40 Greatest Science-Fiction Posters

Men In Black (1997)

Representative Of The Film? Smith and Jones in glasses and sharp suits pretty much sums up Men In Black – everything else is surplus to requirement.

Coolest Detail: There's proof of Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith’s intergalactic profiles in the fact that they’re merely credited with their surnames.

Tron Legacy (2010)

Representative Of The Film? Evocative and stylish, with the promise of great things and an emphasis on stunning visuals. Just like the film, then.

Coolest Detail: It’s a canny re-enactment of the poster for the original Tron – with added sexy.

They Live (1988)

Representative Of The Film? Massively – the entire plot revolves around Roddy Piper and those all-important glasses. The eyes have it.

Coolest Detail: It’s the only time we get to see the aliens in full colour; in the movie we only ever see them in black and white.

Event Horizon (1997)

Representative Of The Film? Surprisingly restrained considering the hardgore content of this Sam Neill horror, but still hinting at the Alien -inspired ‘in space no-one can hear you scream’ happenings.

Coolest Detail: That ominous bolt of lightning – does lightning even exist in space?

Independence Day (1996)

Representative Of The Film? Roland Emmerich’s film does a good job of making humans look completely powerless. This poster also accomplishes that by having the spaceship take up 70% of the sheet, ensuring New York looks positively miniscule.

Coolest Detail: The light hovering ominously over the Empire State Building – back then we had no idea what was coming next.

Serenity (2005)

Representative Of The Film? Bleak and sparse, with emphasis on freaky lady-fighter River and her gun-toting comrades. Couldn’t sum up the movie better if it tried.

Coolest Detail: Summer Glau wielding shiny blades. She doesn’t do it until the movie’s finale, but Serenity promises it’s getting there.

Super 8 (2011)

Representative Of The Film? Like the film, it’s got ambition – as well as lense flares. It also stirs up a real sense of mystery, something that Abrams excels at fostering in his love letter to E.T .

Coolest Detail: All this poster needs is two names, the title and the date. If those don’t get your geek senses tingling, nothing will.

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)

Representative Of The Film? The hot, vivid colours match the film’s sense of creeping claustrophobia, while all the running instils a feeling of dread.

Coolest Detail: That dirty handprint.

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

Representative Of The Film? Easily Steven Spielberg’s most ominous and atmospheric movie gets a poster that is equally as enigmatic.

Coolest Detail: The way the poster explains the different types of close encounters, for those who aren’t UFO nuts.

Cloverfield (2008)

Representative Of The Film? An awe-inspiring image that doesn’t break the mould, but is instantly memorable. Just like the movie.

Coolest Detail: That murky trail of water leading to land – whatever’s chewed up the Statue Of Liberty has a new target.

Flash Gordon (1980)

Representative Of The Film? Clearly inspired by the Star Wars posters, this ensemble piece is far classier than the cheesy, camper-than-Dame-Edna film.

Coolest Detail: Ming! Not only does he get a really cool ring, he also gets the tagline. Flash who?

Forbidden Planet (1956)

Representative Of The Film? Robby the Robot rightfully gets pride of place here, mostly because he’s the film’s main selling point – one of the first ever film robots to break the mould and become a distinctive character in his own right.

Coolest Detail: The ‘Amazing!’ stamp of approval – we wonder who go to wield that powerful stamp.

Monsters (2010)

Representative Of The Film? Just like Gareth Edwards’ no-budget chiller, this poster revels in gritty, smoggy realism – and keeps the focus squarely on our wandering survivors.

Coolest Detail: The inclusion of the ‘Infected Zone’ poster; Monsters features no end of clever poster tampering.

Source Code (2011)

Representative Of The Film? A fun, inventive way to get the concept of the film across, as Jake Gyllenhaal races across little memory squares that are falling away behind him. Conjures a suitably breathless sense of tension.

Coolest Detail: Each of the panels is representative of a moment in the film.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Representative Of The Film? We don’t remember there being many rainbows in the first Star Trek movie, but Kirk and Spock are both present and correct, as well as a space-y backdrop that inspires starry-eyed wonder.

Coolest Detail: Kirk looks seriously bad-ass. Which of course he is.

Superman (1978)

Representative Of The Film? Superman is the S symbol that he wears on his chest, and this poster wisely uses it as the centrepiece in an image that promises soaring thrills.

Coolest Detail: ‘You’ll believe a man can fly’ is one of the catchiest taglines ever created.

Moon (2009)

Representative Of The Film? Equally as minimalistic as Duncan Jones’ directorial debut, featuring the lone figure of Sam Rockwell against a very stylish rendering of the moon.

Coolest Detail: The cloning of Sam Rockwell’s name hints at strange things afoot.

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959)

Representative Of The Film? Far artier than the film could ever hope to be, but definitely representative of Ed Wood’s astronomical ambitions.

Coolest Detail: The wheeling spaceship – clearly there was more of a budget on the poster than the movie.

Inception (2010)

Representative Of The Film? Christopher Nolan’s film revolves around the idea of unpredictable dream logic, in which anything is possible – including cities folding in on themselves.

Coolest Detail: The film’s title is a part of the cityscape.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Representative Of The Film? Without the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Jurassic Park would be sorely lacking (something JPIII had to deal with), which means that its presence here is massively important – and recalls the film’s more thrilling moments.

Coolest Detail: The witty tagline, factoring in the amount of time that dinosaurs have been extinct from our world.

King Kong (1933)

Representative Of The Film? Easily the most recognisable and memorable image from King Kong is the mighty ape seizing hold of Fay Wray, which makes this poster a perfect ad for the film.

