Adventure & Sci-Fi To Watch With Kids
by HelmutsR | created - 26 Feb 2023 | updated - 3 weeks ago | PublicMy lis of Adventure & Sci-Fi movies to watch with kids aged 6 and older. This includes even many hit movies from 80s as this was an era of true masterpieces in genre!
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1. E.T. (1982)
PG | 115 min | Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi
A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace
Votes: 437,714 | Gross: $435.11M
2. *batteries not included (1987)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Aliens help a feisty old New York couple in their battle against the ruthless land developer who's out to evict them.
Director: Matthew Robbins | Stars: Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Frank McRae, Elizabeth Peña
Votes: 37,710 | Gross: $32.95M
3. Flight of the Navigator (1986)
PG | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
In 1978, a boy travels eight years into the future and has an adventure with an intelligent, wisecracking alien ship.
Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: Joey Cramer, Paul Reubens, Cliff De Young, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 51,711 | Gross: $18.56M
4. The Iron Giant (1999)
PG | 86 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A young boy befriends a giant robot from outer space that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy.
Director: Brad Bird | Stars: Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Aniston, Vin Diesel
Votes: 227,611 | Gross: $23.16M
5. Labyrinth (1986)
PG | 101 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Sixteen-year-old Sarah must solve a labyrinth to rescue her baby brother when he is taken by the Goblin King.
Director: Jim Henson | Stars: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Froud, Shelley Thompson
Votes: 149,647 | Gross: $12.73M
6. The NeverEnding Story (1984)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A troubled boy dives into a wondrous fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach, Gerald McRaney
Votes: 157,017 | Gross: $20.16M
7. D.A.R.Y.L. (1985)
PG | 99 min | Family, Sci-Fi
A seemingly normal young boy is found abandoned on a mountain road and adopted by a family who are increasingly amazed by his abilities before discovering the secret behind his real identity.
Director: Simon Wincer | Stars: Mary Beth Hurt, Michael McKean, Kathryn Walker, Colleen Camp
Votes: 14,099 | Gross: $7.84M
8. Explorers (1985)
PG | 109 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A boy obsessed with '50s sci-fi movies about aliens has a recurring dream about a blueprint of some kind, which he draws for his inventor friend. With the help of a third kid, they follow it and build themselves a spaceship. Now what?
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Bobby Fite, Bradley Gregg
Votes: 23,743 | Gross: $9.87M
9. The Quest (1986)
PG | 93 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A resourceful American orphan living in rural Australia finds himself caught up in the magic of a local Aboriginal myth that might be more real than anyone knows.
Directors: Brian Trenchard-Smith, Russell Hagg | Stars: Henry Thomas, Tony Barry, Rachel Friend, Tamsin West
Votes: 2,173
10. Enemy Mine (1985)
PG-13 | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
During a long space war, the lives of two wounded enemies become dependent on their ability to forgive and to trust.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Louis Gossett Jr., Brion James, Richard Marcus
Votes: 51,442 | Gross: $4.27M
11. Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
PG | 101 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Two young brothers are drawn into an intergalactic adventure when their house is hurled through the depths of space by the magical board game they are playing.
Director: Jon Favreau | Stars: Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo, Dax Shepard, Tim Robbins
Votes: 115,352 | Gross: $29.26M
12. Jumanji (1995)
PG | 104 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man trapped in it for decades - and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, Bonnie Hunt, Jonathan Hyde
Votes: 377,070 | Gross: $100.48M
13. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,037,185 | Gross: $248.16M
14. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
PG-13 | 122 min | Action, Adventure
Indiana Jones becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf, Karen Allen
Votes: 491,557 | Gross: $317.10M
15. The Goonies (1985)
PG | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A group of young misfits called The Goonies discover an ancient map and set out on an adventure to find a legendary pirate's long-lost treasure.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman
Votes: 298,537 | Gross: $61.50M
16. Super 8 (2011)
PG-13 | 112 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
During the summer of 1979, a group of friends witness a train crash and investigate subsequent unexplained events in their small town.
Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Elle Fanning, AJ Michalka, Kyle Chandler, Joel Courtney
Votes: 367,614 | Gross: $127.00M
17. Star Trek (2009)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.
Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Leonard Nimoy
Votes: 620,372 | Gross: $257.73M
18. The Water Horse (2007)
PG | 112 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
A lonely boy discovers a mysterious egg that hatches a sea creature of Scottish legend.
Director: Jay Russell | Stars: Emily Watson, David Morrissey, Alex Etel, Bruce Allpress
Votes: 43,006 | Gross: $40.41M
19. V poiskakh kapitana Granta (1986)
459 min | Adventure
Scottish nobles lead a search party for Cpt. Grant along the 37th parallel in Patagonia and Australia, with a French polymath and Grant's children, sailing and facing adventures on land, while Jules Verne shares his thoughts on his novel.
Stars: Vladimir Smirnov, Lembit Ulfsak, Nikolay Yeryomenko, Tamara Akulova
Votes: 1,042
20. Love, Death & Robots (2019– )
TV-MA | 15 min | Animation, Short, Action
A collection of animated short stories that span various genres including science fiction, fantasy, horror and comedy.
Stars: Fred Tatasciore, Scott Whyte, Joe Manganiello, Rosario Dawson
Votes: 197,310
21. Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1982)
PG | 94 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A maverick motorbike racer wanders into a top-secret time-travel research test site which unintentionally teleports him to the mid-1800s and ends up having to fight violent outlaws for his survival.
Director: William Dear | Stars: Fred Ward, Belinda Bauer, Peter Coyote, Richard Masur
Votes: 2,506
22. DragonHeart (1996)
PG-13 | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
The last dragon and a disillusioned dragonslaying Knight must cooperate to stop an evil King, who was given partial immortality.
Director: Rob Cohen | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Sean Connery, Dina Meyer, Pete Postlethwaite
Votes: 101,825 | Gross: $51.37M
23. Innerspace (1987)
PG | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A test pilot is miniaturized in a secret experiment, and accidentally injected into a hapless store clerk.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, Meg Ryan, Kevin McCarthy
Votes: 65,169 | Gross: $25.89M
24. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
PG | 109 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Mere seconds before the Earth is to be demolished by an alien construction crew, journeyman Arthur Dent is swept off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher penning a new edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
Director: Garth Jennings | Stars: Martin Freeman, Yasiin Bey, Sam Rockwell, Zooey Deschanel
Votes: 208,446 | Gross: $51.09M
25. John Carter (2012)
PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Transported to Barsoom, a Civil War vet discovers a barren planet seemingly inhabited by 12-foot tall barbarians. Finding himself prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter Woola and a princess in desperate need of a savior.
Director: Andrew Stanton | Stars: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton
Votes: 286,296 | Gross: $73.08M
26. Battleship (2012)
PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A fleet of ships is forced to do battle with an armada of unknown origins in order to discover and thwart their destructive goals.
Director: Peter Berg | Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Brooklyn Decker, Liam Neeson, Rihanna
Votes: 257,417 | Gross: $65.42M
27. Godzilla (I) (1998)
PG-13 | 139 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
French nuclear tests irradiate an iguana into a giant monster that heads off to New York City. The American military must chase the monster across the city to stop it before it reproduces.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria
Votes: 203,662 | Gross: $136.31M
28. Jumper (2008)
PG-13 | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A young man with teleportation abilities suddenly finds himself in the middle of an ancient war between those like him and their sworn annihilators.
Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson
Votes: 323,689 | Gross: $80.17M
29. Battle for Terra (I) (2007)
PG | 85 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
The peaceful alien planet Terra faces annihilation, as the homeless remainder of the human race sets its eyes on it. Mala, a rebellious Terrian teenager, will do everything she can to stop it.
Director: Aristomenis Tsirbas | Stars: Evan Rachel Wood, Luke Wilson, Justin Long, Chad Allen
Votes: 12,193 | Gross: $1.65M
30. Lost in Space (1998)
PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Family
The Robinson family was going into space to fight for a chance for humanity. Now they are fighting to live long enough to find a way home.
Director: Stephen Hopkins | Stars: Gary Oldman, William Hurt, Matt LeBlanc, Mimi Rogers
Votes: 74,875 | Gross: $69.12M
31. The Meg (2018)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A group of scientists exploring the Marianas Trench encounter the largest marine predator that has ever existed - the Megalodon.
