A skeptical, irreverent review of The Tomorrow War's strained time-travel logic and family stakes.
Science Fiction Rating System uses The Tomorrow War to ask how much time-travel machinery a blockbuster can pile on before the logic starts to buckle.
One sci-fi film, three verdicts, one ever-growing ranked list.
The gist
Sam Draper, Alex Humphrey and Chris take one science fiction film at a time, argue it through, and add it to a ranked list that keeps growing. The verdicts are blunt and the talk is loose, with room for Star Wars at Christmas, spoiler casts on new releases, and even Face/Off, which they admit is barely sci-fi.
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About Science Fiction Rating System
Science Fiction Rating System is built around a ranked list that never stops growing. In each episode, Sam Draper, Alex Humphrey and Chris take one film, pick it apart, and decide where it belongs in the order. The episodes shown here range from The Tomorrow War and Dune: Part One to Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Face/Off and a spoiler cast for Predator: Badlands. Proceedings often start with a line quoted from the film, and the Dune: Part One conversation signs off with one as well. Much of the talk is plot retelling with commentary layered on top, as the three interrupt to object, correct each other or crack a joke. The verdicts can be harsh. The Tomorrow War, described as the Chris Pratt one, is called a rip-off of The X-Files movie with pieces of The Thing and Alien mixed in. One of the three says the father-daughter dynamic killed whatever goodwill the film had built up. Dune: Part One fares better. There the conversation turns to design: how the film's architecture draws on the Middle East and on Italian and Spanish styles rather than the later Western influences Star Trek borrows from, and how its huge open spaces and ceremony convey scale. The Rise of Skywalker prompts a complaint that the sequel trilogy keeps throwing away its villains, with a First Order officer sliding into pantomime next to the generals of The Empire Strikes Back. Predator: Badlands gets a mixed but fond hearing, with praise for the action scenes and the final act, doubts about the execution, and a verdict that the 3D is not worth bothering with. The genre line is drawn loosely. Face/Off, they concede, is barely sci-fi, and it gets an episode anyway because it is a good film. Some stretches are organised by release year, including a 2021 season of three films, one of them the animated The Mitchells vs. the Machines, which one of the three admits to forcing on the other two. There are rituals too. At Christmas the usual plan is a Star Wars film followed by an end-of-year review, and when the review slips, the episode title 'End of Year 2025 But Actually It's February 2026' says so. Star Wars can bring a quiz on the opening crawl, and the Predator: Badlands spoiler cast opens with a pop quiz on how many Predator episodes the show has made. IMDb trivia turns up as well, including a story about a birthday cake on the Face/Off set. The tangents wander well beyond the genre, including a stretch on a documentary series cut together from BBC archive footage. The humor is crude in places and the language unfiltered. The list is the premise; the arguing is the draw.
Made for: Suits a listener who has already seen the film in question and wants to hear it argued over plainly, spoilers and all. Best for someone comfortable with crude jokes, strong language and frequent tangents.
What sets it apart: The running ranked list gives every episode a destination, and the genre line is loose enough to admit Face/Off alongside Dune: Part One and Star Wars. Specific, unsparing verdicts on craft come mixed with crude jokes, crawl quizzes and IMDb trivia.
In their own words
Join Sam, Alex and Chris as they rank every science fiction film EVER. Every week we dissect a new film before adding it to a giant and highly scientific ranked list. We review a film a week until we run out of films. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Why you'd press play
The Star Trek bus punk's Spider-Man appearance gets a hearing; your movie-night tangent has found its people.
Press play if you want
- Sam, Alex and Chris to argue over where the Death Star wreckage could actually land
- a conversation that admires Dune's design and gives RoboCop 3 a candid appraisal
Ranking sci-fi films into a running listPlot retellings with blunt verdictsOpening and closing quotes from the filmStar Wars films at ChristmasEnd-of-year reviewsSpoiler casts on new releasesSeasons organised by release yearIMDb trivia and behind-the-scenes anecdotes
Talks about
Best episodes of Science Fiction Rating System
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A relaxed panel finds Dune's scale in its vast spaces, ceremony, and elegant technology.
Science Fiction Rating System's look at Dune: Part One starts with the title change, the frustration around waiting for the next film, and a quick comparison to Wicked's marketing.
A delayed year-end catch-up finds strange pleasures in Resident Alien, Shifty, and the show's newly regular rhythm.
A delayed year-end wrap-up turns routine podcast business into a relaxed sift through recent favorites and plans for the year ahead. The hosts move from the show's shift to a fortnightly schedule into Resident Alien, then spend their richest stretch on Shifty: BBC archive…
A funny, specific Star Wars rant about crawl quizzes, pantomime villains, and the Death Star's disputed resting place.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker gets a New Year treatment that opens with a crawl-quote quiz before settling into a comic teardown of a movie the hosts are very ready to challenge.
A loose, funny discussion of Face/Off's face-swap logic, prison theatrics, and John Woo's birthday-cake surprise.
Face/Off gives the Science Fiction Rating System plenty to play with: John Travolta as the baddie, Nicolas Cage as the goodie, and a face-swap premise that keeps inviting the hosts to ask how long everyone around them can keep missing the obvious.
