The best 50s sci-fi movies (Image Credit: Space.com)
What are the best 50s sci-fi movies? During what is widely considered as the atomic age of science and technology, it’s no surprise that the 1950s was also responsible for some of the finest examples of the sci-fi movie genre. Aside from the impeccably eye-catching movie posters that represented the titles, the genre-bending enthusiasm of the decade truly brought sci-fi to life on the big screen.
It’s easy to judge the special effects for not being that special given what we’ve become accustomed to in the modern day, but it’d be foolish to ignore how groundbreaking they were for their time. What these ten 1950s sci-fi movies achieved paved the way for a multitude of movies that followed, and continue to follow. If you’re looking to build up your knowledge of the sci-fi movie genre and have yet to visit the 50s on that voyage, the list below is where you want to start. And, when you’re continuing your adventure, be sure to visit the best 80s sci-fi movies, as well as the best sci-fi movies of all time.
If you want to explore the best of what’s out there now, you can always scroll through our comprehensive guides to the best sci-fi movies and TV shows to stream on Disney Plus, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Paramount Plus.
10. It Came from Outer Space
- Release date: June 5, 1953
- Cast: Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush, Charles Drake, and more
- Director: Jack Arnold
- RT score: 85% critics, 55% audience
The first instance of leading 50s sci-fi director, Jack Arnold, on our list and the first movie ever in 3D from Universal-International, It Came from Outer Space explores the suspicious goings-on of an unidentified object crashing down to Earth, witnessed only by amateur astronomer, John (Richard Carlson) and his fiancee, Ellen (Barbara Rush). The out-of-this-world occurrence becomes hidden under a landslide and when John reports it, nobody believes him, until strange things start to happen to the residents.
Unlike many tales of alien encounters in the sci-fi genre, these ones do come in peace. But, the unraveling of their influence on the townsfolk quickly turns hostile. It falls on John to act as a mediator between humanity and otherworldly beings. This title was applauded for its 3D process, special effects, and the bleary lens aspect of the alien’s own vision that was unconventional for its time.
9. When Worlds Collide
- Release date: November 15, 1951
- Cast: Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen, and more
- Director: Rudolph Maté
- RT score: 81% critics, 63% audience
In true apocalyptic fashion, a star is doomed to crash into Earth and destroy all of humanity. The only saving grace is the planet Zyra and a small group set to escape via a rocket, or a ‘space ark’, to continue life elsewhere. While there are no outright monsters, aliens, or any other sci-fi ‘villain’ threat, it’s the suspense-building and fight for survival that brings tension and thrill throughout this picture.
There’s also a distinct focus on human relationships and clashing personalities when deciding what to do when the entire world’s fate is at risk. And yet, there’s still time for a blossoming love between the main stars, Joyce (Barbara Rush) and pilot David Randall (Richard Derr). A cartoon-y ending is not what you might expect, but it’s certainly worth a watch.
8. Journey to the Center of the Earth
- Release date: December 16, 1959
- Cast: James Mason, Pat Boone, Arlene Dahl, and more
- Director: Henry Levin
- RT score: 84% critics, 69% audience
Prolific French writer, Jules Verne, is the inspiration behind many movie adaptations, but notable for the sci-fi genre, is his work of the same name, Journey to the Center of the Earth. Swapping Hamburg for Edinburgh, director Henry Levin boldly went where no one had gone before, although many have since.
Following a professor and his colleagues, the group heads to the Earth’s center by entering an extinct Icelandic volcano. The wonderfully bizarre special effects show the adventurers tackling lots of monsters, including giant lizards (a must-see), unforgiving terrain, and, unfortunately for them, a villain character in the pursuing scientist, Count Saknussemm.
7. The War of the Worlds
- Release date: August 26, 1953
- Cast: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne, and more
- Director: Byron Haskin
- RT score: 89% critics, 71% audience
Firstly a famed sci-fi novel by H.G. Wells, you may be inclined to think primarily of the 2005 Steven Spielberg adaptation starring Tom Cruise, and we wouldn’t blame you. But, before that, The War of the Worlds found its first lease of life on the big screen in 1953. Moving the plot from Victorian-era England to California was its first foray away from the book, and many more followed, but the premise remained the same. An alien invasion of epic proportions threatens human existence and the world goes to war, but brute force and weaponry are no match for the aliens. So, it falls upon scientists Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) and Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson) to figure out a way to destroy them before it’s too late.
It’s earned itself a place in history with both an Academy Award for its visual effects and a place in the National Film Registry after being deemed “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant.” If you’re not intrigued now by this sci-fi movie, we’re not sure what else we can do.
