Ridley Scott: The 16 Master of Sci-Fi Epics

Here’s how to stream the greatest science fiction films ever made, including The Matrix and Dune: Part Two.

TFD – Embark on a journey through the imaginative realms of Ridley Scott’s legendary sci-fi epics. From the dystopian future of Blade Runner to the cosmic landscapes of Alien, discover the brilliance of Scott’s cinematic vision. Dive into the adventure now.

Chest-bursting aliens. Time-traveling DeLoreans. Dystopian futures. Galaxies far, far away. Science fiction is full of characters, set pieces, and scenarios that few other genres could ever get away with. Due to its often speculative nature, the most accomplished sci-fi movies can sometimes require a bit of work on the part of the viewer. Yet as fans of the genre understand, when it’s done right, a great sci-fi film is well worth the mental gymnastics that watching it might demand.

Regarding science fiction done well: A little direction goes a long way, and that’s precisely what we have for you, regardless of whether you’ve been a lifelong fan of the genre or have never even finished watching a Star Wars movie. Check out any one (or all) of our selections for the greatest science fiction films available on Netflix when you’re prepared to immerse

Part Two of Dune and Dune

“Tell them there will be a messiah. They’re going to wait. for millennia. Those are the first words Chani (Zendaya) says in Dune: Part Two. She’s speaking about the prophecy that a savior will arrive to help her and her fellow Fremen, and whether or not Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) will be that messiah. She might also be discussing the long wait for a really epic rendition of the critically acclaimed science fiction book by Frank Herbert. Yes, David Lynch made one in the 1980s, and it’s a camp classic, but it is director Denis Villeneuve’s pair of films that truly bring Herbert’s story to life. Lushly designed, action-packed, and understandable even to people who’ve never touched the book, these Dunes are the real deal. If you know anything about the lore, you you know there’s far too much to really get into it here, but let it be known: Villeneueve’s adaptations aren’t just mind-blowing sci-fi—they’re monumental works of art.

Arrival

Although Denis Villeneuve began his filmmaking career in the mid-1990s, he has experimented with several genres, but he appears most comfortable in a sci-fi setting. If Enemy (2014) and his two Dune films weren’t enough to convey it, think about this: The man dared to make a sequel worthy of Ridley Scott’s genre-defining Blade Runner—and succeeded! Then there’s Arrival, which is basically a linguistics lesson wrapped in a sci-fi feature and all the more engrossing because of it. After the unexpected arrival of an alien species on Earth, linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is tasked with creating a universal language that will allow humans to speak with them, and vice versa. But she quickly comes to realize that effectively communicating with her human colleagues—who want results now—might be the bigger challenge. It’s a stark, and all too timely, reminder that progress takes time, and as such requires patience.

Watch on Amazon

RoboCop

Any haphazard attempt to channel the ’80s tends to focus entirely on the popped collars and neon-colored accessories. However, a cursory examination of some of the most well-liked films of the decade reveals a profound sense of disappointment. As an illustration: In the same year that Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) was declaring “greed is good” in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, Paul Verhoeven was unleashing one of cinema’s most subversive sci-fi flicks, which sees the mayor of Detroit hand over control of the city to the evil Omni Consumer Products (OCP), which promptly turns Motor City into a testing ground for its latest technologies. One such invention is RoboCop (Peter Weller), a law-enforcing cyborg whose main purpose is to eliminate crime in the city—that is, until memories of his human existence find their way back into his head. Hey, it happens. Especially when you recycle the corpse of a police officer murdered in the line of duty in order to make your robot cop thing work. The film’s extreme violence initially earned it the dreaded X rating, which Verhoeven skirted with some clever editing. But the real scares are in its statement on capitalism and the power that corporations wield, which is as true today as it was nearly 40 years ago.

Inception

Anyone who has watched Inception once will tell you that it takes at least two viewings—if not more—to really comprehend all of its intricate details. If it’s even feasible to do so. The less you know about the story’s specifics before reading it, the better, although the essentials are as follows: Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an “extractor”—a talented thief who steals his targets’ secrets by infiltrating their dreams with his trusty team of colleagues, which includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, and Tom Hardy. People still debate what happened in the film’s ending, which is just the kind of mindfuckery Christopher Nolan seems to revel in.

Episode V of Star Wars—The Empire Strikes Back

The Empire Strikes Back ranks close to the top of the list of just a few movie sequels that have succeeded in outperforming the first picture. The film brings back together the fearless trio that turned A New Hope into an instant sensation, Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher). They must once more fight to preserve their world safe from the evil Darth Vader. The visual effects in A New Hope were astounding, but The Empire Strikes Back was even more amazing—yet it moved the Star Wars universe in a very different, darker, and more mature path.

The Matrix

These days, The Matrix is a part of a hugely successful franchise that now includes video games, movies, and even an animated film called The Animatrix. Even though the effect of the first movie may have been lessened by all those extra bits, it is still unique. The world is unaware that it is living in a simulation of reality in a dystopian future (is there really any other kind?). However, a skilled hacker by the name of Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers what is going on and attempts to distinguish reality from artificial intelligence-generated fiction. The Wachowskis’ imaginative direction, provocative screenplay, and mind-bending action scenes still have the power to wow audiences. Audiences haven’t looked at spoons—or Keanu Reeves—the same way since.

The Terminator

In an alternate universe, O.J. Simpson would have starred in The Terminator instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger after the studio prevailed in a casting dispute with James Cameron. Cameron met with Schwarzenegger under the guise of discussing his consideration for the role of Kyle Reese in The Terminator. He left the meeting with the knowledge that he had discovered their eponymous cyborg, who time-travels from 2029 to 1984 with the intention of killing Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), a waitress and the mother of the child who will save the world. Luckily, she has another time traveler, Reese (Michael Biehn), on her side. On paper, it may sound preposterous, but 40 years later The Terminator still manages to impress—and is still spawning new content.

