l best alien movies

Humanity'southward ideas of alien beingness often says more about u.s. than the picayune green men nosotros envision. Our conception of life beyond Earth reflects our collective hopes and fears well-nigh the unknown and about technology, likewise as our noesis of the larger universe—which changes dramatically every bit time goes on.

No medium has more vividly captured and utilized scenarios of extraterrestrial life meliorate than pic. Aliens first appeared on screen in 1902, in Georges Méliès'southward "A Trip to the Moon." After 1947—in which civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold's UFO sightings and the discovery of a mysterious "flying disc" virtually Roswell, New Mexico occurred—a subculture devoted to otherworldly creatures called "ufology" emerged, leaving a lasting marking on cinema.

Every bit America dealt with the Scarlet Scare in the 1950s, influential conflicting films like "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "War of the Worlds" used intergalactic characters to reflect citizens' fear of Communism and other "outsiders," as well as humanity'due south penchant to destroy itself from within. Extraterrestrials were also common sci-fi horror monsters, ranging from the titular alien in Ridley Scott's 1979 classic to the shape-shifting arctic creature in "The Thing." However, in the 1970s and 1980s, friendlier and sometimes lovable aliens were as well reflected in movies such as "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Due east.T.: The Actress-Terrestrial," and "Cocoon."

These days, otherworldly characters appear in a broad range of roles, from the alien strength that mutates biological creatures in "Annihilation" to the more than kindly, time-angle heptapods of "Arrival." With the wide number of alien movies throughout the history of film, how can viewers decide which extraterrestrial features are nearly worth their time?

To answer that question, Stacker compiled data (as of Sept. 2, 2020) on all sci-fi movies on Letterboxd, the film-based social media network, and selected the top 50 alien movies, ranked according to their average Letterboxd score. To qualify, aliens had to exist main characters or cardinal to the plot of the pic.

Hither are the best alien movies of all time, starting at #50 and counting downwardly to #one.

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#l. The Vast of Night (2019)

- Manager: Andrew Patterson
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.48
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: 84
- Runtime: 91 min

One night in 1950s New Mexico, a young switchboard operator (Sierra McCormick) and radio DJ (Jake Horowitz) uncover a strange radio frequency that seems to exist extraterrestrial. Andrew Patterson'south debut feature was inspired by real-life unexplained events, such equally the Kecksburg Incident and the Foss Lake disappearances.

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#49. Starman (1984)

- Manager: John Carpenter
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.49
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: seventy
- Runtime: 115 min

In "Starman," an conflicting (Jeff Bridges) becomes stranded on Earth and assumes the form of a late Midwestern man named Scott to blend in. As he races to reunite with a vessel from his home planet, Starman finds himself falling in love with Scott's widow, Jenny (Karen Allen). Bridges was nominated for Best Actor at the 1985 Academy Awards for his portrayal of the titular alien.

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#48. Gandahar (1987)

- Director: René Laloux
- Letterboxd user rating: iii.51
- IMDb user rating: 7.i
- Metascore: information not available
- Runtime: 78 min

Based on Jean-Pierre Andrevon's 1969 novel "The Machine-Men vs. Gandahar," this French animated moving picture takes identify on the utopian planet of Gandahar. As the story begins, the characters' peaceful society is threatened when an ancient ground forces arrives and begins turning their victims to stone.

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Anarchist's Convention Films

#47. The Brother from Another Planet (1984)

- Director: John Sayles
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.53
- IMDb user rating: six.7
- Metascore: 70
- Runtime: 108 min

Joe Morton stars as "The Brother," a mute humanoid alien who crash lands near Ellis Island. Although The Brother finds refuge in Harlem, he is presently pursued through the New York City neighborhood by a pair of intergalactic bounty hunters. In an interview with Cinema Gotham, manager John Sayles noted that the moving-picture show was well-nigh "the immigrant experience," and is "a story of assimilation."

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#46. Men in Black (1997)

- Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
- Letterboxd user rating: iii.54
- IMDb user rating: vii.3
- Metascore: 71
- Runtime: 98 min

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones lead this sci-fi action comedy, playing ii agents of a secret organisation called the Men in Black. Their job is to supervise the extraterrestrial creatures who live on World, and conceal their existence from ordinary humans. However, things are thrown into chaos when they uncover an conflicting assassinator'southward plot to kill ii alien ambassadors living in New York City. "Men in Blackness" became a box office striking, leading to multiple sequels and an animated children's series.

