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Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey has been voted the best sci-fi film of all time according to a poll of leading experts.

Time Out magazine asked 150 experts, including Nobel Prize winners, authors, directors, screenwriters and actors to rank their top 10 science fiction movies.

Cult favourite Blade Runner (1982), starring Harrison Ford took the number two spot, while Ridley Scott's space thriller Alien (1979) came in third.

Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (pictured) has been voted the best sci-fi film of all time according to a poll. Time Out magazine asked 150 industry experts, including Nobel Prize winners, authors, directors, screenwriters and actors to rank their top 10 science fiction movies

Rounding off the top five was Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind from 1977, and the Alien sequel, Aliens from 1986.

Contributors included A Games of Thrones author George RR Martin, novelist Stephen King, scientist Sir Robert Winston and The Sky at Night presenter Maggie Aderin Pocock.

It also featured directors such as Guillermo Del Toro, Edgar Wright, Roland Emmerich and Alfonso Cuaron - whose 2013 Oscar-winning film Gravity came in at number 59.

The 1970s and 1980s stood out as the golden age of sci-fi, with 43 films in the top 100, and eight in the top ten from these decades.

Small budget films also performed better than blockbusters, with Moon, in 14th and the original Solaris in 17th ranking higher than Avatar in 77th place and Pacific Rim in 82nd.

TIME OUT'S TOP 20 SCI-FI FILMS

Cult favourite Blade Runner (1982), starring Harrison Ford (pictured left) took the number two spot, while Ridley Scott's space thriller Alien with Sigourney Weaver, (pictured right) released in 1979, came in third

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

2. Blade Runner (1982)

3. Alien (1979)

4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

5. Aliens (1986)

6. Star Wars (1977)

7. Brazil (1985)

8. Metropolis (1927)

9. The Terminator (1984)

10. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

11. ET the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

12. The Thing (1982)

13. The Matrix (1999)

14. Moon (2009)

15. Stalker (1979)

16. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

17. Solaris (1972)

18. Children of Men (2006)

19. The Fly (1986)

20. Forbidden Planet (1956)

 The full list is at Time Out

Panel member and scientist Sir Robert Winston said 2001: A Space Odyssey starring Keir Dullea (pictured) 'is probably the most intellectually challenging sci-fi film ever made'

In the battle of the directors, Steven Spielberg and James Cameron tied for the top spot with five films each.

However, British director Ridley Scott had the most number of films in the top five with Blade Runner, Alien and Aliens in 5th place. 

Sir Robert Winston said 2001: A Space Odyssey 'is probably the most intellectually challenging sci-fi film ever made.'

Maggie Aderin Pocock added Close Encounters 'came out at a similar time to the original Star Wars and I thought it was so much better. I wanted to get in that spaceship with the friendly looking aliens.'

The highest-ranking actor on the list was Sigourney Weaver with six entries including Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Ghostbusters (1984) (pictured) at 48, Avatar (2009), Galaxy Quest (1999) at 34 and WALL-E (2008) at 40

Time Out's sci-fi list placed Star Wars above Star Trek, with Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (pictured left) in seventh and tenth place respectively. The highest ranking Star Trek film was 1982 Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, starring Leonard Nimoy (pictured right) at 44

In the battle of the directors, Steven Spielberg and James Cameron tied for the top spot with five films each. Cameron's Avatar is pictured. However, British director Ridley Scott had the most number of films in the top five with Blade Runner, Alien and Aliens

The highest-ranking actor on the list was Sigourney Weaver with six entries including Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Ghostbusters (1984) at 48, Avatar (2009), Galaxy Quest (1999) at 34 and WALL-E (2008) at 40.

Time Out's sci-fi list placed Star Wars ahead of Star Trek, with Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980) in seventh and tenth place respectively.

The highest ranking Star Trek film was 1982 Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan at 44, and 2009's Star Trek reboot at 80.

'Sci-fi continues to be one of the most visually creative, intellectually-challenging and boundary-pushing genres in film', said Dave Calhoun, global film editor of Time Out.

'By asking such a varied range of experts from the fields of science, literature and cinema to take part, we have been able to compile an incredibly diverse list that includes lesser-known gems alongside cult classics and recent hits such as Gravity and Her.'

At the bottom of the list was 1996 blockbuster Independence Day, starring Will Smith, at 100, Three Colours: Red from 1994 at 99 and 1984's 2010 at 98.

Small budget films also performed better than blockbusters, with Moon, starring Sam Rockwell (pictured), in 14th ranking higher than Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim in 82nd

At the bottom of the list was 1996 blockbuster Independence Day, starring Will Smith (pictured) at 100, Three Colours: Red from 1994 at 99 and 1984's 2010 at 98