6 Best Sci-Fi Flicks That Are Actually War Movies

Science fiction movies are popular with viewers because of how far they are from reality, but at the same time, these movies go around highlighting the most real issues there can be.

Most sci-fi movies focus on the world in a future full of technological development, often offering the take on humanity completely changing its lifestyle or even the planet's habitat.

Sometimes, and quite often, the premises of the movies also revolve around some sort of battle between robots/cars/aliens/inhuman creatures and humans themselves.

Well, it's easy to say that any armed confrontation in a sci-fi movie makes it a war movie. And here we have six examples of the best of them.

1. Avatar ( 2009)

Well, of course we will start with James Cameron 's masterpiece. Avatar is a movie that broke so many records after it was released in 2009 and became a real hit among viewers and critics. The movie introduces us to the nation called Na'Vi, who live in their own world Pandora, which is nothing like the human world.

At the center of the story is ex-Marine Jake Sully, who becomes part of a project and enters the world as another avatar, only to end up rooting for the creatures and becoming an important tool in the war between humans and the Na'Vi. Cameron made sure that the battle scenes would be graphic and leave the viewers speechless.

2. Aliens (1986)

Another movie created by James Cameron, but long before Avatar saw the light of day. His movie expands Ridley Scott 's Alien with a bigger story and a wider world. At the center of the movie is Ellen Ripley, who returns to the planet LV-426 with a team of Marines to fight the deadly Xenomorphs.

“It's one of the best examples of a genre change in a franchise that nailed it. "Alien" was a "Monster In The House" sci-fi horror movie. "Aliens" sees Ripley come back to kick ass in a sci-fi action setup with just enough overlap so it still feels like a connected world,” Redditor 22marks said.

3. Edge of Tomorrow ( 2014)

Doug Liman's film is based on a Japanese comic and stars Tom Cruise as Major William Cage. The role is actually one of his most popular. In the movie, Cage finds himself stuck in a time loop, repeating the same day of battle against brutal alien invaders.

Alongside him is Emily Blunt 's Rita Vrataski, a legendary war hero with whom Cage must team up to finally win the war in at least one time period. The movie brilliantly blends two genres, and in the end we get an action-packed war movie with an unlikely premise.

4. Tenet (2020)

Christopher Nolan 's highly acclaimed film is another perfect example of the sci-fi/war movie hybrid. Released in 2020, it follows an unidentified main character who discovers a time-shifting technology used by a Russian oligarch who is about to unleash a global catastrophe.

The audience loves the movie because of all the original time concept tools that make the war take place in two parallel time periods. Nolan's creation really gives us a fresh take on the hybrid genre.

“I really like this movie. I find it captivating and very well made. Especially for a time-travel movie, since these kinds of movies easily show problems in their rules of time-travel. This movie managed to remain true to its rules from start to finish, without any easy way out,” Redditor Reyin3 said.

5. Independence Day (1996)

The 1996 film, created by acclaimed director Roland Emmerich, follows Earth in a scenario where it's invaded by aliens. But these creatures are surprisingly super evolved and technologically advanced.

The main characters are brilliantly played by Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum. This movie, despite all the chills and thrills, also has another tool that turns it into a war movie – the political action. We also get to see all the decision making that always happens before a big battle starts.

6. Pacific Rim (2013)

The fans of Guillermo del Toro 's works have definitely seen this one and will find it obvious that the movie ended up in this list. Pacific Rim follows the battle of a lifetime between the dangerous creatures called Kaiju that have invaded Earth and humans.

In order to save the planet, humans started their fight back with gigantic robots called Jaegers, piloted by skilled warriors in Pacific Rim.