The history of sci-fi spans over a century. It is remarkable to look back in time and think of all the pioneering movies that first brought alien concepts and speculative stories to life. And did it all in shades of black and white. From the earliest cinematic glimpses to the visionary directors working today, the genre has captured the magic and imagination of what may exist beyond the ordinary and put it on screen in the most extraordinary ways possible.
Of course, one movie that kicked off the sci-fi genre in the beginning was Georges Méliès’ 1902 masterpiece A Trip to the Moon. In just 13 mind-blowing minutes, the movie manages to feature indigenous special effects and hurl audiences towards the lunar surface. A Trip to the Moon established outer space, fantastical worlds, and the use of technology as ripe ground for the big screen. It is to sci-fi what The Great Train Robbery is to Westerns.
In the following decades, several seminal directors experimented with the same concepts and pushed the boundaries of the real and unreal to create imaginative and exquisite masterpieces. Though monochromatic, these movies have struck a chord with their emotive storytelling and set standards for filmmaking with their compositions, design, and deft use of lighting. This list looks back on 11 visionary black-and-white sci-fi movies that still hold up.
11 Metropolis (1927)
Set in a dystopian future society that is divided between the city planners living affluently and the working class residing in the bleak underground, Metropolis follows Freder, the privileged son of the city’s ruthless industrialist, who goes undercover after seeing the oppression that the working class endure. He joins Maria, a revolutionary leader to improve the laborers’ lives but ends up at odds with his father.
Metropolis Has an Enduring Relevance
Considered one of the most influential movies of all time, this German expressionist sci-fi movie is directed by Fritz Lang. He crafts a scathing, ahead-of-its-time epic that examines modern society and its many anxieties through a Gothic lens.
The visuals are stunning and the aerial cityscapes are dazzling, the imaginings of futuristic technologies are impressive and ingenious even by today’s standards. Metropolis also features in-camera effects and production design that paved the way for subsequent blockbusters in the genre.
10 Frankenstein (1931)
Adapted from a 1927 play by Peggy Webling, which in turn was based on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, the story of Frankenstein follows Victor Frankenstein, an obsessed scientist who discovers the secret of life and creates a biological being from the body parts of corpses that are recently buried. The creature, often known as Frankenstein’s monster, brings only terror to the society that shunned him.
Set The Cinematic Standard for Sci-Fi for Generations to Come
Directed by James Whale with a screenplay written by Francis Edward Faragoh and Garrett Fort, Frankenstein brought a seminal tale of science gone wrong to brooding, atmospheric, and remarkable life.
Boris Karloff’s unforgettable performance as the misunderstood monster evokes both pity and fear, while Colin Clive’s doctor acts as a warning of what happens when humanity oversteps the boundaries of nature. More and more sci-fi movies began exploring this idea with time. But this landmark adaptation’s use of expressionist lighting and Gothic ambiance has stood the test of time.
9 King Kong (1933)
A pre-Code adventure romance that basically marked the birth of monster flicks, King Kong is the first film in the King Kong franchise. It is directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and it tells the story of a film crew that sets out into the wilderness to shoot a documentary but come face-to-face with a giant ape called Kong.
Ann, an actress, is captured by the natives to sacrifice to Kong, but the real trouble begins when the crew captures the giant primate and brings him back to New York City for public exhibition.
A Stop-Motion Spectacle
Groundbreaking effects and innovative filmmaking techniques made King Kong an immediate blockbuster. The movie uses stop-motion animation to create Kong and the vivid jungle experience, and even though it has been over 90 years and 12 movies since the first one came out, it remains impressive and lifelike even today.
Not only is King Kong a classic in the monster movies genre, but it is also a parable for man’s unchecked exploitation of nature. Fay Wray’s moving performance paired with the deeply felt dramatization of Kong’s emotion holds a lot of significance.
8 The Invisible Man (1933)
Also directed by James Whale, The Invisible Man follows a stranger named Dr. Jack Griffin, who discovers an invisibility formula and uses it for his own selfish gains. He consumes the drug, turns himself invisible and begins terrorizing the English countryside with small, harmless pranks at first, before turning to murder. As the formula starts showing side effects and drives him mad with power, Flora, his fiancée, tries to find a way to stop his rampage.
An Incomparable Blend of Science and Suspense
Two years after the success of Frankenstein, Whale once more taps into themes of science betraying its creator in a stylish and thought-provoking adaptation of H.G. Wells’ novel of the same name.
Leaving little to imagination with the help of effective makeup and Claude Rains’ iconic voice performance, the movie manages to ratchet the tension to unnerving heights. The central storyline as well as the intricate special effects hold up perfectly today, which is a testament to Universal Studios’ craftsmanship for the past 90 years.
7 Flash Gordon (1936)
A space opera adventure serial presented in 13 chapters, Flash Gordon tells the story of the titular young hero and his best girl, Dale Arden, as they visit the planet of Mongo to avoid an imminent threat posed by the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless, who has purposely set it on a collision course with Earth. However, once there, Flash has to undergo a series of battles and tournaments in order to lead a rebellion against Ming and save Earth.
Paved the Way gor Franchises Like Star Wars and Star Trek
With its lavish technicolor visuals, Flash Gordon brought the lived-in spectacle, drama, and science fiction of Alex Raymond’s comic-strip character thrillingly to life. From Mongo’s diverse alien environments and costumes to the vast and dazzling tournaments, it delivers, as critics would call it, “non-stop thrill-a-minute stuff.”