Had things gone differently, the studio might have prevailed in a casting dispute with James Cameron, resulting in O.J. Simpson starring in The Terminator instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger. A series of fortunate coincidences led to Cameron meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger with the intention of pretending to discuss him being considered for the role of Kyle Reese in The Terminator. Cameron left the meeting with the knowledge that he had discovered the movie’s titular cyborg, which time-travels from 2029 to 1984 with the goal of killing Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), a waitress and the mother of the child who will save the world. Luckily, she has another time traveler on her side in Reese (Michael Biehn). Despite appearing absurd at first glance, The Terminator continues to be impressive and inspire new media even after 40 years.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

If The Terminator elevated the standard for science fiction movies, Terminator 2: Judgment Day completely destroyed it. T2 is a statement about how far is “too far” in the development of sentient technology, as well as a commentary on what it is to be human, much like so many other cyborg films that came before it, including its 1984 parent film. If only James Cameron from the early 1990s had known what lay ahead. The plot of this sequel essentially follows the same pattern as the original film: a Terminator (Robert Patrick) is sent to Los Angeles to kill John Connor (Edward Furlong), son of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), before he can lead the human resistance. Once again, the Connors have a guardian angel—only this time it’s a kinder,

Escape From New York

Though he is more well-known for his mastery of horror films, John Carpenter is also a formidable sci-fi filmmaker. Escape From New York, which is set in the then-futuristic year 1997, presents a vision of America in which Manhattan Island is a massive maximum security prison and the entire nation is one gigantic war zone. This is bad news for President Donald Pleasence, as he is kidnapped by one of the most violent criminal gangs in the nation when Air Force One crashes in New York City during an attempted hijacking. The administration is forced to enlist the aid of Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), a former soldier turned criminal who may be the only one who can guarantee the president’s safe return.

Ex Machina

The new millennium has demonstrated that there are still many completely original stories to be told, and Ex Machina is one of them, even if the 1980s were unquestionably a very good moment for science fiction. Programmer Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) receives an invitation to the secluded mansion of an eccentric tech millionaire (Oscar Isaac) where he believes he will be working on a project to create a genuinely innovative humanoid robot. But when Caleb meets Ava (Alicia Vikander), the robot in question, it becomes clear that it is she, not the humans, who is in control. With its A-list cast, stellar directing, all-too-relevant storyline, and synchronized dance scene, Ex Machina just might be this millennium’s Blade Runner.

Back to the Future

Yes, there is humor in Back to the Future. plus a family movie. Not to add a masterpiece from the 1980s. However, the core of Marty McFly’s time-traveling quest is science fiction. Marty (Michael J. Fox) is a cool ’80s teen who has a hot girlfriend yet somehow manages to spend most of his time hanging out with a middle-aged mad scientist (Christopher Lloyd), who turns a sweet DeLorean into a time machine. Hijinks ensue, as does a bizarre plotline involving Libyan terrorists, all of which land Marty back in 1955, where he meets the teen versions of his parents and desperately thwarts his mom’s attempts to seduce him. (That storyline could be its own movie, really.) But by interfering with the past,

Alien

Though Ridley Scott has experimented with almost every genre, there is no denying the standards he has set in the science fiction realm. Two years after making his feature directorial debut with the period film The Duellists, Scott changed the science fiction game with Alien. The film follows the crew of the spacecraft Nostromo, including warrant officer Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), who respond to a distress call as they’re making their way home to Earth. This turns out to be their first mistake—especially when they realize that they’re being stalked by an unknown alien species that seems determined to make sure none of the crewmembers ever leave the planetoid. Alien introduced audiences to an array of terrifying creatures—Xenomorphs and face-huggers and chestbursters, oh my—and kicked off a notable

Close Calls of the Third Kind

With Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Steven Spielberg abruptly changed the subject from vengeful sharks to mystery extraterrestrials—a theme he would return to again a few years later—two years after creating the “summer blockbuster” with Jaws. Richard Dreyfuss, who plays a devoted husband and father whose unplanned encounter with a UFO grows into an obsession that threatens to destroy the life he has established for himself, reconnected with the filmmaker for this film. With its clever removal of the “extra-terrestrial invasion” cliché and emphasis on the difficulties that would arise from the discovery of an alien life form, it is still regarded as one of the best intelligently produced alien films Hollywood has ever seen, nearly fifty years later.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Every sci-fi film that has come after Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey owes a debt of gratitude to the director. It is the science fiction film that ends all science fiction films. The picture remains current nearly 60 years after it was first released, because to its vast grandeur, stunning cinematography, and partly predictive and highly dystopian narrative about the possible perils of relying too much on technology. especially with its core plot, which centers on a group of men using HAL 9000, an AI device that chooses to go rogue, to assist them in a space voyage. It’s hardly a short film; instead, its 189 minutes are jam-packed with innovative technology and foresighted narrative, making it stand out.

Blade Runner

Napoleon (2023) and The Last Duel (2021) are two of Ridley Scott’s most recent historical epics. However, his status as the leading authority on the sci-fi genre would never be in jeopardy no matter how much time he spent away from it. While he made his name with Alien, he achieved icon status with Blade Runner. The scene is 2019 Los Angeles. (Stick with us here.) Flying cars are a thing, as are bioengineered humanoids known as replicants, and that’s a bad thing. Which is why there are so-called “blade runners” like Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), whose job is to find and kill these nonhuman threats to society. But when everyone looks and often acts human, where do you draw the line? Blade Runner’s complex storyline