30 films about aliens: from horror to children's fiction

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Lifehacker has collected the most striking pictures of different times and genres with friendly aliens and aggressive invaders from outer space.

For many decades, mankind has dreamed of making contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. Scientists, writers and filmmakers fantasize about what the first encounter with aliens might turn out to be: some imagine it as peaceful communication and exchange of experience, others fear invasion and enslavement.

We have compiled a list of films in which aliens appear, and conditionally divided them by genre for ease of search.

Action, action

1. Star Wars. Episode 4: A New Hope

• USA, 1977.
• Space opera, fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 121 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 6.

A distant galaxy is enslaved by the cruel emperor and his companion Darth Vader. The resistance is almost crushed, but the rebels have a new hope - a young Jedi named Luke Skywalker.

All parts of the saga of George Lucas are famous not only for large-scale battles and plot twists, but also for many unusual alien races. Sometimes very bizarre.

2. Star Trek

• USA, Germany, 2009.
• Science fiction, action, adventure.
• Duration: 127 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

Romulan Nero, able to travel in time, attacks the planet Vulcan. Starfleet academy cadet James Kirk and Vulcan Spock have to save its inhabitants and the whole world.

The legendary Star Trek franchise started back in 1966 and continues to this day. During this time, the audience was shown the inhabitants of completely different planets. Well, Spock is familiar to everyone who loves science fiction.

3. Edge of the future

• USA, 2014.
• Science fiction, thriller.
• Duration: 113 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

In the future, humanity will have to fight an aggressive race of aliens. People are defeated, and Major William Cage gets the blood of one of the aliens. From that moment on, he constantly returns to the day he died in battle. As a result, he, with the support of an experienced fighter Rita Vrataska, needs to somehow survive this battle. At the same time, William can use his new knowledge to help humanity defeat enemies.

It was very interesting for the authors to connect the traditional history of alien invasion with the theme of the time loop. The result is a gripping sci-fi action movie.

4. Predator

• USA, 1987.
• Science fiction, thriller.
• Duration: 104 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

A group of commandos are sent into the jungle to rescue Americans from captivity. But a small detachment will have to face the Predator - a dangerous alien who has organized a hunt for people.

This picture has several sequels. In the second part, the action moved to the streets of the city, then the Predators fought with other aliens - xenomorphs from the series of films about Aliens. And in 2018, another episode was released where the terrestrial military again had to confront the aliens.

5. Avatar

• USA, 2009.
• Science fiction, action, adventure.
• Duration: 162 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

Former Marine Jake Sully, confined to a wheelchair, becomes a member of the Avatar project on the planet Pandora. Earthlings want to colonize it in order to extract a rare and very valuable mineral. As part of the study, Jake learns to transfer his consciousness into an artificially created avatar - a creature that looks like the natives of Na'vi. But the actions of people turn into a disaster both for the population and for the planet itself, and then a war begins.

The special effects in this film by James Cameron have once again revolutionized cinema. Thanks to the new approach, the director managed to show the huge aliens of Na'vi completely alive.

6. The fifth element

• USA, France, 1997.
• Science fiction, adventure, thriller.
• Duration: 126 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

Every 5,000 years, the dark forces return to destroy the world. Corben Dallas - a taxi driver from New York of the XXIII century - will have to become a real hero in order to save all that exists. He has to collect four important elements, and then add the main one to them, the fifth - the fragile girl Leela.

In the famous film by Luc Besson, the main characters often have to deal with unusual aliens. That there is only a blue-skinned opera singer Diva Plavalaguna.

7. Stargate

• USA, France, 1994.
• Science fiction, action, adventure.
• Duration: 121 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

In the middle of the 20th century, an archaeologist finds a mysterious structure in Egypt. Many years later, his daughter and young specialist Jackson learn that this is a portal to other worlds. Jackson, along with the military, is sent through the stargate towards the unknown.

A significant part of the plot of the film, which gave rise to the whole franchise, is devoted to the confrontation between humans and an alien called Ra. It was he who once visited ancient Egypt and became the prototype of God.

8. Black hole

• USA, Australia, 2000.
• Action, science fiction.
• Duration: 109 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

A spaceship is in distress on a distant planet. As a result of a hard landing, part of the team perishes, including the captain. As it turns out, on a planet with three suns, all living things die in the daylight, but at night dangerous creatures get out of the shadows. And now all hope is for the space criminal Riddick, who can see in the dark.

The image of Riddick, played by Vin Diesel, was very fond of the audience, and subsequently the film received two sequels. Still, the alien monsters from the first part are most frightening.

9. Oblivion

• USA, 2013.
• Action, science fiction, dystopia.
• Duration: 127 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

After the war with aliens, people have to live in a huge space station, and the Earth is considered unfit for existence. Former Marine Jack occasionally visits the planet and repairs drones guarding autonomous power plants. But one day he finds a wrecked spacecraft and learns the shocking truth.

The drama of this film is based on one very important plot twist, related to aliens. Unfortunately, it was shown right in the trailer.