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six / 50

#45. Time Masters (1982)

- Director: René Laloux
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.54
- IMDb user rating: seven.4
- Metascore: information non available
- Runtime: 78 min

In the French animated motion picture "Time Masters," a male child named Piel (Frédéric Legros) is trapped on a planet overrun by enormous killer hornets. It's up to space adventurer Jaffar (Jean Valmont) and an exiled prince and princess to travel through infinite and rescue Piel before it'due south too late.

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#44. From Beyond (1986)

- Director: Stuart Gordon
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.55
- IMDb user rating: half dozen.7
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 85 min

Loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft'south short story with the same proper noun, this torso horror sci-fi motion picture opens every bit obsessive scientist Dr. Pretorious (Ted Sorel) discovers a mode to access a parallel earth. Nevertheless, strange creatures from another dimension before long drag him into their world, returning him as a malformed shape-shifter who begins attacking his laboratory colleagues.

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#43. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

- Director: James Gunn
- Letterboxd user rating: iii.55
- IMDb user rating: vii.vi
- Metascore: 67
- Runtime: 136 min

In this follow-up to James Gunn's popular Marvel sci-fi moving-picture show, "Guardians of the Galaxy," Chris Pratt'southward Peter Quill meets his long-lost alien begetter (Kurt Russell)—but things aren't what they seem, leaving Peter and the other Guardians to save the universe from devastation. "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" was praised for its blend of intergalactic humor and thoughtful explorations of found families and parental trauma.

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#42. Attack the Block (2011)

- Director: Joe Cornish
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.56
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 75
- Runtime: 88 min

Before John Boyega played Finn in a milky way far, far away, he starred in another well-regarded sci-fi film called "Attack the Cake." The moving-picture show centers on a gang of South London teens, who take it upon themselves to defend their block from murderous alien invaders.

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#41. The World'south End (2013)

- Director: Edgar Wright
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.57
- IMDb user rating: seven.0
- Metascore: 81
- Runtime: 109 min

This sci-fi one-act begins as five middle-aged British friends attempt to complete an ballsy pub crawl that they failed to finish twenty years earlier. However, their plans go sideways when they discover that aliens have invaded their hometown that very same dark. "The World'due south End" is the third film in manager Edgar Wright's "Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy," a one-act anthology that as well included the movies "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz."

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11 / 50

#40. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

- Director: Nicholas Meyer
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.57
- IMDb user rating: vii.2
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 110 min

"Star Expedition VI: The Undiscovered Country" sees the coiffure of the USS Enterprise transporting an alien Klingon ship to sign a peace treaty with the interstellar government of the United Federation of Planets. Problem arises when the Klingon chancellor is suddenly assassinated, and atomic number 82 characters Kirk (William Shatner) and McCoy (DeForest Kelley) stand trial for murder. Notably, this was the terminal "Star Expedition" pic starring cast members of the original 1960s Goggle box evidence.

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#39. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

- Director: Jonathan Frakes
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.59
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 71
- Runtime: 111 min

The cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" star in this film installment of the popular sci-fi serial, as the crew of the USS Enterprise-E travel dorsum in time to change the past and finish the evil cybernetic Borg from taking over Earth. "Star Trek: First Contact" is one of the best-reviewed "Expedition" films—historic critic Roger Ebert considered it to be 1 of the all-time movies of the franchise at the fourth dimension of its release.

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#38. The Abyss (1989)

- Manager: James Cameron
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.59
- IMDb user rating: 7.6
- Metascore: 62
- Runtime: 171 min

James Cameron'south 1989 blockbuster "The Completeness" takes its alien action deep below the sea. Originally intended equally a modern remake of Robert Wise's "The Day the Earth Stood All the same," the story follows a civilian diving team who are tasked with searching for a missing nuclear submarine. They soon run into danger later on discovering an aquatic extraterrestrial species.

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#37. The Subconscious (1987)

- Director: Jack Sholder
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.59
- IMDb user rating: seven.0
- Metascore: information not bachelor
- Runtime: 97 min

Michael Nouri and "Twin Peaks" star Kyle MacLachlan play an FBI agent and homicide detective, respectively, hunting alien creatures who are able to take on the appearances of their man hosts. Every bit the thriller progresses, all is non as it seems, and the ii acquire that they have unexpected, important roles in the shape-shifters' mission on World.

