The 5 best sci-fi movies to watch on Netflix in March 2023

Polygon readers, it’s March. As the calendar turns to spring and temperatures start to warm up a bit, what better way to spend the season than watching some quality sci-fi?

Each month, Polygon’s curation team selects five great sci-fi movies to enjoy at home on Netflix, prioritizing the best movies for the month. This time around, we have a movie accompanying a fun new project from an exciting filmmaker, an actor-led film recently released in theaters, and his two selections of anime not to be missed at any time of the year.

Let’s dive into it.

gamer

Year: 2009
Execution time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Director: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
cast: Gerard Butler, Logan Lerman, Michael C. Hall

Over the last few years, I’ve often found myself suddenly sitting down and asking out loud, “What the hell are Neveldine and Taylor doing?” Finally, I have a little answer for you.

Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor were a groundbreaking filmmaking duo that embraced chaos cinema. It used frenzied editing and over-the-top visuals to create a unique sensory experience like the criminally underrated Crank movies. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeanceand, of course, the Gerard Butler-directed video game movie gamerThey have not worked together since Spirit of Vengeancebut Taylor directed most of Christopher Meloni’s shows Happy! And most recently connected to the next Hellboy Movies (which actually seem to have good potential). This is exciting news for those of us who love the particular visual flair he brings to the project (or for those of us who love Hellboy).

return gamer — movies are not without their faults (some attempts at social commentary on our obsession with virtual worlds specifically miss the lewd relationship between movies and obesity). We interact in the digital world. Set in the near future, gamer‘s world revolves around two virtual reality video games. society (like second life) and slayers (like call of duty). twist? Player avatars are real people, not virtual. societyof Avatars are “voluntary” (mostly lower-class) participants who are rewarded for using their bodies. slayers‘Bodypool comes from a death row inmate.

slayers It’s also a popular television event that resembles live sports (but with more blood and mayhem). It’s John “Cable” Tillman (Gerard Butler), who has won an unprecedented victory. Together, Cable and Simon are contacted by the Underground Resistance who want to expose the game’s corrupt inventor (Michael C. Hall) and try to break out of the system in which they are trapped. With the movie coming out at some point, it’s the perfect time to satisfy your expectations with a Taylor (and Neveldine) mess.Pete Volk

Blame!

Image: Polygon Pictures/Netflix

Year: 2017
Execution time: 1 hour 46 minutes
directed by: Hiroyuki Seshita
cast: Takahiro Sakurai, Kana Hanazawa, Sora Amamiya

Tsutomu Nihei is a name familiar to any avid anime and manga lover who considers himself a fan of the dystopian sci-fi world, with its emphasis on post-human characters and Giger-esque monsters.Nihei’s 1997 his sci-fi cartoon Blame! is believed to be the original text for this particular brand of Japanese cyberpunk fiction. A gigantic megastructure has grown so vast that it has practically engulfed the entire planet with its towering mass of black spiers and utility his web of wires. His 2017 adaptation, directed by Hiroyuki Seshita, does a fine job of fitting the central storyline of the original series into a feature film. His style of art can’t really compare to the monochromatic, maximalist aesthetic that is characteristic of Nihei’s manga, but it still works. It looks pretty impressive on its own merits.

Set in the distant future, the Earth has been reshaped by advanced technology “viruses”. The result was a multi-level city block of machines that stretched across every corner of the Earth’s surface. Most of what we call “humanity” died out and was replaced by descendants who were neither perfect humans nor perfect machines. Killy, a mysterious android wanderer armed with a powerful hand cannon, calls upon them for help in rescuing these human villages and finding the mysterious MacGuffin known as the “NetTerminal Gene.”Story is not the actual point, just like manga condemnation, that’s not the root of the movie’s appeal either.There are two main reasons to watch condemnation(a) take in the gigantic, ominous-looking megastructures and landscapes inhabited by terrifying robotic creatures, and (b) killy gets into a sick ass fight with said robotic creatures and even more terrifying sentient foes. If that sounds like something you’d like, I highly recommend giving this a watch. — Toussaint Egan

Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway

Image: Sunrise/Netflix

Year: 2021
Execution time: 1 hour 35 minutes
directed by: Shuko Murase
cast: Kensho Ono, Junichi Suwabe, Reina Ueda

