The 8 Best Sci-Fi Movies on Prime Video Right Now

“Robocop”

A true sci-fi classic, “RoboCop” drips with ’80s action nostalgia and maximalism in nearly every frame, as Peter Weller steals the scene as Alex Murphy, a revitalized killing machine in an apocalyptic Detroit. The film revels in its violence, with the titular Robocop taking down one criminal and corrupt company man after another. It’s a movie that flies by but stays with you, and it’s worth watching or revisiting for any sci-fi fan.

“Donnie Darko”

Plain and simple: if you’re a fan of sci-fi and haven’t seen “Donnie Darko,” close this tab and get to work. Explaining the thriller would spoil some of the magic, but know that Jake Gyllenhaal plays a boy in the late ’80s plagued by visions of a man in a rabbit suit who tells him the world will end in a month if he doesn’t commit a series of crimes.

Just trust that it’s great, and that many movies seen immediately afterward won’t feel quite in the same league.

“Click”

This might not be high on the list of movies that come to mind when you think “sci-fi,” but it has solid genre foundations and is an overall fun time. Adam Sandler and Christopher Walken play off each other well, as the former is given a remote that allows him to control his life like a TV. “Click” has much of the expected comedy found in movies of the 2000s, but it’s also infused with a heart not often seen in those same films. It’s a quick, entertaining story to dive into, and at the end of the day, what’s better than that?

“12 Monkeys”

A time-travel movie about stopping a virus from ending the world, starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, is really all you need to sell this 1995 film, which earned Pitt a Golden Globe win and an Oscar nomination for his performance as the troubled Jeffrey Goines. It’s been a cult classic for 30 years — and inspired a television show that also rules — so watch one, then the other, for a heavy dose of sci-fi.

“Super 8”

For those looking for sci-fi laced with nostalgia for a simpler time — à la “Stranger Things” — “Super 8” is the film for you. The J.J. Abrams-directed movie follows a group of kids trying to shoot their own horror movie, but they stumble onto a government conspiracy involving aliens. It has all the trappings of Spielbergian, sun-soaked cul-de-sac goodness, and if you can handle 50 lens flares, it will scratch a number of itches.

Limitless

Who would not want to take a pill and be instantly incredible at everything without any of the work? “Limitless” plays that dream out – with a few tiny repercussions. The hook is simple: humans only use 20% of their brain but a new pill unlocks the human mind’s full potential essentially making them superheroes.

Bradley Cooper is having a lot of fun with this one as a struggling writer who quickly rises to the top of the financial world. Of course, some of the message is the shortcut drug is bad and people should work a bit for their accomplishments, but at the same time…come on, it’s just fun.

Mickey 17

If you want weird vibes and weird accent work, you won’t do much better than “Mickey 17.” Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” follows Robert Pattinson’s titular Mickey as part of a cloned workforce meant to do menial and dangerous work for a company but accidentally gets a new version of him cloned despite not dying. It’s funny, it’s violent, it’s heartfelt. It’s all the trapping of great sci-fi.

Companion

Evolving tech is a scary prospect mined to great effect in sci-fi stories but “Companion” examines our treatment of that evolving tech and how that might be worse. The film follows Iris and her boyfriend Josh on a couples trip with some friends. The rub is that Iris is a subservient “Companion” android who gains new sentience and realizes how terrible she is being treated and used by Josh. When she makes a stand for freedom it turns into a fight for her life.