The 45 best AI movies you might have missed
There’s been a massive jump in interest in AI over the past couple of years since Dall-E and Chat GPT launch. With the pending release of Gareth Edwards’ new film The Creator we thought it would be fun to list all the AI movies we can think of and rank them (ranking methodology is explained here). The film industry has been ahead of the curve on AI for a long time. We’ve put together what we think is a pretty comprehensive list of movies about artificial intelligence (AI from here on in).
Artificial intelligence, a profound and enigmatic domain of human ingenuity, has captivated the collective imagination of filmmakers for nearly a century now. The intersection of technology and humanity, the nebulous boundary between creator and creation, and the moral quandaries that arise when machines attain sentience form the crux of a rich cinematic tapestry. Here’s our comprehensive list of movies about artificial intelligence, exploring the implications, aspirations, and dilemmas surrounding the creation of sentient machines.
The silver screen has long served as a canvas for the contemplation of man’s ambition to replicate human intelligence in the form of machines. From Fritz Lang’s seminal “Metropolis” (1927), which laid the foundation for the cinematic exploration of artificial beings, to more recent offerings like “Ex Machina” (2014), the journey has been marked by a kaleidoscope of visions, each reflecting the technological and philosophical zeitgeist of its era. These films provide a glimpse into the evolving relationship between humanity and its mechanical offspring.
Much as in The Matrix (1999) we’ve made a conscious choice to only include movies where AI plays the role of protagonist or antagonist. So, there’s no Interstellar (2014) or Moon (2009).
To put together the list we researched a bunch of existing lists, added all the missing ones we could think and then put the list to our sci-fi whatsapp group who came up with another 20 or so.
Franchises only get one bite of the cherry, whichever franchise film scored highest in our methodology is the one that’s featured. With the qualifier here that we felt that Alien and Prometheus were sufficiently far apart to qualify separately.
How we worked out ‘best’ was simple, we pulled the critics and audience scores from Rotten Tomatoes, the total score from Metacritic and the IMDB score and gave each film the average of all of them. A handful of newer or lesser known titles didn’t have scores on all 4 so we worked around that.
This comprehensive list is a testament to the enduring allure of artificial intelligence in the world of cinema. It is a journey that transcends genres, time periods, and cultural contexts, reflecting humanity’s unyielding fascination with the boundaries of our own creation. From the mechanical marvels of “Metropolis” to the introspective musings of “Her,” these films stand as a testament to the limitless potential of the human imagination to grapple with the enigma of artificial intelligence.
Or check out some older watchlistable trailers.
Or did you miss any of the best underseen movies from the last 5 years?
Here’s the latest movie trailers from our YouTube channel.
45 Movies about Artificial intelligence
45. Blank (2022)
44. Automata (2014)
41. Tau (2018)
40. Morgan (2016)
39. Finch (2021)
37. Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
36. Jexi (2019)
35. Moonfall (2022)
34. Eagle Eye (2008)
33. Chappie (2015)
31. T.I.M. (2023)
30. I, Robot (2004)
29. Tron (1982)
28. Dark Star (1974)
25. Archive (2020)
24. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
22. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
20. Westworld (1973)
18. Free Guy (2021)
17. Upgrade (2018)
16. Wargames (1983)
15. Ron’s Gone Wrong
In a world where walking, talking, digitally connected bots have become children’s best friends, an 11-year-old finds that his robot buddy doesn’t quite work the same as the others do.
14. I’m Your Man
In order to obtain research funds for her studies, a scientist accepts an offer to participate in an extraordinary experiment: for three weeks, she is to live with a humanoid robot, created to make her happy.
13. The Matrix (1999)
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth–the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
12. Big Hero 6
A special bond develops between plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax and prodigy Hiro Hamada, who together team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes.
11. Ex Machina (2014)
A young programmer is selected to participate in a ground-breaking experiment in synthetic intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a highly advanced humanoid A.I.
Top 10 AI Movies
As we get to the top 10 we’re not just talking about good AI movies, but great AI movies. Let’s get into the best movies on artificial intelligence.
10. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
A cyborg policewoman and her partner hunt a mysterious and powerful hacker called the Puppet Master.
9. The Day The Earth Stood Still (1955)
An alien lands in Washington, D.C. and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.
8. The Mitchells vs The Machines (2021)
A quirky, dysfunctional family’s road trip is upended when they find themselves in the middle of the robot apocalypse and suddenly become humanity’s unlikeliest last hope.
7. Blade Runner (1982)
A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
6. Terminator 2 (1991)
A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
5. Her (2013)
In the near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
After uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.
3. Wall-E (2008)
In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.
2. Alien (1979)
The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating an unknown transmission.
1. Metropolis (1927)
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city’s mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.