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#36. Voyage to the End of the Universe (1963)

- Director: Jindrich Polák
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.59
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: information not bachelor
- Runtime: 81 min

Earlier there was Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," there was Jindrich Polák's "Voyage to the End of the Universe." The Czech film unfolds through a series of vignettes equally a 40-person infinite coiffure embarks on a year-long journey to a nearby star and encounter mysterious aliens in 2163. Apart from inspiring "2001," it also incorporates elements of nonetheless-to-exist-released sci-fi classics like "The Twilight Zone" and "Star Expedition."

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#35. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

- Director: Dan Trachtenberg
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.6
- IMDb user rating: 7.two
- Metascore: 76
- Runtime: 103 min

Equally "10 Cloverfield Lane" opens, a young woman who was in a car crash wakes upward in an hole-and-corner bunker with two men who insist that a mysterious apocalyptic disaster has fabricated the surface of the planet uninhabitable. She rapidly becomes determined to escape her captors no matter what state the planet is in, only to find that alien ships and creatures take arrived overhead. A sequel, "The Cloverfield Paradox," debuted on Netflix in 2018.

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#34. Salve the Green Planet! (2003)

- Director: Jang Joon-hwan
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.61
- IMDb user rating: vii.3
- Metascore: 70
- Runtime: 118 min

This South Korean black comedy centers on Lee Byeong-gu, an eccentric young beekeeper who kidnaps a powerful businessman whom he believes is an alien. While Byeong-gu tortures his prisoner in hopes of stopping what he believes to be an impending Armageddon, a nearby detective searching for the man discovers that the kidnapper has committed similar, ultimately deadly crimes in the past.

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Walt Disney Animation Studios

#33. Treasure Planet (2002)

- Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker
- Letterboxd user rating: iii.61
- IMDb user rating: seven.2
- Metascore: 60
- Runtime: 95 min

Disney secured a Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination for "Treasure Planet," an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson'southward 1883 adventure novel of the same name. In the film, 15-twelvemonth-old Jim Hawkins journeys into a parallel universe after discovering a map to the greatest pirate trove in the universe. He finds work aboard an conflicting space galleon, fighting off black holes and a mutinous cyborg pirate in hopes of finding the mythic treasure.

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#32. Annihilation (2018)

- Director: Alex Garland
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.62
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 79
- Runtime: 115 min

"Annihilation" revolves around a grouping of all-female person explorers who enter The Shimmer, a quarantined disaster zone filled with mutating wild animals. As the characters unravel themselves, it becomes clear that an conflicting presence is responsible for the biological horrors at play. Alex Garland's film received attention for its explorations of themes similar low and human being cocky-destruction.

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#31. Star Trek (2009)

- Manager: J.J. Abrams
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.62
- IMDb user rating: vii.9
- Metascore: 82
- Runtime: 127 min

J.J. Abram'due south reboot focuses on the chief characters of the original "Star Trek" TV show, this time starring a new cast led by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. Taking place in an alternate dimension so as not to ignominy the franchise'south previous installments, the movie follows James T. Kirk and Spock as they race to cease a Romulan conflicting named Nero (Eric Bana) from putting the United Federation of Planets in jeopardy. The 2009 "Star Trek" won an Oscar for Best Makeup, making it the only "Expedition" moving-picture show to always win an Academy Award.

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#30. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

- Director: Leonard Nimoy
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.63
- IMDb user rating: 7.iii
- Metascore: 71
- Runtime: 119 min

James T. Kirk and his coiffure travel dorsum in fourth dimension to 1986 to end an conflicting probe from devastating Earth. They do so by bringing humpback whales back to the future since the whales are the only creatures that tin communicate with the probe.

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#29. Galaxy Quest (1999)

- Director: Dean Parisot
- Letterboxd user rating: three.65
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 70
- Runtime: 102 min

"Galaxy Quest" serves as a parody of sci-fi franchises, especially "Star Expedition" and its fans. Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman atomic number 82 the moving picture, playing actors who previously starred in a cult space opera Television serial. Nonetheless, they're drawn into a real outer space mission when actual aliens visit Globe and seek their help fighting a reptilian warlord, having mistaken the testify for a documentary.

