10 Best Sci-Fi Movie Final Scenes Of All Time, Ranked

Sci-fi movies contain some of the biggest and best final scenes in any film, with wild reveals, incredible symbolism, and twists that stay with the audience long after the credits roll. Sci-fi as a genre is responsible for a lot of innovation and creativity in the cinema industry. Presenting futuristic concepts and alternate realities that require extraordinary imagination and creativity to bring to life.

While sci-fi pushes the limits on what is possible in film, the real impact of these movies can only be fully appreciated in the final scene. Final scenes in sci-fi movies are a vital part of the storytelling, when the ideas that appeared in the film are brought to a close and often offer greater insight into what came before. Whether the ending shines a new light on the entire story, offers some sort of connection with the film and the real world, or it closes the loop, it can define the movie and make a statement to the audience.

10
Total Recall

Released In 1990

Total Recall provides an incredible example of practical effects in film. The entire movie showcased a future world on the verge of dystopia, with humans utilizing advanced technologies to alter their brains and memories. Throughout the film, Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is on a mission to find the truth about his recurring dreams of a life as a secret agent on Mars.

However, while the entire movie deals with the idea of where lines are drawn between reality and the imagination, the real message is driven home in the final scene. The ending of the film throws the rest of the story into doubt, as Quaid saves the day and gets to have his dream life with Melina. But, this happy ending, with everything seemingly resolved, does appear too good to be true, and the film ends with Quaid wondering whether it was all a dream.

9
Back To The Future

Released In 1985

Back to the Future is one of the best movies to come out of the 80s, and it inspired a franchise that is widely hailed one of the best of all time. The exciting sci-fi story of a young man who is recruited by a genius scientist, albeit a little quirky, and the pair travel through time together. The film was another huge win for sci-fi, which proved pure science fiction stories could be as exciting and compelling as those mixed with horror or fantasy.

While Back to the Future’s ending is not a big reveal, it perfectly sets up the franchise. Marty wakes up in his own bed, but his home and family have been drastically altered for the better. Where his siblings and parents were in terrible social and financial situations, they all became successful, confident and happier than before. Then, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) suddenly appears back with the DeLorean, telling Marty that there is a problem with the future and the iconic “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads” line is uttered before they fly off into the future.

8
Avengers: Infinity War

Released In 2018

Avengers: Infinity War marked the beginning of the end for arguably the most successful film franchise of all time, the MCU’s Infinity Saga. After 20 movies leading up to the largest cinematic event in recent history, Infinity War is the first of the two-part finale where the Avengers and other heroes from all over the galaxy come together to fight the Mad Titan Thanos. However, despite knowing there would be a second part to the story, the ending of Infinity War took everyone by surprise.

After multiple teams of Earth and space’s finest heroes fought against Thanos, he managed to defeat and destroy each one in turn. He manages to finally assemble all six of the Infinity Stones, and with the snap of his fingers, he dooms half of all life in the entire universe to disappear and become dust. The scene follows multiple heroes and people fading to nothing, and leaves audiences desperate to see what happens next. Most hero movies, the heroes eventually win, but Infinity War was their darkest day.

7
Solaris

Released In 1972

Solaris, based on the novel by Stanisław Lem, is one of the most compelling about first contact with aliens. The crew of a research facility on a distant planet slowly sink into madness through delusions and visions of impossible things in deep space. The story examines how two intelligent beings of completely different natures and origins struggle to communicate and understand, with neither having a baseline to understand the others efforts to make contact. Similar to the ending of Total Recall, the reality of events is reframed in the final scene, but Solaris is much more explicit about its conclusion.

Kelvin, the protagonist of the story is seen in his old family home, where things seem mostly normal, aside from the unusual rain inside the building. Next, he sees his father, and he embraces him. However, while this is all happening the camera zooms out and it is revealed that the home is on a small island in the middle of the ocean on the planet Solaris. While Kelvin is trapped in a false memory, he finds happiness and acceptance in the moment that Solaris gifts him.

6
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

Released In 1978

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is one of the best and most influential sci-fi movies of any decade, with the themes of reality and humanity being explored in detail throughout the film. The movie deals with an alien invasion, but rather than landing in droves and overwhelming society, this invasion is quiet, and subtle. The aliens possess human bodies, and integrate into the area where they arrive, slowly taking over the populace.

