Nothing if not ambitious, Stanley Kubrick set out to create the "proverbial good science fiction film" with 2001: A Space Odyssey. And he did so with his usual painstaking attention to detail, enlisting sci-fi author Arthur C Clarke to write the script, and former NASA staff Frederick Ordway and Harry Lange to design the spaceships. So accurate was the film's depiction of future space travel that NASA's head of manned spaceflight, George Mueller, dubbed the 2001 soundstage "NASA East".

2001 is memorable for so many things – the prehistoric intro, that iconic graphic match cut from the bone to the spaceship, the Blue Danube, creepy computer HAL, the mysterious monoliths… it's a film that deserves to be savoured, like a fine wine.

Sam Rockwell stars as an lone astronaut stuck in a numbing routine on a Moon mining station – but there's something amiss aboard Sarang Base. Director Duncan Jones's debut film, Moon pays tribute to classic sci-fi films – including many of those on this list.

It inherits its chilly, claustrophobic feel and AI companion GERTY from 2001: A Space Odyssey, while the design is heavily influenced by Ridley Scott's films Alien and Blade Runner. It also harks back to earlier sci-fi films in its heavy use of models and practical visual effects – albeit augmented with modern CGI VFX.

"Houston, we have a problem." Who knew that one of the most incredible real-life dramas of the 20th century would be brought so successfully to our screens by Fonzie's freckly friend, Ron Howard?

The former Happy Days star didn't need to resort to Hollywood storytelling tricks – the rescue of Apollo 13 after its oxygen tank exploded on the way to the Moon was dramatic enough in its own right. Howard went above and beyond in his efforts to create a realistic depiction of the crisis – the replica pressure suits worn by actors Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton were so accurate they were actually airtight, while the stars took physics training to get into character as astronauts. For some of the zero-gravity shots, Howard went so far as to build sets aboard a KC-135 aircraft, used to train astronauts by flying in parabolic arcs to place them into freefall.

6. Dark Star (John Carpenter, 1974)

Like many satires, Carpenter’s feature debut is hilarious while discussing plenty of serious matters. The film follows a ship, deep into space, whose crew has the mission to destroy planets that are unsuitable for human life. The four astronauts are lonely, bored and plagued by their captain’s death. After the ship encounters an asteroid storm, a malfunction causes a bomb to arm for the destruction of a new planet.

The film satirizes many aspects of space travel and science fiction. Firstly, it pokes fun at the numerous and usually wild alien depictions in SF films, as the alien on their ship is just a beach ball with legs, that will cause a lot of trouble. Secondly, Dark Star is a self-aware film. It knows it is a low budget movie and it uses this to caricature the sounds and the scientific talk of astronauts in films.

7.  Interstellar (Cristopher Nolan, 2014)

This realist SF film is one of the most thought-provoking films in recent years and it just begs to be talked about. Some people criticized it for not being as scientific accurate as it wants to be, while others say it’s complexity is just pretentious. While it’s true that the film was expected to have very little scientific inaccuracies, it is a piece of fiction and it plays perfectly with the speculation and sense of wonder that makes science fiction such a great genre.

In a desolate future, where people live on agriculture, a pilot will find NASA’s secret base and join their team of astronauts, on a mission to find a new planet for the continuation of the human race. The power of the film is that it does so much with very little.

The special effects are kept to a minimum, while the sense of space is given by claustrophobic images of the ship, and great shots of planets, stars and sheer darkness. This simple style of filmmaking, along with the scientific research gives the film a realist feeling, a tendency which SF movies have, because, in science, the barrier between reality and fiction is starting to disappear.

8.  Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)

The first, and probably the best film of the newly-revived franchise, A New Hope, as it is also called, is one of the most important movies in the history of Hollywood. It’s cultural impact was huge, it is considered to have reinvented the concept of blockbuster and it gave the power back to the producers at the end of the New Hollywood period (1964-1982). This helped establish the franchise driven film industry that is so well known, today.

The film tells the story of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), a farm worker that ends up in the middle of the struggle between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire. The characters which he will meet on his journey have become iconic and continue to influence the franchises of the 21st century.

9.  Solaris ( Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)

Tarkovsky is one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of the medium. His filmography consists of only seven film, but they’re all considered works of masterful direction and depth. His version of Solaris is an intimate reflection on memory and human nature that combined art cinema with science fiction.

The story follows Kelvin (Donatas Banionis), a psychologist that is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet. He is told to find out what makes the crew go insane. Soon, he discovers that his deceased wife has been materialized on the station. At first, he embraces the idea that he can relieve his life alongside her, but, with the help of the other crew members he realizes that she is just a projection of his mind and can`t live without him.

18. GRAVITY (2013)

It may be set in outer space, but Alfonso Cuarón’s thriller is remarkably contained; grounded, even. There are no flying saucers or little green men here, just a worryingly feasible disaster in orbit that leaves astronaut Ryan Stone stranded miles above the Earth. It’s heavy on spectacle, but for much of the film, the only person on screen is Sandra Bullock – giving a career-best performance as Dr Stone.

To achieve the film’s extraordinary long takes in zero gravity, Cuarón used innovative visual effects trickery – the actors stood inside a box delivering their lines, while lights moved around them to simulate the lighting sources shifting as their characters moved. Then their faces were composited into CGI spacesuits for the final shot – in many sequences, the only real thing in the frame is Sandra Bullock’s face.

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