10 Best Sci-Fi Movies on Tubi You Didn’t Know Were Streaming

Tubi is fast becoming one of the best and most popular streamers out there. For one, it’s free (naturally, one must watch ads, but there aren’t many and Tubi does a good job of not showing the same ad repeatedly) and two, its line-up of content has become increasingly diverse and high-quality. This includes television as well as movies. But, today at least, we’re going to be focusing on movies. Specifically, sci-fi movies which, like the streamer’s horror and comedy catalogues, is loaded with big-budget favorites and niche cult classics. What follows is a bit of both and sometimes a combination of the two.

From legacy sequels and John Carpenter classics to Bruce Willis and Jean-Claude Van Damme-fronted sci-fi/action adventures, these are the best sci-fi movies currently on Tubi. But many movies don’t stay on Tubi for long, so strike while the iron is hot.

Bill & Ted Face the Music

One of those big movies that went the direct-to-streaming route during the COVID era, Bill & Ted Face the Music was a treat of a film during a tough time. Not many legacy sequels recapture the magic of what came before, especially when it comes to comedies (e.g. Dumb and Dumber To and Zoolander 2), but thanks to Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves Face the Music makes fans feel as though the title characters haven’t changed a bit.

Bill & Ted Face the Music follows the two besties as they’re tasked with writing a song so good it will save the world. So, instead of working on it, they travel to the future to steal it from their older selves. The sequel also features standout work from Jack Haven (formerly Brigette Lundy-Paine) and Samara Weaving as, respectively, Ted and Bill’s daughters.

Colossal

When Colossal was first announced, one could be forgiven for wondering just what on earth an Anne Hathaway kaiju movie would look like. And much to Colossal‘s credit, it’s not even truly clear what the film is until about midway through. It’s a story about alcoholism and abuse…there just happens to be a kaiju in it.

Hathaway (delivering one of the best performances of her career) stars as Gloria, a heavy-drinking lawyer who proclivity for drinking has threatened both her career and her romantic relationship. She moves out of the big city and back to smalltown New Hampshire to reset. She even meets a man from her past who offers her a job in his bar. This, of course, causes Gloria to drink more. And, before long, she sees what affect that is having. Not just on her mental and physical health, but also on the people who live all the way over in Seoul. As it turns out, every time she drinks, a kaiju storms across that city. To defeat the monster, it seems she’ll need to get her life back in order, which is only getting harder considering the man she once found to be a friend is actually an enabler…and a cruel one at that.

Donnie Darko

The true definition of a cult classic, Donnie Darko is a twisty, intelligent sci-fi thriller with a gut punch of an ending. And, while Jake Gyllenhaal had already starred in October Sky, this was truly his breakthrough role.

The Nightcrawler and Nocturnal Animals actor plays the title character, a deeply troubled teen who has a tendency to sleepwalk. That is, when he isn’t seeing a man in a giant creepy bunny costume. This rabbit, Frank, tells him that in just over 28 days, the world will end. But whose world?

The Fifth Element

Still considered by many to be Luc Besson’s best film, The Fifth Element is one of the few films that stands both as a financial success and as a cult classic. Bruce Willis plays a cab driver in the 23rd century who one day inadvertently crosses paths with Leeloo (Milla Jovovich), a young woman who speaks a language neither he nor anyone else of his time recognizes.

It turns out Leeloo is a “Supreme Being of the Universe,” advanced beyond human capabilities who has come to Earth to be “The Fifth Element.” Once all of those elements are assembled the planet will have what it needs to combat Evil, a cosmic fireball that is headed straight for Earth. The Fifth Element is certainly an odd movie, but thanks to commanding performances from Willis and Gary Oldman (not to mention scene-stealing work from Jovovich) and a still-impressive mix of practical and computer-generated effects, it works front to back.

