Anirban Bhattacharya
Science has always fascinated humans. Right since the advent of humanity, we have constantly tried to figure out how this world works and how can we make our lives better. As a result, we have also continued to push the boundaries of science. Cinema has understood this relationship between man and science. This is evident from the fact that filmmakers have not shied away from making films about science and its beautiful creations. Presenting a fictional story rooted in science has always fascinated both the filmmakers and the viewers. That’s why every year we see a bunch of sci-fi movies release and do so well at the box office. If you happen to be interested in science fiction films, then you are at the right place. Because today we are going to present a list of really good sci-fi movies that are available on Hulu.
With the advent of online streaming services, movie lovers no longer gave to venture out to catch up a movie. Most are nowadays preferring to watching movies sitting in the comforts of their home. Netflix, of course, has the lion share of eyeballs, but Hulu is not far behind. So, if you are planning to watch a sci-fi movie with bunch of your friends, you can just invite them to you house and watch it on TV or laptop. Here’s the list of really good science fiction movies on Hulu that are our recommendations for you and your friends.
12. Before We Vanish (2017)
I haven’t seen many Japanese movies. I guess I was looking for some fun alien movies when I found ‘Before We Vanish’. It was a Japanese movie and I wanted to give it a try. Well, what do you know? Despite certain shortcomings of the movie, it actually did a pretty decent job at keeping me entertained for the most parts. The plot follows three aliens who have landed on our planet to fulfill a reconnaissance mission. They have come to survey the dangers of the planet before their entire species could commence their invasion. The invaders have the ability to take control of a humans mind and body. This leads to that person losing their essence of being a human. It seems as though only a hollow structure of bones and muscles are present. The film feels a bit different from your average alien invasion film.
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11. Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Look, the idea of going back in time which leads to a series of comic adventures is not a new plot. It has been done before. But somehow still the fascination about the idea never diminishes. When I first heard of ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’, I thought it was going to be like one of those average sexy comedy movies and it was exactly that. But I have watched it twice now and have been entertained by it. There are some good scenes which will make you laugh. The plot follows the adventure of three guys, Adam, Nick, and Lou. All of them are going through rough phases in their life. Adam’s girlfriend left him, Nick’s wife is cheating on him and Lou is suicidal. To take some time off and get Lou out of his misery they decide to go to a winter resort along with Jacob (Adam’s nephew). After a night of drinking, they wake up to find that they have traveled back to the year 1986 and Jacob has not yet been born. Can the guys do everything right to keep the future unchanged and get Jacob to be born again? Well, it’s going to be tough.
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10. The Fly (1986)
Now, let’s actually travel back to the year 1986. ‘The Fly’ is a good experiment-gone-wrong movie. I enjoy Jeff Goldblum’s work and he has done a great job in this movie too. Seth Brundle played by Jeff is a mad scientist of sorts. He thinks that he has been able to create a transportation device. It has been a thing of fascination in science but there were a lot of problems. Seth thinks that he has solved them and is sure of it when he could transport a living being. Veronica Quaife is an attractive looking investigative journalist. Seth wants to impress her and decides to show her his transportation device. This time he himself wants to be the subject and enters his machine but as the process was undergoing a fly enters a transmission booth and messes everything up. Brundle has now become a human fly hybrid of sorts. He is slowly transforming into a fly-like monster. Will he survive?
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9. eXistenZ (1999)
Virtual Reality has become quite popular. It’s a piece of technology that allows you to experience virtual things with heightened sensory satisfaction and makes you feel that everything you are watching is real. ‘eXistenZ’ is a movie which deals with VR. Allegra Geller is a game designer. She is one of the very best in the world. Recently, she has been working on a game called ‘eXistenZ’ which uses the concept of virtual reality. As they begin testing the game, an assassin with a strange gun attacks them. Ted Pikul, played by Jude Law, is a marketing trainee who helps Allegra escape. Due to this Ted is assigned as Allegra’s bodyguard. Allegra finds out that the pod (a gaming device) of eXistenZ is damaged. To find out the fault she asks Ted to play along with her. Once they begin, the line between reality and game starts to thin and thus a bizarre adventure starts.
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8. Daybreakers (2009)
If you like vampire movies then this might be of some interest to you. I don’t really watch vampire movies but this movie has a sort of different take on the genre. The movie is set in the year 2019 which was 10 years into the future at that time. Earth is filled with vampires now and only a small population of humans survive. With the decline in the number of humans, the vampires find themselves in trouble. Their food source is running out and thus their population is low on ration. Also, due to lack of blood supply many vampires without adequate food in their belly are turning into wild creatures which attack anyone for survival. Edward Dalton is a vampire who works as a hematologist. His current field of interest is in developing artificial blood supply for the vampires to solve the problem. He sympathizes with humans and wants to lessen their suffering. But when he meets a vampire who can change into normal human form his solution to help the vampires starts to change.
