"The Arrival" was quietly released by Orion Pictures on May 31, 1996, one month before the comic book-like alien invasion spectacle of "Independence Day" landed, and a year before

Experts have weighed in or outright advised those on the set of some of the best and most scientifically accurate movies ever made.

Exclusive: What makes a great science fiction movie? Prof. Lisa Yaszek dives into the commonalities among iconic sci-fi movies across the decades.

Two different ways to tell the same story. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Science fiction is not monolithic. There are, in fact, two major sub-genres that divide sci-fi — hard sci ...