Best Science Fiction Movies of the 1970s

1. 1
   Star Wars 1977

   Directed by George Lucas · Streaming on Disney Plus
   8.2

   8.2 · 23K votes
2. 2
   Alien 1979

   Directed by Ridley Scott · Streaming on Netflix, fuboTV
   8.2

   8.2 · 17K votes
3. 3
   A Clockwork Orange 1971

   Directed by Stanley Kubrick · Streaming on HBO Max, Cinemax
   8.2

   8.2 · 14K votes
4. 4
   Stalker 1979

   Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky · Streaming on HBO Max
   8.0

   8.1 · 2.6K votes
5. 5
   Solaris 1972

   Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky · Streaming on HBO Max, Shout! Factory TV, YouTube Free
   7.7

   7.8 · 1.9K votes
6. 6
   Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession 1973

   Directed by Leonid Gaidai
   7.6

   7.9 · 430 votes
7. 7
   Fantastic Planet 1973

   Directed by René Laloux · Streaming on HBO Max, The Roku Channel, Criterion Channel
   7.5

   7.6 · 1.2K votes
8. 8
   Dawn of the Dead 1978

   Directed by George A. Romero
   7.4

   7.5 · 2.4K votes
9. 9
   The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975

   Directed by Jim Sharman · Streaming on Fandango at Home Free, BroadwayHD, Broadway HD
   7.4

   7.4 · 3.3K votes
10. 10
    Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977

    Directed by Steven Spielberg · Streaming on Peacock Premium, YouTube Free, Peacock Premium Plus
    7.3

    7.4 · 4.9K votes
11. 11
    Eraserhead 1977

    Directed by David Lynch · Streaming on fuboTV, HBO Max, Philo
    7.3

    7.3 · 2.9K votes
12. 12
    Superman 1978

    Directed by Richard Donner · Streaming on HBO Max, YouTube TV
    7.2

    7.2 · 4.5K votes
13. 13
    Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978

    Directed by Philip Kaufman · Streaming on fuboTV, MGM+, Philo
    7.2

    7.2 · 1.4K votes
14. 14
    The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie 1979

    Directed by Chuck Jones
    7.0

    7.4 · 229 votes
15. 15
    The Andromeda Strain 1971

    Directed by Robert Wise
    7.0

    7.0 · 855 votes
16. 16
    Soylent Green 1973

    Directed by Richard Fleischer
    6.9

    6.9 · 1.5K votes
17. 17
    Westworld 1973

    Directed by Michael Crichton
    6.7

    6.8 · 1.5K votes
18. 18
    Colossus: The Forbin Project 1970

    Directed by Joseph Sargent
    6.7

    6.9 · 278 votes
19. 19
    Sleeper 1973

    Directed by Woody Allen
    6.7

    6.8 · 872 votes
20. 20
    Kaliman, the Incredible Man 1972

    Directed by Alberto Mariscal
    6.7

    7.4 · 82 votes
21. 21
    Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 1974

    Directed by Jun Fukuda · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel, Cinemax
    6.7

    6.9 · 308 votes
22. 22
    Mad Max 1979

    Directed by George Miller
    6.7

    6.7 · 5.2K votes
23. 23
    Capricorn One 1977

    Directed by Peter Hyams · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, The Roku Channel
    6.7

    6.8 · 534 votes
24. 24
    Time After Time 1979

    Directed by Nicholas Meyer · Streaming on Hoopla
    6.6

    6.8 · 404 votes
25. 25
    Adela Has Not Had Supper Yet 1978

    Directed by Oldřich Lipský · Streaming on Philo, Hoopla, Night Flight Plus
    6.6

    7.5 · 59 votes
26. 26
    Battlestar Galactica 1978

    Directed by Richard A. Colla
    6.6

    6.9 · 222 votes
27. 27
    The Brood 1979

    Directed by David Cronenberg · Streaming on HBO Max, Philo, Brew
    6.6

    6.7 · 851 votes
28. 28
    The Boys from Brazil 1978

    Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Kanopy
    6.6

    6.7 · 472 votes
29. 29
    Godzilla vs. Hedorah 1971

    Directed by Yoshimitsu Banno · Streaming on HBO Max, Criterion Channel, Cinemax
    6.6

    6.8 · 261 votes
30. 30
    Terror of Mechagodzilla 1975

    Directed by Ishirō Honda · Streaming on HBO Max, The Roku Channel, Criterion Channel
    6.6

