Science Fiction began early in cinema with Georges Melies' 1902 silent film "Le Voyages Dans la Lune" (A Trip to the Moon), but wasn't taken very seriously for the first half of the twentieth century. In the 1960's, a culture crafted in the Post War era and raised in the space race began to truly push the imaginations of writers and directors everywhere to explore the limits of film. Coupled with developments in technology and film techniques, audiences throughout the world were awed by images of futuristic landscapes, space travel, and unimaginable realities. While easy to recall to mind, science fiction is a difficult to define genre, as it includes a diverse set of content and themes, and easily melds with other genres. The following five films offer a visual introduction to the cinematography and screenwriting that define the genre, while showcasing many of the artifacts and themes that populate science fiction.

1. Blade Runner

Harrison Ford stars in Ridley Scott's 1982 "Blade Runner," in which Ford must pursue four android replicants who have returned to Earth to find their creator. Set in a dystopic Los Angeles of 2019, "Blade Runner" is a dark and engaging film that, like many science fiction films, is at its core about an idea, raising deep philosophical questions on technology's effect on human society, existence, and the nature of humanity itself throughout the film. Striking cinematography, powerful themes, and brilliant futurism make "Blade Runner" a defining science fiction film.

2. Donnie Darko

"Donnie Darko" offers time-travel themes and equally as much multi-dimensional physics as "Interstellar," even though it just may not appear that way on the surface. The film follows troubled teen Donnie Darko, fantastically played by Jake Gyllenhaal, as he struggles with the meaning behind his visions of doomsday and a large bunny rabbit after he narrowly avoids death from a bizarre accident. Beneath the dark cinematography and angst of Richard Kelly's 2001 "Donnie Darko" (his first film) lies intricate sci-fi themes, like time-travel paradoxes that push the movie from superstitious thriller to empirical science fiction. "Donnie Darko" exemplifies the basis of science fiction on ideas as the movie defies our conception of science fiction as being spaceships and aliens. A movie that will definitely have you watching again and again, and sharing with your friends.

3. Alien

The crew of the commercial vessel Nostromos are boarded by an alien bioform in Ridley Scott's 1979 "Alien." The breathtaking shots and movement of the camera, the claustrophobia of space, and powerful alien effects (for 1979) combine in a film that is a science fiction horror masterpiece. Each scene in the film contains an iconic sci-fi atmosphere that gets under your skin, and lays the foundation for this film's massive incorporation of horror elements, making this not only a defining science fiction film, but the establishing science fiction horror film.

4. Planet of the Apes

Sociological themes and intelligent apes run rampant in Franklin Schaffner's 1968 science fiction classic "Planet of the Apes." The film tells the story of an astronaut crew that crash lands on a planet in the distant future, where intelligent apes rule and humans are oppressed and enslaved. The film presses our ideas of society by completely flipping the structure and order of our civilization upside down in a futuristic world. It features several iconic science fiction scenes, and was a landmark film in the development of the science fiction genre.

5. 2001: A Space Odyssey

Stanley Kubrick's 1968 epic "2001: A Space Odyssey" is, in essence, science fiction. Spielberg called it the "big bang" of his film generation, and Ridley Scott stated that he believed "2001" was the unbeatable film. Harrowing and hypnotically entertaining, "2001: A Space Odyssey" contains 142 minutes of iconic imagery and defining cinematography. This film is extremely visually striking and brilliant with its use of real effects and post production work. Being released in 1968, this movie reflects the United States' eagerness to explore space and to go into the unknown that allowed for the science fiction boom of the 1970's. The movie showcases sci-fi as it covers several popular themes, like quantum physics and artificial intelligence. Kubrick pushes the boundaries of beauty in cinema throughout the film, and forces you to experience strange and wonderful images without an intricate plot or character development. "2001: A Space Odyssey" is an experience to watch, and is arguably the greatest science fiction film of all time.