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7. Colossal (2016)
‘Colossal’ is a movie about a big freakin’ monster. Yup! Believe me. The monster is really big. T. he protagonist of the movie is played by Anne Hathaway. The plot of the film follows the life of Gloria who seems to be a good-for-nothing woman. She doesn’t have a job but she parties like crazy and is way too depended on alcohols. Gloria is a writer for some online magazine but hasn’t been able to produce anything in recent times. Having been kicked out of her ex-boyfriend’s house, Gloria decides to return home and think about restarting her life. Then there is news of a monster attacking the city of Seoul in South Korea. The monster is known as Kaiju and it is BIG. It has caused a great deal of havoc in the city of Seoul. The monster is remorseless and causes destruction everywhere it goes. Thousands of miles away Gloria feels as though the current happenings are somewhat linked with her. She thinks that the monster and she is somehow connected. Is she just paranoid? Or is she really connected to that giant?
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6. Event Horizon (1997)
‘Event Horizon’ is a riveting horror and sci-fi offering that has a rather bland opening. Featuring an ensemble cast that includes Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill, the film opens with a journey to reach the ship, Event Horizon, which disappeared on a mission several years ago and has mysteriously reappeared. The crew of the salvage and rescue mission unwittingly enter the Event Horizon thinking that they are survivors onboard. They soon find out that the unique gravity drive of the ship caused it to enter a black hole or a region similar to hell where it was possessed by a demonic spirit. With a possessed ship straight from hell driving the story, the film has slowly but steadily garnered a big cult following since its release, although it couldn’t manage to score well at the box office.
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5. Arrival (2016)
Amy Adams is a beast of an actor. She has done remarkable work in several of her films. Her performance in this film is really good. The film also has Jeremy Renner in it. ‘Arrival’ is a nice little take on the alien-invasion genre. The film is based on a science fiction work ‘Story of Your Life’ by Ted Chiang. One day huge extraterrestrial pods began descending into the Earth at twelve locations. The aliens speak a strange language consisting of various symbols. Dr. Louise Banks is a language expert. She is hired by the U.S. Army to understand the language of the aliens along with theoretical physicist Dr. Ian Donnelly. She goes to the pod which has descended in the prairies. The pod is quite strange on the inside. There’s a sort of looking glass on one side and on the other side, two aliens appear. They start communicating via symbols and slowly Louise starts to understand their language. But are the aliens’ foe or friends?
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4. John Dies At The End (2012)
Is it a good idea to merge a stoner movie with the sci-fi genre? I don’t know. But this concept worked with ‘John Dies At The End’ a movie based on a novel of the same name by David Wong. The movie is nice and funny. I love dark comedy and it is one of those. Soy Sauce is the street name of a drug which gives its users sublime experience. The drug boasts to give an out-of-body experience and believe me it is not a metaphor. The consumers tend to slowly move through time and dimensions and it’s hard to get back. Those who do manage to return are changed forever and by change, I don’t mean that they achieve enlightenment or their personality changes. Here change means that they are no longer human beings. They are something else. Suddenly, it seems that Earth is facing an invasion and humanity needs brave strong men to step up as heroes. But well, we don’t always get what we hope for. John and David are two good-for-nothing individuals who are now the only hope for humanity. Can these two save the world in time?
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3. The Osiris Child (2016)
I liked ‘The Osiris Child’ mostly because it has great C.G.I which makes the film quite spectacular. The story is good enough to keep you interested for the most part and the performance of the cast is great. I am in no way saying that this movie has a ground-breaking original concept. The movie is a good watch for people who love sci-fi. Sy Lombrok used to be a nurse but now he is just a drifter with a haunting past. He is an escaped prisoner. Kane Sommerville is a lieutenant working for a company known as Exor. Exor is an off-world military contractor. But then there’s a dangerous outbreak on a planet which has been recently colonized. This puts Kane’s daughter in danger. To save her Kane needs to disobey his employers and against the order to stay at this station venture out to save his daughter. He teams up with Sy in the process. The planet is quite close to being annihilated and saving Kane’s daughter might be the only chance of survival.
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2. RoboCop (1987)
‘RoboCop’ was one of the best science fiction movies of its times. There wasn’t any like it. The concept of a crime-fighting robot was great. There was a recent remake of the film but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the original. The original one is dark and creates a nice ambiance. The story is set in a future Detroit. The city is filled with crime and the police department has been bought by a company called Omni Consumer Products. Alex Murphy is a cop. He along with his partner Anne Lewis tracks down a criminal organization. But unfortunately Alex is killed and his body is mutilated. Bobb Morton is an employee of OCP. He puts Alex’s corpse in a steel shell of shorts and transforms him into a robot. RoboCop is meant to fight crime and is quite successful at that. But soon Alex’s memories start coming back and he decides to hunt the criminal gang who killed him.
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1. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Well, being an avid anime watcher I was bound to put one of the anime movies in this list. I thought of ‘Akira’ and ‘Ghost in the Shell’. I really loved both the movies but in the end decided to go with the latter since I haven’t included it in any list. ‘Ghost in the Shell’ is a great sci-fi genre action anime set in a time where cyborgs are commonplace. Also, people can connect themselves to the internet via their brain. The protagonist of the movie is Major Motoko Kasunagi who is a badass investigator and is currently on the trail of a hacker known as the puppet master who robs people’s memories.
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