The 8 Most Fun Sci-Fi Movies of the 1990s, Ranked

While oodles of fun, many 90s sci-fi movies were also crammed with fundamentally deep messages. From the cautionary tale about unmitigated tech that is Jurassic Park to the existential enigma enveloped in The Matrix, all these films entertain to the fullest while also imparting intriguing nuggets of wisdom. So buckle your seatbelts and “hold on to your butts,” this is going to be a fun ride.

8 'Galaxy Quest' (1999)

“Never give up, never surrender!” People love a good parody, don’t they? When you combine a solid satirical film with a fully realized action plot, the results can be quite magical. Welcome to director Dean Parisot’s glorious Galaxy Quest, a send-up of space TV shows for the ages. The genius of this movie is that while it ostensibly mocks the beloved sci-fi space TV series of previous decades, it pays true homage to them, too.

Tim Allen is Jason Nesmith, an overly cocky actor who played a very William Shatner-like character named Commander Peter Quincy Taggart on a show called “Galaxy Quest.” Numerous years after the show has come to a close, a bunch of aliens who are facing a lethal space enemy catch a signal from the cosmos and view the old show — and believe the actors are the true intergalactic heroes they portrayed. So, Nesmith and the rest of the crew, the amazing Sigourney Weaver as the objectified Gwen DeMarco (who plays Lieutenant Tawny Madison), and Alan Rickman as the disgruntled master thespian Alexander Dane (Dr. Lazarus), to name of few, are thrust into a real spaceship and forced to defend the universe. It’s a jaunty concept that delivers on all fronts. One of the most fun elements of this film is that the actors utilize Galaxy Quest-obsessed nerds on earth for important intel on fighting the good fight. It’s a sweet nod to the rabid fans of any show: you are heard, our nebbish friends.

7 'Total Recall' (1990)

“Give these people air!” There really wasn’t a bigger name in action movies in the 80s and 90s than Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also starred in some ginormous blockbuster action-sci-fi films, too, like Predator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Yet, his turn as Douglas Quaid in the wildly audacious Total Recall may have been the best, most entertaining role of his sci-fi career. He brings all the manic energy of his character in Jingle All the Way and the cool line delivery of the Terminator to this action-stuffed sci-fi conspiracy thriller, and it’s a true hoot.

So, Arnold plays Quaid, a regular working man in 2084. There is a service that people can buy, where fabricated memories are implanted into the brain (beats using Trip Advisor). Quaid’s vacay memory is set to be a spy thriller adventure on Mars, but…turns out the “memory” may be inspired by real life. Soon, Quaid can trust no one, even his lovely wife Lori (Sharon Stone). Director Paul Verhoeven’s head-trippy Total Recall is jammed-packed with nail-biting set pieces, radical eye-popping visuals, and some really zesty characters (the woman who requires specialized clothes of a certain nature, we’re looking in your direction). Mars was never this fun.

6 'The Fifth Element' (1997)

“Multipass!” The super-saturated, ultra-colorful and brilliantly buoyant film by director/co-writer Luc Besson, The Fifth Element, combines just about everything exciting and fun in cinema — then throws them in a blender and sets it to “purée.” If the future is this spicy, we welcome it.

Bruce Willis is Korben Dallas, a retired special forces soldier who now drives a cab (apparently earth finally gets flying cars in the 23rd century). One day, he has a real sweet meet-cute with a “supreme being,” reconstituted from ancient DNA, who crashes into his air taxi. She is named Leeloo (Milla Jovovich, known for her bad-ass roles, but here she’s luminescent), and together with Dallas she must locate four elements and combine them with a…wait for it…fifth element, to stop a Great Evil from obliterating earth. There are so many cool visuals in this film (spaceship chases galore), and auditory gifts (blue alien soprano diva), that it’s hard to keep track of all the eye and ear candy. The performances all around are unadulterated fun, with supporting characters like Ruby Rhod (leopard-clad Chris Tucker) and Zorg (weirdly coiffed Gary Oldman) shining like quasars.

5 'Independence Day' (1996)

“Welcome to earth!” Independence Day was one of the first major summer movies to jump right into the action, sans opening credits. This let everyone in the theaters know right away that this was going to be a rollicking, wild one. Director/co-writer Roland Emmerich knew he was crafting a true blockbuster with this movie, and leaned heavily into the overtly fun and (while somewhat corny) truly inspirational aspects of the story. What better way to bring humanity, with our numerous differences, finally together?

While there are a ton of captivating sub-plots in this film, the basic story is that mean-spirited aliens invade earth (in a hostile military sort of way) and America (and eventually, the whole world) must band together to battle them back into the cosmos. The suave Will Smith as Capt. Steven Hiller is the muscle, Jeff Goldblum as David Levinson is the scientific voice of reason, Bill Pullman as President Thomas J. Whitmore is the uniting leader, and Randy Quaid, as the bumbling yet ultimately heroic Russell Casse, not only provides additional comic relief but proves to be the heart and soul of this endorphin-blasting film.

