Best Science Fiction Movies of 1997

In a future society in the era of indefinite eugenics, humans are set on a life course depending on their DNA. Young Vincent Freeman is born with a condition that would prevent him from space travel, yet is determined to infiltrate the GATTACA space program.

After a police chase with an otherworldly being, a New York City cop is recruited as an agent in a top-secret organization established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth: the Men in Black. Agent Kay and new recruit Agent Jay find themselves in the middle of a deadly plot by an intergalactic terrorist who has arrived on Earth to assassinate two ambassadors from opposing galaxies.

A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.

In order to foil a terrorist plot, an FBI agent undergoes facial transplant surgery and assumes the identity of a criminal mastermind. The plan turns sour when the criminal wakes up prematurely and seeks revenge.

Set in the future, the story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an arachnoid species known as "the Bugs".

A group of strangers find themselves trapped in a maze-like prison. It soon becomes clear that each of them possesses the peculiar skills necessary to escape, if they don't wind up dead first.

Four years after Jurassic Park's genetically bred dinosaurs ran amok, multimillionaire John Hammond shocks chaos theorist Ian Malcolm by revealing that he has been breeding more beasties at a secret location. Malcolm, his paleontologist ladylove and a wildlife videographer join an expedition to document the lethal lizards' natural behavior in this action-packed thriller.

As a swingin' fashion photographer by day and a groovy British superagent by night, Austin Powers is the '60s' most shagadelic spy, baby! But can he stop megalomaniac Dr. Evil after the bald villain freezes himself and unthaws in the '90s? With the help of sexy sidekick Vanessa Kensington, he just might.

In 2047, a group of astronauts are sent to investigate and salvage the starship Event Horizon which disappeared mysteriously 7 years before on its maiden voyage. However, it soon becomes evident that something sinister resides in its corridors, and that the horrors that befell the Event Horizon's previous journey are still present.

Two hundred years after Lt. Ripley died, a group of scientists clone her, hoping to breed the ultimate weapon. But the new Ripley is full of surprises … as are the new aliens. Ripley must team with a band of smugglers to keep the creatures from reaching Earth.

An earthquake shatters a peaceful Los Angeles morning and opens a fissure deep into the earth, causing lava to start bubbling up. As a volcano begins forming in the La Brea Tar Pits, the director of the city's emergency management service, working with a geologist, must then use every resource in the city to try and stop the volcano from consuming LA.

As the Joker visits Metropolis with a plan to kill Superman for Lex Luthor, Batman pursues the clown to Superman's turf.

Simon Templar (The Saint), is a thief for hire, whose latest job to steal the secret process for cold fusion puts him at odds with a traitor bent on toppling the Russian government, as well as the woman who holds its secret.

In 2013 there are no highways, no I-ways, no dreams of a better tomorrow, only scattered survivors across what was once the Unites States. Into this apocalyptic wasteland comes an enigmatic drifter with a mule, a knack for Shakespeare and something yet undiscovered: the power to inspire hope.

Professor Phillip Brainard, an absent minded professor, works with his assistant Weebo, trying to create a substance that's a new source of energy and that will save Medfield College where his sweetheart Sara is the president. He has missed his wedding twice, and on the afternoon of his third wedding, Professor Brainard creates flubber, which allows objects to fly through the air.

A disease carried by common cockroaches is killing Manhattan children. In an effort to stop the epidemic an entomologist, Susan Tyler, creates a mutant breed of insect that secretes a fluid to kill the roaches. This mutant breed was engineered to die after one generation, but three years later Susan finds out that the species has survived and evolved into a large, gruesome monster that can mimic human form.

After being murdered by corrupt colleagues in a covert government agency, Al Simmons makes a pact with the devil to be resurrected to see his beloved wife Wanda. In exchange for his return to Earth, Simmons agrees to lead Hell's Army in the destruction of mankind.

The Djinn having been released from his ancient prison seeks to capture the soul of the woman who discovered him, thereby opening a portal and freeing his fellow Djinn to take over the earth.