23 / 50

#28. Dark City (1998)

- Manager: Alex Proyas
- Letterboxd user rating: iii.66
- IMDb user rating: vii.half dozen
- Metascore: 66
- Runtime: 100 min

When this sci-fi noir begins, protagonist John Murdoch wakes up in an unknown hotel to find that he has been establish guilty of multiple murders, with no memory of whether he committed them or not. While attempting to piece together whether or non he is innocent, John discovers a sinister underground globe run by a grouping of aliens known but every bit "the Strangers." Managing director Alex Proyas based the Strangers on Richard O'Brien's "The Rocky Horror Show" character, Riff Raff, and O'Brien himself has a part in Dark City as Mr. Hand.

24 / 50

#27. Starship Troopers (1997)

- Director: Paul Verhoeven
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.68
- IMDb user rating: 7.ii
- Metascore: 51
- Runtime: 129 min

"Starship Troopers" takes place in the afar hereafter, where Earth is in the midst of a battle against a giant insect-like alien race known as Arachnids, or more colloquially, "Bugs." Viewers are introduced to the world through a young soldier named Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), who progresses through a futuristic military unit called the Mobile Infantry. Managing director Paul Verhoeven uses the conflict between humans and Bugs to satirize nationalism and xenophobia, even including visual allusions to real-life propaganda films and Nazi attire.

25 / 50

#26. The Avengers (2012)

- Managing director: Joss Whedon
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.68
- IMDb user rating: eight.0
- Metascore: 69
- Runtime: 143 min

Six films into the Curiosity Cinematic Universe, the all-star superhero team of the Avengers finally came together to end Loki (Tom Hiddleston)—the blood brother of Asgardian prince Thor (Chris Hemsworth)—from conquering Earth with the help of his alien regular army. Marvel subsequently introduced more intergalactic characters, notably through the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise's fundamental band of antiheroes.

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26 / 50

#25. Under the Skin (2013)

- Director: Jonathan Glazer
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.69
- IMDb user rating: half-dozen.iii
- Metascore: fourscore
- Runtime: 108 min

Scarlett Johansson leads "Under the Peel" as Laura, an conflicting femme fatale who feeds upon men who she seduces and later consumes in a mysterious liquid puddle. Although the main conflicting is introduced every bit a succubus-similar entity, she soon becomes dangerously embroiled in her temporary man life. In 2016, the movie ranked #61 on BBC'south "100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century" list.

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#24. The 5th Element (1997)

- Manager: Luc Besson
- Letterboxd user rating: three.69
- IMDb user rating: seven.vii
- Metascore: 52
- Runtime: 126 min

In the 23rd century, taxi cab driver and erstwhile special forces major Korben Dallas's (Bruce Willis) life is forever altered when a immature woman named Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) suddenly falls into his motorcar. She reveals that she is linked to four mystical stones that are missing and crucial for defending Earth confronting an evil cosmic force'south impending attack on the planet. They learn that the stones were put in place as safeguards by an alien race called the Mondoshawans, and race to find them earlier it's too late.

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#23. A Quiet Identify (2018)

- Director: John Krasinski
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.72
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: 82
- Runtime: 90 min

Existent-life partners John Krasinski and Emily Edgeless star in "A Quiet Place" as a married couple struggling to keep their family unit alive subsequently the world is invaded by blind aliens who hunt and kill anything that makes a sound. The post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama functioned equally an allegory of the perils of parenthood.

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#22. Border of Tomorrow (2014)

- Managing director: Doug Liman
- Letterboxd user rating: three.73
- IMDb user rating: seven.9
- Metascore: 71
- Runtime: 113 min

Based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka'south 2004 Japanese novel "All You Need is Kill," "The Edge of Tomorrow" sees rookie soldier William Cage (Tom Cruise) and celebrated super soldier Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) face up off against Mimics, aliens who take conquered near of continental Europe by 2020. Muzzle becomes defenseless in a time loop where he's repeatedly killed on the battlefield, but with each loop, he becomes a more skilled soldier. Cage and Rita—who has her own experience in the loop—team upwardly and devise a plan to stop the Mimics' attack.

