Aliens are popular in many forms of media because of the mystery that surrounds them. Since there has yet to be solid proof of their existence in real life, people dream up fantastical stories about them to make do with instead. In fact, to experience the best alien movies, here are 15 memorable alien adventures on the big screen that are still popular to this day:
15. Starship Troopers (1997)
Giant alien bugs are already difficult enough to fight. Throwing young recruits directly into their jaws only makes matters much worse. Starship Troopers follows Johnny Rico as he enlists in the military and enters a war that proves far more brutal than the recruitment ads suggested.
Director Paul Verhoeven packs the film with fake news broadcasts and upbeat advertisements for military service. Those moments are frequently amusing, until you witness what becomes of the people who enlist. The bugs can rip a soldier apart within seconds, and the film doesn’t hold back on the gore. You’ll need a strong stomach for this film.
14. Independence Day (1996)
If your concept of an alien movie includes enormous ships blocking out the sky, Independence Day delivers exactly that. These visitors aren’t here to talk. They park over major cities and begin destroying them.
Will Smith stars as a fighter pilot caught in the assault, while Jeff Goldblum’s David Levinson attempts to figure out how to fight back. The movie allows both men moments to be funny, even as the world lies in ruins. Then Bill Pullman’s president delivers his big speech, and you might catch yourself cheering along. It’s loud, proudly corny, and remarkably skilled at making the odds seem hopeless.
13. Nope (2022)
Nope turns an empty patch of sky into a spot you feel you ought to keep watching. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer star as OJ and Emerald Haywood, a brother and sister who notice something odd above their California horse ranch. They choose to record it, hoping that solid evidence will earn them some money.
That plan is a risky one. Jordan Peele creates much of the dread around things you can hear but never quite see, and the wide shots keep you searching the clouds. The siblings help stop the film from feeling too bleak. Emerald talks enough for the two of them, while OJ would far rather get on with tending the horses.
12. Super 8 (2011)
For the children in Super 8, shooting a zombie movie is supposed to be the highlight of the summer. Then a train derails near where they are filming, and something gets loose from the wreckage.
The story takes place in a small Ohio town in 1979 and centers on Joe Lamb and his friends, whose lives are touched by strange events that bring in the military. J.J. Abrams is the director and Steven Spielberg is among the producers, so the blend of childhood adventure and a perilous secret fits naturally here.
The children are a major source of the film’s charm. They argue about their movie and stumble awkwardly through crushes while the grown-ups try to keep them out of mischief. You come to care about them before the search for the creature takes center stage.
11. Annihilation (2018)
Annihilation presents an alien threat that doesn’t act like an army or a hungry beast. Natalie Portman stars as Lena, a biologist who ventures into a strange zone known as the Shimmer after her husband comes back from it in a terrible state. Within it, plants and animals have started to change in ways that make the place both beautiful and deeply dangerous.
A bear delivers one of the film’s worst scares, and you’ll recognize the scene the moment you hear it. Alex Garland leaves much of the mystery unresolved. If you like trying to figure out what you’ve just watched, there’s plenty here to keep you occupied.
10. Men in Black (1997)
Men in Black offers a great explanation for why people seldom see aliens: a covert agency tidies up the aftermath and erases the witnesses’ memories. Will Smith plays a New York cop who is recruited by Agent K, played by the very unflappable Tommy Lee Jones, to help keep Earth’s alien inhabitants under control.
Their job becomes complicated when a giant bug appears wearing a human body. Vincent D’Onofrio makes that disguise seem painful, as each rigid step and strange twitch betrays the creature inside. Smith and Jones are also enjoyable to watch as a pair. One of them questions everything, while the other handles an alien crisis as if it were ordinary paperwork.
9. Galaxy Quest (1999)
Portraying a space hero on television is simple next to the challenge of piloting an actual spacecraft. The faded cast of Galaxy Quest discovers this when aliens, believing their old series documented real events, turn to them for assistance.
Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman are actors who can hardly tolerate each other before a genuine crisis lands in their laps. Rickman is particularly hilarious as a classically trained stage actor trapped by an alien character he despises.
There’s no need to be a Star Trek devotee to find it enjoyable. The gags about ridiculous scripts and wounded pride come through clearly, and the aliens’ faith in their on-screen heroes gives the cast a motive to make an effort.
