If you just saw Ready Player One, chances are you’re jonesing for more mind-boggling sci-fi action (like we are).
Thankfully, Ready Player One is just a single movie in a long filmography of video game-inspired sci-fi flicks.
To celebrate the movie’s reception (and give you more to watch), here’s eleven classic sci-fi movies that every video game fan needs to see.
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In Ready Player One, humanity escapes into a simulation. But what if we’re already living in a simulation – before we enter a simulation? Neo (Keanu Reeves), famously explores this question in one of the best sci-fi movies of all time: The Matrix.
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Denis Villeneuve took on a huge responsibility when he decided to make a sequel to Blade Runner, Ridley Scott’s 1984 cult classic.
He did not let us down. Blade Runner 2049 released last year to acclaim from critics and fans alike, and even won two Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects.
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Another ‘80s sci-fi reboot that did it right was Tron: Legacy in 2010.
Tron: Legacy follows Sam (Garrett Hedlund), the son of video game designer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges). Sam ends up getting pulled into his father’s most famous creation, a video game called Tron, where his father has been trapped for 20 years.
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Ender’s Game is set in the unspecified future where young video game enthusiasts are recruited to defend earth from an invading alien species called Formics.
Among them is Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), an especially gifted recruit who becomes the apprentice to the legendary general Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley).
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After the huge success of
, Arnold Schwarzenegger took on another sci-fi role in The Running Man. It’s not as well-known than some of his bigger movies, but it’s a must-watch for real fans.
The Running Man is set in 2019 when America has fallen under totalitarian rule. The nation’s favorite TV program is “The Running Man”, a game show that offers prisoners freedom if they can escape execution.
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One of the first movies to explore the implications of video games was The Last Starfighter in 1984.
When normal teen Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) achieves the highest score on Starfighter, he’s recruited to be an alien-fighting pilot on a far away planet.
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When video game designer Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is targeted by a group of assassins, she and her marketing trainee, Ted (Jude Law), must go on the run to save the game.
In a mission that ends up blurring the lines of reality, the two end up playing the game in order to save it.
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Probably the best new sci-fi movie of the decade is The Hunger Games, which follows Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) as she competes in a deadly competition between lower class citizens.
The film adaptation of the best-selling book series made a huge splash on the big screen, and made Jennifer Lawrence a world-wide superstar in the process.
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The Thirteenth Floor starts out as a murder mystery but quickly turns into something much more ominous. The result is a film that explores reality and manipulated perception in a fascinating, entertaining way.
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Dr. Lawrence Angelo (Pierce Brosnan) is working on a new intelligence-enhancing system that combines a pill and a computer program. Lawrence tests out his invention on mentally disabled landscaper, Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey), making Jobe smarter and much better with the ladies.
But things go awry when Jobe gets smart enough to realize he’s being used, and seeks revenge.
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Metaphysics gets a twist in The Congress, a 2013 sci-fi film starring Jon Hamm and Robin Wright as herself… sorf of.
After two decades of stardom (beginning with The Princess Bride), Robin Wright decides to preserve herself digitally, so she can be in movies forever.
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