When you think of science fiction, your mind may be graced with the images of spaceships, aliens, and cyborgs. Fair enough, but it’s such a broad genre that can arguably encompass stories from Star Trek to The Hunger Games to Outlander to The Purge to Jurassic Park to Groundhog Day! You might be a sci-fi fan and not even know it! Science fiction is generally defined as answering a “What if?” question. This often brings us to the future and involves technological advances, but with time travel being a familiar genre element, the past is not off limits. With it being potentially so broad and easily sidling its way into other genres such as horror, action/adventure, romance, drama, history, fantasy, and even western (Cowboys & Aliens, anyone?), it can be hard to really pin down a “best of” when it comes to Sci-fi. However, here are 10 highlights that can be made even more enjoyable with the use of VidAngel filters.
#10 BACK TO THE FUTURE
Perhaps one of the most popular sci-fi’s, this beloved start of a trilogy introduces us to eighties teenager Marty McFly, who 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.
Don’t overlook the sequels, either: Back to the Future II, Back to the Future III
#9 EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
You’ll leave this one with a “What exactly did I just watch?” feeling but with a smile on your face. Perhaps you’ll also be hungry for a bagel. An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save what’s important to her by connecting with the lives she could have led in other universes. Not one to discriminate, there are a variety of potentially offensive items available in this one, so VidAngel can help you navigate all that while still enjoying a mind-bending, yet heartwarming tale.
#8 MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES
Taking a thematic 180, if you need something more light-hearted and endearing, but still with that sci-fi cautionary tale of our relationship with technology, then this one’s for you! A quirky, dysfunctional family’s road trip is upended when they find themselves in the middle of the robot apocalypse and suddenly become humanity’s unlikeliest last hope.
#7 SEVERANCE
Speaking of great series, we’ll just continue that theme with Severance. It’s more of a slow burn but with enough “what the what?” moments that effortlessly string you along. If you’re not up for all of those moments, we got you and you can still enjoy Mark who leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs.
#6 SILO
Why is everyone not talking about this show? They should be! Based on a fantastic book series, Silo starts us off in a ruined and toxic future where a community exists in a giant underground silo that plunges hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Make this good series even better without all the little things you’d rather not see or hear.
#5 EX MACHINA
If you want a more intimate, small-scale story with a touch of horror, this one is likely to be among the greats for a long time. Caleb, a coder at the world’s largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world’s first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl. There’s an intense sequence that may show a little too much for your tastes, so you can skip that if you like.
#4 THE FIFTH ELEMENT
If you need a laugh with just a hint of a deeper meaning then this one’s for you. In 2257, a taxi driver is unintentionally given the task of saving a young girl who is part of the key that will ensure the survival of humanity. If nothing else you should watch it for the space alien opera/fight scene. Feel free to skip the nudity if that’s not for you.
#3 GATTACA
In a future society in the era of indefinite eugenics, humans are set on a life course depending on their DNA. Young Vincent Freeman is born with a condition that would prevent him from space travel, yet is determined to infiltrate the GATTACA space program. If some of the biological elements make you squeamish you can watch without those and just enjoy the thoughtful story on VidAngel.
#2 THE EXPANSE
If you want to lean a little more science than fiction, then The Expanse is one to check out. A thriller set two hundred years in the future following the case of a missing young woman who brings a hardened detective and a rogue ship’s captain together in a race across the solar system to expose the greatest conspiracy in human history. If you’d rather not get close and personal with all the gory details but still want to enjoy this epic series, VidAngel can help you out.
#1 STAR TREK
We’re cheating a little bit right off the bat and including all Star Trek in one suggestion. Being one of the few popular sci-fi tales that holds humanity’s future in a positive light, we give this the #1 spot. Passionate fans will gladly harass you with opinions of which spin-offs are good, bad, not “real” Star Trek, and everything else. With VidAngel, not only can you choose to just ignore certain Star Trek pieces (What is this Final Frontier film you speak of?), you can also choose to just skip certain parts within an otherwise enjoyable sci-fi rendition (Why is Carol Marcus in her underwear? No one knows.). We’ll give a special highlight of some of the newest additions to this universe as being particularly delightful, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Follow Captain Christopher Pike, Science Officer Spock, and Number One in the years before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise, as they explore new worlds around the galaxy. This reboot has received probably the warmest welcome out of all the more recent iterations and is generally approved by many die-hard Star Trek fans.
Star Trek: Lower Deck
The lives of the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, in 2380. Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford, and Tendi have to keep up with their duties and their social lives, often while the ship is being rocked by a multitude of sci-fi anomalies. This animated version leans a little into the irrevant but is generally a good time with lots of laughs.
Trek-verse on VidAngel:
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
- Star Trek: IV: The Voyage Home
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
- Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Star Trek: Generations
- Star Trek: Nemesis
- Star Trek (2009)
- Star Trek: Into Darkness
- Star Trek Beyond
- Star Trek: Discovery
- Star Trek: Picard
This is, of course, a woefully incomplete list of the best of science fiction on VidAngel. So we’re pulling another cheat move here at the end with a quick list of some honorable mentions, all of which really deserve an entire blog entry of their own, for either historical impact or overall quality:
Sci-fi Everything:
- The Twilight Zone series(2019)
- Black Mirror series
Sci-fi Comedy:
- Men in Black movies
- Galaxy Quest
Sci-fi Drama:
Sci-fi Thrillers:
Sci-fi Action:
- Terminator movies
- Lost in Space series (2018)
- Battlestar Galactica series (2004)
Sci-fi Horror:
Sci-fi Romance:
