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Prime Video's 13 Best Sci-Fi Movies You Should Stream Right Now

Amazon's genre bin has some solid sci-fi treats.

Headshot of Aaron Pruner
Headshot of Aaron Pruner
Aaron Pruner Writer
Aaron covers what's exciting and new in the world of home entertainment and streaming TV. Previously, he wrote about entertainment for places like Rotten Tomatoes, Inverse, TheWrap and The Hollywood Reporter. Aaron is also an actor and stay-at-home dad, which means coffee is his friend.
Aaron Pruner
5 min read
Mary Elizabeth Winstead wears a sleeveless white shirt and looks at her phone.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars in 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Paramount Pictures

Prime Video has a lot of movies, many of which are solid options for your next movie night. Within the many pages of titles you'll find on Amazon, there are an assortment of sci-fi entries that stand out from the run-of-the-mill genre fare. I say this because I scrolled through the streamer's library, and many of the science fiction movies I found were absolutely missable.

That said, there is gold in them there hills. I rounded up a collection of worthy sci-fi movies to dig into. Mind you, these titles are all included with your Prime membership, so this list has nothing to do with add-on subscriptions or the films currently available for rent.

Every flavor of science fiction is at your disposal here. You want an alien invasion thriller or a dystopian drama? Prime Video has it. Seeing is believing, though. So, scroll on to find CNET's roundup of the best sci-fi movies currently on Prime Video. I'll regularly update this list, so be sure to check back each month.

Read more: Netflix's 28 Best Sci-Fi TV Shows to Stream Right Now

Universal Pictures

12 Monkeys

Terry Gilliam helmed this sci-fi mind-bender, and if you're at all familiar with the director's work, you know full well the type of twisted storytelling you're in for with this one. It's a time-travel thriller with Bruce Willis leading the way. I won't bore you with story specifics, but I will say, the movie is full of memorable visuals and scenes -- and Brad Pitt. Seriously, Pitt's performance is off-the-wall in the best way possible.

  • Director: Terry Gilliam
  • Stars: Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Madeleine Stowe, Christopher Plummer
  • Runtime: 129 min.
Paramount Pictures

10 Cloverfield Lane

This sleeper sci-fi flick was a covert spinoff of monster disaster movie Cloverfield. Most of the film takes place in a bunker and follows two people who are being held captive by a doomsday prepper convinced that the world is under attack. Spoiler: It is.

  • Director: Dan Trachtenberg
  • Stars: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr.
  • Runtime: 103 min.
Empire International Pictures

Re-Animator

You could absolutely consider Re-Animator to be a horror movie -- and it is. But the subject matter of life regeneration in this H.P. Lovecraft-inspired B-movie classic puts it in the sci-fi category, as well. It's campy, gory and peak '80s fun. You're welcome.

  • Director: Stuart Gordon
  • Stars: Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott, Barbara Crampton, David Gale
  • Runtime: 86 min.
Prime Video/Screenshot by CNET

Battle Royale

The Japanese cult classic takes place in a dystopian reality where high school students are forced by the government to go on a killing spree against each other until there's one survivor left. There have been a bunch of comparisons between this movie and other dystopian titles, like The Hunger Games, but Battle Royale stands the test of time for its extreme violence, dark humor and sociopolitical themes.

  • Director: Kinji Fukasaku
  • Stars: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto
  • Runtime: 114 min.
U.K. Film Council

Triangle

There are time loop movies, and then there's Triangle. This is a little underdog of a movie filled with enough twists and terror to keep you invested. Heck, it burrowed itself into my brain when I first saw it in 2009 and stayed there for a while. The movie follows a woman named Jess as she struggles to survive a killer on a deserted boat. Sounds simple enough, but things go haywire rather quickly.

  • Director: Christopher Smith
  • Stars: Melissa George, Joshua McIvor, Jack Taylor, Michael Dorman, Henry Nixon, Liam Hemsworth
  • Runtime: 99 min.
20th Century Studios

Highlander

Highlander follows an immortal man named Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) who faces off in a centuries-long battle against five immortal enemies in the streets of New York City. This movie is peak '80s sci-fi, which means if you're looking for an action movie that leans heavily into the schlocky absurdity of the genre, this is the title for you.

