Top 10 Films With Aliens

Personally I love sci-fi films and I don’t mind a little serving of aliens either. We’ve had a lot of films featuring aliens, and they keep on coming. This week sees the release of The Watch, and it got me thinking what are the great films featuring aliens, and do they necessarily need to be obvious aliens and/or films? Can I narrow down a Top 10 list? Let’s see …

10.) Stargate

This may seem like an odd choice, but I absolutely love this film. It still remains one of the best cinema experiences I’ve ever had and that has stuck with me. Jaye Davidson made for a perfect villain as Ra, and while we don’t see his alien form he still had a profound effect.

9.) Super 8

I’ll come right out and say it, I loved this film. It was different and it really sparked something in me as a film fan. The film as a whole I thought was just fantastic, and the alien itself was mysterious and had an almost sad backstory. This is a film that reminded me of why I love sitting in a film theater and why I have a love of cinema.

8.) Starman

An alien takes the form of Jeff Bridges, what’s not to love here? This is a classic John Carpenter film, and not the only film of his on this list. The film itself is just phenomenal, and it is incredibly moving. What makes this work is the story, where the alien takes the form of a recently deceased man, and this causes a lot of emotion for the widow (a brilliant Karen Allen). This film never fails to bring me to tears, and I’ll never understand how Jeff Bridges didn’t get that Oscar.

7.) Contact

This is an incredible film, and I don’t think it gets the credit it deserves. It had a really interesting premise, and some great performances with a very sharp script, and it was just wonderfully shot. This really taps into our imagination and wonder, and as an 11 year old kid who had her own UFO club, it didn’t get much better than this. The ending was certainly a ballsy one, but hey David Morse did a great job.

6.) Predator

This is an 80′s action classic, and it really brought in a terrifying alien and threat. But when you have the most macho men on the planet right there with it, things don’t feel as bad. This film boasts what is easily one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best performances, it is one of the best action films and it has one of the coolest aliens ever created for film.

5.) Alien

I decided to go with the original film out of the series, for me I think it is the best and this gave us things we hadn’t seen before. This was a truly scary alien, from its face hugging, to its bursting, to it being nice and grown, I certainly wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it, let alone stuck with it on a ship. This is one of the best slow burn films, and it has some fantastic characters, and it gave us the iconic Ellen Ripley played by Sigourney Weaver.

4.) The Empire Strikes Back

Much like with the film above, I picked one film from the series to put here and my reason being is quite simply Yoda. This is the best film of the Star Wars series, and it gave us one of the most iconic aliens ever with Yoda. Sure we had other interesting characters but he really sparked something, it was magical and watching it now it still really is.

3.) Close Encounters Of The Third Kind

It may seem weird not to have E.T. on this list, but Close Encounters really is the better film and the aliens here are so mysterious and what they do creates this amazing story. As a kid, I was one of Spielberg, I was raised on his films and as much as I loved E.T. and wanted my own alien, this film made me feel so much more. I would look up at the sky at night and hope to see something and wonder what is out there, and this film just really lights that fire. The ending is so iconic and it never loses its touch, not one bit.

2.) The Thing

Here is the other John Carpenter entry, for me this is perhaps his best film, one of the best sci-fi films, one of the best horror films and quite simply one of my all time favourites. This really is a terrifying film, it challenges the viewer and it has so much to say. The performances are top notch, Kurt Russell, Keith David and Wilford Brimley are so memorable and of course the thing itself in its many forms is a delight on the eyes. The film still holds up today, the effects are still jaw droppingly brilliant and it contains some of the most memorable visuals.

1.) The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

This film is a classic, it still holds up and maybe its message is even more relevant today. It was certainly ahead of its time, an intelligent piece of cinema and one as it turns out is a fantastic film. The performances are fantastic, Michael Rennie is just amazing as Klaatu the visiting alien and Gort remains a sci-fi icon.