[RELATED: The Fifth Element Star Teases Leeloo Returning in Animated Spinoff (And It Sounds Awesome)]

Highlander

While we all wait for the Henry Cavill-fronted reboot, why not check out the original Highlander on Tubi? One of the definitive examples of a cult classic, Highlander serves as both an inventive mainstream motion picture and the most important role of Christopher Lambert’s career. And, for a good portion of the film, Sean Connery is there to ham things up without overdoing it.

Lambert plays Connor MacLeod, a 16th century warrior in the Scottish Highlands. After losing a fight to the Immortal, Kurgan (a scene-stealing Clancy Brown), MacLeod should be dead, but he somehow walks away with a pulse. This makes the people of his village assume him to be a witch, at which point they banish him. Fortunately, after a five-year stretch, MacLeod crosses paths with an odd swordsman named Ramírez (Connery), who increases his already impressive combat skills while also relaying the information that, like the Kurgan, MacLeod is himself an Immortal. Once more the two Immortals will cross paths and “There can only be one” who walks away.

Monsters

Before Gareth Edwards kicked off the Monsterverse with 2014’s Godzilla, he was directing a kaiju movie on a much smaller budget. Monsters follows Scoot McNairy’s Andrew Kaulder, an American journalist who must escort his boss’ daughter through what is known as the “Infected Zone.” This area in Mexico is littered with deadly tentacled creatures that arose after a NASA probe crashed in the area.

What’s great about Monsters is that it works on two fronts. It will appease monster movie fans but, even more so, it’s a solid character-focused survival drama.

Species

Roger Donaldson’s Species often gets lumped in with Alien. But, outside the two films’ antagonist being designed by H. R. Giger, they really couldn’t be any more different.

This science fiction version of Basic Instinct features Natasha Henstridge (in a star-making turn) as Sil, an alien in the shape of a beautiful woman who is traversing the Earth in hopes of mating with a human man. Now, a team of scientists and government agents are after her, because if she accomplishes her mission, her spawn will spread like wildfire.

Stargate

It may not have been fleshed out as a feature film trilogy, as was the original plan, but Stargate nonetheless has a lot of covered narrative ground for a single film. And yet it never feels too stuffed. It also functions as a solid step for director Roland Emmerich into higher-budget territory (though that would prove to be a doubled-edged sword, even if Godzilla has its fair share of fans).

Stargate tells the story of a massive portal found in Egypt, an interstellar teleportation device that transports those who step through it to a different planet. Now that Dr. Daniel Jackson (James Spader) has figured out how to activate it, he is sent through to investigate what’s on the other side. He’s joined by Colonel Jonathan O’Neil (Kurt Russell) who, unfortunately, has brought a nuclear weapon. When the residents of this other planet capture the team and steal the weapon, all Hell threatens to break loose back on Earth.

The Thing (1982)

Not many horror reboots are better than the original, but John Carpenter’s The Thing is without a doubt one of them. That’s not to say the ’50s original was sub-par. In fact, its respected in its own right. But Carpenter’s film is firmly placed in the top 10 of most horror fans’ lists, and for good reason, as it’s one of the best movies ever made regardless of genre.

Essentially a bloody, practical effects-generated look at Cold War paranoia, The Thing is an often-shocking masterclass on tension-building and crafting memorable ensembles. Relegated to a single location (outside a brief sojourn to a neighboring base), The Thing is a brilliantly claustrophobic nightmare where the threat is hiding in plain sight…yet you wouldn’t know it to look it in the eye.

Timecop

Timecop follows Jean-Claude Van Damme’s police officer, Walker, as he investigates a scrupulous senator. When he gets too close to solving the case for the senator’s liking, assassins are hired to kill Walker’s wife. Now, Walker must utilize his era’s perfected time travel equipment to go to the past and alter events so he and his wife can live tragedy-free.

One of Van Damme’s better star vehicles, this Dark Horse Comics adaptation benefits from a well-used budget and a typically strong antagonist performance by Ron Silver. Some of the special effects are certainly products of their time, but that’s just part of Timecop‘s charm (and, anyway, it doesn’t look half as poorly aged as The Lawnmower Man).