Search results
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 and 1978) If you favor the later renditions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, we don't blame you. And it may be cheating to double up on our list's first entry, but the 1978 version (featuring Brooke Adams, Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy, and Veronica Cartwright) is one of the rare examples of a remake living up to the legacy of its predecessor, which is all the more impressive when you consider the magnitude of industry legend Robert Wise's original.
- The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) The Day the Earth Stood Still is another alien movie that endures the test of time because it consistently reflects the fractured world around us.
- The Blob (1958) Cinema painted small town America in the 1950s as pristine and well-ordered, making suburbia an obvious target for an alien blitz. Irvin Yeaworth's sci-fi horror film The Blob, which attacked theaters in 1958, was happy to upend the neat organization of the post-war era with an amorphous villain who rode in on a meteorite and proceeded to consume anyone and anything unlucky enough to cross its path.
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) While it baffled many critics at the time, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is an undisputed classic of not just science-fiction but pop culture as a whole.
- Superman
- Starman
- Stargate
- Spaceballs
- 10 Cloverfield Lane
- Mars Attacks
- Galaxy Quest
- Captain Marvel
- The Hidden
- Independence Day
Director:Richard Donner Superman, the original superhero, had been depicted onscreen prior—with a live-action television show, as well as both animated and live-action big screen serials, it’s true. But the most iconic version of the legendary figure unquestionably belongs to Christopher Reeve in Richard Donner’s 1978 film. “You will believe a man ...
Director: John Carpenter John Carpenter’s Starman melds fish-out-of-water hijinks with more complex moral hierarchies. Jeff Bridges is the titular Starman, an outer space shape-shifter who takes the form of a widow’s (Karen Allen in one of her best unsung performances) recently departed husband, and enlists her to drive him to the Grand Canyon for ...
Director:Roland Emmerich A pre-disaster-porn Roland Emmerich directed this (intentionally?) campy, conspiracy-minded sci-fi yarn—a film probably better remembered via the television franchise it spawned—and it’s an odd duck for sure. James Spader plays an Egyptologist savant who cracks the code to open the titular gate, while Kurt Russell growls at...
Director:Mel Brooks Originally perceived as one of writer/director Mel Brooks’ lesser works, this loving send-up of the sci-fi/fantasy genre (specifically, Star Wars) has, over the years, wormed its way into the hearts of a new generation of fans who caught it on video. “May the Schwartz be with you,” “Ludicrous Speed,” “Mawg”—if these are all term...
Director: Dan Trachtenberg At its core, 10 Cloverfield Lane effectively works as an extended, modern-day riff on a Twilight Zone episode, a program producer J.J. Abrams holds near and dear to his heart. But despite its enclosed setting and limited speaking parts, the film is very much a cinematic experience, with director Dan Trachtenberg milking e...
Director:Tim Burton With Jack Nicholson as president, Sarah Jessica Parker’s head appearing atop a chihuahua body and an alien race that speaks in a bird-like squawk, Mars Attacks is filled with enough campy goodness to make even the most serious sci-fi fan crack a smile. Although it was initially received poorly among critics and fans alike, repea...
Director:Dean Parisot Galaxy Quest is a film about equilibrium between love and parody; a movie made with less of the former and too much of the latter becomes a mean-spirited dunk on sci-fi fandom, and a movie made in the reverse becomes too much about fan service than honest-to-goodness storytelling. Dean Parisot, aided and abetted by writers Dav...
Directors:Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck One thing Captain Marvel has going for it that Ant Man and the Wasp didn’t is that it gives us a lead character we can care about and (even more important) an actor (Brie Larson) who rises to the occasion. In many of these Marvel origin stories—and by my count, this is the eighth one since the original Iron Man—the ...
Director:Jack Sholder Though John Carpenter’s The Thing steeped the then-terrifyingly mysterious AIDS crisis in otherworldly horror five years before, The Hidden indulges in similar tropes and identical themes with blunter, no-less-pulpier mayhem. LA detective Thomas Beck (Michael Nouri) must reluctantly work with FBI Special Agent Gallagher (Kyle ...
Director:Roland Emmerich They pretty much don’t make action movies like Independence Day anymore, although if you ask someone who caught Independence Day: Resurgence, they’ll tell you that’s probably a good thing. Regardless, there’s a certain sheen to this particular brand of FX-driven pre-2000s disaster blockbuster, an earnestness of conviction i...
1 day ago · From the 1979 original to Alien: Romulus, here's your guide on how to watch all the Alien movies in order.
Sep 16, 2024 · This definitive list features the greatest cinematic encounters with extraterrestrials, ranked by fans who love everything related to space and sci-fi. Made to celebrate the creepy, thrilling, and sometimes heartwarming world of alien films, this collection is all about crowd-ranking.
- Chris Hinton
- Alien. Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror "Alien" is an obvious choice to kick off a list of alien-centric movies. "Alien" caused a stir upon its release.
- Aliens. While we don't intend to include a litany of films and their sequels on this list, "Aliens" is too good to pass up. As a sequel, it's actually one of the best follow-up films in the industry.
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Of all of the films in the "Indiana Jones" franchise, this one received the most backlash from fans despite holding a certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and being a massive financial success.
- Star Wars: A New Hope. Anyone looking to see aliens on film can't go wrong with George Lucas's original epic "Star Wars." Now known as "Star Wars: A New Hope," this film tells the legendary story of Luke Skywalker discovering his roots and utilizing his rebellious spirit to combat an evil Galactic Empire.
2 days ago · Ever since 1979, when Ridley Scott blasted the haunted house formula into deep space, the Alien franchise has been synonymous with brooding atmosphere, strong female leads, eye-covering gore,...
People also ask
What's so special about Alien movies?
What makes a great Alien movie?
Is alien a good movie?
What are some famous Alien movies?
Oct 13, 2022 · From the heart-warming tale of E.T. to terrifying invasions of beings from beyond the stars, these are the best alien movies of all time, ranked.