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#21. Repo Homo (1984)

- Director: Alex Cox
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.74
- IMDb user rating: 6.nine
- Metascore: 82
- Runtime: 92 min

Set up in Los Angeles, "Repo Human being" follows young punk rock fan Otto (Emilio Estevez), who joins a car repossession agency and begins pursuing a Chevrolet Malibu that's wanted for a $twenty,000 bounty. However, things become more complicated when Estevez learns that an conflicting entity is seemingly subconscious in the car'south body. Alex Cox'southward comedy is regarded as a quintessential 1980s cult classic, and pointedly takes aim at the Reagan administration's conservative domestic and strange policies.

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#twenty. They Live (1988)

- Manager: John Carpenter
- Letterboxd user rating: three.75
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 94 min

This sci-fi action horror picture show centers on a drifter (Roddy Piper) who gets high-tech sunglasses and learns that order's ruling form are actually aliens who are manipulating the public to adhere to the status quo and needlessly spend money by spreading subliminal messages in the media. Managing director John Carpenter has said that "They Live" is about "yuppies and unrestrained commercialism," and that the political messaging was based on his criticisms of how Ronald Reagan'southward "Reaganomics" policies unhealthily influenced mass media commercialization in the 1980s.

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#19. Commune ix (2009)

- Director: Neill Blomkamp
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.75
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Metascore: 81
- Runtime: 112 min

In an alternate 1982, ill and insectoid aliens are found in Johannesburg, South Africa and forced into an internment army camp called "Commune ix." Years subsequently, a human being government amanuensis's (Sharlto Copley) Dna begins to mutate after he's exposed to the alien weaponry, causing him to seek refuge in District 9 as tensions betwixt the two species escalate. The film's premise was inspired past events that took place in Cape Town during the apartheid era, and it went on to receive iv Oscar nominations (including Best Picture and Best Visual Effects).

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Walter Wanger Productions

#18. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

- Director: Don Siegel
- Letterboxd user rating: iii.78
- IMDb user rating: vii.7
- Metascore: 92
- Runtime: 80 min

An alien invasion begins in the fictional Californian town of Santa Mira afterward extraterrestrial spores fall from the heaven and grow into huge seed pods, each of which produces a duplicate copy of a pre-existing homo. Fiddling by little, local physician Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) realizes that townspeople are being quietly replaced by the aliens, and rushes to prevent more of his neighbors from being switched. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was adapted from Jack Finney's 1954 sci-fi novel, "The Body Snatchers."

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#17. Predator (1987)

- Director: John McTiernan
- Letterboxd user rating: three.78
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 45
- Runtime: 107 min

Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in "Predator" as Alan "Dutch" Schaefer, the leader of a paramilitary rescue squad tasked with saving hostages in a guerrilla-occupied Central American territory. During their mission, the squad encounters a technologically advanced conflicting known merely equally "Predator," who begins picking them off one past one. Although the film initially received mixed reviews, it was hailed as a classic action film in hindsight.

35 / 50

#sixteen. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

- Director: Robert Wise
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.78
- IMDb user rating: seven.7
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 92 min

Based on Harry Bates's brusque story "Farewell to the Chief," this sci-fi classic opens every bit an extraterrestrial spacecraft suddenly lands near the White Firm. A humanoid alien named Klaatu (Michael Rennie) exits with his robot bodyguard, Gort (Lock Martin), and insists that he has an extremely important message to deliver to World'south leaders. Although Klaatu is initially bandage out past government leaders, he is taken in past a kindly adult female and her son, who teach the world a moral fable most tolerance and unity. The movie was directed past Robert Wise, who went on to straight iconic musical movies like "West Side Story" and "The Sound of Music."

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#15. Man Facing Southeast (1986)

- Manager: Eliseo Subiela
- Letterboxd user rating: iii.79
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 105 min

In an Argentinian psychiatric infirmary, Dr. Julio Denis (Lorenzo Quinteros) is surprised when his patient, Rantés (Hugo Soto), claims that he is really an alien whose image was projected to Earth from light-years abroad. When Rantés begins to showroom seemingly supernatural powers that support his merits, local authorities attempt to hide the man from public life and "ready" his behavior with electroshock therapy and excess medication—against Denis's better judgment.