Coolest Detail: Is that the Empire State Building we spy tucked away below Fay there? Wonder what that could possibly mean…

Melancholia (2011)

Representative Of The Film? How to best represent Lars Von Trier’s operatic latest film in poster form? Take an already-artistic still from the movie and use that. Magnificent stuff.

Coolest Detail: The ominous reflection of the planet Melancholia lingering in the top right.

Them! (1954)

Representative Of The Film? Big bugs scare population and then start eating people whole. While women scream. And, alright, men, too.

Coolest Detail: The quotation marks around the title – you don’t see those much nowadays.

The Matrix (1999)

Representative Of The Film? It cleverly combines coldly unemotional computer symbols with an elemental image of rainfall, resulting in something slick, striking and as sharp as the film itself.

Coolest Detail: Using imagery directly from the film evokes a similarly vociferous mood.

Aliens (1986)

Representative Of The Film? Totally. Not only is the poster inspired by the film’s best scene (when we first encounter the Alien Queen), it also gives us two further bits of information: one, Ripley’s gone bad-ass, and two, she has an adopted space daughter.

Coolest Detail: Those eggs at Ripley’s feet, which are cracking menacingly in her presence…

Attack Of The 50ft Woman (1958)

Representative Of The Film? Well, there’s a 50ft woman in it and she does do some attacking, which this poster craftily captures in some pseudo-sexy imagery.

Coolest Detail: The cars hanging off the bridge evoke a perfect sense of impending peril.

Blade Runner (1982)

Representative Of The Film? The plunging cityscapes are as integral to Ridley Scott’s future dystopia as Deckard, so it’s only right that they appear here. The inclusion of Rachael also adds a flush of neo-noir that perfectly captures Scott’s film mood.

Coolest Detail: The lights behind the slash of neon yellow – are they stars or city lights?

12 Monkeys (1995)

Representative Of The Film? Fittingly nutso, with the monkeys looking suitably gaga.

Coolest Detail: There are 12 hours in the day, and there are 12 hours on a clock, which makes for a nice little visual link.

Ghostbusters (1984)

Representative Of The Film? That Ghostbusters symbol is pivotal to the identity of the film, as well as the busters themselves as Ivan Reitman’s film introduces us to the freaky foursome.

Coolest Detail: The symbol’s so cool that it’s used twice; it’s repeated again in the title. We just can’t get enough of it.

District 9 (2009)

Representative Of The Film? Instead of over-egging the Apartheid-echoing visual language of the film, this clever one-sheet plays up the way aliens have been integrated into our society in District 9 – they're so ‘here’ that they’re now an official target practise image.

Coolest Detail: The explanatory ‘non-human target’ note is a nice touch.

Village Of The Damned (1960)

Representative Of The Film? The concept of kids gone mad was a penetrating one back then, and this quirky poster art reflects the peculiar nature of the film.

Coolest Detail: The squiggling lines around the boy’s eyes – so much more effective than CGI.

Wall-E (2008)

Representative Of The Film? That junk pile. Those eyes. That lunch box. Everything about this posters screams understated adorability and longing. Beautiful.

Coolest Detail: Wall-E’s lunchbox – he’s just like us, see.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Representative Of The Film? Blending the frost-bitten iconography of Hoth with the twinkly, starry wonder of space, this poster set the mould for the rest of the Star Wars posters and is the best of the lot, giving us a taste of everything the film has to offer – romance, creatures, robots and Darth Vader.

Coolest Detail: Vader lingering ominously in the background – he’s going to prove pivotal to the plot of the rest of the saga.

E.T. (1982)

Representative Of The Film? Another poster that pinches an image from the movie it’s advertising – but when an image is as evocative and magical as this, you can hardly blame them.

Coolest Detail: The way the full title segues into the tagline, with ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial In His Adventures On Earth’.

The X-Files: Fight The Future (1998)

Representative Of The Film? Dark, shadowy, moody and suggesting that nothing is ever what it seems. A playful, witty little play on the show’s themes.

Coolest Detail: We love the fact that the poster doesn't even need the title of the film.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Representative Of The Film? Stanley Kubrick’s film had everybody marvelling at its wondrous visuals, and this poster plays up to that with an odd but mesmerising composition.

Coolest Detail: The ‘ultimate trip’ headline taps into that drugged-up feeling the poster elicits.

The War Of The Worlds (1953)

Representative Of The Film? We don’t remember massive alien hands groping from space in the movie, but it evokes a fittingly oppressive mood.

Coolest Detail: We just love the ‘Color By Technicolor’. Ah those were the days.

The Terminator (1984)

Representative Of The Film? Have no idea what a terminator is? The poster for James Cameron’s iconic thriller lets us know - this is a Terminator. And boy, isn’t he awesome?

Coolest Detail: The poster seems to echo the scene from the movie in which the T-800 finds Sarah Connor in a club – check out those laser lights behind him.

Back To The Future (1985)

Representative Of The Film? There’s never enough time in Robert Zemeckis’ sci-fi, which is of course the film’s greatest irony. So it’s fitting that we have Michael J. Fox panicking over his wristwatch here.

Coolest Detail: The fiery tyre tracks are just too cool for school.

Alien (1979)

Representative Of The Film? Minimalistic, but with a hint of otherworldly horror – a perfect rendering of Ridley Scott’s pervasively creepy mood in poster form.

Coolest Detail: This particular egg doesn’t even appear in the film (or the franchise), but it remains recognisably Alien .

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.