The best sci-fi movies on Max include Dune: Part Two, War for the Planet of the Apes, Inception, Terminator Salvation, Escape From LA, Source Code, and more.
May was another quiet month for science fiction lovers on Max with one big exception. Dune: Part Two arrived this month, and it’s not only the top sci-fi film of 2024 — it’s one of the biggest hits of the year as well. Now, for the first time anywhere, Max has both of the modern Dune films, as well as the 1984 adaptation by David Lynch.
Beyond that franchise, we’re also putting a spotlight on War for the Planet of the Apes and Inception this month, as both are rightfully regarded as some of the best genre films of the century. The rest of this list is also pretty impressive, as you’ll see when you look over our roundup of the best sci-fi movies on Max.
In need of some more streaming recommendations? We also have guides to the best movies on Max, the best shows on Max, and what’s new on HBO and Max that are worth looking through.Dune: Part Two
Year: 2024
Runtime: 2 hours, 46 minutes
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Box office hits have been few and far between in 2024, but Dune: Part Two did so well that it secured a future for the third film, Dune: Messiah. Timothée Chalamet reprises his as Paul Atreides, the last living male heir of his house following the destruction of his family by House Harkonnen. Now living among the Fremen with his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), Paul quickly wins the admiration of his new tribe. And several of their number believe that Paul is a figure of prophecy who will lead them to reclaim their world.
One of the few Fremen who refuses to bow to Paul is Chani (Zendaya), the young woman who loves him. Elvis‘ Austin Butler co-stars as Feyd-Rautha, an even more ruthless member of House Harkonnen who stands in the way of Paul’s ascension. Even if Paul can defeat Feyd-Rautha, his victory may have dire consequences for the entire universe.War for the Planet of the Apes
Year: 2017
Runtime: 2 hours, 21 minutes
Director: Matt Reeves
It’s easy to understand why Caesar (Andy Serkis) is so angry with humanity in War for the Planet of the Apes. Every attempt that Caesar has made to establish peace with humans has failed, and now his wife and oldest child are the latest victims in the war. In order to deliver his apes to a sanctuary, Caesar and his closest allies, Maurice (Karin Konoval), Rocket (Terry Notary), and Luca (Michael Adamthwaite), attempt to lead the human militia away.
However, the Colonel (Woody Harrelson) won’t rest until the apes are fully suppressed. Despite being disllusioned with humanity, Caesar reluctantly bonds with a young mute girl named Nova (Amiah Miller) who may hold the key to victory in the war for this world.Inception
Year: 2010
Runtime: 2 hours, 29 minutes
Director: Christopher Nolan
In the context of Inception, the title refers to the process of breaking into someone’s mind and implanting an idea that lets the victim believe it was their notion all along. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) knows inception is real, because he’s done it … and paid the price for his actions. Now, Dom works as a corporate thief who hacks the minds of his victims and enters their dreams to steal their secrets.
A Japanese businessman named Saito (Ken Watanabe) gives Dom the nearly impossible assignment of entering the mind of Robert Fischer (Oppenheimer‘s Cillian Murphy) and convincing him to break up his father’s empire. If Dom and his new team succeed, he might even be able to reunite with his family. Unfortunately for Dom, he’s haunted and hunted by an apparition of his wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), every time he enters someone else’s mind.Terminator Salvation
Year: 2009
Runtime: 1 hour, 55 minutes
Director: McG
No one besides James Cameron has been able to crack the perfect Terminator sequel, but Terminator Salvation is a lot better than everything else that came after Terminator 2. That’s because this film doesn’t rehash the plot of the first two movies. Instead, it places audiences in the future world that was only glimpsed in the previous films. Christian Bale stars as John Connor, a solider who is having a hard time living up to predictions that he would be the savior of mankind in the war against the machines. John is also alarmed that the A.I. known as Skynet is targeting his father, Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), as if the machines are aware of how his fate is tied with John’s.
Meanwhile, Marcus Wright (Avatar 3‘s Sam Worthington) emerges as the wild card in the war between humanity and the machines. Marcus doesn’t initially realize it, but he’s been transformed into a half-Terminator hybrid. And his choices will determine which side will triumph in a key battle for the future.Escape From L.A.
