Stream These Underrated & Underseen Sci-Fi Comedies

In Underrated/Underseen, we highlight movies within a particular sub-genre or theme that either failed to get their due upon release, deserve a second chance, or were overlooked by critics.

There's a long held misconception that sci-fi and comedy go together like Rocket Racoon and Groot. But maybe that's because when we tend to think of sci-fi comedies we only think of the ones that got it right: Galaxy Quest, Ghostbusters, Guardians of the Galaxy – all proof that lasers can be played for big laughs.

Comb through the history of funny sci-fi, though, and you'll see more often than not these ventures fall flat, as filmmakers come to realise it's not quite as easy as it seems (here's looking at you, Pixels).

Sometimes great films just get lost in space, though – like the following underrated and underseen sci-fi comedies, which do manage to find the right blend of brainy antics and funny one-liners in and amongst the chaos…

Dark Star (1974)

Underrated or Underseen: Underseen

Where to watch it: iTunes

With films like Starman, The Thing, and Escape from New York, John Carpenter more than cemented his reputation as a great director of science-fiction. But less is made of his brilliant debut feature, Dark Star, which – with its blend of Kubrick-esque visuals and deadpan gags – once seemed to position Carpenter as a different kind of filmmaker. Though his films would become less comedic as time went on, he showed a real panache for the satirical with this play on the Kubrickian space aesthetic. Where something like 2001: A Space Odyssey marvelled at the vastness of the universe, Dark Star found humour in the inherent boredom of space travel – the endless push into nothingness made hilariously yawn-inducing.

Mars Attacks! (1996)

Underrated or Underseen: Underrated

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

Coming off the back of six phenomenal films in a row – including Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, and Ed Wood – there was a sense that Tim Burton's winning streak came to a close with sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks!, based on the trading card game of the same name. Oddly, though, this one has aged brilliantly: its satirical, end of the world frolics are a blast to sit through, whilst the film itself might feature the best ensemble cast of any 90s film (Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Michael J. Fox, Jack Black…). It seems entirely unlikely that such a thing was ever allowed to exist; with some distance, Mars Attacks! actually feels like one of Burton’s best films – especially as it sends up the notion of the Hollywood star vehicle by indiscriminately killing everyone off to hilarious ends. So. Much. Fun.

Sky High (2005)

Underrated or Underseen: Both

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

Given the popularity of the superhero movie, it's surprising that 2005's high school-superhero comedy Sky High is still yet to have a proper moment. The premise is simple: a group of teens imbued with superpowers are enrolled in the titular school, Harry Potter style, whilst our main hero – Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano), son of two of the most famous superheroes ever, played by Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston – struggles to come to terms with his own powers. Peppered with great details and clever gags, Sky High embraces and subverts its genre trappings in the same observant way that Brad Bird's The Incredibles did a year earlier. It's a total blast – and in retrospect, way ahead of the superhero curve.

Idiocracy (2006)

Underrated or Underseen: Both

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

Mike Judge is best known for his work on groundbreaking animated shows like Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill, and for his cult classic Office Space, though Judge has made a handful of others films to mixed results – none more so than his high-concept sci-fi comedy Idiocracy, which arrived to lukewarm reviews and was a box office flop. But this film's premise – about a highly unqualified individual being elected as President of the United States (sound familiar?) – has never seemed more timely. Set 500 years in the future in a world where consumerism has run rampant, it now looks like an eerily prescient window into the current landscape. Luckily it's very funny, too.

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

Underrated or Underseen: Underseen

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

Before he made his name with the belated fourth Jurassic Park film, Jurassic World, Colin Trevorrow impressed the likes of Steven Spielberg with indie sci-fi comedy Safety Not Guaranteed (which coincidentally paved the way for the future of streaming, but that’s another story). Aubrey Plaza stars as a down of her luck college grad who stumbles upon a mystery ad in the local paper, in which a local oddball – played by Mark Duplass, a key figure of the mumblecore movement to which this film is indebted – is requesting a time travel partner. The less said about the genre twisting antics the better, but if you like your sci-fi romantic, funny, and unpredictable, this should serve nicely.

Grabbers (2012)

Underrated or Underseen: Both

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

Taking its cues from Edgar Wright’s similarly pub-minded Shaun of the Dead, Grabbers is a film that went under most people's radars upon first release – perhaps because it was called Grabbers. Of course, that title is supposed to evoke a very particular type of sci-fi B-movie (think Tremors, but intentionally funny). The threat here is a species of squid-like creature whose tentacles come to attack the citizens of a small community in the Republic of Island. As directed by Jon Wright, Grabbers embraces its inspirations with some clever genre inversions: namely one that specifies the only way to avoid being targeted is being very drunk. Despite the laughs, in moments this is actually and effectively quite scary.

Space Station 76 (2014)

Underrated or Underseen: Both

Where to watch it: Various streaming services

Designed with a specific 70s retro space aesthetic, the basically unheard of Space Station 76 stars Liv Tyler and Patrick Wilson as crews members aboard a space station in – yep – the year 1976. This is a comedy, but it's also one made in a far darker vein than most of the other films mentioned here. Rendered, almost, as a series of interconnected sketches, the loose plot finds Tyler's new shipmate coming to realise that the rest of the crew are dissatisfied and alienated for various – and surprisingly poignant – reasons. You'll laugh, but you'll also feel genuine emotion for the numerous lost characters. A little gem, this.