In Los Angeles, a colorful assortment of bohemians try to make sense of their intersecting lives. The moody Dark Smith, his bisexual girlfriend, her lesbian lover and their shy gay friend plan on attending the wildest party of the year. But they'll only make it if they can survive the drug trips, suicides, trysts, mutilations and alien abductions that occur as one surreal day unfolds.

Stormtroopers on Tattooine show us what life is like patrolling and law-upholding on the sandy planet. While being filmed for the hit Imperial TV show TROOPS, Stormtroopers from the infamous Black Sheep Squadron on patrol run into some very familiar characters.

Æon Flux is set in a bizarre, dystopian future world. The title character is a tall, leather-clad secret agent from the nation of Monica, skilled in assassination and acrobatics. Her mission is to infiltrate the strongholds of the neighboring country of Bregna, which is led by her sometimes-nemesis and sometimes-lover Trevor Goodchild. Monica represents a dynamic anarchist society, while Bregna embodies a police state[4]—referred to on one occasion as a republic by Goodchild.[5] Although Bregna is shown to be repressive, in the first full-length episode, "Utopia or Deuteranopia?", Clavius, the president deposed by Goodchild, is described by a questioning journalist as having been democratically elected. In the same episode, an upper house of parliament is also mentioned by the character Gildemere.

A psychiatrist makes multiple trips through time to save a woman that was murdered by her brutal husband.

The joke's on absent-minded scientist Wayne Szalinski when his troublesome invention shrinks him, his brother and their wives so effectively that their children think they've completely disappeared. Of course, this gives the kids free rein to do anything they want, unaware that their parents are watching every move.

A CIA agent is interned for failing to kill an international terrorist. Escaping from his island exile, he teams up with a flamboyant arms dealer and sets out to find the terrorist and rescue the agent's family. Together they're a two-man arsenal... with enough voltage to rock the free world.

A college athlete returns from the dead to help his brother's basketball team win the NCAA title.

An anthropological study of a strangely familiar city. .

Lee Plenty is an almost broke would-be novelist and Havilland Savage is a rich and very beautiful woman and his friend. When she invites him to her home for New Year's Eve, they start to build up a romance.

Dreaming of becoming a big-time writer, young Zack Beauchamp (Scott Pietrangelo) comes across a strange old typewriter and begins composing a horror story about a voracious pink blob monster -- only to discover that every word he types comes true. When the creature gobbles up the magic typewriter itself, Zack must figure out how to get rid of the beast in this episode from the spooky kids' series.

Batman and Robin deal with relationship issues while preventing Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from attacking Gotham City.

Fred Z. Randall is geeky and obnoxious spacecraft designer, who gets the chance to make his dream come true and travel to Mars as a member of the first manned flight there.

A prototype enhanced human, on the run from Chinese-hired hit men, hooks up with a dread-locked bystander, and the two of them elude their pursuers narrowly each time.

Ron Slick is a Washington lobbyist who comes by Dr. Fez's "clicker" invention, which makes women errogeneously ex-tra-cited; Slick uses the clicker on a senator, a reporter, a police officer and two federal agents.

Shy seventh-grader Spencer Griffith's life changes when the meteor falls into local junkyard and he finds a Cybersuit - the wise and strong robot from another galaxy. Spencer puts Cybersuit on and becomes a different kind of guy

A modern version of Orpheus and Eurydice. A romance in extremes set at a dystopian future by the acclaimed Greek director Dimitri Athanitis. Provocative, already a cult film. After being released from prison, Eurydice gets a job as a waitress but also as a naked model for a mysterious photographer who blackmails her. Orpheus, a cashier at a super market meets her by chance and falls for her at once. When he loses her, he shall travel all the way to hell, to get her back. Dimitri Athanitis's take on the "Orpheus and Eurydice" myth is stylish and sexy. Lena Kitsipoulou is totally magnetic for her fellow characters and the viewer.

The legendary Power Rangers must stop the evil space pirate Divatox from releasing the powerful Maligore from his volcanic imprisonment on the island of Muranthias, where only the kindly wizard Lerigot has the key to release him. The hope of victory lies in the Ranger's incredible new Turbo powers and powerful Turbo Zords.

