There are many science fiction movies that I like from the decade of 2000 to 2009. Here are my 10 favorites. They’re not necessarily the best movies of the decade, but they’re ones I’d take with me if I was going on a long trip.

1. The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) – A wildly creative movie where Richard Riddick (played by actor Vin Diesel) is a Furyan warrior who defies the powerful race of Necromongers. I liked the action, plot, and cinematography. The movie was a box office disappointment and got poor reviews from critics, but it’s one of my favorite sci fi films of the 2000s.

2. Minority Report (2002) – A mystery story set in the year 2054. The PreCrime department arrests criminals before they commit crimes, based on the ability of three psychics called Precogs to see the future. Actor Tom Cruise plays Chief of PreCrime John Anderton, who is framed for a future murder.

3. Deja Vu (2006) – Agent Douglas Carlin (played by Denzel Washington) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) is sent back in time to prevent a domestic terrorist attack that takes place on a passenger ferry in New Orleans. Very clever plot with time travel paradoxes nicely explained.

4. Star Trek (2009) – A reboot of the original TV series in an alternate reality. Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) are given command of the spaceship USS Enterprise. They combat Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan from the future.

5. Iron Man (2008) – Wealthy businessman and engineering genius Tony Stark (actor Robert Downey Jr.) is captured by Arab terrorists but builds an amazing suit of armor and escapes. Stark later upgrades the suit and defeats his evil business partner played by actor Jeff Bridges. I don’t count this as a superhero movie because the ideas of Iron Man’s suit are (vaguely) feasible.

6. Paycheck (2003) – Michael Jennings (actor Ben Affleck) is a brilliant engineer who analyzes technologies and recreates them. To protect himself from legal problems, he wipes his memory clean after each job. On one job he builds a device to see into the future. I really liked the part where he left himself with 20 seemingly random objects that turn out to save him from capture: pair of sunglasses, bus pass, paperclip, a fortune from a fortune cookie, etc.

7. Space Cowboys (2000) – Four old astronauts from the beginning of the space program, who are now in their 60s (played by actors Tommy Lee Jones, Clint Eastwood, James Garner, and Donald Sutherland), are brought out of retirement. They must work with young astronauts to travel into space to deactivate an orbiting satellite that has nuclear missiles.

8. Surrogates (2009) – In the near future, people sit in pods and live their lives through remote controlled surrogate androids. FBI agent Tom Greer (actor Bruce Willis) investigates mysterious deaths. In the end, the surrogate system is destroyed and people must live as themselves.

9. The Cave (2005) – A group of cave-divers and scientists become trapped while exploring a water-filled cave system in Romania. They run into a pack of deadly creatures who turn out to be mutated humans, bats, and other animals. Very scary movie for me. Another movie I like that got bad reviews.

10. A Sound of Thunder (2005) – In 2055, a company offers rich people the chance to travel back in time to the days of dinosaurs. One time traveler accidentally steps on a butterfly which completely changes the history of evolution on the planet — and not for the better. This movie got almost unanimously terrible reviews and ended several careers, but I think it’s quite entertaining.

Honorable Mention

There were many movies that I liked but that didn’t quite make my top 10 for the decade. Here are a few:

The Core (2003) – Scientists travel to the center of the Earth to explode a nuclear device to stabilize the planet.

Dreamcatcher (2004) – Evil shape-shifting aliens invade Earth but are ultimately defeated by a different type of good alien.

Mimic 2 (2001) – A human-sized mutated insect preys on inner city residents and wants to mate with a human female.

Outlander (2008) – Kainan (Jim Caviezel) is an alien warrior who crash lands on Earth in the year 600 AD and kills an alien monster.

And there were several very popular movies in the decade that I just didn’t like very much: Avatar (2009), three of the Star Wars movies (2002, 2005, 2008), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Planet of the Apes (2001), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), War of the Worlds (2005), Transformers (2007).