Prime Video: 15 of the Best Sci-Fi Movies You Should Stream Right Now

The Running Man

Edgar Wright came through with a flashy remake of the ’80s cult classic. What’s different about this Running Man? There’s no Arnold Schwarzenegger or Richard Dawson, but the movie absolutely strikes a chord. And, it’s truer to the Stephen King (I mean, Richard Bachman) short story. Basically, the idea here is that it’s the future, and people love this reality TV show that follows a man who is hunted everywhere he goes. If he survives, he wins a fortune. Yeah, I’d watch that.

• Director: Edgar Wright
• Stars: Glen Powell, Lee Pace, Emilia Jones, Michael Cera, Colman Domingo, Josh Brolin
• Running time: 134 minutes

Spaceballs

Spaceballs follows a ragtag group of heroes who go on a mission to save a princess who gets kidnapped because her planet has air, and planet Spaceball doesn’t. The story, which riffs heavily on Star Wars, sounds thin, but it doesn’t matter because the movie is all about gags and the character work of its cast. Heck, they’re coming out with another Spaceballs in 2027, so Mel Brooks is doing something right.

• Director: Mel Brooks
• Stars: Bill Pullman, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Daphne Zuniga, Mel Brooks
• Running time: 96 minutes

The Terminator

James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger brought this sci-fi banger to life in 1984, kicking off an enduring fandom and story world that people still follow today. There’s something about a time-traveling cyborg hunting down the mother of a future resistance fighter that still captures imaginations. Part 2 may be the watershed moment for the franchise, but this gritty film is where it all began.

• Director: James Cameron
• Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn
• Running time: 107 minutes

12 Monkeys

Terry Gilliam helmed this sci-fi mind-bender, and if you’re at all familiar with the director’s work, you know full well the type of twisted storytelling you’re in for with this one. It’s a time-travel thriller with Bruce Willis leading the way. I won’t bore you with story specifics, but I will say, the movie is full of memorable visuals and scenes — and Brad Pitt. Seriously, Pitt’s performance is off-the-wall in the best way possible.

• Director: Terry Gilliam
• Stars: Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Madeleine Stowe, Christopher Plummer
• Running time: 129 minutes

10 Cloverfield Lane

This sleeper sci-fi flick was a covert spinoff of monster disaster movie Cloverfield. Most of the film takes place in a bunker and follows two people who are being held captive by a doomsday prepper convinced that the world is under attack. Spoiler: It is.

• Director: Dan Trachtenberg
• Stars: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr.
• Running time: 103 minutes

Re-Animator

You could absolutely consider Re-Animator to be a horror movie — and it is. But the subject matter of life regeneration in this H.P. Lovecraft-inspired B-movie classic puts it in the sci-fi category, as well. It’s campy, gory and peak ’80s fun. You’re welcome.

• Director: Stuart Gordon
• Stars: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale
• Running time: 86 minutes

Battle Royale

The Japanese cult classic takes place in a dystopian reality where high school students are forced by the government to go on a killing spree against each other until there’s one survivor left. There have been a bunch of comparisons between this movie and other dystopian titles, like The Hunger Games, but Battle Royale stands the test of time for its extreme violence, dark humor and sociopolitical themes.

• Director: Kinji Fukasaku
• Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto
• Running time: 114 minutes

Triangle

There are time loop movies, and then there’s Triangle. This is a little underdog of a movie filled with enough twists and terror to keep you invested. Heck, it burrowed itself into my brain when I first saw it in 2009 and stayed there for a while. The movie follows a woman named Jess as she struggles to survive a killer on a deserted boat. Sounds simple enough, but things go haywire rather quickly.

• Director: Christopher Smith
• Stars: Melissa George, Joshua McIvor, Jack Taylor, Michael Dorman, Henry Nixon, Liam Hemsworth
• Running time: 99 minutes

Highlander

Highlander follows an immortal man named Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) who faces off in a centuries-long battle against five immortal enemies in the streets of New York City. This movie is peak ’80s sci-fi, which means if you’re looking for an action movie that leans heavily into the schlocky absurdity of the genre, this is the title for you.

• Director: Russell Mulcahy
• Stars: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Roxanne Hart, Clancy Brown
• Running time: 111 minutes

Mickey 17

Mickey 17 takes place in a reality where disposable employees are created to perform tasks too dangerous for humans. The story follows Mickey 17 on his mission to help colonize an icy world called Niflheim. A clone of his, Mickey 18, is accidentally brought into being, resulting in an off-beat exploration of humanity, classism and colonialism. What else would you expect from director Bong Joon Ho?

• Director: Bong Joon Ho
• Stars: Robert Pattinson, Anamaria Vartolomei, Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, Steven Yeun, Samuel Blenkin, Holliday Grainger, Patsy Ferran
• Running time: 139 minutes

Limitless

What if there were a pill that could turn any person into a hyperintelligent super genius? Limitless aims to answer that question. The movie stars Bradley Cooper as Eddie Morra, a down-on-his-luck writer who takes the untested drug and uses it to massively level up his life. Of course, what goes up must come down, and Eddie soon finds out that sometimes, it’s best to leave mysterious meds alone.

• Director: Neil Burger
• Stars: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish, Johnny Whitworth, Andrew Howard, Hill Harper, Richard Bekins, Daniel Breaker, Robert John Burke
• Running time: 105 minutes

The Tomorrow War

Chris Pratt stars in this action movie that follows a group of soldiers who travel back in time to warn of a future where humanity is losing the war against an army of alien invaders. Mankind’s only hope lies in a group of would-be heroes who are tapped to travel to the future in order to save the present.

• Director: Chris McKay
• Stars: Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, Betty Gilpin, Jasmine Mathews, Sam Richardson, J.K. Simmons
• Running time: 138 minutes

A Quiet Place: Day One

A Quiet Place: Day One takes audiences back to the very beginning of the alien invasion. While it may not be a necessary entry in the franchise — like, say, 10 Cloverfield Lane — the movie digs its heels into the human experience amid an otherworldly cataclysmic disaster. Come for the disaster, stay for the cute cat.

• Director: Michael Samoski
• Stars: Joseph Quinn, Lupita Nyong’o, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, Thea Butler, Denis O’Hare
• Running time: 99 minutes

Escape From New York

In John Carpenter’s postapocalyptic cult classic, it’s 1997 in New York and the city has been ravaged by war. Manhattan has been turned into a giant walled-in prison. After the president is taken hostage, former Special Forces officer (and current prisoner) Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is recruited to save the day in return for his own freedom.

• Director: John Carpenter
• Stars: Kurt Russell, Adrienne Barbeau, Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasence, Harry Dean Stanton, Ernest Borgnine, Isaak Hayes, Frank Doubleday
• Running time: 99 minutes

Donnie Darko

This mind-bending cult classic stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a misunderstood high schooler who, after seemingly surviving a horrific accident, begins traveling through time. In the process, he discovers the joy of being alive and in love. Themes of depression, repression and alternative universes fill this delightfully bizarre film. Also, let’s not forget that giant demon bunny named Frank.

• Director: Richard Kelly
• Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Seth Rogen, Jena Malone, Patrick Swayze, Mary McDonnell, Noah Wyle
• Running time: 113 minutes