Star Wars might be the premiere franchise in sci-fi, but there are some science fiction films that actually blow the Star Wars movies out of the water. When Star Wars released in 1977, it created a pop culture phenomenon, and George Lucas' sci-fi/fantasy epic inspired tons of imitators throughout the ensuing decades.

Taking a page from classic film serials, Star Wars embodied concepts from action movies and even fantasy to create a mixture that had never been seen on the big screen before. While this made the franchise wildly popular, its disparate elements also take away from its science fiction credibility. In many ways, Star Wars is more fantasy than sci-fi .

Science fiction is all about imagining what's possible, and there are a host of classic movies that fulfill that i

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