  • Director: Russell Mulcahy
  • Stars: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Roxanne Hart, Clancy Brown
  • Runtime: 111 min.
Warner Bros.

Mickey 17

Mickey 17 takes place in a reality where disposable employees are created to perform tasks too dangerous for humans. The story follows Mickey 17 on his mission to help colonize an icy world called Niflheim. A clone of his, Mickey 18, is accidentally brought into being, resulting in an off-beat exploration of humanity, classism and colonialism. What else would you expect from director Bong Joon Ho?

  • Director: Bong Joon Ho
  • Stars: Robert Pattinson, Anamaria Vartolomei, Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, Steven Yeun, Samuel Blenkin, Holliday Grainger, Patsy Ferran
  • Runtime: 139 min.
Cara Howe/Warner Bros.

Companion

What happens if you find your true love and devote yourself to him, only to learn that it's not of free will, but your programming? That's the conundrum Iris finds herself in when she discovers she's actually a robot companion and not a human. Her owner, Josh, turns out to be quite a piece of work, leading to a fight for survival from her perspective. It's a funny, dramatic and action-packed movie that explores themes of misogyny, toxic relationships and AI.

  • Director: Drew Hancock
  • Stars: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Rupert Friend, Harvey Guillén
  • Runtime: 97 min.
Relativity Media/Screenshot

Limitless

What if there were a pill that could turn any person into a hyperintelligent super genius? Limitless aims to answer that question. The movie stars Bradley Cooper as Eddie Morra, a down-on-his-luck writer who takes the untested drug and uses it to massively level up his life. Of course, what goes up must come down, and Eddie soon finds out that sometimes, it's best to leave mysterious meds alone.

  • Director: Neil Burger
  • Stars: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish, Johnny Whitworth, Andrew Howard, Hill Harper, Richard Bekins, Daniel Breaker, Robert John Burke
  • Runtime: 105 min.
Amazon Prime Video

The Tomorrow War

Chris Pratt stars in this action movie that follows a group of soldiers who travel back in time to warn of a future where humanity is losing the war against an army of alien invaders. Mankind's only hope lies in a group of would-be heroes who are tapped to travel to the future in order to save the present.

  • Director: Chris McKay
  • Stars: Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, Betty Gilpin, Jasmine Mathews, Sam Richardson, J.K. Simmons
  • Runtime: 138 min.
Paramount Pictures

A Quiet Place: Day One

A Quiet Place: Day One takes audiences back to the very beginning of the alien invasion. While it may not be a necessary entry in the franchise -- like, say, 10 Cloverfield Lane -- the movie digs its heels into the human experience amid an otherworldly cataclysmic disaster. Come for the disaster, stay for the cute cat.

  • Director: Michael Samoski
  • Stars: Joseph Quinn, Lupita Nyong'o, Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, Thea Butler, Denis O'Hare 
  • Runtime: 99 min.
City Films

Escape From New York

In John Carpenter's postapocalyptic cult classic, it's 1997 in New York and the city has been ravaged by war. Manhattan has been turned into a giant walled-in prison. After the president is taken hostage, former Special Forces officer (and current prisoner) Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is recruited to save the day in return for his own freedom.

  • Director: John Carpenter
  • Stars: Kurt Russell, Adrienne Barbeau, Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasence, Harry Dean Stanton, Ernest Borgnine, Isaak Hayes, Frank Doubleday
  • Runtime: 99 min.
Newmarket Films

Donnie Darko

This mind-bending cult classic stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a misunderstood high schooler who, after seemingly surviving a horrific accident, begins traveling through time. In the process, he discovers the joy of being alive and in love. Themes of depression, repression and alternative universes fill this delightfully bizarre film. Also, let's not forget that giant demon bunny named Frank.

  • Director: Richard Kelly
  • Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Seth Rogen, Jena Malone, Patrick Swayze, Mary McDonnell, Noah Wyle
  • Runtime: 113 min.