10 Greatest Sci‑Fi Movie Masterpieces of the '60s, Ranked

Throughout the 1960s cinema worldwide went through dramatic changes that reshaped genre filmmaking, and science fiction emerged as more original, experimental and transgressive than it had been before.

The decade produced everything from underappreciated cult classics like Mothra vs. Godzilla to groundbreaking tentpoles such as The Face of Another, with films that span chilling allegory in Village of the Damned to the campy charm and Oscar-winning effects of The Time Machine.

At the top sits 2001: A Space Odyssey, a far and away ambitious, slow-burning and thematically sprawling epic—colorful, poetic, mostly scientifically accurate and philosophically profound—a film many consider the most perfect sci-fi movie ever made.

Other highlights, from La Jetée and Seconds to Planet of the Apes, Alphaville and I Love You, I Love You, demonstrate just how rich and varied science fiction was in the '60s and why the decade remains essential viewing for fans of the genre.

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