Cheesy and camp even by the standards of its time, Flash Gordon has an irresistible charm that holds up today. But more than anything, its retro vision of a futuristic patriarchal society sparks discussion about politics and authority.
6 The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The Day the Earth Stood Still is directed by Robert Wise and inspired by a science fiction short story written by Harry Bates. It follows an alien named Klaatu and his giant robot bodyguard, Gort, who land their flying saucer in Washington D.C. with the intention of relaying an important message for the Earth’s leaders. Klaatu wants to warn them about the consequences of human aggression and tell them to abandon their violent ways to survive.
An Alien Invasion Flick Like No Other
Science fiction is a broad and self-sufficient genre, but when combined with elements of alien invasion and contemporary anxieties, the resulting story transcends genre and offers an insightful look at our collective place in the universe. That is the standout aspect of The Day the Earth Stood Still, which adapts a series tone to discuss war, progress, and civilization.
Michael Rennie as the firm yet peaceful Klaatu and Gort as the “oddly unmenacing” sidekick still pack a punch and are as vivid now as the day they were created.
5 Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
A black-and-white sci-fi horror that was filmed in three dimensions at the time, Creature from the Black Lagoon has a legacy of its own. The movie begins with a team of geologists discovering a prehistoric fossil. Following this, Dr. Carl Maia leads an expedition to the legendary Black Lagoon deep in the Amazon to look for the remainder of the skeleton. They encounter Gil-man, a creature from the same species, who engages in a thrilling underwater battle with the team.
The Original Beauty and the Beast
Suspenseful and glorious from the minute it starts, Creature from the Black Lagoon brings the exotic Amazon setting to life through phenomenal underwater cinematography.
While the eerie sound effects and solid atmosphere entertained viewers, it was the intricate Gill-man costume, and both Ben Chapman and Ricou Browning’s performances that gave the movie its chill. The thriller also managed to make audiences sympathize with its monster by giving it a romantic subplot and portraying it as a misunderstood antihero.
4 Godzilla (1954)
Godzilla is so iconic for kick-starting what would become the longest-running film franchise in history, and yet, it is Ishirō Honda’s original version that movie enthusiasts and filmmakers keep going back to. The 1954 epic tells the story of the titular prehistoric sea creature, who awakens from its slumber in the Pacific Ocean due to nuclear bomb testing and begins a rampage towards Tokyo. As it destroys the city, a scientist is hired to create an equally dangerous weapon to destroy it.
Goes Way Beyond Surface Spectacle
Breaking out globally after its Western version was released in 1956, this Japanese kaiju movie is pioneering in the genre for two reasons: it treats the giant reptilian monster as a special effects triumph, and two, it transforms it into a symbol of postwar anxieties.
The devastation of cityscapes and threat posed to humans felt terrifying at the time and remains eerily plausible even today. In a way, Honda creates a poignant allegory for nuclear weapons as an uncontainable danger with a single-minded determination to create something extraordinary.
3 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Set against the backdrop of a small town called Santa Mira in California, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a classic sci-fi that follows Dr Miles Bennell, who learns from his parents that their neighbors seem to have been taken over by emotionless impostors. Dr. Bennell and his girlfriend witness the strange behavior as well, and upon further investigation, they realize that the populace is being replaced with identical clones made from alien, plant-like pods.
The Black-and-White Palette Disguises Its Small Scale
Pulling viewers into a spiral of suspicion and mistrust, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a B-movie (made on a budget of $4.17 lakhs) that redefines what it means to use a layered production and taut pacing to create a masterpiece.
The performances from Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter feel as remarkable and realistic today. And even after almost 70 years, the movie’s themes, like the comparison between individualism and conformity, or the heightened sense of unease, and use of the alien invasion trope, make it arguably the best one in the subgenre.
2 The Fly (1958)
The first installment in The Fly film series, this 1958 classic is directed by Kurt Neumann and it stars David Hedison and Patricia Owens in the lead roles. Hedison plays a scientist named André Delambre, who has been experimenting with a matter-transporter device in his basement for days on end. During his latest attempt, a common housefly gets trapped in the beam and the experiment goes wrong, resulting in a horrifying metamorphosis where André has the head and a left arm of a fly.
A B-Movie That Still Stands Out
The Fly taps into the age-old fear of what would happen if technology progressed faster than humanity was ready for it to. The grotesque transformations and the makeup mastery only make the tale more gritty and skin-crawling.
Based on George Langelaan’s 1957 short story and reimagined by David Cronenberg in 1986, its premise is surprisingly relevant to this day. Neumann’s direction is so subtle yet so moving that it fills us with genuine empathy for Hedison’s character, despite the terrifying nature of it.
1 Alphaville (1965)
The titular futuristic city is a dystopia of sorts where love and self-expression are forbidden under the rule of a mad scientist named Professor von Braun. Lemmy Caution is an American private eye sent to Alphaville to find a missing agent and in the process, destroy the creator of the cold and irrational city and dictatorial computer, Alpha 60. Caution also falls in love with Natacha, a citizen of Alphaville and daughter of Professor von Braun.
Known For its Surrealism and Witty Sci-Fi Tropes
Filmed on bleak Parisian streets with a noir lens, it is a wonder how Alphaville is so full of bizarre futuristic imagery. Written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard at his most playful and provocative, this dystopian science fiction also holds an air of subversive humor as it confronts the idea of AI gone mad.
The movie features an unforgettable turn from Eddie Constantine, who advocates our collective capacity for emotion, individuality, and hope in a way that’s thrilling and celebratory to this day.
