Between Drama movies and Sci-Fi movies, which genre has the highest percentage of 'good' movies overall? (details inside)

Purely off the cuff and entirely anecdotal (there is no science behind my response): I’d say “drama” would have a much higher percentage due to the sheer volume and the possible scope of topics (wars, personal tragedies, non-comedic romantic themes, feast/famine, coming of age, and on and on).

I’m a sci-fi fan, but I probably can’t name more than a dozen truly “good” films in that genre off the top of my beanie.

I totally agree with @picante. There are a number of sci-fi films good enough to rival any other genre (“2001”, “Things to Come” and the original “War of the Worlds”, to name just three). But unlike drama, probably the most popular genre since the beginning movie-making, sci-fi’s popularity has ebbed and flowed over the decades, and so fewer films of this genre have been made and fewer still that can be called great.

So do you think the reason for the imbalance is because it’s easier and cheaper to create a Drama than a Sci-Fi ? Or is it something else?

I think that’s partly the reason. Drama is about people, and some of the best regarded dramatic films of all time (“Brief Encounter”) have been low-budget, with few actors. Sci-fi on the other hand, at least nowadays, is about increasingly costly special effects. Of course, there are plenty of wonderful big-budget dramas, too (“Lawrence of Arabia”).

I would say drama, but Battlestar Galactica was to my knowledge the best Sci-Fi series.
Than there’s Falling Skies and Fringe. Movies I will vote for Star Trek Into Darkness, Oblivion, Aliens, Blade Runner.
For drama in Movies The Hurt Locker, The Deer Hunter, Rocky and Forest Gump.
I am a very big Sci-Fi fan and love Sci-Fi because we live in a crappy world and I guess Sci-Fi was always my favorite form of escapism.

Drama is my answer but even cheap scyfy is my fave. It’s a standing joke about cheesy effects but who cares.

I’d say Drama because the Sci-Fi movies were typically done as low budget flicks. The best Sci-Fi have a strong dramatic element. In my opinion, the majority of sci-fi movies were campy and lacked the finesse that Dramas need to succeed.