These 5 shows and movies prove Paramount+ is the king of sci-fi

Published Oct 13, 2026, 12:45 PM EDT After graduating from Marist University with a degree in communications and journalism, Dan Girolamo has over 10 years of experience writing about entertainment and sports. Dan's work can be seen in various publications, including Digital Trends, SportsCasting, and Tom's Guide. Throughout his career, Dan has interviewed several high-profile filmmakers and creatives, including Brendan Fraser, Jamie Lee Curtis, Caitriona Balfe, Frank Grillo, Miranda Cosgrove, Jai Courtney, Chris Columbus and James Cameron. Dan joins How-To Geek as a Senior Editor. When he's not writing about entertainment, Dan is either watching a movie or praying for the New York Knicks to win a championship. If Netflix has a reputation for being a king of thrillers, Paramount+ can claim to be a king of sci-fi. The Paramount streaming service is loaded with entertaining sci-fi shows and movies to watch with the click of a button. For shows, it starts with two iconic franchises available on the service: Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. For movies, two of the most iconic stars of all time headline very different sci-fi stories. As for my top selection, it's a riveting adventure involving space, time, and love. 5 Total Recall Is it a dream or a memory? In the 1980s, Arnold Schwarzenegger became a legend in the sci-fi community for The Terminator, Predator, and The Running Man. His strong reputation for sci-fi continued in 1990 with Total Recall, Paul Verhoeven's adaptation of a Philip K. Dick short story. In the year 2084, humans have colonized Mars, but the planet's oppressed residents are governed by a ruthless dictator. Not everyone can get to Mars physically, but you can experience it mentally through Rekall, a high-tech company that implants false memories. After dreaming about Mars, construction worker Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) signs up for the Rekall procedure and chooses to be a secret agent. It turns out that Quaid's memories have been suppressed, and he actually was a secret agent in his past. Mars holds the key to Quaid's confusion, but it won't be easy to get there as a shadowy organization wants Quaid dead. I've always appreciated the campiness of Total Recall, and Verhoeven is an expert at satirizing corporate exploitation. It's also impossible not to laugh at all the body contortions and bulging eyes. 4 Battlestar Galactica Not an ordinary sci-fi endeavor Fans of The Office are all thinking the same thing: bears, beets, and Battlestar Galactica. In the early 2000s, the Battlestar Galactica franchise was reimagined as a new series developed by Ronald D. Moore, who went on to help create Apple TV sci-fi shows For All Mankind and Star City. Set in a post-apocalyptic universe, Battlestar Galactica introduces a world where the survivors of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol board a fleet of ships following a devastating Cylon attack. The survivors are in search of a rumored 13th colony, Earth. The battlestar Galactica is the command ship, led by Commander William Adama (Edward James Olmos), that provides defense to the survivors from the Cylons, who seek to eliminate the human race. Battlestar Galactica is known for its darker, grittier approach to sci-fi, resulting in the show gaining a strong cult following. Some of the best episodes of the show are considered must-see viewing for sci-fi fans. 3 Edge of Tomorrow Live, die, repeat ​​​​​​​ Tom Cruise has spent the last 30 or so years putting his life on the line in action movies to entertain the masses. First, I'd like to thank Mr. Cruise for this commitment, because without it, the world wouldn't have gotten epic movies like Mission: Impossible, Top Gun: Maverick, and Edge of Tomorrow. In Edge of Tomorrow, Cruise plays a media officer forced to fight on the front lines of a battle against an alien race. The inexperienced William Cage (Cruise) dies shortly after arriving on the beach, or at least that's what he thinks. Cage remarkably wakes up the previous day and relives it from the start. Cage is now stuck in an endless time loop. Instead of trying to find a way out of the loop, Cage trains under Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) and sharpens his skills as a warrior in hopes of leading the troops to victory. Unfortunately for Cage, he'll have to die over and over again to learn the aliens' weaknesses. The Groundhog Day-meets-war premise is extremely effective, and Cruise found the ideal action heroine in Blunt, who matches his charisma and intensity every step of the way.​​​​​​​ 2 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds The Enterprise before Kirk took command It wouldn't be a Paramount+ sci-fi list without reserving a spot for Star Trek, one of the most influential franchises in pop culture history. Paramount+ is the streaming home for many iterations of Star Trek, including The Original Series, The Next Generation, Voyager, Deep Space Nine, and Discovery. For this list, I'll spotlight one of the franchise's recent live-action series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The U.S.S. Enterprise is the ship at the center of Strange New Worlds, but the show takes place about a decade before the events of The Original Series. Plus, the captain is Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), not James T. Kirk. Strange New Worlds is for the Star Trek fans who love the "adventure of the week" format and features younger versions of iconic characters, including Spock (Ethan Peck), Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), and Montgomery Scott (Martin Quinn). Strange New Worlds recently aired its season 4 finale, and season 5 will be the show's last.​​​​​​​ 1 Interstellar Can love transcend time and space? ​​​​​​​ Every time I think Christopher Nolan has reached his peak, he releases another movie that redefines his potential as a filmmaker. He's 56 years old and still improving, which is a scary thing. I always knew Nolan had the technical skills to be a top director. Interstellar proved to me that he had the heart and was capable of exploring heavy emotional themes. In Interstellar, life on Earth is dying due to food shortages and dust storms. The solution is to leave Earth and find a new home. How? That's where NASA comes in. The space organization recruits a former pilot, Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), to lead an expedition of scientists, including Dr. Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway), through a wormhole that leads to another galaxy, one that might have habitable planets. Interstellar certainly has magnificent set pieces that are equally tense and exciting. What makes Interstellar one of Nolan's best movies is the exploration of the human condition and the powerful bond between a parent and child. I imagine this movie means even more to parents. ​​​​​​​More options at Paramount+ It's only a matter of time before Paramount+ and HBO Max combine into a single streaming service following the merger. That means consumers will be able to watch Harry Potter and Dutton Ranch on the same platform. Plus, you can check out shows like Waco: The Aftermath and The Real Wolf of Wall Street to finish in one sitting. Subscription with ads Yes, $8/month Simultaneous streams 3