10. Independence Day

• USA, 1996.
• Science fiction, action, disaster film.
• Duration: 145 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

Earth receives a signal from another civilization, and soon many alien ships arrive on the planet. But it turns out that they are not planning to make contact, but are going to attack. Now the military needs to mobilize all the remaining forces to defend freedom.

11. War of the Worlds

• USA, 2005.
• Science fiction, thriller.
• Duration: 116 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

The protagonist Ray works as a crane operator and tries to sort out a difficult relationship with his ex-wife and children. They do not even suspect that a highly developed civilization has been watching the earthlings for a long time. And then one day aliens attack people using perfect and almost invulnerable weapons.

The plot of this film by Steven Spielberg is based on the novel of the same name by H. G. Wells. True, the director moved the action to our time and added scale to the collisions.

12. Faculty

• USA, 1998.
• Fantasy, horror.
• Duration: 104 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

Several teenagers from an American college find a strange maggot. Then they notice that the teachers are beginning to behave very strangely. It turns out that the bodies of teachers and some students were captured by aliens. And now the heroes need to find and kill the queen of creepy monsters.

Robert Rodriguez ingeniously mixed Thing-style horror with typical school films. The result is a great and witty action game where aliens are portrayed as huge insects.

Thriller, horror

1. Alien

• USA, UK, 1979.
• Science fiction, thriller, horror.
• Duration: 117 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 5.

The crew of the spacecraft "Nostromo" receives a signal from the planet LV-426. Having landed, the team discovers an unknown life form there and becomes hostage to a terrible xenomorph.

The film received many sequels, which were worked on by such directors as James Cameron and David Fincher. And the image of xenomorphs is firmly entrenched in the minds of fantasy fans as the most frightening and at the same time perfect kind of aliens.

2. Something

• USA, 1982.
• Fantasy, horror.
• Duration: 109 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

Polar explorers dug up an alien organism in the ice of Antarctica. It soon turns out that the alien is able to take shape and even copy the behavior of any living creature. Now all the inhabitants of the station are suspicious of each other, trying to track down the monster.

This film by John Carpenter is a remake of the 1951 film Something from Another World. And this is a rare occasion when the new version has surpassed the original. The stranger here either takes disgusting forms, then looks like a simple person or even a dog - this is the basis for a tense plot.

3. The day the Earth stood still

• USA, 1951.
• Science fiction, thriller.
• Duration: 92 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

In the midst of the Cold War, a spacecraft lands in the United States. Messenger Klaatu and his robot Gort must inform people that the federation of planets demands an end to nuclear tests and restore peace. But the military injures Klaatu, and the mission is in jeopardy. Then the alien decides to secretly study the inhabitants of the Earth.

The Day the Earth Stood Still is one of the first films about aliens. Although, in fact, he is not talking about the invasion at all, but about the disagreements and aggression of humanity itself. Klaatu looks like just an outside observer here.

4. Abyss

• USA, 1989.
• Science fiction, adventure, thriller.
• Duration: 146 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

Workers of the underwater oil platform, together with special forces, must find out the reasons for the crash of the nuclear submarine and neutralize the warheads in it. However, underwater, they encounter an unknown and dangerous creature.

James Cameron has been interested in the uncharted depths of the oceans since his youth. It is logical that it was there that he settled another alien, showing him something like a reasonable clot of liquid.

5. Invasion of the body snatchers

• USA, 1978.
• Science fiction, thriller, horror.
• Duration: 115 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

Plants of alien origin are beginning to spread throughout the American town. Gradually, they turn into full-fledged copies of people, only less emotional. The main characters are trying to understand the essence of the aliens and understand whether they can be defeated.

The classic film of the same name from 1955 once set the fashion for films about the invasion of aliens. And the remake is almost as good as the original. Moreover, excellent actors starred in it: Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum and Leonard Nimoy. As in The Thing, the tense atmosphere here is due to the fact that extraterrestrial copies are indistinguishable from humans.

6. Annihilation

• USA, 2018.
• Fantasy, horror.
• Duration: 115 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 9.

After a cosmic body falls to Earth, a mysterious zone is formed around it, where nature itself changes. Biology professor Lina wants to find out what is happening there, because after a visit to the zone, her husband returned completely different.

In this unusual film from Netflix, they decided to show the aliens not as another form of life, similar to people or animals, but as something fundamentally different that a person cannot even realize.

Dramas

1. District number 9

• South Africa, USA, New Zealand, Canada, 2009.
• Science fiction, drama, thriller.
• Duration: 112 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

In the eighties, a whole colony of aliens arrived on Earth, and some of them remained among people. Years later, they were forced to live in a ghetto under tight control. And one day a representative of the commission involved in the resettlement of aliens encountered an unknown artifact.

In his debut film, director Neil Blomkamp, in the form of contact with aliens, told the story of slum dwellers who are deprived of almost all their rights and forced to earn money by criminals. He also showed what would happen if a typical office worker finds himself in such a world.

2. Arrival

• USA, 2016.
• Science fiction.
• Duration: 116 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

Huge unidentified flying objects unexpectedly land in different parts of the Earth. The US government is trying to find a common language with them and hires linguist Louise Banks for this. She finds out that aliens not only communicate differently, but also perceive time itself in a completely different way.