6. The Thing from Another World
- Release date: April 6, 1951
- Cast: Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, James Arness, and more
- Director: Christian Nyby and Howard Hawks
- RT score: 87% critics, 73% audience
Often referred to as just ‘The Thing’, but not to ultimately be confused with the 1982 remake, which features in our best 80s sci-fi movies, The Thing from Another World is the original movie adaptation of the novella, “Who Goes There?” These days it’ll be praised for the blueprint it laid out for the ever-more-famous remake from director John Carpenter, but it famously marks the beginning of alien invasion movies as we have come to know and love them.
In the icy terrain of the Arctic, a group of U.S. Air Force crew members and scientists find a crashed UFO and a body encased in ice. Taking the body back to the nearby outpost, the horror truly unfolds as what they thought was in the ice turns out to be a living nightmare. It’s epic in its scope and excels with the simplicity yet sheer terror that it pulls off.
5. The Incredible Shrinking Man
- Release date: February 22, 1957
- Cast: Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, and more
- Director: Jack Arnold
- RT score: 83% critics, 82% audience
Another entry from director, Jack Arnold, this time with the tale of Scott, a man who, after being encompassed in a strange fog on holiday, finds himself to be… you guessed it, shrinking. As Scott becomes ever smaller, his existential dread only grows.
Trick photography was key to pulling this movie off and while it’s not totally convincing, it’s still incredibly impressive, paired alongside Arnold’s directorial prowess and dedication to the miniature work and special effects. While movie remakes have been dreamt up in modern times for more shrinking madness, it’s not been achieved. And although test audiences in the 50s voted for a different ending, Arnold stuck by it.
4. Them!
- Release date: June 18, 1954
- Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, and more
- Director: Gordon Douglas
- RT score: 93% critics, 77% audience
In a unique sci-fi tale of its time, Them! is a monster movie at its finest. The threat? Gigantic irradiated ants uncovered in the desert dunes of New Mexico. After their nest is found, they quickly become a national threat that instills fear in humanity with their clicking sound and sheer crawl-and-crush size.
As a movie full of dread and big ol’ ants unravels, it all eventually culminates in a huge, exciting finale battle scene in the spillways and storm drains of Los Angeles that’s worthy of watching this movie alone. It’s the tension-building of the entire movie that crescendos into this point that truly makes it what it is.
3. Forbidden Planet
- Release date: March 3, 1956
- Cast: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, and more
- Director: Fred M. Wilcox
- RT score: 92% critics, 85% audience
We mentioned earlier that a standout feature of the 1950s sci-fi genre was its famed movie posters. Forbidden Planet is arguably one of the most iconic, featuring Robby the Robot, who is also arguably one of the best things about the movie.
Compared heavily to Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the movie focuses on a father and daughter, Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and Altaira (Anne Francis), who have been isolated on a remote planet (not an island, like Shakespeare). On Altair IV, the crew, led by Commander John J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen) begins to unravel the truth behind what really happened there that left only two to survive.
2. The Fly
- Release date: July 16, 1958
- Cast: Al Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price, and more
- Director: Kurt Neumann
- RT score: 95% critics, 71% audience
Before Jeff Goldblum horrified the masses with his portrayal of a scientist turned human-fly hybrid, it started in 1958 and, if critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes are where we’re looking then it’s arguably the better of the two. Scientist Andre Delambre (Al Heidson) uses his matter transporter on himself, but a common housefly finds its way into the transportation chamber, and that’s where it all goes wrong.
At the fore, it’s got creepy special effects and a twisty sci-fi plot, but at its core, it’s an emotional story around a family and its male lead’s obsession with his work. You’ll find yourself laughing at points, but cringing behind your hands at others. A simple tagline behind a grotesquely murderous plot: “The fly with the head of a man… and the man with the head of a fly.”
1. The Day the Earth Stood Still
- Release date: September 20, 1951
- Cast: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, and more
- Director: Robert Wise
- RT score: 95% critics, 87% audience
“From out of space… a warning and an ultimatum,” the tagline for the movie topping our list as The Day the Earth Stood Still is an epic representation of the sci-fi genre, as well as the 1950s in general. Set in the Cold War, a humanoid alien, Klaatus and a robot, Gort, come to Earth to deliver a message to humanity – a threat of elimination if they don’t live peacefully.
It’s slower than the rest of our entries, but it’s in that rhythm that a true tale of sci-fi can be told. While there are no epic battles or gorey alien savagery to depict, the simplicity of it is iconic. And you’ll never forget ‘Klaatu barada nikto’.
