The 40 most popular 1980s science fiction movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


The Terminator
1984 · 1h 48m
country: United Kingdom
In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?


Back to the Future
1985 · 1h 56m
country: United States
Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.


The Fly
1986 · 1h 36m
country: United States
When brilliant, eccentric scientist Seth Brundle makes a huge technological breakthrough in teleportation, he decides to test it on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a common housefly manages to get inside the device and the two become one.


Blade Runner
1982 · 1h 58m
country: United States
In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.


Aliens
1986 · 2h 17m
country: United States
Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo's deadly encounter with the monstrous Alien, returns to Earth after drifting through space in hypersleep for 57 years. Although her story is initially met with skepticism, she agrees to accompany a team of Colonial Marines back to LV-426.


Back to the Future Part II
1989 · 1h 48m
country: United States
Marty and Doc are at it again as the time-traveling duo head to 2015 to nip some McFly family woes in the bud. But things go awry thanks to bully Biff Tannen and a pesky sports almanac. In a last-ditch attempt to set things straight, Marty finds himself bound for 1955 and face to face with his teenage parents -- again.


Spaceballs
1987 · 1h 36m
country: United States
When the nefarious Dark Helmet hatches a plan to snatch Princess Vespa and steal her planet's air, space-bum-for-hire Lone Starr and his clueless sidekick fly to the rescue. Along the way, they meet Yogurt, who puts Lone Starr wise to the power of "The Schwartz." Can he master it in time to save the day?


Predator
1987 · 1h 47m
country: United States
A team of elite commandos on a secret mission in a Central American jungle come to find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.


Akira
1988 · 2h 4m
country: Japan
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.


E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1982 · 1h 55m
country: United States
An alien is left behind on Earth and saved by the 10-year-old Elliott who decides to keep him hidden in his home. While a task force hunts for the extra-terrestrial, Elliott, his brother, and his little sister Gertie form an emotional bond with their new friend, and try to help him find his way home.


The Thing
1982 · 1h 49m
country: United States
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.


The Empire Strikes Back
1980 · 2h 4m
country: United States
The epic saga continues as Luke Skywalker, in hopes of defeating the evil Galactic Empire, learns the ways of the Jedi from aging master Yoda. But Darth Vader is more determined than ever to capture Luke. Meanwhile, rebel leader Princess Leia, cocky Han Solo, Chewbacca, and droids C-3PO and R2-D2 are thrown into various stages of capture, betrayal and despair.


Return of the Jedi
1983 · 2h 12m
country: United States
Luke Skywalker leads a mission to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star, and the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor.


Dune
1984 · 2h 16m
country: United States
In the year 10,191, the most precious substance in the universe is the spice Melange. The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness. The spice is vital to space travel. The spice exists on only one planet in the entire universe, the vast desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune. Its native inhabitants, the Fremen, have long held a prophecy that a man would come, a messiah who would lead them to true freedom.


The Transformers: The Movie
1986 · 1h 25m
country: United States
The Autobots must stop a colossal planet-consuming robot who goes after the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. At the same time, they must defend themselves against an all-out attack from the Decepticons.


RoboCop
1987 · 1h 42m
country: United States
In a violent, near-apocalyptic Detroit, evil corporation Omni Consumer Products wins a contract from the city government to privatize the police force. To test their crime-eradicating cyborgs, the company leads street cop Alex Murphy into an armed confrontation with crime lord Boddicker so they can use his body to support their untested RoboCop prototype. But when RoboCop learns of the company's nefarious plans, he turns on his masters.


The Abyss
1989 · 2h 20m
country: United States
A civilian oil rig crew is recruited to conduct a search and rescue effort when a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks. One diver soon finds himself on a spectacular odyssey 25,000 feet below the ocean's surface where he confronts a mysterious force that has the power to change the world or destroy it.


Escape from New York
1981 · 1h 39m
country: United Kingdom
In a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted into a walled prison where brutal prisoners roam free. After the US president crash-lands inside, war hero Snake Plissken has 24 hours to bring him back.


Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
1985 · 1h 47m
country: Australia
Mad Max becomes a pawn in a decadent oasis of a technological society, and when exiled, becomes the deliverer of a colony of children.


They Live
1988 · 1h 33m
country: United States
A lone drifter stumbles upon a unique pair of sunglasses that reveal aliens are systematically gaining control of the Earth by masquerading as humans and lulling the public into submission.


Mad Max 2
1981 · 1h 36m
country: Australia
Max Rockatansky returns as the heroic loner who drives the dusty roads of a postapocalyptic Australian Outback in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other scraggly defendants of a fuel-depot encampment are the bizarre warriors commanded by the charismatic Lord Humungus, a violent leader whose scruples are as barren as the surrounding landscape.


