Best 80s sci-fi films

Practical effects, synth scores and futures that still look good. Every film here was released between 1980 and 1989. Every pick has a TMDB rating of 7.0 or more from at least 500 votes, and new releases wait until their ratings settle. The order follows the Boxlist quality score, and we checked the list by hand to remove obvious misfits.

1
Back to the Future (1985)
Film8.3
Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his...
US STARZ, Amazon Prime (rent), UK Amazon Prime, BBC
2
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Film7.5
After a gentle alien becomes stranded on Earth, the being is discovered and befriended by a young boy named Elliott.
US Hulu, Amazon Prime (rent), UK Netflix, NowTV
3
Aliens (1986)
Film7.9
When Ripley's lifepod is found by a salvage crew over 50 years later, she finds that terra-formers are on the very planet they found the alien...
US Hulu, Amazon Prime (rent), UK Disney, Amazon Prime (rent)
4
The Terminator (1984)
Film7.6
In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah...
US HBO, Amazon Prime (rent), UK ITV, Amazon Prime (rent)
5
Brazil (1985)
Film7.7
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...
US Amazon Prime (rent), Google Play (rent), UK iTunes (rent), Rakuten (buy)
6
Blade Runner (1982)
Film7.9
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...
US Amazon Prime (rent), Google Play (rent), UK Amazon Prime, NowTV
7
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Film8.4
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.
US Disney, Amazon Prime (rent), UK Disney, Amazon Prime (rent)
8
RoboCop (1987)
Film7.3
In a violent, near-apocalyptic Detroit, evil corporation Omni Consumer Products wins a contract from the city government to privatize the police...
US Amazon Prime, Tubi TV, UK ITV, Amazon Prime (rent)
9
WarGames (1983)
Film7.1
High School student David Lightman has a talent for hacking.
US AMC, MGM+, UK ITV, Amazon Prime (rent)
10
The Thing (1982)
Film8.0
Members of an American scientific research outpost in Antarctica find themselves battling a parasitic alien organism capable of perfectly...
US Amazon Prime (rent), iTunes (rent), UK Amazon Prime, ITV
11
Escape from New York (1981)
Film7.1
In the future, crime is out of control and New York City's Manhattan is a maximum security prison.
US Amazon Prime, IMDB TV, UK Mubi, Amazon Prime (rent)
12
The Abyss (1989)
Film7.3
A civilian oil rig crew is recruited to conduct a search and rescue effort when a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks.
US Disney, Hulu, UK Disney
13
Mad Max 2 (1981)
Film7.4
Max Rockatansky returns as the heroic loner who drives the dusty roads of a postapocalyptic Australian Outback in an unending search for gasoline.
US Amazon Prime (rent), iTunes (rent), UK Amazon Prime (rent), Chili (rent)
14
They Live (1988)
Film7.3
Nada, a wanderer without meaning in his life, discovers a pair of sunglasses capable of showing the world the way it truly is.
US Amazon Prime (rent), iTunes (rent), UK Amazon Prime (rent), Google Play (rent)
15
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Film7.5
It is the 23rd century. The Federation Starship U.S.S.
US Kanopy, Paramount+, UK Amazon Prime, NowTV
16
Re-Animator (1985)
Film7.1
A dedicated student at a medical college and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead...
UK Fullmoon
17
Predator (1987)
Film7.5
A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.
US AMC, Hulu, UK Disney, Amazon Prime (rent)
18
Videodrome (1983)
Film7.3
As the president of a trashy TV channel, Max Renn is desperate for new programming to attract viewers.
US Amazon Prime (rent), Google Play (rent), UK NowTV, Amazon Prime (rent)
19
The Dead Zone (1983)
Film7.0
Johnny Smith is a schoolteacher with his whole life ahead of him but, after leaving his fiancee's home one night, is involved in a car crash which...
US Amazon Prime (rent), iTunes (rent), UK Amazon Prime, Google Play (rent)