Both the sci-fi and action genres consistently perform well at the box office, earning them each widespread popularity even as modern cinema continues to evolve. While demand often seems to favor one of the genres over the other, they do often go hand in hand. Action and sci-fi are genres that can blend perfectly, with the speculative nature of science fiction meshing well with the brutal violence of action to deliver entertaining cinematic experiences. In fact, many of the best sci-fi movies feature elements of action, including major franchises like Alien, Star Wars, and The Terminator, to name just a few.
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Getting the perfect balance between sci-fi and action isn’t easy, and when it’s done well, the result is often wildly popular. However, even great sci-fi action movies can flop, causing them to fade into obscurity or become incredibly underrated. This has led to a wealth of action sci-fi movies that don’t get the recognition they deserve, with some truly excellent movies rarely being talked about at all.
5) Project Power (2020)
There are many great superhero movies that aren’t Marvel or DC, but they rarely reach the same heights of success as those in high-profile franchises. Project Power is one of them, telling a story that involves a drug dealer, a police officer, and a former soldier who fight to prevent the spread of a drug that grants its users five minutes of random superpowers. Starring Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Dominique Fishback, Project Power was released on Netflix in 2020.
Maybe the straight-to-streaming release is part of why Project Power isn’t often talked about. Its story is both original and gripping, and features multiple memorable scenes of sci-fi superhero action. Its visual presentation and the performances of its cast are solid, making it a worthwhile superhero movie that taps into both sci-fi and action movie tropes, rendering the general lack of love it receives incredibly unfair.
4) Oblivion (2013)
Over the course of his prolific career, there have been many great Tom Cruise action movies. One that is regularly forgotten is 2013’s Oblivion, which stars Cruise as Jack Harper, a technician living on a future Earth devastated by an alien war. Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Melissa Leo all feature alongside Cruise, packing out a stellar cast that should have helped cement Oblivion as a sci-fi action classic.
As well as its sci-fi premise and several action scenes, Oblivion‘s plot is fuelled by mystery and intrigue, lending it the air of a thriller as well. It’s noted for its impressive visual presentation as well as its exceptional cast, but it’s still not a movie that is often talked about. As entertaining a sci-fi action movie as Oblivion is, it thoroughly deserves a little more attention.
3) Upgrade (2018)
Commonly described as a cyberpunk action-horror movie, 2018’s Upgrade is one of the more recent additions to the sci-fi action genre. It stars Logan Marshall-Green as Grey Trace, a near-future mechanic who is paralyzed after a mugging, and who is implanted with experimental technology that allows him to seek revenge. Written and directed by Leigh Whannell, it features a subtle body-horror edge that tips its sci-fi elements over into something sinister.
Combining sci-fi, action, and horror isn’t always an easy feat, but Upgrade achieves it. As well as earning critical praise, the movie was a financial success. Even so, it’s not a movie that is widely talked about, despite its quality and the healthy blend of action and sci-fi that makes up its premise.
2) Déjà Vu (2006)
There are so many great mind-bending time travel movies, it’s perhaps not surprising that some have been largely forgotten. 2006’s Déjà Vu is just that: a time travel action thriller starring Denzel Washington that, for some reason, isn’t talked about much at all. Washington stars as Doug Carlin, an ATF agent who uses experimental time travel technology to prevent a terrorist attack.
Déjà Vu may have received only mixed reviews from critics, but it’s an entertaining action movie with heavy elements of sci-fi. In many ways, it feels like a precursor of Tenet, combining action with the intricacies of time manipulation. While it’s perhaps less cerebral than other movies in the same vein, Déjà Vu is still a great sci-fi action movie that nobody seems to talk about.
1) eXistenZ (1999)
1999’s eXistenZ is an underrated cyberpunk action movie that may have achieved cult status, but still doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. Written, produced, and directed by the master of body horror, David Cronenberg, eXistenZ hasn’t quite lived up to the popularity of Cronenberg’s other movies, but not for lack of quality. Starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Callum Keith Rennie, Sarah Polley, Christopher Eccleston, and Willem Dafoe, eXistenZ boasts an impressive cast.
Its story, which concerns a game designer hunted by assassins after creating a new virtual reality game, combines cyberpunk with body horror and throws in a liberal dose of action. Despite earning considerable critical praise, eXistenZ struggled to compete with 1999’s other virtual reality sci-fi action movie, The Matrix, perhaps explaining why it is little more than a cult classic today. Regardless of the reason, it’s a great movie that deserves more love, and certainly one that should be talked about far more often than it is.
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