4 Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

“We want to be civilized.” While Gremlins 2: The New Batch is probably (definitely) more of a comedy than a true sci-fi film, it’s still got a bunch of hilarious creatures, many of whom were spawned in a laboratory. Oh, it’s also got Hulk Hogan, breaking the fourth wall to deliver a message directly to the theater audience. C’mon. That’s just plain fun.

The best way to describe the plot of Gremlins 2 was already established in a skit from the sketch comedy show Key & Peele, where Jordan Peele plays a “Sequel fixer” who gets the movie executives behind the proposed second Gremlins film to throw out insanely random ideas for how the gremlins should manifest (“Electricity gremlin!”). Indeed, director Joe Dante went bigger and better in the second film, with a host of hilarious new gremlin subspecies, all with their own zany motivations and naughty skill sets. Luckily for New York City (where this one is set), Gizmo (finally tired of being bullied) is on the case, as he dons a Rambo-esque persona and helps eradicate those pesky critters in the most raucous, fun manner a Mogwai can.

3 'Men in Black' (1997)

“I make this look good.” Barry Sonnenfeld’s Men in Black may just be the most fun alien movie of all time. E.T. is cute, Alien is terrifying, Contact is inspiring, the aforementioned Independence Day is obviously a ton of fun (and, of course, inspiring, too), but Men in Black is a roller-coaster ride of extremely amusing dips and loops. The pairing of the curmudgeonly Tommy Lee Jones and the smoothly clever Will Smith yielded one of the best comedic duos of the 90s.

The tale herein is a very sleek one at the onset. There is a super secret chapter of the U.S. Government deemed the “men in black” who covertly dispatch with alien life forms whenever they cause trouble on earth (this was based on a myth/legend created in the 1940s). Smith is Agent Jay, the young gun, while Jones is Agent Kay, the grumpy veteran. One ill-intentioned alien, “The Bug,” seeks a highly potent form of energy, and if it gets its grubby human-flesh-wearing mitts on it, humanity is doomed. Smith and Jones are dynamite in this film, and all the inventive aliens are very entertaining, well-conceived, and often, quite surprising (the pug is the best). This is the type of movie where you’re really rooting for the (complex) good guys, and having a blast while watching every scene unfold.

2 'The Matrix' (1999)

“I know kung fu.” Is there a better (or more emblematic) 90s cinematic quote out there? (Said in the Keanu voice, of course). The cinematically gifted siblings, Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski, blessed not only the sci-fi community but the movie-loving world at large with one of the absolute coolest films ever made. It’s so cool, in fact, that it’s actually fun.

The Matrix presents one of the best philosophical queries of the ages: is it better to live in ignorant comfort or to know the cold, hard truth. Neo (Keanu Reeves, in his absolute — don’t even question it — best role ever) is a computer programmer by day, and a hacker by night. Out of the blue, an enticing woman (Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, his eventual life partner) leads him down a “rabbit hole” of metaphysical impossibilities. He can either maintain his fabricated life or…go deeper. Obviously, Neo chooses the red pill and is sucked out of the Matrix (a computer-manipulated simulation), into the hard knock life of underground living. Yet, when he reenters the Matrix, he’s a martial arts god, beating down agents like a boss. When he is revealed to be “the one” (to save humanity from the machines), even Morpheus (the legendary Laurence Fishburne) has to smile. This is the type of movie where, even if you’ve seen it a hundred times, it never gets old. You just have to “free your mind.”

1 'Jurassic Park' (1993)

“Life, uh, finds a way.” Steven Spielberg has made the cinematic dreams of many a movie fan come true with his stunning collection of multi-genre films. With Jurassic Park, he basically made the dreams of every kid ever come true: actual, real-looking dinosaurs, brought to life. It doesn’t get any funner than that. This film is one of the best in Spielberg’s stellar cache of films — an achievement not just in special effects (which, c’mon, these dinos blew everyone’s mind), but this movie has that signature Spielberg warmth and charm, with a very prescient message about what happens when we let technology (and ambition) run amok. And, again, that “chaos” (theory) just added to the fun.

The story is as old as dinosaurs themselves: man wants to regenerate extinct colossal creatures, man hires dino experts to oversee, dinos go berserk and figure out how to open doors, dinos eventually wreak havoc on the whole earth. While Sam Neill as Grant and Laura Dern as Ellie both do wonderful jobs in this film, the fun quotient is upped to the nth degree by Jeff Goldblum as Malcolm, Samuel L. Jackson as Arnold, and, of course, the incomparable Wayne Knight as Nedry. Goldblum’s pithy zingers and Knight’s psychical comedy in particular elevate this movie to dazzling heights of pure entertainment. Dinosaurs are always fun, and the first installment in this epic franchise is certainly the funnest.