Podcasts like Science Fiction Rating System
Episodes
- 1
Star Trek: Section 31 Spoilercast
·28m - 2
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
·1h 15m - 3
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
·41m - 4
The Chronicles of Riddick
·1h 3m - 5
Annihilation
·53m - 6
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
·51m - 7
Cyborg
·52m - 8
Ghostbusters II
·55m - 9
The Tomorrow War
·48m - 10
Dune: Part One
·1h 4m - 11
End of Year 2025 But Actually It's February 2026
·37m - 12
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
·1h 10m - 13
Face/Off
·1h 14m - 14
PREDATOR: BADLANDS SPOILERCAST!
·39m - 15
Resident Evil
·46m - 16
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
·1h 5m - 17
Explorers
·42m - 18
Robocop 3
·51m - 19
War of the Worlds (2025)
·1h 4m - 20
Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem
·1h 1m - 21
10 Cloverfield Lane
·56m - 22
Superman 3
·48m - 23
Mars Needs Moms
·48m - 24
Zathura
·58m - 25
Forbidden Planet
·54m - 26
28 Days Later
·1h 2m - 27
Predator: Killer of Killers Spoilercast!
·55m - 28
Marooned
·54m - 29
Superman II
·1h 4m - 30
Independence Day: Resurgence (again)
Three hosts discuss the movie Independence Day Resurgence, criticizing its odd exposition and lack of Will Smith.
·59m - 31
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
The hosts revisit Star Trek III: The Search for Spock as part of their ongoing project to rank every science fiction film.
·55m - 32
Starship Troopers
·56m - 33
Predator 2
·1h 3m - 34
The Thing (1982)
·1h 8m - 35
Time Travel is Dangerous Extra Super Special Show
·46m - 36
Sputnik
·42m - 37
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
·49m - 38
Tenet
·1h 4m - 39
The Invisible Man
·1h 2m - 40
The 8th Annual SFRS End of Year Bonanza
·51m - 41
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
·1h 36m - 42
Looper
·56m - 43
Cocoon
·1h - 44
Cube
·50m - 45
Lifeforce
·58m - 46
We're still here! But not quite yet!
·2m - 47
Ikarie XB-1
·44m - 48
Blade Runner
·1h 9m - 49
Independence Day (again)
·1h 8m - 50
AVPR: Alien Vs. Predator - Requiem
·1h 1m - 51
Alien Romulus Spoilercast!
·53m - 52
Things to Come
·53m - 53
The Postman
·55m - 54
Virus
·43m - 55
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
·49m - 56
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
·51m - 57
Star Trek
·1h 3m - 58
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
·49m - 59
Dune: Part Two Spoilercast!
·34m - 60
Re-Ranking Special III
·47m - 61
Honey, I Shrunk The Kids
·53m - 62
Zardoz
·43m - 63
Wild Wild West
·50m - 64
Detective Pikachu
·1h 5m - 65
Bacurau
·45m - 66
The Wandering Earth
·53m - 67
Serenity (2019)
·57m - 68
The 7th Annual SFRS End of Year Jamboree!
·38m - 69
Godzilla Minus One Spoilercast!
·44m - 70
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
·1h 11m - 71
Arrival
·55m - 72
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
·1h 2m - 73
Unbreakable
·53m - 74
The Creator Spoilercast!
·33m - 75
The Quatermass Xperiment
·53m - 76
The Hunger Games
·58m - 77
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Spoilercast!
·31m - 78
Alien: Resurrection
·1h 11m - 79
The Cell
·1h 1m - 80
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
·1h 3m - 81
Gamer
·51m - 82
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
·55m - 83
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
·1h 23m - 84
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
·1h 4m - 85
Back to the Future Part III
·1h 14m - 86
Back to the Future Part II
·1h 4m - 87
Re-Ranking Special II
·1h 10m - 88
Strange Days
·55m - 89
Gravity
·1h 3m - 90
Downsizing
·59m - 91
Ghosts of Mars
·53m - 92
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
·50m - 93
V for Vendetta
·53m - 94
Cloud Atlas
·53m - 95
Speed Racer
·56m - 96
A Quiet Place
·58m - 97
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
·56m - 98
Sorry to Bother You
·56m - 99
Alex & Sam Talk About Films
Alex and Sam discuss the premiere of a time travel film in Brazil and banter about a quote from a science fiction movie.
·51m - 100
Gemini Man
The hosts return from a break and begin reviewing a sci-fi film, using a humorous tone and a parody of a rap song.
·55m - 101
The Tomorrow War
["Science Fiction Rating System reviews The Tomorrow War, the 2021 Chris Pratt movie Amazon pushed to Prime after a reported $200 million budget, and they compare his current film Mercy to a Tom Cruise poster while naming Rebecca Ferguson.", "Sam and Alex say the core premise breaks because the movie sends teachers, soldiers, and civilians from the present into a future war instead of fixing the threat before it starts.", "They praise J.K.
