The dawn of the new millennium was an exciting time for science fiction cinema. After the 1990s ended on a high with The Matrix, the good times continued on into the 2000s with groundbreaking movies like Donnie Darko, District 9 and, of course, Avatar. It was the decade where sci-fi filmmakers big and small took risks and more often than not they paid off, with audiences treated to some of the most innovative films to ever grace the genre.
In spite of the eclectic successes seen during this period, there’s still a plethora of awesomely inventive science-fiction and adventure movies that went under radars and continue to do so to this day. Films that failed to garner an audience upon initial releases but are well worth tracking down and enjoying at cineastes' leisure – something that’s increasingly easy to do thanks to the raft of streaming services available at the click of a button.
Equilibrium (2002)
Christian Bale channeled his inner Neo for this sophisticated sci-fi thriller from writer/director Kurt Wimmer. Bale stars as John Preston, an enforcement officer living in a dystopian future where feelings and artistic expression are illegal. Every day, citizens are administered daily injections designed to suppress all emotions. But after missing a dose, Preston begins to question the morality of the society he lives in and soon sets about overthrowing it.
Intelligent, stylish and packed with great action sequences, Equilibrium was also notable for championing “gun kata” a film fighting style that blends martial arts and firearm use to dazzling effect.
Cypher (2002)
Vincenzo Natali followed up his brilliant debut Cube with this mind-bending corporate espionage thriller. Cypher centers on Morgan Sullivan (Jeremy Northam) a dour accountant stuck in a suburban rut who ends up being recruited as a spy for a major computer corporation.
Assigned to fly to conventions around the country to record speeches, Sullivan accidentally stumbles on a shady conspiracy involving company-wide brainwashing and a mysterious woman called Rita (Lucy Liu) who soon has him questioning his own identity and existence. A complex and unconventional techno-noir that owes a debt to the works of Philip K Dick.
Reign of Fire (2002)
Reign of Fire deserves high praise for the fact there is nothing out there quite like it. Imagine Mad Max fused with How to Train Your Dragon and that's still only scratching the surface of this guilty pleasure of a sci-fi adventure.
The action takes place in a post-apocalyptic London; reduced to rubble by fire-breathing dragons with Christian Bale’s fire marshal Quinn leading the remaining community of survivors. Things change with the arrival of American hotshot Van Zan, played by a gloriously over-the-top Matthew McConaughey, who claims he knows how to conquer the beasts. Big, brash but lots of fun.
Déjà Vu (2006)
The late Tony Scott reteamed with his Crimson Tide and Man on Fire muse Denzel Washington for this slick time-travel/action outing that’s just the right side of fun. Washington stars as Doug Carlin, an ATF special agent on the trail of a criminal (Jim Caviezel) responsible for detonating deadly incendiary devices on several pedestrian ferries.
Carlin is the head of a top-secret program with access to technology that allows them to track an individual's movements back over the previous four days. However, he soon discovers it has another neat use: it can send him back in time, too.
The Host (2006)
Long before he earned international acclaim with Parasite, Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho first broke through to Western audiences with this creative creature feature. When a haphazard US military pathologist has dangerous chemicals dumped in the Han River, he unwittingly creates the breeding ground for the Gwoemul, a monstrous aquatic creature that develops a taste for local residents.
When the creature somehow ends up snatching up a young girl, it’s up to her father, played by Parasite’s Song Kang-ho, to rescue her. A blend of scares, belly laughs and social commentary, The Host is an endlessly inventive thrill ride.
The Cell (2000)
The Silence of the Lambs meets Alice in Wonderland in this vividly imagined thriller from visionary director Tarsem Singh. Jennifer Lopez delivers a career-best performance as Catherine Deane, a psychotherapist at the forefront of a revolutionary treatment that allows her to enter the mind of patient.
The FBI have apprehended Carl Stargher (Vincent D’Onofrio) a disturbed loaner with a sideline in abducting women and slowly drowning them. Stargher has fallen into a coma, so they need Catherine to enter his twisted mind to track down his latest victim before time runs out. An unsettling and visually distinctive sci-fi odyssey.
Series 7: The Contenders (2001)
A brutal takedown of the reality TV shows that dominated the start of new millennium, Series 7: The Contenders blends dark humor with dystopian chills to thrilling effect. It centers on 'The Contenders,' a fictional hit reality show where six people are chosen at random to take one another down until a lone champion survives.
Brooke Smith, best known as Catherine Martin in The Silence of the Lambs, plays Dawn, a tough-as-nails mother-to-be and the reigning champion facing off against five other contenders. A gritty, entertaining and highly amusing satire that asks serious questions of society's unhealthy fascination for reality TV.
The Core (2003)
A return to the big, dumb explosive fun of movies like Armageddon, The Core takes the action underground rather than into space for a silly but charming B-movie adventure with an A-list cast.
Aaron Eckhart plays Dr Josh Keyes, a geophysicist who discovers the Earth’s inner core has stopped rotating in a development that could have catastrophic consequences for everyone above. The solution? Send in a team of top scientists played by great character actors like Stanley Tucci, Delroy Lindo, and DJ Qualls along two astronauts (Hilary Swank and Bruce Greenwood) to detonate a device and restart the core.
Gamer (2009)
Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor took action to exciting new extremes with Crank before turning their attentions to sci-fi with this innovative irony-laced adventure starring Gerard Butler. Butler plays Kable, a death-row prison inmate who does battle with his fellow convicts as part of a violent Doom-like online video game called 'Slayers.'
Mind-control technology means Kable’s every move is controlled by a gamer called Simon and overseen by the game’s creator Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall). The rules are simple: if Kable racks up 30 wins, he buys his freedom. But a vengeful Kable has bigger things in mind.
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
One of the best Philip K Dick adaptations ever and a high point for the multi-talented Richard Linklater, A Scanner Darkly is an ambitious, brilliantly-realized cinematic journey ranks among the most underrated sci-fi movie of the 2000s. It centers on Keanu Reeves as Robert Arctor, an undercover cop developing a dangerous addiction to a new type of narcotic.
Tasked with tracking down a major dealer, he instead ends up on a journey that has him questioning his existence. Boasting a superb cast and filmed using a unique, interpolated rotoscoping technique, this is complex, thought-provoking sci-fi story of the highest order.