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Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips Productions

#fourteen. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

- Managing director: Steven Spielberg
- Letterboxd user rating: three.84
- IMDb user rating: 7.six
- Metascore: 90
- Runtime: 138 min

Ordinary electrical lineman Roy Neary's life gets turned upside downwards when he sees an unidentified flying object that he'due south convinced is a UFO. Roy risks alienating his loved ones, domicile, and career when he dedicates his life to finding the "truth" nearly alien life, coming into contact with government researchers and other UFO enthusiasts as they prepare to meet extraterrestrial visitors in Wyoming. The film received viii University Award nominations and won for Best Cinematography.

38 / 50

#thirteen. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

- Managing director: James Gunn
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.84
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 76
- Runtime: 121 min

Brazen space rogue Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) runs into trouble after he steals an orb wanted by villainous alien Ronan, who threatens to destroy the entire universe. In order to finish him, Quill is forced to team upwards with a ragtag band of intergalactic criminals who come to exist known every bit the Guardians of the Galaxy. The Marvel film has a standout soundtrack full of popular songs from the 1960s and 1970s and was followed by a sequel in 2017.

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#12. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

- Managing director: Jim Sharman
- Letterboxd user rating: three.85
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 58
- Runtime: 100 min

In this cult classic, naive newlyweds Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon) seek aid from the Transylvanian inhabitants of a creepy castle (led by Tim Curry as the seductive scientist, Dr. Frank-North-Furter) later on their motorcar breaks down. The castle's residents are revealed to be aliens from the planet Transexual, as a night of bisexuality, cannibalism, and murder unfolds. "The Rocky Horror Picture show Show" is one of the most popular "midnight movies" ever made, with many theaters beyond the U.S. hosting regular screenings that include audience participation.

xl / 50

#11. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

- Director: Philip Kaufman
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.86
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 75
- Runtime: 115 min

This remake of Don Siegel's 1956 film of the aforementioned name takes place in San Francisco, where health inspector Matthew (Donald Sutherland) and his colleague, Elizabeth (Brooke Adams), find that humans are being replaced past emotionless conflicting duplicates. Although this version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" received mixed reviews upon its release, it'south now heralded as one of the greatest remakes and sci-fi horror movies ever fabricated.

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41 / 50

#10. E.T. the Actress-Terrestrial (1982)

- Manager: Steven Spielberg
- Letterboxd user rating: three.88
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 91
- Runtime: 115 min

A lonely suburban boy (Henry Thomas) befriends a kind-hearted conflicting and decides to help the creature render to his domicile planet, all while government officials pursue him for their own means. Based on an imaginary friend that a young Steven Spielberg created to cope with his parents' divorce, the honey family film became the highest-grossing film ever at the fourth dimension (a record that it held for 11 years). "E.T." went on to garner nine Oscar nominations, including Best Motion picture.

42 / 50

#9. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

- Director: Nicholas Meyer
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.89
- IMDb user rating: seven.7
- Metascore: 67
- Runtime: 113 min

Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) enlists the assist of the Enterprise crew to stop his longtime nemesis, the genetically engineered tyrant Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban), from acquiring a dangerous terraforming device chosen Genesis. "Star Expedition II: The Wrath of Khan" is the second film in the original "Star Trek" picture series, and, according to Entertainment Weekly's Marc Bernardin, was "the motion picture that, by most accounts, saved Star Trek every bit we know it" past renewing fan interest in the franchise.

43 / 50

#viii. Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003)

- Directors: Daisuke Nishio, Hirotoshi Rissen, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Leiji Matsumoto
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.91
- IMDb user rating: seven.8
- Metascore: data non available
- Runtime: 68 min

"Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem" is a visual companion of Daft Punk'south second studio album, "Discovery," and tells the story of a pop intergalactic ring whose members are abducted and brought to Globe by a malevolent corporation, where they are turned into emotionless automatons only focused on getting their adjacent big hitting. However, the band members presently rebel against their new identities and hope to introduce humans to their unique extraterrestrial music. The film'south plot is a continuation of the ongoing story arc gear up upward in multiple Daft Punk music videos: "Ane More Fourth dimension," "Aerodynamic," "Digital Dear," and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger."

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#7. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

- Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.92
- IMDb user rating: 8.iv
- Metascore: 78
- Runtime: 181 min

The culmination of a story built over more than 20 Marvel films, "Avengers: Endgame" finds the remaining Avengers and their allies fighting to bring back the millions of people snapped out of existence by alien titan Thanos (Josh Brolin) at the end of "Avengers: Infinity War." In doing so, the characters travel dorsum in fourth dimension and revisit many iconic scenes from earlier Marvel films. The Russo brothers movie was nominated for All-time Visual Furnishings at the 2020 Academy Awards and became the highest-grossing motion picture of all fourth dimension upon its release.

