20 Hidden Sci-Fi Movie Gems You Can Watch On Netflix

18. Ghost In The Shell

Based on the Masamune Shirow manga of the same name, Ghost In The Shell is one of the most influential sci-fi - not to mention animated - films of all time. The Wachowski's famously showed it to producer Joel Silver with something along the lines of "we want to make this for real", and their sci-fi classic, The Matrix, is heavily indebted to Shell, most notably in the film's use of digital rain, which comes from Ghost in the Shell's opening credits.

The film is often praised heavily for its positive gender politics, and the plot, which sees a female cop and her partner track a mysterious hacker, feels prescient. Shell's enduring legacy looks set to continue, with Scarlet Johansson set to take the lead role of Motoko Kusunagi in the slated 2017 release of Hollywood's no-doubt big budget take on the anime.