Director: Jon Turteltaub | Stars: Jason Statham, Bingbing Li, Rainn Wilson, Cliff Curtis
Votes: 207,649 | Gross: $143.01M
32. The Fifth Element (1997)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the colorful future, a cab driver unwittingly becomes the central figure in the search for a legendary cosmic weapon to keep Evil and Mr. Zorg at bay.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm
Votes: 506,528 | Gross: $63.54M
33. Starship Troopers (1997)
R | 129 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Humans, in a fascist militaristic future, wage war with giant alien bugs.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Jake Busey
Votes: 321,333 | Gross: $54.81M
34. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,450,268 | Gross: $322.74M
35. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A soldier fighting aliens gets to relive the same day over and over again, the day restarting every time he dies.
Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson
Votes: 737,335 | Gross: $100.21M
36. Next Gen (I) (2018)
TV-PG | 106 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A friendship with a top-secret robot turns a lonely girl's life into a thrilling adventure as they take on bullies, evil bots and a scheming madman.
Directors: Kevin R. Adams, Joe Ksander | Stars: John Krasinski, Charlyne Yi, Jason Sudeikis, Michael Peña
Votes: 19,313
37. Air Force One (1997)
R | 124 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Communist radicals hijack Air Force One with the U.S. President and his family on board. The Vice President negotiates from Washington D.C., while the President, a veteran, fights to rescue the hostages on board.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Wendy Crewson
Votes: 210,184 | Gross: $172.96M
38. Star Wars: Visions (2021– )
TV-PG | 22 min | Animation, Short, Action
An anthology of animated shorts from around the world celebrating the mythology of Star Wars through unique cultural perspectives.
Stars: Michael Sinterniklaas, Neil Kaplan, Adam Sietz, JP Karliak
Votes: 23,995
39. Tango & Cash (1989)
R | 104 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Framed by their ruthless arch-nemesis, a pair of mismatched LAPD officers must put their differences aside to get even with the brutal crime baron who sent them to rot in a maximum-security prison.
Directors: Andrey Konchalovskiy, Albert Magnoli | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Teri Hatcher, Jack Palance
Votes: 113,631 | Gross: $63.41M
40. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
PG | 93 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer, Marcia Strassman, Kristine Sutherland
Votes: 166,401 | Gross: $130.72M
41. Alabama Moon (2009)
PG | 99 min | Drama, Family
After the unexpected death of his survivalist father, an eleven-year-old boy raised in the Alabama wilderness must learn how to make a home in the modern world.
Director: Tim McCanlies | Stars: Jimmy Bennett, Gabriel Basso, Uriah Shelton, Clint Howard
Votes: 1,716
42. Point Break (1991)
R | 122 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An F.B.I. Agent goes undercover to catch a gang of surfers who may be bank robbers.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Gary Busey, Lori Petty
Votes: 202,417 | Gross: $43.22M
43. The Adam Project (2022)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
After accidentally crash-landing in 2022, time-traveling fighter pilot Adam Reed teams up with his 12-year-old self for a mission to save the future.
Director: Shawn Levy | Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner
Votes: 231,700
44. Romancing the Stone (1984)
PG | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A mousy romance novelist sets off for Colombia to ransom her kidnapped sister, and soon finds herself in the middle of a dangerous adventure hunting for treasure with a mercenary rogue.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito, Zack Norman
Votes: 103,363 | Gross: $76.57M
45. Crocodile Dundee (1986)
PG-13 | 97 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
An American reporter goes to the Australian outback to meet an eccentric crocodile poacher and invites him to New York City.
Director: Peter Faiman | Stars: Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, John Meillon, David Gulpilil
Votes: 115,511 | Gross: $174.64M
46. Red Planet (2000)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Astronauts, and their robotic dog AMEE (Autonomous Mapping Evaluation and Evasion), search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars, only to have the mission go terribly awry.
Director: Antony Hoffman | Stars: Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tom Sizemore, Benjamin Bratt
Votes: 59,933 | Gross: $18.00M
47. Total Recall (1990)
R | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
When a man goes in to have virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars implanted in his mind, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real - or is he?