8. District 9 (2009)
The aliens of District 9 do not come with any intention of taking over Earth. They are left stranded over Johannesburg and are then made to live in a segregated slum. When a company begins relocating them to a new camp, employee Wikus van de Merwe sees the task as a boring piece of office work.
Soon, exposure to an alien substance makes the assignment deeply personal. Sharlto Copley gives Wikus a jittery, uncomfortable demeanor that can make him difficult to like, and this makes his reversal of fortune more compelling. The movie opens with the atmosphere of a news report before shifting into some violent action. You will see many alien weapons, but the way humans treat their guests is frequently harder to watch.
7. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
For much of Edge of Tomorrow, Tom Cruise gets killed over and over. When his character, William Cage, is sent to fight an alien invasion, he has no combat experience at all. He dies in battle and then wakes up at the beginning of the same day, forced to go through it all over again.
Every time the day resets, Cage gets a fresh chance to learn from his mistakes. Rita Vrataski, played by Emily Blunt, helps train him, and she has very little patience for his excuses. The repeated deaths can be surprisingly funny, particularly while Cage is still trying to get away from the fighting. Once the pair begins to make progress, it’s fun to watch a battle you already know change with every new attempt.
6. A Quiet Place (2018)
In A Quiet Place, even a toy that falls to the floor can mean death. The blind alien creatures track their prey by sound, which is why the Abbott family goes barefoot and communicates in sign language to survive. Emily Blunt and John Krasinski portray parents who are trying to raise their children under rules that allow virtually no margin for error.
Much of the film’s fear comes from small, everyday tasks. Once noise carries a cost, simply crossing a room or retrieving something from a shelf can turn into a tense scene. While watching, you’ll likely become aware of every rustle of your own snack bag, which is a pretty good sign that the concept works.
5. Arrival (2016)
Before you can ask an alien why it has come to Earth, you first have to figure out how to say hello. Arrival confronts that problem head-on.
Amy Adams stars as Louise Banks, a linguist the military calls in after strange ships show up around the world. Her job is to figure out how the visitors communicate, even while fear drives the humans outside the ship toward conflict. The aliens write in circles of dark ink, and every small step toward reading them feels like progress you’ve helped make.
Denis Villeneuve lets these encounters unfold at their own pace. Adams makes Louise’s care and patience easy to believe, so you can share her desire to understand the visitors even as the soldiers around her grow uneasy.
4. The Iron Giant (1999)
The Iron Giant is a beautiful animated movie that combines both 2D and 3D animation techniques. It is loved by many as yet another story about the strong bond between a young human boy and an alien being.
In this movie, a young boy named Hogarth Hughes discovers a giant alien robot with a very gentle nature. While the two fast become friends, Hogarth has to protect the gentle giant from a paranoid government that is bent on destroying the alien. In fact, they even send a government agent named Kent Mansley to get the job done.
3. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
In this classic alien movie, Earth is visited by an alien and his robot wanting to spread a message about peace and goodwill. Yet, with humans being humans, the visiting alien is wounded upon trying to deliver a gift of peace to the United States president.
From there, the humans learn that if they extend their violent ways into space, the alien’s robots (and other planets) will destroy Earth to protect themselves. Although The Day the Earth Stood Still was remade in 2008, the remake doesn’t rate as well as the original.
2. Alien (1979)
For people who want to see scary aliens, Alien is sure to make your skin crawl. In fact, it is from Alien that the famous tagline “In space, no one can hear you scream” comes from.
In this movie, a crew is awakened from hypersleep to check out an unknown signal from a nearby planet. However, they soon discover that the signal is not an S.O.S., but a warning. Unfortunately, it is already too late, and the crew has to fight to stay alive as an alien hunts them aboard their own ship.
1. E.T. (1982)
E.T. is considered to be the most popular alien movie of all time and is a great movie for anyone to watch even today.
In this movie, an alien is left behind when his group is disturbed by a human task force and flees the scene. Alone on a strange new planet, the lost alien is soon found by a young boy named Elliot (played by Henry Thomas), and the two develop a very powerful bond of friendship and love. Yet, it is put to the test when E.T. begins to express his longing to go home.
With these 15 popular and memorable alien adventures, you are sure to find something that will make you daydream even more about life beyond Earth!