The amazing visionary Denis Villeneuve skillfully weaved into the story of contact with aliens and the story of the inability of people to unite, and the philosophical story of the relativity of time.

3. Close Encounters of the Third Degree

• USA, 1977.
• Science fiction, adventure.
• Duration: 138 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

Anomalous phenomena occur in different parts of the Earth: empty planes appear, which disappeared back in the forties, and ships are transferred to the desert. Scientists suspect aliens are to blame. Many ordinary people come into contact with UFOs, including the electrician Roy Nari, who then begins to have visions. At all costs, he seeks to get to the place indicated by the aliens.

Steven Spielberg has repeatedly emphasized that this picture is actually about a person's admiration for something unknown and about an all-consuming passion. And the main character in many ways resembles the director himself, who once forgot about everything else for the sake of filming.

4. Contact

• USA, 1997.
• Drama, mysticism, fantasy.
• Duration: 150 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

Ellie Arroway has been trying to catch a signal from extraterrestrial civilizations for many years. And finally he receives the long-awaited information, which, among other things, contains instructions for building an unusual apparatus. After testing him, Ellie comes into contact with aliens.

But the trouble is that on Earth everyone considers this to be a hoax. Allie believes only fellow scientist Palmer Jos.

5. Signs

• USA, 2002.
• Science fiction, thriller.
• Duration: 106 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 7.

Mysterious signs of unknown origin appear in the fields around a small farm. And then alarming signals start coming from all over the world. A single father needs to figure out how to protect his children from threats.

The famous author of "The Sixth Sense" M. Night Shyamalan decided not to show a large-scale invasion and war with aliens, but only talked about the problems of one family, which in no way can influence the situation in the world and is simply trying to survive.

6. Battle for Earth

• USA, 2019.
• Science fiction, drama, thriller.
• Duration: 109 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

The Earth was invaded by significantly more developed and almost omnipotent aliens, able to read minds. Resistance leaves no hope of freeing the planet. But first of all, the heroes will have to cope with much more dangerous enemies - people who chose to go over to the side of aliens.

This film can also be perceived as a metaphor for various sectors of society. Indeed, many often try to adapt to any situation and betray their own friends and relatives.

Baby

1. Alien

• USA, 1982.
• Science fiction, drama, adventure, family.
• Duration: 115 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

When aliens secretly arrived on Earth collect samples, they are attacked by special agents of the government. The aliens run away, but in a hurry they forget to take one of their own. He has to be saved by ordinary earthly children.

Alien was originally conceived as a sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Degree. But the sequel to "Jaws" disappointed Spielberg, and the director decided to shoot a separate story, making it more personal and kind. The alien in this film is not evil at all, he is just trying to understand how our world works.

2. Flight of the navigator

• USA, Norway, 1986.
• Fantasy, adventure, family.
• Duration: 90 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 9.

Young David, walking through the woods, fell into a ravine. And when he returned home, he found that he had been absent for eight years. As it turned out, now David's brain is connected with the UFO, and soon the hero goes to travel in a spaceship.

As in "Alien", the aliens are not shown here as the aggressors, they only study the Earth and its inhabitants. And so David develops a true friendship with the brain of the spaceship.

Comedy

1. People in black

• USA, 1997.
• Science fiction, comedy.
• Duration: 98 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Two partners work for the most secret organization in the world. Their goal is to protect the planet from extraterrestrial invasions. Agent Kay, strict, serious and wise, finds himself a new partner - a former police officer. He receives the name Agent Jay, wears a strict black suit and catches aliens threatening the Earth.

2. Armageddian

• USA, UK, Japan, 2013.
• Science fiction, comedy.
• Duration: 109 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

Harry King gathers a group of school friends in his hometown. He wants to fulfill his youthful dream and walk the Golden Mile, that is, visit 12 pubs in one night. But the company faces a strange alien threat.

This film became the final part of Edgar Wright's trilogy "Blood and Ice Cream", where the director parodied the standard genres of cinema. This time he took Invasion of the Body Snatchers as a basis and turned it into a comedy.

3. Gender: Secret Material

• USA, UK, 2011.
• Science fiction, comedy.
• Duration: 104 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

Two English geeks decide to attend a landmark event - the Comic-Con festival in San Diego, and at the same time ride through all the memorable places in the United States associated with aliens. On the way, they meet an alien named Paul, who asks to help him get home.

The leading roles in this funny and sometimes rather vulgar comedy were played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost - the famous couple of comedians and favorites of Edgar Wright.

4. Mars attacks

• USA, 1996.
• Science fiction, black comedy.
• Duration: 106 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 3.

The long-awaited contact with an alien civilization took place: the Martians landed on Earth. They announced that they had come in peace, after which they began to shoot everyone who got in their way and blow up cities. As it turns out later, they can only be destroyed in a very unusual way.

This film by Tim Burton stands out from the director's usual gothic style, but the traditional black humor and grotesque characters fully compensate for the strange picture.

Of course, this list is far from complete. You can add your favorite films in the comments and recommend them to other readers.