something else, it’s hard to think there’s ever going to be an idea that comes from science fiction that won’t or hasn’t already made it to the big screen.
Because of the sheer number of movies in this genre that are put out there every year, it’s not hard to imagine there are more than a fewunderappreciated science fiction filmsout there. In fact, there are quite a few every single decade. These movies tend to get overshadowed by some of the bigger releases in any given year. Some of them were panned by critics and might have been largely ignored by audiences. However, on a second or third look, the movies actually had a story to tell that was quite a bit more compelling than people gave it credit for on release. Whatever the reason, there are some pretty good, underappreciated sci-fi films in the 2000s that deserve to get talked about once again.
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Updated June 23, 2025, by Oliver VanDervoort: There may not be anything harder than putting together a group of science-fiction movies that everyone can agree are among the best of the best. Thescience-fiction moviegenre is vast when you consider that it can cover stories about the end of the world, a robot takeover, and alien invasions. In fact, there are plenty of movies out there that include all three. Likely because of the genre’s big, there are bound to be even more sci-fi movies popping up that fans suddenly realize are a bit underrated when looking back at the era they were released in.
9Children Of Men (2006)
It’s a bit of a mystery just why this film didn’t get more praise. At least part of the reason is thatChildren of Men had a horrendous box officeperformance, though that is also a surprise considering it had a very good cast and a pretty original plot.
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Children of Menchronicleda near future where humanity has become almost entirely sterile. There is almost daily tracking of the age of the last children and as those children get older society gets closer to the brink of collapse. In the middle of this plot comes a pregnant woman who is desperately trying to reach a group of people who will keep her safe until she actually gives birth. The movie wasn’t super heavy on action, though there are chases and explosions so it’s possible that’s why the film is so underrated.
8District 9 (2009)
Itfeels likeDistrict 9got the love and attentionit deserved when it was first released and then the film about a human, that is working among a race of aliens that crash-landed on earth and are basically confined to ghettos, starts to realize what life is really like for them. Of course, he learns exactly what it’s like for them because he actually starts to turn into one of them,
While the goal of most science fiction appears to be about telling a cautionary tale, there are few movies that do that more directly than this one. That might in fact be why some felt as though it wasn’t as good as it could have been. On the other hand, considering it was also meant as an allegory of real-life South Africa, it was also an important message for moviegoers to learn. While it’s still underrated in some circles,District 9is getting a sequel, so there’s a decent following out there somewhere.
It’s entirely possible thatThe Roadwas just such a supremely depressing film that people didn’t talk about it enough for it to get the recognition it deserved. This isn’t a film that had a ton of big special effects. Instead, it’s set after some sort of end of the world event that isn’t really explained and has indeed led to the end of civilization. Set in this movie based on a popular book,Lord of the Ringsstar Viggo Mortensenplays a father just trying to get his son to a safer part of the country if such a place exists.
Based on a book by the same name,The Roadis science fiction in that it depicts the end of the world, but this is really a story about the human condition when society does indeed collapse. The message and one of the reasons it’s so depressing is that there are quite a few people out there who would simply become terrible human beings. Considering this was one of the first movies thatMortensen did afterLord of the Rings, he was impressive as he had to carry the film.
6Hancock (2008)
Hancockcould also be on a list of underrated superhero movies because it was a bit ahead of its time. While Marvel is still definitely doing its thing, there is a definite appetite for superhero flicks where the “caped crusaders” are decidedly imperfect.
While Hancockisn’t onThe Boyslevelof imperfect considering he’s not killing innocent bystanders by the bushel, he spent a good portion of the movie drunk and destroyed quite a bit of property. Perhaps because it didn’t quite cross the threshold into making Hancock an antihero is why this flick is a bit underrated.
5Reign Of Fire (2002)
It might seem a bit odd to start off a list of thebest science fiction moviesin any decade with a film about dragons, butReign of Firedoes indeed fit in this genre. Most of the time, a story about flying lizards breathing fire would be more of a fantasy adventure film, but this particular picture handled the idea of dragons in a way that puts it firmly in the science fiction slot. In Reign of Fire, dragons were giant lizards that actually caused the dying out of the dinosaurs before they themselves disappeared from the earth basically because they ran out of food and went into hibernation.
Yes, the film posits that the idea of volcanos or a meteor hitting the earth were mistaken theories that were actually explained away by dragons who could breathe fire thanks to chemicals that came out of special glands in their mouths that were very similar to napalm.
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When these creatures were awakened and unleashed on modern-day earth, they soon birthed an apocalypse story that is truly original. That alone is one of the reasons this critically panned movie deserves more respect than it’s gotten over the years. There’s also the fact that this movie had a much more star-studded cast than most people would believe. Matthew McConaughey played an army general who was clearly a bit insane.Then there was Christian Baleas the leader of a band of the last human survivors on earth. Add in Izabella Scorupco who was all over science-fiction films in this era and Gerard Butler and that’s a better cast than some of the most loved sci-fi films in the 2000s.
4Equilibrium (2002)
Before Christian Bale put on the cowl as Batmanor joined the MCU, he actually appeared in quite a few science fiction movies that simply don’t get enough love. Part of this might have been the fact that he was well known as someone who did indie films that didn’t get a ton of billing. That certainly appears to be the case with Equilibrium, which was quite a bit better than it ever really got credit for when it was first released.
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Based on stories likeFahrenheit 451,Equilibriumstarred Bale as a policeman of the future in a world where emotion had been outlawed, and in order to make sure that people avoided that emotion, pills were doled out. However, after his partner (played by theoft-dying Sean Bean) goes rogue and he has to kill him, Bale’s character misses a dose of the medicine and starts to see the world in a new way. The rest of the movie involves Bale trying to get people to realize what they’ve been missing while doling out some fantastic action in order to overthrow the authoritarian government.
3Pitch Black (2000)
Before Vin Diesel was best known for his many,manyFast & Furiousfilms, he was well known in the science fiction genre for playing a character known simply as Riddick. This particular character was a man in the future who installed eyes that allowed him to see in the future because of his long stay in a prison where there was no light.
Those eyes come in handy inPitch Blackwhen he leads a band of people that are being attacked and killed by aliens that operate in the dark. This film actually spawned a bit of a franchise, though its lack of critical love has largely left it in the dark these days.
2Impostor (2001)
It’s possible thatImpostorjust had a bit too much going on in order to really catch on. It’s also possible that the plot was so dark and dense that audiences simply couldn’t quite follow the plot of thisreally good science-fiction film. Gary Sinise stars in a movie set in a time when human beings are at war with a group that can create androids that look exactly like people they kidnap.
These androids are then used in special assassination missions as they can get into high-security areas, not even knowing they’re androids until they’re activated. Sinise’s character is alleged to be one of these androids and the film centers on whether or not he really is an assassin or the real human who has been wrongly accused.
1Surrogates (2009)
Surrogatesfeels like a movie that actually feels like it was a bit ahead of its time, considering it was released 12 years ago. The film (starring Bruce Willis) centers on a near-future where “Surrogates” are all the rage. These are android-like avatars that look exactly like regular people are really machines that can be customized in any way that a user wants, as long as they can afford it.
Willis is a law enforcement officer - police are required to use Surrogates because they can take a beating and their human operators are usually fine - who is investigating a murderer who has figured out how to kill the avatar and the operator. The premise was likely better than the follow-through in this film, but it’s definitely one to watch as the world moves closer to some version of this reality.