The Running Man
1987 · 1h 41m
country: United States
By 2017, the global economy has collapsed and U.S. society has become a totalitarian police state, censoring all cultural activity. The government pacifies the populace by broadcasting a number of game shows in which convicted criminals fight for their lives, including the gladiator-style The Running Man, hosted by the ruthless Damon Killian, where “runners” attempt to evade “stalkers” and certain death for a chance to be pardoned and set free.


Superman II
1980 · 2h 7m
country: United Kingdom
Three Kryptonian criminals led by General Zod team up with Lex Luthor to conquer Earth, forcing a depowered Superman to regain his strength and stop them.


WarGames
1983 · 1h 54m
country: United States
High school student David Lightman has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Department of Defense's war computer and initiates a confrontation of global proportions. Together with his friend and a wizardly computer genius, David must race against time to outwit his opponent and prevent a nuclear Armageddon.


Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
1989 · 1h 33m
country: United States
The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them.


Tron
1982 · 1h 36m
country: United States
When brilliant video game maker Flynn hacks the mainframe of his ex-employer, he is beamed inside an astonishing digital world and becomes part of the very game he is designing. In his mission through cyberspace, Flynn matches wits with a maniacal Master Control Program and teams up with Tron, a security measure created to bring balance to the digital environment.


Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
1982 · 1h 53m
country: United States
The starship Enterprise and its crew is pulled back into action when old nemesis, Khan, steals a top secret device called Project Genesis.


Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
1987 · 1h 30m
country: United Kingdom
With global superpowers engaged in an increasingly hostile arms race, Superman leads a crusade to rid the world of nuclear weapons. But Lex Luthor, recently sprung from jail, is declaring war on the Man of Steel and his quest to save the planet. Using a strand of Superman's hair, Luthor synthesizes a powerful ally known as Nuclear Man and ignites an epic battle spanning Earth and space.


Innerspace
1987 · 2h
country: United States
Test pilot Tuck Pendleton volunteers to test a special vessel for a miniaturization experiment. Accidentally injected into a neurotic hypochondriac, Jack Putter, Tuck must convince Jack to find his ex-girlfriend, Lydia Maxwell, to help him extract Tuck and his ship and re-enlarge them before his oxygen runs out.


Supergirl
1984 · 2h 4m
country: United Kingdom
After losing a powerful orb, Kara, Superman's cousin, comes to Earth to retrieve it and instead finds herself up against a wicked witch.


Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
1989 · 1h 46m
country: United States
A renegade Vulcan with a startling secret hijacks the U.S.S. Enterprise in order to find a mythical planet.


Nineteen Eighty-Four
1984 · 1h 53m
country: United Kingdom
Winston Smith is a government employee whose job involves the rewriting of history in a manner that casts his fictional country's leaders in a charitable light. His trysts with Julia provide his only measure of enjoyment, but lawmakers frown on the relationship -- and in this closely monitored society, there is no escape from Big Brother.


Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
1986 · 1h 58m
country: United States
When a huge alien probe enters the galaxy and begins to vaporize Earth's oceans, Kirk and his crew must travel back in time in order to bring back whales and save the planet.


The Blob
1988 · 1h 35m
country: United States
In Arborville, California, three high school students try to protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form that engulfs everything it touches.


Brazil
1985 · 2h 23m
country: United Kingdom
Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.


Re-Animator
1985 · 1h 26m
country: United States
Conducting clandestine experiments within the morgue at Miskatonic University, scientist Herbert West reveals to a fellow graduate student his groundbreaking work concerning the re-animation of fresh corpses.


The Return of the Living Dead
1985 · 1h 31m
country: United Kingdom
Two employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a toxic gas from a misplaced top-secret U.S. Army shipment, causing the dead to rise from a nearby cemetery with an insatiable hunger for human brains.


Videodrome
1983 · 1h 28m
country: Canada
As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers. When he happens upon "Videodrome," a TV show dedicated to gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts the show on his channel. However, after his girlfriend auditions for the show and never returns, Max investigates the truth behind Videodrome and discovers that the graphic violence may not be as fake as he thought.


Superman III
1983 · 2h 5m
country: United States
Aiming to defeat the Man of Steel, wealthy executive Ross Webster hires bumbling but brilliant Gus Gorman to develop synthetic kryptonite, which yields some unexpected psychological effects. Between rekindling romance with his high school sweetheart and saving himself, Superman must contend with a powerful supercomputer.


Flash Gordon
1980 · 1h 51m
country: Italy
A football player and his mates travel to the planet Mongo and find themselves fighting the tyranny of Ming the Merciless to save Earth.
The 1980s codified the blockbuster — high concept, wide release, heavy merchandising — while home video quietly built a second life for films that flopped in theaters. Practical effects hit their peak just before CGI arrived.
Science fiction uses the future — or a plausible alternative present — to think through the current moment. It's produced some of cinema's most influential images, and the genre's biggest leaps have usually followed leaps in effects technology.