“How do I get into Gundam?” is a question often asked by anime enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Part of the reason it’s a common debating point is that in the nearly 44-plus years since series creator Yoshiyuki Tomino’s original anime first aired on Japanese television, the Gundam franchise has seen several different sequel series and each one. Because it has grown to encompass marginalized sects. Continuity. This question naturally evolves into one of his four prompts: Shall we start with the original continuity that started it all (“The Century of the Universe”; 1979) Mobile Suit Gundam)? Shall we start with the first offshoot, which significantly revamped the tone and style of the original (“Future Century”; 1994)? Mobile Fighter G Gundam)? Start with a continuation? widely cited As the spread of Gundam in Europe and the United States (“After Colony”; 1995s) Mobile Suit Gundam Wing)? Or (in 2015 Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans2022 Mobile Suit Gundam Witch of MercurySuch)?

Honestly, the answer to this question depends a lot on the individual asking it, their respective tastes, and the attributes that first got them interested in Gundam. and re-edited film trilogy), 1996’s Mobile Suit Gundam 08th MS Platoon, and Mobile Fighter G Gundam A perfect entry point for anyone interested in Gundam.

Mobile Suit Gundam Hathawaya 2021 feature film directed by Shuko Murase (witch hunter robin, blade runner blackout 2022) and adapted from the 1987 sequel to Tomino’s 1989 light novel Mobile Suit Gundam Char’s Counterattackcertainly not the best place to start with Gundam. remains a visually compelling and narratively provocative spy thriller with mecha drama.

Set 26 years after the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway follows the story of environmental official Hathaway Noah, who helps thwart an attempted hostage situation aboard the Earth Federation shuttle run by the Mufti, an anti-government eco-terrorist organization. However, in reality, Hathaway himself is the true leader of the Mufti, avenging the planet’s destruction by the Earth Federation and his unresolved war trauma from fighting by Amuro Ray’s side during the Seven Years’ War. Hathaway, piloting the experimental (and stolen) RX-105 Gundam, is tasked with uncovering his identity while enacting his plan to dismantle the organization from within. You need to stay one step ahead of Earth Federation officials. Glad you did! —Te

galaxy quest

Image: DreamWorks Pictures

Year: 1999
Execution time: 1 hour 42 minutes
directed by: Dean Parisot
cast: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman

galaxy quest Follows the story of a disgruntled cast member in the canceled fictional sci-fi adventure series. galaxy quest, was abducted by an alien race known as Thermians, who mistook the show for reality. Starring Tim Allen (toy story), Sigourney Weaver (alien), Sam Rockwell (Month), Tony Shalhoub (Monk), Darryl Mitchell (NCIS: New Orleans), the late Alan Rickman (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), galaxy quest It is a loving parody of Star Trek and series fandom, and somehow even if you’re not familiar with any of them, it’s a hilarious sci-fi comedy that has earned itself a status as a cult classic among its dedicated fan base. — Te

beyond the skyline

Image: Vertical Entertainment

Year: 2017
Execution time: 1 hour 46 minutes
directed by: Liam O’donnell
cast: Frank Grillo, Boyana Novakovic, Johnny Weston

2010, the Strauss Brothers (Alien vs. Predator: Requiem) delivers a new sci-fi disaster movie, skyline, about an alien invasion in Los Angeles and the people who witnessed it. Starring Eric Balfour (twenty four), crystal lead (teen wolf), and Donald Faison (scrub), it was a forgettable film filled with television actors of the era.

But it didn’t end there skylineLiam O’Donnell, who wrote the film, took over the franchise and delivered two shocking sci-fi sequels that followed. beyond the skyline and skylineThe franchise’s second and third entries have little in common with the original (other than the generic alien invasion premise — beyond the skyline take place at the same time skyline), and benefits greatly from O’Donnell’s love of filmed action (and giant artificial alien suits).

beyond the skyline Ditching the TV casting approach of the first film, it instead brings in some of the most compelling action stars on the planet, led by Frank Grillo as the detective leading a group of survivors (when the invasion began) and supported by It has been raid Starring Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian. The result is a fun and engaging sci-fi story with great action that doesn’t require any prior knowledge of his predecessor. series third, skylineunfortunately not on Netflix, but it’s a great production and worth looking for.O’Donnell has many exciting projects in the works, including: skyline radial, the fourth article in the series, so there’s never been a better time to catch up. —PV