Regardless of how good they were in their moment, even the best science-fiction movies aren't immune to the ravages of time. For one reason or another, what was acceptable or even eye-opening years ago may be seen as problematic today. This isn't a knock against these movies' qualities, but a sign of the changing times.

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Thankfully, these sci-fi favorites are just so good at what they set out to do that they were able to weather some of the harshest retroactive analyses. In more extreme cases, some of these movies' reputations were sullied by unfair outside circumstances, but they were able to withstand them nonetheless.

10 Superman II Was A Blockbuster In The Truest Sense

Zod Asserts His Authority In Superman 2

On its own, Superman II is a fun and silly superhero movie starring arguably the greatest superhero ever made. However, in light of Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut's existence and the sequel's troubled production, Superman's battle against General Zod and his loyalists comes across as a subpar replacement for something more ambitious.

Donner, the first movie's director, reportedly wanted to take Superman down a more dramatically mature route, but producers demanded a comedic sequel and fired him. Donner's version would've definitely been a superhero movie ahead of its time but, all things considered, Superman II wasn't a bad movie and left its own mark.

9 Star Wars' Ambition & Creativity Overshadows Its Pulpy Shortcomings

Leia Kisses Luke In The Empire Strikes Back

When George Lucas failed to secure the rights to a Flash Gordon movie, he decided to make his own galaxy instead. This was how Star Wars came to be, and the trilogy was Lucas' love letter to the sci-fi pulp he enjoyed in his youth. Star Wars perfectly captured the look and feel of yesteryear's sci-fi, including the bad things.

Besides outdated tropes like Han Solo's old-school machismo, Star Wars also accidentally made itself problematic thanks to unplanned moments like Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia's accidental sibling romance. Most people forgive these issues since these mistakes were committed without malice, and the Original Trilogy is just too good to lambast.

8 Heavy Metal's Style More Than Makes Up For Its Lowbrow Substance

Fiste Threatens Sternn In Heavy Metal

Cartoons made for adults that weren't filled with cheap explicit content were hard to come by in the 80s, and this was doubly true for feature-length adult animations. This is partially why the anthology Heavy Metal endured for as long as it did since, by today's standards, its stories are incredibly juvenile and immature.

Except for the horror short "B-17," most of Heavy Metal's sci-fi yarns are mired in excessive sex and violence and feel like they're courting an edgy adolescent's favor. Heavy Metal's storytelling choices are very juvenile, to say the least, but its novelty as a rare adult-oriented animated movie and genuinely schlocky fun more than justify its existence.

7 Close Encounters Of The Third Kind's Artistry Is Impossible To Deny

Roy Recognizes The Mountain In Close Encounters Of The Third Kind

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind is one of the rare Steven Spielberg movies that hasn't aged perfectly. Some called out Roy Neary's fascination with the aliens as a patronizing depiction of mental health struggles, but the movie's biggest problem is how self-absorbed Roy is. In brief, Roy abandoning his family is depicted as a good thing.

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Spielberg admitted that if he made Close Encounters at an older age, he wouldn't have ended it with Roy leaving. The movie's underlying immaturity is more of a reflection of Spielberg's previous naivety than anything else, and it's impossible and downright wrong to reject its immaculate use of spectacular special effects for emotional genre storytelling.

6 The Back To The Future Trilogy's Imagination Can't Be Resisted

Marty McFly and Dr Emmett Brown interact in Back To The Future

Back To The Future is a beloved childhood memory for its fans, but its nostalgia runs deeper. In summary, Marty McFly and Doc Brown time traveled to idealized and simplified versions of dark pasts, specifically 1955 and 1885. What's more, the movies promoted outdated patriarchal values and materialism as the only ways to improve one's life.

Even if Back To The Future's sheltered politics and whitewashed nostalgia have been deconstructed more than once, the trilogy still stands strong as one of the cleverest sci-fi stories ever committed to the big screen. When it comes to time travel fiction and escapism at its finest, nothing comes close to Marty McFly and Doc Brown's escapades.

5 Ghostbusters' Comedy Is Still Relatable Even After 1984

The Ghostbusters Get To Work In Ghostbusters

Even momentarily ignoring its tarnished legacy thanks to online hate movements, Ghostbusters really is a poorly aged time capsule of the '80s. For example, Peter Venkman's decade-appropriate snark comes across as pretentiously rude today, and the movie's underlying support of selfish Reaganite deregulation is impossible to ignore.

That being said, it's a testament to Ghostbusters' quality as a comedy that it still strikes a chord with modern audiences. Despite its outdated politics and social dynamics, Ghostbusters still works as a relatable comedy about eccentric underdogs proving their doubters wrong, and a unique sci-fi movie with a memorably spooky premise.

4 A Clockwork Orange's Warnings Only Became More Relevant With Time

Alex Begins To Panic In A Clockwork Orange

It's no exaggeration to say that watching A Clockwork Orange is tough. Understandably, the movie's uncompromising depictions of physical and sexual violence make it difficult to sell this dystopian staple to most modern moviegoers. However, these troubling scenes serve a dark purpose in Alex DeLarge's fall from uncontrolled monster to government pawn.

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While A Clockwork Orange started by showing crime's vile randomness, it saved its harshest criticisms for authoritarians who used violence "for the greater good." A Clockwork Orange is a dark sci-fi movie that warns of how governments will strip basic human freedoms for their own gain, and it only became more prophetic in the decades after its release.

3 Starship Troopers' Themes Still Ring True Despite Its Many Misinterpretations

The Tanker Bug Attacks In Starship Troopers

The unfortunate thing about Starship Troopers is that its satire was completely missed or ignored by audiences. The Federation's war against Klendathu was a bleak criticism and parody of fascism, but the movie's fans and even the sequels' creators think it's a glowing depiction of militarism and macho hero worship.

Worse, Starship Troopers is often dismissed as warmongering propaganda thanks to the many unenlightened clones it inspired. But even with this negative reputation and when viewed on its own terms, Starship Troopers works perfectly as a masterful balance between a well-made sci-fi war movie and a sharp critique of fascist mindsets and views.

2 RoboCop's Satire Hits Harder Today Than It Did In 1987

RoboCop Shows Off In RoboCop

On good days, the original RoboCop is seen as a mindlessly fun and ultraviolent action romp. On bad days, RoboCop's war on crime in a dystopian Detroit is dismissed as an endorsement of unchecked police brutality and overreach. Both of these recent takes miss RoboCop's satire, which can be summed up as the perfect cop being a literal robot.

RoboCop's deconstructions of law enforcement's mythmaking and criticisms of capitalism are bluntly sarcastic and tongue-in-cheek, which is why it can be easy to miss its punchlines and take things at face value. Though RoboCop explicitly tackled the avarice of the 80s, its themes are (unfortunately) still relevant today since the bleak future it warned of is now reality.

1 The Matrix's Legacy Withstood Being Appropriated By The Worst Kinds Of People

Neo And Trinity Leave The Lobby In The Matrix

By no fault of its own, The Matrix became "problematic" when hateful groups and personalities co-opted its lore and terminology for their cruel ends. For example, the Red Pill's (or any "pill," for that matter) original purpose as the visualization of Neo's choice to become The One was twisted by hatemongers into the name of their groups' gateways.

Thankfully, The Matrix's unfair guilt-by-association can't do anything to diminish the fact that it's still one of the best and most progressive sci-fi movies ever made. What's more, its belated sequel The Matrix Resurrections fought hard to reclaim its legacy by outright debunking the original's appropriated mythos to establish its new and more defiant upgrade.

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