Science fiction movies tend to focus on how science affects humanity, and sometimes the science can be real. However, a lot of the time, the science is made-up and drives the plot of the story. The sci-fi aspects can have a huge impact on the characters of the film and can sometimes determine how the film is categorized. The film industry is continuing to make creative and groundbreaking improvements in how movies are made as well as the story. The sci-fi genre has done bold experiments within it that have really seemed to pay off.
Films today have really started digging into science fiction, and sometimes fans don’t even realize the movie they are watching is actually considered sci-fi. The genre used to be seen as cold or too outlandish for some audiences to ever really connect with. However, the science fiction genre has really grown in its range that there is now movies that will appeal to almost any moviegoer. Now that several sci-fi films are being released every year, most people have no idea what’s science fiction anymore. Here are 10 sci-fi movies that don’t actually feel like sci-fi.
10 Groundhog Day
In Groundhog Day, Bill Murray is a self-centered weatherman that is sent to cover the forecast in a town that celebrates Groundhog Day every year. The weather station he had been working at for the past four years sent him on a job that he didn’t really want to go to, and he didn’t try to hide how annoyed he was by this assignment. Murray then finds himself caught in a time loop, where he keeps reliving the same day. The plot of the movie uses this sci-fi idea as a plot device rather than really diving into the science.
9 Arrival
Arrival takes the alien invasion story and makes it something that no audience has seen before. Alien invasions have been so overdone at this point in time that it’s hard to make this storyline feel fresh or original, but Arrival redefines sci-fi expectations. The fate of humanity is at stake, but an elite team of investigators hopes to find a way to communicate with the aliens before a global war breaks out. CBR says the film breaks down an invasion to something that could be fixed if the two parties could just talk it through.
8 The Cabin in the Woods
A group of college students stay in a cabin in a secluded area in the woods. They quickly become victims of various monsters controlled by evil scientists from a facility underneath the cabin. The Cabin in the Woods feels more like a horror movie than it does a sci-fi due to the horrific deaths and supernatural beings. The sci-fi elements of the movie come in when the lab staff uses mind-altering drugs that take away a persons’ ability to reason and enhance the feeling of being drunk. The film has a strange approach to science fiction while also being praised as one of the best horror movies.
7 Guardians of the Galaxy
It is easy to see how Guardians of the Galaxy is a sci-fi film since the Marvel movie takes place in outer space. However, between all the gun-blazing action and witty humor, the sci-fi aspect can get lost on viewers. The guardians come together after Ronan pursues Peter Quill, who must gain the trust of Rocket, Groot, Gamora, and Drax. When the group realizes what Ronan wants with the orb Quill stole, they must band together to save the universe. The film has the perfect mix of action and humor as well as sci-fi elements that fans will appreciate.
6 The Martian
An astronaut is left behind on Mars and needs to learn how to survive until NASA can figure out a way to bring him back to Earth. The Martian has been called a survival and adventure film as Mark Watley tries to survive his time on Mars. Since the film has been set in the future where humans are trying to learn if they could survive on Mars, it is also makes this movie a sci-fi story. The science fiction elements aren’t very clear in the film, which is why viewers might not realize that it’s sci-fi.
5 Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park was a breakthrough film for its special effects, making the audiences believe that dinosaurs had come back to roam the Earth. The film surpasses what is expected for a sci-fi story and offers something for everybody who watches it. Screen Rant explains that the cloning and recreation of dinosaurs shows huge sci-fi elements. Scientists decide to recreate dinosaurs in hopes to make it an attraction, so people can learn more about these prehistoric creatures. However, everything goes awry when these dangerous animals start killing people.
4 Inception
Christopher Nolan takes on the idea of dream logic as the whole basis for his plot in Inception. The number of different science fiction elements of the film are wide, and the movie takes each viewer on a journey of how the world of dreams works. The basic plot of the movie is that Leonardo DiCaprio’s character can enter a person’s dream and plant a single idea in their mind that, when they wake up, they think is real. Sci-fi is at the core of this film no matter the real-life application that’s still up for debate.
3 V for Vendetta
In V for Vendetta, a masked warrior and anarchist plans multiple terrorist attacks that are extremely sophisticated against Evey Hammond. V puts her at the center of his quest during a time that the UK has become a totalitarian state. The movie has become a political statement, but is also considered a sci-fi film due to the fictional world it is set in and the technology that is invented. The science fiction part of the film is yet again a plot device and not the actual plot of the movie.
2 Mad Max: Fury Road
Mad Max: Fury Road is a post-apocalyptic movie set in a desert wasteland. Necessities are scarce, like fuel and water, and the film follows Max, who’s a survivor of being a prisoner in Immortal Joe’s army. He teams up with Imperator Furiosa to fight these colonel men. Mad Max is a great action and adventure movie, but is a popular sci-fi film and uses science that hasn’t been discovered yet, like vampire War Boys. Adding in the explosions and action, this is truly a great film.
1 A Quiet Place
The Abbott family are trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where creatures attack whenever they hear any little sound. A Quiet Place feels more like a horror film that uses the concept of sound as a major tension point within the movie. However, it is set in the future during an alien invasion that has wiped out most humankind making it more of a science fiction production. The sci-fi elements intensify the horror in the film and provide reasoning for the genre of the film.