10 Great Sci-Fi Movies Under 90 Minutes
Looking at sci-fi that's short and sweet.
When you think of truly great science-fiction, you probably think of Interstellar, Stalker, Dune, and 2001: A Space Odyssey - the list goes on. However, each of these cinematic marvels share a commonality: they are all really, really long.
There's actually a logical explanation why a lot of sci-fi features have a lengthy run-time. If your story centres around quantum physics, wormholes, or aliens, (or all three), the film will need extra time to set up how this world works. Inception, Tenet, and Solaris deal with such complex themes, the characters have to keep doling out exposition to stop the audience getting lost.
Obviously, there are plenty of short sci-fi flicks, but a lot of them aren't up to standard, since they don't spend enough time developing the characters or the world they inhabit.
However, there's some science-fiction films that are mind-blowing despite the fact they don't even clock in at an hour-and-a-half. It's truly remarkable how movies like Westworld, Fantastic Planet, and Primer can transport you to a whole new reality, explore metaphysical concepts, and leave plenty of food for thought, despite being 90 minutes or less.
10. Silent Running - 89 Minutes
Silent Running centres around an astronaut called Freeman (Bruce Dern), who's assigned to a spaceship containing the remaining plants of Earth. When his superiors command him to destroy the ship's garden, Freeman kills his crewmates to ensure the plants survive. Consumed by loneliness, Freeman befriends the ship's robots to maintain his sanity. Despite his best efforts, it isn't long before the isolation starts driving him mad.
Although movies with a "save the trees" message can come across as heavy-handed, Silent Running gets away with it. Even though the sci-fi drama opens with an environmental message, it focuses more on Freeman's Sisyphean attempt to stay sane.
Speaking of which, you have to applaud Bruce Dern for his phenomenal performance, considering he spends most of the run-time by himself. In the hands of a lesser actor, Freeman's deranged behaviour could come across as unintentionally comical. But when you see Dern playing with the robots with utter sincerity, his commitment makes you take his plight seriously.
As impressive as the sets-pieces and the visuals are in Silent Running, it's Dern's acting that viewers remember most (and those waddling robots).