From friendly encounters to apocalyptic invasions, here are the best sci-fi movies to explore life in the far corners of space.
There's no denying that there's something special about alien movies. In the right writers and directors, these genre films are the perfect canvas for portraying humanity, evolution, and morality. Sometimes, they come in the form of romantic visions of discovering true value. Other times, they are vivid epics about humanity's fight for their lives with other worldly invaders, stories of innocent and incredible friendships, or incredible visual feasts with dense metaphors as the main course. In short, while many similar themes echo in these sci-fi legends, there is no single type of alien movie.
Spanning decades and countless interpretations, the following list is the best alien movies of all time.
Invasion of the Corpse Marauders (1956 and 1978).
The Day the Earth Stood Silent (1951).
The Speckle (1958).
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976).
Contact of the Third Kind (1977).
Star Wars: A New Hope (1977).
Superman: The Movie (1978).
Alien (1979).
The Thing (1982).
et Aliens (1982).
Star Man (1984).
Enemy Mines (1985).
Aliens (1986).
Predator (1987).
Space Ball (1987).
Killer Joker from Outer Space (1988).
Independence Day (1996).
Mars Attack (1996).
Men in Black (1997).
Vision (1997).
Contact (1997).
Academy (1998).
The Dark City (1998).
The Iron Giant (1999).
Galaxy Quest (1999).
Pitch Black (2000).
Signs (2002).
The Glider (2006).
Avatar (2009).
District 9 (2009).
Super 8 (2011).
Attack on the Block (2011).
The End of the World (2013).
Beneath the Skin (2013).
Edge of Tomorrow (2014).
Coming (2016).
Dune (2021).
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