The 1978 film was a remake of the 1956 movie of the same name, and while both movies follow many of the same beats and characters, the ending was a surprising departure. Matthew (Donald Sutherland), who was the primary protagonist throughout the movie is seen walking in the city streets alone, before Nancy, his friend’s wife, approaches him excited to see another survivor. However, Matthew then points and lets out the noise which the aliens make, proving he has been taken, and leaving the film on a bleak, but incredibly impactful note.

5
Blade Runner

Released In 1982

While Blade Runner has gone through a number of different versions and cuts, with several edits of the movie in circulation, the story remains one of the most powerful and hotly debated of any sci-fi movie. Rick Deckard is assigned to retire replicants, and he is great at his job. Through the film, the nature of humanity and artificial life is explored in great detail, but the biggest question that lingers after the movie ends, is whether or not Deckard was even human.

During the film, there are small clues to point to Deckard being a replicant, and in the Ridley Scott director’s cuts, there are even more reasons to assume this idea is true. However, the ending of the film is deeply moving and powerful in any version. From Roy’s speech in the rain, to Deckard seeing a small origami unicorn, all of these elements combine to put Deckard’s humanity into question. Replicant or not, retiring or murdering, these aspects of the film have the lines blurred, and layered with moral ambiguity.

4
12 Monkeys

Released In 1995

12 Monkeys is one of the most iconic Bruce Willis movies of all time, and it has a unique exploration of time travel in sci-fi. Where many sci-fi movies deal with the consequences of altering time, 12 Monkeys asserts the dominance of time, and it’s an ability to march on as intended, no matter how much people might meddle. While trying to save the human race from extinction, James Cole (Willis) only manages to make history play out exactly how it intended.

Throughout the film, Cole is plagued by dreams of a shooting in an airport. The final scene of the film reveals that this was not actually a dream, but a memory Cole witnessed as a young boy in 1996, and the man who is shot, is the older version of Cole sent back in time to help prevent the outbreak of a deadly virus. Despite his best efforts, and multiple trips back in time, time keeps on track, firmly, without deviation.

3
Inception

Released In 2010

Christopher Nolan is a visionary director, and his ability to tell stories is breathtaking, but one of his most impressive works has to be Inception. The sci-fi film that explored dreams in another way, with people, in a carefully drug-induced state could transfer their consciousness into the subconscious of others. While going deeper into the mind of a target, skilled individuals could then implant ideas, while never alerting the target that they had been influenced.

The movie unravels at times, with Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) diving deeper and deeper and reality becoming a blur, but the greatest strength lies in the ending. In a scene where Cobb is reunited with his children at long last, he spins his top, which acts as his totem for discerning what is and isn’t real. The audience eagerly watches to learn whether this scene is real or imagined, but the screen cuts to black before revealing the truth. Ultimately, Cobb is happy in the reality with his children, and whether its real or not, no longer bothers him.

2
2001: A Space Odyssey

Released In 1968

Stanley Kubrick is another director who is often praised for his style and vision. Having created several iconic movies across multiple genres, Kubrick’s contribution to sci-fi was also a triumph. 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the most compelling and early films about AI and its potential dangers. HAL 9000 taking over the ship is a terrifying image, and the crew fighting a faceless, all-seeing opponent is terrifying, but the ending ties it all together in a unique way.

The ending is one of the most studied and discussed endings of any film, with Dave arriving on Jupiter, and then being pulled through a vortex. He then sees his life rapidly flash before his eyes as he apparently ages at an incredible pace before a large black monolith appears, like those seen earlier in the film, which seemingly transforms him into a fetus, floating above the Earth, and observing the world. The ending is symbolic in many ways, with many theories about what it means, but Kubrick never definitely offered an opinion, preferring to leave it open to interpretation.

1
The Planet Of The Apes

Released In 1968

On the other hand, a film which wanted to leave a distinct and definitive impression with it’s ending is Planet of the Apes also from 1968. The movie showcases an odd alternate world with primates as the dominant species on the planet. Humans that travel to this world are confronted by the reality that humans also exist here, but they are treated like vermin, as they are primitive and submissive to the apes.

After almost two hours, the film reveals the grim truth behind the story in a shocking twist ending. When the humans who landed on this planet by accident escape their captors, they explore the land beyond the ape cities, coming to the coasts, where they continue exploring. Eventually, they stumble upon the partially submerged Statue of Liberty, which confirms to them that this was never an alien world, but Earth all along, after a nuclear war that devastated the planet and shifted the powers in society in one of the best sci-fi movie endings of all time.