    6.8 · 256 votes
31. 31
    The Stepford Wives 1975

    Directed by Bryan Forbes · Streaming on Mometu, Tubi TV
    6.6

    6.7 · 391 votes
32. 32
    The Medusa Touch 1978

    Directed by Jack Gold · Streaming on Pluto TV, YouTube Free, Plex
    6.6

    6.8 · 206 votes
33. 33
    Logan's Run 1976

    Directed by Michael Anderson · Streaming on Hoopla, YouTube TV, Plex Channel
    6.6

    6.6 · 1.1K votes
34. 34
    Chabelo y Pepito Detectives 1974

    Directed by José Estrada · Streaming on Pluto TV
    6.6

    7.8 · 36 votes
35. 35
    The Little Prince 1974

    Directed by Stanley Donen
    6.6

    6.9 · 129 votes
36. 36
    Scenes with Beans 1976

    Directed by Ottó Foky · Streaming on Eternal Family
    6.5

    7.6 · 39 votes
37. 37
    Great Mazinger vs. Getter Robo G: The Great Space Encounter 1975

    Directed by Masayuki Akehi
    6.5

    7.7 · 31 votes
38. 38
    Frankenstein: The True Story 1974

    Directed by Jack Smight
    6.5

    7.5 · 36 votes
39. 39
    Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack 1979

    Directed by Vince Edwards
    6.5

    7.0 · 70 votes
40. 40
    Galaxy Express 999: The Movie 1979

    Directed by Rintaro · Streaming on Crunchyroll
    6.5

    6.9 · 83 votes
41. 41
    Star Trek: The Motion Picture 1979

    Directed by Robert Wise · Streaming on fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
    6.5

    6.5 · 2K votes
42. 42
    Phantasm 1979

    Directed by Don Coscarelli · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, AMC+
    6.5

    6.5 · 819 votes
43. 43
    The Man Who Fell to Earth 1976

    Directed by Nicolas Roeg · Streaming on The Roku Channel, The CW, Kanopy
    6.4

    6.5 · 633 votes
44. 44
    THX 1138 1971

    Directed by George Lucas
    6.4

    6.4 · 1.1K votes
45. 45
    Slaughterhouse-Five 1972

    Directed by George Roy Hill · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
    6.4

    6.5 · 272 votes
46. 46
    The Six Million Dollar Man 1973

    Directed by Richard Irving
    6.4

    6.7 · 94 votes
47. 47
    Escape from the Planet of the Apes 1971

    Directed by Don Taylor
    6.4

    6.4 · 1.3K votes
48. 48
    Contact 1978

    Directed by Vladimir Tarasov
    6.4

    7.1 · 37 votes
49. 49
    The Incredible Hulk 1977

    Directed by Kenneth Johnson
    6.3

    6.5 · 170 votes
50. 50
    Godzilla 1977

    Directed by Luigi Cozzi
    6.3

    6.8 · 56 votes

Smart score = (votes × rating + 82 × 6.03) ÷ (votes + 82): the TMDB rating, pulled toward the catalog average as if every film had 82 extra average votes.

1. 1
   Terror of Frankenstein 1977

   Directed by Calvin Floyd · Streaming on The Roku Channel, Fawesome
   6.3

   8.2 · 12 votes
2. 2
   Space Battleship Yamato 1977

   Directed by Toshio Masuda
   6.3

   7.8 · 14 votes
3. 3
   Space Pirate Captain Harlock: Mystery Of The Arcadia 1978

   Directed by Rintaro
   6.3

   7.4 · 23 votes
4. 4
   Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato 1978

   Directed by Toshio Masuda
   6.3

   7.7 · 13 votes
5. 5
   Frankenstein 1973

   Directed by Glenn Jordan · Streaming on Hoopla, Tubi TV
   6.2

   7.3 · 16 votes
6. 6
   Future Boy Conan 1979

   Directed by Hajime Sato
   6.2

   7.6 · 11 votes
7. 7
   Capulina vs. the Mummies 1973

   Directed by Alfredo Zacarías · Streaming on Pluto TV
   6.2

   7.6 · 11 votes
8. 8
   Submersion of Japan 1973

   Directed by Shirō Moritani
   6.2

   7.0 · 22 votes
9. 9
   Frankenstein: A Love Story 1974

   Directed by Bob Thénault
   6.2

   7.5 · 10 votes
10. 10
    You Are a Widow, Sir 1971

    Directed by Václav Vorlíček · Streaming on Eternal Family
    6.2

    6.8 · 29 votes