10 Underrated Sci-Fi Movies With Great Acting, Ranked

Science fiction is a genre that is constantly presenting new ideas to audiences, so it is not all that surprising that some of its best films weren’t given the credit that they deserve when they were first released. While there are certainly classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner that were almost immediately recognized to be works of genius, it has taken many years for some more underrated films to be recognized as game changing works of art.

Although many would suggest that the genre succeeds because of impressive visual effects or strong work from the makeup department, every great science fiction film needs compelling characters and performances in order to ensure that the audience has a strong emotional connection with the flights of fantasy that they are watching. Here are ten underrated science fiction movies with great acting, ranked.

10 ‘Escape from the Planet of the Apes’ (1971)

Directed by Don Taylor

Escape from the Planet of the Apes is one of the more unusual installments in the Planet of the Apes franchise, as it is essentially a zany work of socio-political satire that lacks the action-adventure elements that had engaged viewers in the first two installments in the series. Escape from the Planet of the Apes stars Roddy McDowell and Kim Hunter as two ape scientists who travel from the future to connect with mankind, and end up discovering the source of their genocide.

McDowell and Hunter manage to feel like a believable couple, as none of the makeup in the film can distract from the genuine sense of affection that appears to be building between them. It’s a rare trick that the Planet of the Apes franchise is able to get the viewers to root against the human characters, and that is all due to the great acting for the performers cast as the apes.

Watch on Hulu

9 ‘Monsters’ (2010)

Directed by Gareth Edwards

Monsters was an impressive directorial debut from Gareth Edwards, who would go on to helm massive works of spectacle like Godzilla, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Creator, and the upcoming next installment in the Jurassic Park franchise. While Edwards’ subsequent films would be accused of putting too much emphasis on style over substance, Monsters tells an intimate story about a journalist (Scoot McNairy) trying to get a woman over the Mexican border in the midst of an alien invasion.

McNairy is able to perfectly capture the persona of a reluctant hero, who is deeply traumatized by certain tragedies in his past. While McNairy is often thought of as a “character actor” who tends to pop up in supporting roles in larger projects, Monsters proved that he had the ability to deliver a heartbreaking lead performance in a science fiction thriller.

Watch on Tubi

8 ‘The Discovery’ (2017)

Directed by Charlie McDowell

The Discovery is a highly underrated science fiction drama that asks existential questions about the nature of the afterlife. Robert Redford stars as a brilliant scientist who has become a recluse after admitting to hae discovered scientific proof of the afterlife, which incited a global suicide pandemic; things change when his adult son (Jason Segel) and an enigmatic woman (Rooney Mara) come to visit him on a reclusive island.

The Discovery examined what life is like in a dysfunctional household, with Redford perfectly cast as an acclaimed genius who has to deal with the public support that he has received from strangers. While Segel is often thought of as a more comedic performer due to his early career work, he gives a thoroughly compelling dramatic performance as a man wrestling with his complex feelings about the family legacy that he has inherited.

Watch on Netflix

7 ‘Youth Without Youth’ (2007)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Youth Without Youth is a highly ambitious science fiction romance that showed an experimental side to director Francis Ford Coppola, even though he is most often associated with The Godfather trilogy and his other work from the 1970s. Tim Roth stars as an aging professor who is given the opportunity to return to a younger body in the days leading up to the beginning of World War II.

Roth is able to give a grounded emotional performance that makes the romance at the heart of Youth Without Youth feel authentic; even if the film itself gets into increasingly strange territory as it grows more ambiguous. Youth Without Youth can’t entirely be classified as either a period romance or a time travel adventure, but Roth delivers a complex performance as an aging genius that is somehow befitting of both respective genres.

Watch on Prime Video

6 ‘Iceman’ (1984)

Directed by Fred Schepisi

Iceman is one of the more underrated science fiction films of the 1980s because it engaged with interesting ideas about scientific discovery, and ignored some of the more action-adventure elements that are often associated with the genre. Timothy Hutton stars as a brilliant scientist who discovers that a prehistoric caveman named Charlie (John Lone) has been captured in the ice for thousands of years.

