Ok here are some of my favorite sci-if flicks that are probably not well known.

Equilibrium. I remember going into this movie without a lot of expectations and coming out wanting to watch it again. The premise has been used before: set in the future, to eliminate war the ruling government has to remove part of our humanity. Rebels feel it’s too big price to pay and is trying to overthrow the government. However the action sequences were choreographed in a way I had never seen before (New movie out right now called “Upgrade” that has some awesome action sequences as well.

Source code – I usually think time travel concept is lazy writing and is messy, but if done correctly (Butteryfly Effect, Edge of Tomorrow, etc.) they make for some great movie viewing. Jake Gyllenhall is part of a military project that can send someone back to time to experience the last moment of an event. His current mission is to stop a bomb going off on a train however each time he goes back he finds more clues, but it also costs him to travel back each time. This movie deserves to be seen by every sci-fi movie fan.

Serenity – Even if you have never seen the TV series FireFly, this movie is a great ride. I don’t remember the premise, but the crew probably is caught up trying to save the world or something. Don’t discard this movie because of my awful description of the movie. I would watch this movie again in a heartbeat.

Pandorum – I didn’t see this movie in the theater, but I wish I did. Set on a huge spaceship set on finding a habitable planet, the crew is woken up to find all is not well. This movie reminds me of Event Horizon as a movie that won’t win any awards, but is just fun to watch.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – sci-fi because the premise is that you can wipe out memories that you don’t want. But what is the cost of doing so? Not set in the future, no action fight scenes, no robots, this is totally a character driven movie and is fantastic. Science will eventually be able to suppress and remove memories (https://www.wired.com/2012/02/ff_forgettingpill/) or even retrieve them. This movie explores why that isn’t always a great idea.

Time Bandits – I watched this as a teenager and don’t remember the premise, but it’s a fun, wacky movie and deserves to be watched by any sci-fi fan.