7 Greatest Space Opera Movies Of The 21st Century That Are Bona Fide Classics

Looking at 2026's sci-fi movies, we have had projects from different subgenres. Chris Pratt's Mercy was a sci-fi thriller, just like Alan Ritchson's War Machine, while Ryan Gosling's Project Hail Mary showed how hard sci-fi can also be epic, and, among other examples, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu brought back the biggest sci-fi movie franchise with a new space opera.

Space Opera is a sci-fi subgenre that consists of adventures of grand proportions across galaxies, star systems, and more. As such, expect several creative alien species, large-scale space battles, wondrous new worlds, and more. Space opera movies have long been among the best performing sci-fi entries, captivating audiences over the years, and these are the seven best space operas of the 21st century so far.

7 Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

The list is not in any specific order, but Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is a great project to start on. This is a space opera that, along with the rest of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, was not as well received as it is today. However, with time, and Star Wars animated shows enhancing the lore of this specific period in the franchise's history, Revenge of the Sith has gotten a lot of love.

It is easy to understand why Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith has become a classic, as this space opera was responsible for seeing Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker turn to the dark side and finally become Darth Vader. Anakin's dynamic with Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi throughout the film was fantastic, leading to the heartbreaking duel where Vader was birthed by fire. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is a tragic space opera through and through.

6 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the second and final entry of the biggest sci-fi movie franchise of all time on the list. While it is not a project from the main Skywalker Saga, Rogue One ended up being one of the most thrilling, adventurous, and breathtaking space operas ever. In the Star Wars movie, the action shifts away from the powerful Jedi to show the Rebels who banded together and gave their lives to steal the Death Star plans.

With time, Rogue One has gotten even better, as it has been enhanced by one of the best sci-fi TV shows of all time. Disney+'s Andor, across its two seasons, told the perfect prequel story to the movie, making its characters even more complex, showing the gritty nature of the galaxy under the Empire's rule, and creating a bigger bond between the audience and Diego Luna's Cassian Andor. Rogue One now stands as a masterpiece of a finale to a story about hurt and rebellion.

5 Star Trek (2009)

2009's Star Trek, directed by J. J. Abrams, is an action-packed space opera. Notably, Star Trek and Star Wars are two very different franchises, as the first tends to focus on exploration of space, new planets, and alien species, while the latter uses all of those to tell tales of galaxy-spanning conflicts. That is where Abrams' Star Trek movie comes in, as it perfectly took what worked for the sci-fi franchise and made it an action-forward film.

Years later, it was no surprise then when Disney and Lucasfilm handed Abrams the keys to the Star Wars sequel trilogy, in which he directed two out of three movies. When it comes to the Star Trek movie's defining qualities as one of the best space operas of the 21st century, Abrams masterfully took a more niche franchise and made it a wide theatrical hit, infusing the film with so much emotion and threat that ended worlds.

4 Guardians Of The Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy is the only Marvel movie on the list, and director James Gunn perfectly started a space opera franchise by elevating obscure characters from the comics to global stardom. 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy differs from the rest of the list not only due to its superhero element, but also because it is just a hilarious movie, with Gunn using his signature comedic style to the film's advantage.

Guardians of the Galaxy turned out to be a moving space opera with plenty of style. It introduced many new planets to the MCU, all with their own set of aliens, vehicles, locations, and more. It is also a fantastic project when it comes to something crucial for space operas, which is assembling a crew the audience connects with. Everyone aboard the Milano was interesting in their own way, adding a nice variety to the team, which had only one human character.

3 Avatar

Avatar will forever stand as one of the most innovative films ever, and it has made another mark as the highest-grossing movie of all time, with the James Cameron space opera grossing $2.92 billion. Avatar tells the story of the fantastical world of Pandora, where humans have flown in their spaceships in order to find a way of saving Earth from an energy crisis through a rare mineral. Avatar is one of the best space operas ever when it comes to world-building.

Pandora is a vast planet with its own rules, and viewers are taken on a wild ride as they are introduced to the planet's vegetation, creatures, the Na'vi, and more. Seeing the clash between advanced human technology and the Na'vi's more rudimentary means of fighting is incredible, and the grand scope of the story, a battle for survival between a native species and invading space colonizers, is enhanced by some of the best visuals in the medium ever.

2 Dune

Denis Villeneuve has proven himself a sci-fi master time and again, crafting complex, emotional, and haunting explorations of the genre through movies like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. In 2021's Dune, he finally brought the full scope of Frank Herbert's vision for the franchise to life on the big screen. Dune presents impressive world-building, and its VFX makes for some of the most realistic locations, vehicles, and creatures in any space opera to date. You will feel that Arrakis is real.

Dune is an epic that shows the power of the genre. It started a franchise that many consider to be the best modern sci-fi one, which is high praise, considering how the genre has grown so much in recent years in theaters and on streaming as VFX has gotten to shocking new levels of realism. Dune's intricate political games and deep lore add to the allure of this brilliant space opera, which stands among the wider sci-fi genre's very best releases.

1 Dune: Part Two

Finally, ending the list is Dune: Part Two, and the biggest praise I can give the space opera is how it managed to take everything the original Dune movie did, only it did so even better. The conflict grows larger, Paul Atreides' revenge quest takes a dark turn, the visuals are even more life-like, the story quite the punch, the cinematography is fittingly immersive, and more. Dune: Part Two might just be the very best space opera of the 21st century.

Dune: Part Two also takes the popular "Chosen One" trope from sci-fi movies and starts to turn it on its head, as, by the end of the space opera, Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides is shifting into an authoritarian figure, not the prophesied messiah. All of those elements will continue in December's Dune: Part Three, which is set up to be a masterful finale to a pitch-perfect trilogy of space operas, and the Sci-Fi movie's scale will be even bigger, as Paul's holy war across the stars takes center stage.

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  Star Trek

  

  8/10

  Release Date May 8, 2009

  Runtime 127 Minutes

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  Avatar

  

  7/10

  Release Date December 15, 2009

  Runtime 162 minutes

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  Dune

  

  5/10

  Release Date September 15, 2021

  Runtime 155 minutes

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  • 

    Rebecca Ferguson

    Lady Jessica Atreides

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  Dune: Part Two

  

  9/10

  Release Date February 27, 2024

  Runtime 167 minutes