Mar 6, 2026·48m·3 clips - 102
Dune: Part One
Hidden gem["Science Fiction Rating System reviews Dune: Part One as a 2021 film, with Sam Draper, Chris Redding, and Alex Humphrey arguing about the missing 'Part One' label on early marketing.", "The hosts compare Arrakis, Caladan, spice, the Bene Gesserit, the Mentats, and the Butlerian Jihad, and Chris says the film is the most believable deep future he has seen.", "They praise the IMAX sound, Hans Zimmer's bagpipes, the ship design, the Hunter Seeker, and the cast, including Oscar Isaac, Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, and Dave Bautista.", "The discussion also covers Paul's visions of seas of blood, the contrast with David Lynch's Dune, and the late betrayal by Dr.
Feb 20, 2026·1h 4m·4 clips - 103
End of Year 2025 But Actually It's February 2026
The episode is a delayed year-end 2025 review with new sci-fi picks for the next run of films and shows, led by Resident Alien and Alan Tudyk in Patience, Colorado.
Feb 6, 2026·37m·2 clips - 104
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
Hidden gem["Science Fiction Rating System opens on the crawl line \"The dead speak\" and uses Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker as a case study in sequel-trilogy panic.", "Chris and Alex trace the path from Lawrence Kasdan's unused three-film treatment to J.J.
Jan 31, 2026·1h 10m·5 clips - 105
Face/Off
Science Fiction Rating System returns after a long break to talk about John Woo's 1997 Face/Off, with Alex Humphrey, Chris Redding, and Sam Draper handling the review.
Dec 22, 2025·1h 14m·5 clips - 106
PREDATOR: BADLANDS SPOILERCAST!
Sam Draper and Alex Humphrey review Predator: Badlands, the tenth Predator-related episode from Science Fiction Rating System.
Nov 14, 2025·39m·2 clips - 107
Resident Evil
Hidden gemAlex Humphrey, Chris Redding, and Sam Draper assess the 2002 Paul W.S.
Nov 7, 2025·46m·3 clips - 108
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Hidden gemScience Fiction Rating System hosts Sam Draper, Alex Humphrey, and Chris Redding revisit Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and compare its comic time-travel premise with Star Trek III and Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Oct 30, 2025·1h 5m·4 clips - 109
Explorers
Hidden gemScience Fiction Rating System revisits Joe Dante's 1985 film Explorers, starring Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix as children who build a spacecraft from a fairground ride.
Oct 23, 2025·42m·3 clips - 110
Robocop 3
Hidden gemScience Fiction Rating System reviews RoboCop 3, the 1993 sequel directed by Frank Decker and scripted by Frank Miller.
Sep 26, 2025·51m·3 clips - 111
War of the Worlds (2025)
Sep 16, 2025·1h 4m - 112
Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem
Sep 6, 2025·1h 1m - 113
10 Cloverfield Lane
Aug 21, 2025·56m - 114
Superman 3
Aug 7, 2025·48m - 115
Mars Needs Moms
Aug 1, 2025·48m - 116
Zathura
Jul 17, 2025·58m - 117
Forbidden Planet
Jul 10, 2025·54m - 118
28 Days Later
Jul 3, 2025·1h 2m - 119
Predator: Killer of Killers Spoilercast!
Jun 26, 2025·55m - 120
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Jun 19, 2025·55m - 121
Independence Day: Resurgence (again)
Jun 12, 2025·59m - 122
Gemini Man
May 24, 2025·55m - 123
Alex & Sam Talk About Films
Apr 17, 2025·51m - 124
Marooned
Apr 11, 2025·54m - 125
Superman II
Apr 5, 2025·1h 4m - 126
Starship Troopers
Mar 26, 2025·56m - 127
Predator 2
Mar 21, 2025·1h 3m - 128
The Thing (1982)
Mar 14, 2025·1h 8m - 129
Time Travel is Dangerous Extra Super Special Show
Mar 6, 2025·46m - 130
Sputnik
Feb 2, 2025·42m - 131
Star Trek: Section 31 Spoilercast
Jan 24, 2025·28m - 132
Tenet
Jan 17, 2025·1h 4m - 133
The Invisible Man
Jan 11, 2025·1h 2m - 134
The 8th Annual SFRS End of Year Bonanza
Dec 31, 2024·51m - 135
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
Dec 24, 2024·1h 36m - 136
Looper
Dec 13, 2024·56m - 137
Cocoon
Dec 6, 2024·1h - 138
Cube
Nov 28, 2024·50m - 139
Lifeforce
Nov 21, 2024·58m - 140
Ikarie XB-1
Oct 24, 2024·44m - 141
Blade Runner
Oct 11, 2024·1h 9m - 142
Independence Day (again)
Oct 2, 2024·1h 8m - 143
AVPR: Alien Vs. Predator - Requiem
The hosts discuss the title and context of the 2007 film Alien vs.
Aug 30, 2024·1h 1m - 144
Alien Romulus Spoilercast!
Aug 17, 2024·53m - 145
Things to Come
Aug 14, 2024·53m - 146
The Postman
Aug 6, 2024·55m - 147
Virus
Jul 25, 2024·43m - 148
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Jul 18, 2024·49m - 149
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Jul 11, 2024·51m