The Top 10 Mind Blowing Sci Fi Movies

In the mood for a movie that will make you think and stretch the limits of your brain? Science fiction has always drawn crowds for its ability to push beyond what we see here and now to make us contemplate, “What if?” Whether there’s time travel, dream travel, or just plain weird and trippy brain blowing non-sense, these movies will get you thinking and give you the most of what makes sci fi unique.

10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004): What if you could have painful memories just quietly erased? Jim Carrey, in one of his serious roles, plays a man who’s having his memories of an ex-girlfriend removed. But during the process he realizes that he still loves her, and the result is a wild chase through Carrey’s mind as he struggles to resist the process and hang on to his memories.

9. 12 Monkeys (1995): An intricate, trippy time-travel film in which a convict (Bruce Willis) is sent back to gather information on a disaster that wiped out most of humanity — and ends up locked in an asylum, where he meets a deranged activist (Brad Pitt) who may or may not have something to do with the organization that caused the disaster.

8. Ghost in the Shell (1995): Among the most popular anime movies ever, Ghost in the Shell echoes 2001 in its tale of an artificial intelligence that becomes sentient, but it extends 2001‘s themes into the Internet age. Worth a watch even for those who usually dislike anime.

7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): One of the earliest cerebral SF films and still a classic, 2001 explores difficult questions of technology, evolution, and whether humanity’s creations will ever outgrow us.

6. A Scanner Darkly (2006): Like Blade Runner, this movie is based on the work of SF novelist Philip K. Dick and revolves around Dick’s favorite themes of identity. Keanu Reeves stars as an undercover cop investigating a drug that causes mental dissociation, but soon realizes he has no idea who to trust, even among his fellow officers.

5. Blade Runner (1982): A classic of the genre, starring Harrison Ford as a cop chasing “replicants,” or artificial humans, that have gone rogue — a pursuit that leaves him struggling to guess who’s really human, and even unsure of his own reality.

4. eXistenZ (1999): A virtual reality video game designer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is forced to play her own game to find out why her life is in danger. Like Inception, eXistenZ plays around with differing layers of reality until what is actually real becomes difficult to remember. Director David Cronenberg’s trademark pseudo-biological technology adds a creepy note to the movie.

3. Dark Star (1974): A little-known movie from early in John Carpenter’s career, but one that’s inspired a lot of imitators, including Red Dwarf. Four astronauts try to hold on to sanity while traveling around the cosmos destroying potentially dangerous planets — until one of their bombs develops consciousness and starts refusing to explode.

2. Inception(2010): A top dream thief (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his team penetrate the dreams of a wealthy businessman to plant an idea, working from layer to layer of dream to create a multi-leveled story that leaves them — and you — wondering where reality actually is.

1. Brazil (1985): A dark, funny, weird, bleak movie of the sort that could never be made today. Set in a dystopia where you can be condemned to death by a typographical error and the closest thing to a hero is a renegade duct repairman, Brazil will make you laugh and chill you all at once.

One of the pleasures of science fiction is its ability to make us ask “what if?”. The movies on this list will have you asking “what ifs” that you never thought possible. Don’t just think out of the box, introduce your mind to movies that will give your mind whole new materials and worlds to think with.

Author Bio: Tim C. is a sci fi enthusiast and independent film critic. He has helped with a cheap car insurance guide to help people get cheap car insurance.

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