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#6. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

- Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
- Letterboxd user rating: 3.93
- IMDb user rating: 8.4
- Metascore: 68
- Runtime: 149 min

More Marvel Cinematic Universe characters came together than ever before when "Avengers: Infinity War" came to theaters. Over the course of the motion-picture show, the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy race to terminate Thanos from collecting all six Infinity Stones and gaining enough power to effectively kill half of the universe. The Hollywood Reporter critic Josh Spiegel emphasized its somber catastrophe, writing that "Infinity State of war" takes "a cue from the ending of 'The Empire Strikes Back'in its super-sized finale; this is the equivalent of Han Solo frozen in the carbonite, on steroids."

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#five. Fantastic Planet (1973)

- Manager: René Laloux
- Letterboxd user rating: three.94
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 72 min

The French animated film "Fantastic Planet" takes place on the fictional planet of Ygam, where large, blue-skinned aliens named Draags oppress and rule over small, humanoid creatures called Oms. The Oms soon rebel, making the species question whether they can ever coexist. René Laloux'due south picture show contains a strong political allegory for the Soviets' control of Czechoslovakia after 1968's Warsaw Pact occupation and was awarded the Grand Prix special jury prize at 1973'southward Cannes Film Festival.

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#4. Arrival (2016)

- Director: Denis Villeneuve
- Letterboxd user rating: iv.08
- IMDb user rating: 7.9
- Metascore: 81
- Runtime: 116 min

Amy Adams stars as linguistics professor Louise, who heads a team of investigators responsible for making contact with aliens when 12 giant spaceships make it at locations effectually the globe. Equally her interactions with the creatures begin to mess with her sense of fourth dimension, Louise scrambles to make interspecies communication earlier mounting tensions lead to war. Based on Ted Chiang's short story, "Story of Your Life," the film received viii Oscar nominations and was selected by the American Motion-picture show Establish as i of the top ten "Movies of the Yr."

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#three. Aliens (1986)

- Director: James Cameron
- Letterboxd user rating: 4.fourteen
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Metascore: 84
- Runtime: 137 min

After floating adrift in space for over half a century, Ellen Ripley's (Sigourney Weaver) spaceship is discovered and she is thrust into a new world. Nevertheless, Ripley soon encounters the species of hostile Conflicting creature that killed her original crew when she joins a rescue mission to save the sole survivor of a space colony—a girl named Newt (Carrie Henn). James Cameron's action-packed sequel to Ridley Scott's 1979 archetype garnered seven Oscar nominations (including a All-time Extra nod for Weaver), and introduced several future stars, similar Lance Henriksen and Pecker Paxton. In 2019, Empire Mag voted "Aliens" the greatest film sequel of all fourth dimension.

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#2. The Affair (1982)

- Director: John Carpenter
- Letterboxd user rating: 4.3
- IMDb user rating: 8.i
- Metascore: 57
- Runtime: 109 min

The lives of a enquiry team in Antarctica are threatened when they are hunted by a parasitic, shape-shifting alien with the ability to take on its victims' appearance. Although "The Thing" received negative reviews upon its release (and had the misfortune of premiering during the same summer equally "Due east.T.," a more lighthearted alien story), information technology developed a cult following and was later reappraised every bit one of the all-time sci-fi horror movies ever made.

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#1. Alien (1979)

- Managing director: Ridley Scott
- Letterboxd user rating: 4.31
- IMDb user rating: 8.4
- Metascore: 89
- Runtime: 117 min

In this sci-fi horror staple, the crew of a commercial space tug'southward journey back to Earth is interrupted when they are required to intercept a distress telephone call coming from a nearby moon. One crew fellow member is attacked by a mysterious conflicting life grade, who grows apace and begins picking off the characters one by i throughout the ship. Often hailed as 1 of the greatest and most influential sci-fi movies ever made, "Conflicting" won an Academy Honor for Best Visual Furnishings and made an iconic "final girl" out of its heroine, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). The film'south success led to a media franchise with iii sequels, multiple Alien vs. Predator movies, a prequel film series, and more.

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