A group of heroic warriors has only six days to save the planet in "Mortal Kombat Annihilation." To succeed they must survive the most spectacular series of challenges any human, or god, has ever encountered as they battle an evil warlord bent on taking control of Earth.

As an actor, director and producer, Ray Harryhausen has been a vibrant figure in Hollywood, working on everything from family films to mind-bending sci-fi. But his true genius lay in the creation of special effects for movies such as Mighty Joe Young and It Came from Outer Space. Narrated by Leonard Nimoy and featuring appearances by George Lucas and Ray Bradbury, this film documents Harryhausen's remarkable life's work.

A Humble Life is certainly true to its title, a documentary study of the day-to-day world of Umeno Mathuyoshi, an old woman who lives in an isolated mountain house in the Nara prefecture in Japan.

Artoo, Threepio and a broken down android are traded into the hands of young miner Jann Tosh. The android turns out to be an alien with amnesia and a price on his head. It is in fact Mon Julpa, prince of Tammuz-an, who has been put in this predicament by the power hungry vizier Zatec-Cha. Jann, the droids, and a female freight pilot named Jessica Meade help Julpa claim his throne, battle the Pirates of Tarnoonga and settle a dispute with Tammuz-an clan leader Lord Toda. Written by Il Tesoro

Behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of director Steven Spielberg's 1997 film "The Lost World."

Prompted by their leader, two beautiful women from a distant planet head to Earth where they search for a Kama Sutra type book.

With the discovery of an incoming asteroid, the government of America formulate a plan to destroy it. When the plan fails, all the world can do is wait. The main impact zone is revealed to be Dallas, Texas. Generally, the plot follows the lives and reactions of several characters: an astronomer, her father, her son, two firefighters from Kansas, two young doctors in Dallas and the heads of the government agency in charge of the situation.

Matt and George investigate a series of strange occurrences involving newcomers, who are found to be programmed to carry out someone's dirty work. The method by which they are brainwashed dates back to the slave ship's rebellion group, the Udara, who, we discover, Susan was a part of. Susan and George's lives are further disrupted when Buck enrols in the police academy.

When a renegade military reject puts new superweapons in dangerous hands, John Henry Irons becomes Steel. Wearing body armor, wielding a fearsome electrohammer and riding a gadget-packed motorcycle, he's ready to wage war... if he can fix the untimely glitches in his untested gear.

Award-winning director Michael Ninn assumes the throne of the New Wave Hookers legacy, bravely going where Greg Dark couldn't - and wouldn't go before. Wielding his now familiar formula of flashy special effects, MTV-style camera work, and brooding art direction, Ninn throws in a bit of uncharacteristic slapstick and cartoon-style humor to create a whole new chapter in one of the most popular adult series ever made. With a plot too weird to describe here, NWH5 is a surreal saga populated by clowns and Japanese businessmen, talking televisions and mad scientists, monks and pimps, and other additions of the Ninn psyche.

In a top-secret UNIT warehouse Dr Sally Arnold is studying a Nestene energy unit with little success. Until she subjects it to cosmic signals that activate it and it awakens several dormant Autons stored in the facility.

Happily married couple Bob and Dez Wilson and their 12-year old son Andy are being attacked by a blinding light when driving home from a daytrip. They awaken a couple of hours later, seemingly unscathed but soon driven mad by recurring nightmares. It soon appears that they have been abducted by aliens as proved by their sons handycam that had suddenly started running right after the incident. This mysterious fact is discovered by even more mysterious Men In Black who start nagging the family up to the point of threatening to kill them. Laughed at by the police the threesome seek refuge at sf-writer Stan Mills' house and start fighting back.

A prostitute helps a U.S. smuggler evade assassins and seek revenge upon his traitorous partner in Moscow.

Mark Hamill is hosting an informational tour through the history of science fiction movie-making. The focus is not on special effects and action scenes, but on the relationship between society's hangups and fears and the subject matter of the movies. The effects of the American public's changing paranoias, e.g. the communist scare, is particularly well explored.