Science fiction has always been a difficult type of movie to make. On the one hand, you want it to be futuristic enough so it looks different enough from our current society. On the other hand, you don’t want to go overboard and move into Star Wars territory – there needs to be a scientific basis of some sorts for what you’re doing.
Some directors have managed to walk that very fine line more successfully than others. Let’s take a look at some of the best science fiction directors Hollywood has to offer.
Christopher Nolan
While not everyone is a huge fan of his overly complicated way of explaining things, movies like Inception and the newly released Tenet prove that he’s the best “near future” sci-fi director out there. His sci-fi usually limits itself to one piece of technology that makes all the difference between the real world and “his” world.
Steven Spielberg
Ever since E.T., there hasn’t really been much question regarding who is one of the best science fiction directors of his time. But let’s not forget he also did other movies that are slightly less sci-fi, but still fit the bill, like Jurassic Park.
James Cameron
This man made the first two Terminator movies, Aliens and Avatar. That’s pretty much all we need to say to convince anyone that this guy knows how to direct sci-fi movies.
Stanley Kubrick
While Kubrick is mostly known for his non-science fiction movies like The Shining, we shouldn’t forget that he made the timeless 2001: A Space Odyssey too. Despite us having passed that year by quite a margin, the movie is still an amazing experience to watch.
David Cronenberg
Primarily a horror movie director, David Cronenberg is the person responsible for one of the best “technology gone wrong” horror movies of all time, The Fly. While not the science fiction we’d usually expect, it’s still a great movie.
Denis Villeneuve
Denis hasn’t been doing big budget movies for long, but in recent years his projects have only become massively bigger and bigger. His latest outing was Blade Runner 2049, and his first upcoming movie is the highly anticipated Dune. Being allowed to use your vision to reinvent two of the most known sci-fi franchises is no small feat!
Terry Gilliam
If there’s one movie we all need to remember Terry Gilliam for, and if there’s one movie that proves without a doubt that he can direct a science fiction movie, it’s 12 Monkeys. And maybe Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but for the purpose of this article, mostly 12 Monkeys.
