Prime Video: 11 of the Best Sci-Fi Movies You Should Stream Right Now

John Dies at the End

John Dies at the End is based on the book by Jason Pargin (who wrote under the pen name David Wong). You could categorize this movie as sci-fi, as horror and as comedy, and you’d be correct all three times. Don Coscarelli directed the film, which follows two slacker friends who travel to other dimensions after taking a drug called Soy Sauce. Oh, and they must save the planet from monsters, aliens and inter-dimensional beasts.

• Director: Don Coscarelli
• Stars: Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamatti, Clancy Brown, Glynn Turman, Doug Jones
• Running time: 99 minutes

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

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

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

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