There are so many new sci-fi movies that focus heavily on special effects and psychological thrills. Sometimes, however, it’s nice to travel back in time and see the simpler movies that inspired the latest, high-tech sci-fi films.
When looking at three sci-fi movies on Amazon Prime Video you need to watch in December 2024, they each hail from different decades. The most recent one is from 23 years ago, and it stars one of Hollywood’s most underrated actors who remains at the top of his game today.
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Donnie Darko (2001)
A gripping, edge-of-your-seat tale, Donnie Darko features Jake Gyllenhaal (Road House) as the titular character, a troubled teen who manages to escape death following a sleepwalking incident. Now haunted by visions of a man in a rabbit costume, he is told that the world will end in less than a month. Donnie is convinced that this creature, Frank The Rabbit (James Duval), is real, but his family members are concerned that he might be suffering from mental illness and hallucinations.
While Donnie grapples with these visions and the actions that Frank is convincing him to do, tensions rise at home. Earning solid reviews, Erik Anderson of AwardsWatch describes Donnie Darko as “a dense, complicated and amazing amalgam of genres and influences that really defies any constraints.” Also appearing in the movie are Maggie Gyllenhaal, the late Patrick Swayze, Noah Wylie, and Drew Barrymore.
Stream Donnie Darko on Amazon Prime Video.
The Thing (1982)
Travel back decades with this early John Carpenter classic from the ’80s. Based on the John W. Campbell Jr. novella Who Goes There?, the sci-fi horror movie The Thing centers around a group of researchers in Antarctica who come face-to-face with a creature known as “Thing.” Believed to be an extraterrestrial from another planet, Thing can absorb and mimic other lifeforms, which leaves the group members unsure of who to trust. At any moment, one of them could not be who they seem to be.
This adds to the intensity and drama of the film, which counts Kurt Russell among its ensemble cast. Interestingly, The Thing went from a poorly reviewed film to a cult classic that some even now call one of the best sci-fi horrors ever made.
Stream The Thing on Amazon Prime Video.
When Worlds Collide (1951)
Dive into old-school Hollywood with this low-tech sci-fi disaster movie based on the Edwin Balmer and Philips Wylie sci-fi novel of the same name. The end of the Earth is imminent in When Worlds Collide, as society and authorities believe that a rogue star is on a collision course, about to take out humanity. The only way to survive is to build a space ark and travel to a planet called Zyra. But that’s naturally easier said than done.
The special effects in When Worlds Collide were impressive for the time, even earning the movie an honorary Academy Award for the category. Among the cast is Barbara Rush (All My Children, 7th Heaven) who sadly passed away this year at the age of 97.
Stream When Worlds Collide on Amazon Prime Video.