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Rachel Ticotin
Votes: 354,727 | Gross: $119.39M
48. Last Action Hero (1993)
PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
With the help of a magic ticket, a young movie fan is transported into the fictional world of his favorite action movie character.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, F. Murray Abraham, Art Carney, Charles Dance
Votes: 163,898 | Gross: $50.02M
49. Joe's Apartment (1996)
PG-13 | 80 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Musical
A nice guy has just moved to New York and discovers that he must share his run-down apartment with a couple thousand singing, dancing cockroaches.
Director: John Payson | Stars: Jerry O'Connell, Megan Ward, Billy West, Reginald Hudlin
Votes: 14,494 | Gross: $4.61M
50. Highlander (1986)
R | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
An immortal Scottish swordsman must confront the last of his immortal opponents, a murderously brutal barbarian who lusts for the fabled "Prize".
Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, Roxanne Hart
Votes: 147,514 | Gross: $5.90M
51. Orion and the Dark (2024)
TV-Y7 | 93 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A boy with an active imagination faces his fears on an unforgettable journey through the night with his new friend: a giant, smiling creature named Dark.
Director: Sean Charmatz | Stars: Jacob Tremblay, Paul Walter Hauser, Colin Hanks, Mia Akemi Brown
Votes: 12,614
52. Pete's Dragon (2016)
PG | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
The adventures of an orphaned boy named Pete and his best friend Elliott, who happens to be a dragon.
Director: David Lowery | Stars: Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Oakes Fegley, Oona Laurence
Votes: 61,690 | Gross: $76.23M
53. Gremlins (1984)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, John Louie
Votes: 247,910 | Gross: $148.17M
54. The Princess Bride (1987)
PG | 98 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A bedridden boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon
Votes: 451,088 | Gross: $30.86M
55. Over the Top (1987)
PG | 93 min | Action, Drama, Sport
Tough trucker Lincoln Hawk is determined to win back his son and triumph at the world arm wrestling championships.
Director: Menahem Golan | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Robert Loggia, Susan Blakely, Rick Zumwalt
Votes: 59,412 | Gross: $16.06M
56. The Hidden (1987)
R | 97 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A cop and an FBI agent race for answers after law abiding people suddenly become violent criminals.
Director: Jack Sholder | Stars: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Nouri, Claudia Christian, Clarence Felder
Votes: 22,613 | Gross: $9.75M
57. The Running Man (1987)
R | 101 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In a dystopian America, a falsely convicted policeman gets his shot at freedom when he must forcibly participate in a TV game show where convicts, runners, must battle killers for their freedom.
Director: Paul Michael Glaser | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown
Votes: 167,798 | Gross: $38.12M
58. Breaker! Breaker! (1977)
PG | 86 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
Truck driver searches for his brother, who has disappeared in a town run by a corrupt judge.
Director: Don Hulette | Stars: Chuck Norris, George Murdock, Terry O'Connor, Don Gentry
Votes: 3,728
59. Ip Man (2008)
R | 106 min | Action, Biography, Drama
During the Japanese invasion of China, a wealthy martial artist is forced to leave his home when his city is occupied. With little means of providing for themselves, Ip Man and the remaining members of the city must find a way to survive.
Director: Wilson Yip | Stars: Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Siu-Wong Fan, Ka-Tung Lam
Votes: 233,637
60. Dumb and Dumber (1994)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy
After a woman leaves a briefcase at the airport terminal, a dumb limo driver and his dumber friend set out on a hilarious cross-country road trip to Aspen to return it.
Directors: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly | Stars: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Lauren Holly, Mike Starr
Votes: 412,453 | Gross: $127.18M
61. Beverly Hills Ninja (1997)
PG-13 | 88 min | Action, Comedy
A man tries to rescue a woman with a little help from his half brother.
Director: Dennis Dugan | Stars: Chris Farley, Nicollette Sheridan, Robin Shou, Nathaniel Parker
Votes: 44,040 | Gross: $31.24M
62. Arthur the King (2024)
PG-13 | 107 min | Adventure, Drama
An adventure racer adopts a stray dog named Arthur to join him in an epic endurance race.
Director: Simon Cellan Jones | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Simu Liu, Juliet Rylance, Nathalie Emmanuel
Votes: 8,969
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