Iceman imagines how interacting with a prehistoric person might look like, and it is to the credit of the film that this never feels laughable. Hutton was a teen icon who was able to reinvent his image by taking on a more mature and intelligent role, but it was Lone’s physical commitment to an admittedly unusual role that ended up ensuring that the concept of Iceman was able to sustain the focus of a narrative feature.

Rent on Amazon

5 ‘Cargo’ (2018)

Directed by Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke

Cargo is one of the best zombie films in recent years because it is more focused on an individual family trying to survive, rather than attempting to chart the entire downfall of humanity. Martin Freeman gives one of his best performances ever as a struggling father who tries to keo his infant daughter safe in the Australian outback, even after his wife has been infected with a zombie bite.

Freeman is able to capture the pressures of parenthood in a compelling way, as he is caught between trying to do things for the good of humanity and making decisions that will benefit his child. It’s a brilliant performance that makes the concept of a zombie invasion feel all the more plausible, as Freeman is able to capture a crisis of confidence that almost anyone would be able to relate to.

Watch on Netflix

4 ‘1984’ (1984)

Directed by Michael Radford

1984 is based on the groundbreaking novel by George Orwell that was heralded for generations as being the epitome of what stories about a dystopian future would look like. While the novel’s popularity meant that director Michael Radford was going to be faced with significant expectations when approaching his adaptation, the cinematic version of 1984 succeeds thanks to the brilliant performance by John Hurt as Winston Smith, a lowly worker who has grown up to fear the “Big Brother” that is watching all citizens.

Hurt perfectly conveys the feelings of a man whose soul has been beaten into submission, as Smith and all the other citizens have been told to give up any unique qualities that would in any way distinguish them. Hurt’s exploration of how someone attempts to survive under a totalitarian regime makes 1984 a brilliant adaptation that has many startling parallels to today’s world.

Watch on MGM+

3 ‘Finch’ (2021)

Directed by Miguel Sapochnik

Finch is a very charming science fiction buddy adventure that was sadly ignored for the most part upon its initial release, as Apple TV+ doesn’t generally do a great job at marketing their original programming. Tom Hanks stars as a lonely recluse in the post-apocalypse that tends to his dog with the help of a robot, played in motion capture by Caleb Landry Jones.

Hanks is known as “America’s dad” for a reason, as he is able to portray figures of integrity with a sense of authenticity that makes him very compelling. Hanks was admittedly given a challenging task in having to play the only identifiable human character in Finch, but the strong work that Jones does with the motion capture technology ensures that the friendship at the heart of the story feels very realistic. It’s a shame that Finch was not given a theatrical release.

Watch on Apple TV+

2 ‘Transit’ (2018)

Directed by Christian Petzold

Transit is a brilliant speculative science fiction film that examines modern day Germany trying to survive the rise of another fascist regime that resembles that of the Nazi party during World War II. Unlike most other war films, Transit is focused on a refugee played by Franz Rogowski that attempts to get himself to safety whilst contacting other survivors.

Transit takes an unusual approach to its subject material, but there’s not a significant barrier to entry emotionally because Rogowski is able to bring a universal sense of fear to his performance. Although the specifics of the situation are a bit strange due to the use of modern architecture, Transit captures the feelings of guilt and anxiety that survivors feel as they attempt to both save themselves and find other victims in the midst of a totalitarian takeover of a previously democratic state.

Watch on Prime Video

1 ‘Southland Tales’ (2007)

Directed by Richard Kelly

Southland Tales is a brilliant work of science fiction satire, and while it was initially dismissed as a disaster upon its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006, has now come to predict many of the real ways in which the United States has evolved in the aftermath of the George W. Bush presidency.

Dwayne Johnson gives arguably his best performance, as he plays a nervous action star who realizes he is at the center of a conspiracy to help overthrow a totalitarian regime. Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar gives a terrific performance as an adult film star involved in an activist movement, and Justin Timberlake has a scene-stealing role as a drug-addicted soldier. Other memorable character actors that appear in the film are Sean William Scott, Mandy Moore, Amy Poehler, Wallace Shawn, and Christopher Lambert.

Watch on Prime Video

KEEP READING: The 10 Best Samuel L. Jackson Supporting Performances, Ranked