Year: 1996
Runtime: 1 hour, 41 minutes
Director: John Carpenter
Escape From L.A. isn’t as good as Escape From New York, but it’s better than no escape at all! In this alternate future, Los Angeles has become an isolated island where President Adam (Cliff Robertson) sends all of the dissidents and criminals in the nation. This backfires on Adam when his own daughter, Utopia (A.J. Langer), steals the key to America’s ultimate satellite weapons system and flees to Los Angeles.
Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is blackmailed into going to Los Angeles to retreive the device at all costs. Once inside, Plissken will encounter at least one old friend, a few potential allies, and a lot of new enemies. In other words, it’s a pretty ordinary week for Plissken.Source Code
Year: 2011
Runtime: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Director: Duncan Jones
If we told you what the Source Code is supposed to be in Source Code, then it would ruin the big surprise of the movie. So instead, we’ll just tell you that Captain Colter Stevens (Road House star Jake Gyllenhaal) is very confused. The last thing he knew, he was on a combat mission in Afghanistan. Now he’s on a commuter train in Chicago with another man’s face staring back at him in the mirror.
Colter also encounters his friend, Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan), on the train before it blows up, over and over again. The only way for Colter to break out of this time loop is to find whoever put the bomb on the train. And he only has a few minutes each time before the cycle reaches its conclusion.Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey
Year: 1991
Runtime: 1 hour, 34 minutes
Director: Pete Hewitt
America’s favorite time-traveling nitwits return in Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, and they’re even funnier when they’re dead! It’s true, Bill S. Preston, Esq (Alex Winter) and Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) end up getting murdered by their exact robot duplicates from the future before being sent on a one-way trip to the afterlife.
Fortunately, Death (William Sadler) turns out to be a big pushover and Bill and Ted don’t stay dead for very long. But they will need some more help to defeat their evil robots and change the future, especially since their music still isn’t good enough to change the world.Dune (1984)
Year: 1984
Runtime: 2 hours, 17 minutes
Director: David Lynch
Four decades ago, David Lynch made his attempt to adapt Frank Herbert’s Dune for the big screen. And unlike the recent Dune movies, Lynch had to fit the entire novel into a single film. So if it all seems a bit rushed, that’s why.
Lynch’s future Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan plays Paul Atreides, the young heir to House Atreides and the potential savior of the Fremen people. When Paul’s family is betrayed and murdered by their enemies, he and his mother, Lady Jessica (Francesca Annis), take refuge among the Fremen. Over time, Paul not only becomes a leader of the Fremen,but he also believes that he really is their chosen one as he leads a revolution against the Emperor of the universe, Shaddam IV (José Ferrer).Godzilla
Year: 2014
Runtime: 2 hours, 4 minutes
Director: Gareth Edwards
Godzilla Minus One may be the Oscar winner in Big G’s family tree, but the 2014 reboot of Godzilla successfully launched the MonsterVerse that’s still going. However, Godzilla has fought King Kong and teamed up with him, so there may not be many places left for the MonsterVerse to go.
Regardless, director Gareth Edwards did a great job of restoring Godzilla’s grandeur, especially after the awful 1998 American reboot with Matthew Broderick. Godzilla doesn’t get much screen time here until the movie is almost half over, but he’s worth the wait. And the film gives Godzilla a pair of monstrous foes whom even he can barely handle on his own.9
Year: 2009
Runtime: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Director: Shane Acker
The movie 9 is an animated sci-fi story that’s been largely forgotten in the 15 years since its release. The story takes place in the future, as a soulless creation called the Fabrication Machine has decimated humanity and the entire world. The Scientist (Alan Oppenheimer) who created the machine realizes that only creations with a soul may stand a chance against it. So he creates nine stitchpunks that each carry different aspects of his personality and soul.
9 (Elijah Wood) is perhaps the most humanlike of all the stitchpunks,who also include 7 (Jennifer Connelly), 2 (Martin Landau), 5 (John C. Reilly), and 6 (Crispin Glover).
