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20 Surprisingly Feminist Sci-Fi Films

20 Surprisingly Feminist Sci-Fi Films

Alien

Release Date 1979
Rating : 8.5 Production Companies: Twentieth Century-Fox Productions, Brandywine Productions Director: Raymond Becket, Paul Ibbetson, Kay Fenton Stars: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright

Summary: During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.

Ex Machina

Release Date 2015
Rating : 7.7 Production Companies: DNA Films, Film4 Director: Gayle Dickie, Nick Heckstall-Smith, Tonje S. Rolland Stars: Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac

Summary: 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.

Aliens

Release Date 1986
Rating : 8.4 Production Companies: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, SLM Production Group Director: Diana Dill, James Cameron, Stan Winston Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen

Summary: Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo's deadly encounter with the monstrous Alien, returns to Earth after drifting through space in hypersleep for 57 years. Although her story is initially met with skepticism, she agrees to accompany a team of Colonial Marines back to LV-426.

Advantageous

Release Date 2015
Rating : 6.1 Production Companies: Good Neighbors Media, DK Entertainment Director: Jennifer Phang Stars: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams

Summary: In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter, Jules, do all they can to hold on to their joy, despite the instability surfacing in their world.

Arrival

Release Date 2016
Rating : 7.9 Production Companies: 21 Laps Entertainment, Lava Bear Director: Denis Villeneuve, Donald Sparks, Isabelle Faivre-Duboz Stars: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker

Summary: Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Release Date 2015
Rating : 8.1 Production Companies: Village Roadshow Pictures, Kennedy Miller Productions Director: George Miller, P.J. Voeten, Sophie Fabbri-Jackson Stars: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult

Summary: An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order.

Avatar

Release Date 2009
Rating : 7.9 Production Companies: 20th Century Fox, Ingenious Film Partners Director: Ana Maria Quintana, Luca Kouimelis, Sarah Hinch Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver

Summary: In the 22nd century, a paraplegic Marine is dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission, but becomes torn between following orders and protecting an alien civilization.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Release Date 1991
Rating : 8.6 Production Companies: Canal Plus, Lightstorm Entertainment Director: Joyce King, Terry Miller, Barry K. Thomas Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong

Summary: Set ten years after the events of the original, James Cameron’s classic sci-fi action flick tells the story of a second attempt to get the rid of rebellion leader John Connor, this time targeting the boy himself. However, the rebellion has sent a reprogrammed terminator to protect Connor.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Release Date 2013
Rating : 7.5 Production Companies: Lionsgate, Color Force Director: Francis Lawrence, Aldric La'Auli Porter, Ana Maria Quintana Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

Summary: Katniss Everdeen has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark. Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a "Victor's Tour" of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) - a competition that could change Panem forever.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

Release Date 2015
Rating : 6.5 Production Companies: Studio Babelsberg, Lionsgate Director: Francis Lawrence, Ana Maria Quintana, Charles Gibson Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

Summary: With the nation of Panem in a full scale war, Katniss confronts President Snow in the final showdown. Teamed with a group of her closest friends – including Gale, Finnick, and Peeta – Katniss goes off on a mission with the unit from District 13 as they risk their lives to stage an assassination attempt on President Snow who has become increasingly obsessed with destroying her. The mortal traps, enemies, and moral choices that await Katniss will challenge her more than any arena she faced in The Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

Release Date 2014
Rating : 6.6 Production Companies: Lionsgate, Color Force Director: Francis Lawrence, Ana Maria Quintana Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

Summary: Katniss Everdeen reluctantly becomes the symbol of a mass rebellion against the autocratic Capitol.

The Hunger Games

Release Date 2012
Rating : 7.2 Production Companies: Lionsgate, Color Force Director: Dawn Gilliam, Steven Soderbergh, Jon Kilik Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

Summary: Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. The world will be watching.

Gravity

Release Date 2013
Rating : 7.7 Production Companies: Warner Bros., Heyday Films Director: Laura Miles, Alfonso Cuarón, Marcia Gay Stars: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris

Summary: Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first Shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The Shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone-tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness of space. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.

Edge of Tomorrow

Release Date 2014
Rating : 7.9 Production Companies: Village Roadshow Pictures, Warner Bros. Director: Doug Liman, Lisa Vick, Caroline Bowker Stars: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton

Summary: Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again... and again - as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop.

Prometheus

Release Date 2012
Rating : 7 Production Companies: Dune Entertainment, Scott Free Productions Director: Amal Baggar, Annie Penn, Louise Wade Stars: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron

Summary: A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

Her

Release Date 2013
Rating : 8 Production Companies: Warner Bros., Annapurna Pictures Director: Tracy Scott, Spike Jonze, Robert E. Kay Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams

Summary: In the not so distant future, Theodore, a lonely writer, purchases a newly developed operating system designed to meet the user's every need. To Theodore's surprise, a romantic relationship develops between him and his operating system. This unconventional love story blends science fiction and romance in a sweet tale that explores the nature of love and the ways that technology isolates and connects us all.

Under the Skin

Release Date 2014
Rating : 6.3 Production Companies: Scottish Screen, UK Film Council Director: Nick Heckstall-Smith, Claire Hewitt, Jonathan Glazer Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams, Lynsey Taylor Mackay

Summary: A seductive stranger prowls the streets of Glasgow in search of prey: unsuspecting men who fall under her spell.

Lucy

Release Date 2014
Rating : 6.4 Production Companies: Universal Pictures, TF1 Films Production Director: Isabelle Querrioux, Luc Besson Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik

Summary: A woman, accidentally caught in a dark deal, turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Release Date 2015
Rating : 7.8 Production Companies: Lucasfilm Ltd., Truenorth Productions Director: J.J. Abrams, Gladys San Juan, Andrew Vanneck Stars: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher

Summary: Thirty years after defeating the Galactic Empire, Han Solo and his allies face a new threat from the evil Kylo Ren and his army of Stormtroopers.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Release Date 2022
Rating : 7.8 Production Companies: Lucasfilm Ltd., Walt Disney Pictures Director: Gareth Edwards, Josh Methven, Tamir Naber Stars: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk

Summary: A rogue band of resistance fighters unite for a mission to steal the Death Star plans and bring a new hope to the galaxy.