Independence Day
It seems that every five minutes the aliens are invading with the likes of Aliens in the Attic and Monsters vs Aliens already released this year.
But this week sees the long awaited release of the Peter Jackson produced movie District 9, directed by Neill Blomkamp.
Thirty years ago, aliens made first contact with Earth. Humans waited for the hostile attack, or the giant advances in technology. Neither came. Instead, the aliens were refugees, the last survivors of their home world.
The creatures were set up in a makeshift home in South Africa's District 9 as the world's nations argued over what to do with them. Now, patience over the alien situation has run out.
So here at FemaleFirst we took a look at some of the best alien movies to have graced the big screen.
- Alien
Despite spawning three sequels and two collaborations with the Predator series the original Lien is still one of sci-fi's most iconic movies, with the infant creature bursting out of John Hurt's chest as one of the most memorable moments in cinema history.
The film was a commercial and critical smash hit giving life to a huge media franchise that included video games and books.
The film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 1979 ceremony.
But it is Sigourney Weaver's role as Ripley that has become one of science fiction's most popular characters.
It was very un-Hollywood to cast a strong heroine in an action movie, a role usually reserved for an actor, and in the beginning Ripley was a man.
The character of Ellen Ripley became the core thread of the movies that followed: Aliens in 1986, Alien 3 in 1992 and Alien Resurrection in 1997.
- Independence Day
Independence Day marked the return of the modern day disaster movie in fine style, as well as really launching Will Smith as an actor and a leading man.
Directed by Roland Emmerich the boasts some great special effects, including seeing the White House blown to smithereens as aliens invade.
And Emmerich seems to like his disaster movies with the likes of The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 more recently.
Naturally Will Smith saves the day as he KO's an alien with a single punch... what a guy!
It's hard to believe that this movie was released way back in 1996 but it went on to gross in excess of $816 million at the global box office which was, at the time, the second highest grossing movie of all time.
- E.T
Despite being released back in 1982 Steven Spielberg's E.T. remains one of the most loved children's movies of all time, and is regarded as the filmmaker's greatest achievements.
It tells the story of an alien creature, E.T., mistakenly left behind on Earth. When a young boy, Elliott (Henry Thomas), finds E.T. and hides him in his home, both their worlds are changed forever.
E.T. teaches Elliott and his two siblings (Drew Barrymore and Robert MacNaughton), whose parents have recently separated, about caring and love while the children protect E.T. from the malevolent world of grown-ups.
Elliott and E.T. become so close that they share emotions; as E.T. becomes ill, so does Elliott. The children end up going on a fabulous adventure trying to help E.T. find a way back to his home planet.
E.T. was a timeless story of friendship and, along with Return of the Jedi was the biggest grossing movie of the decade, but lost out to Gandhi for best Picture at the Oscars.
- War of the Worlds
In 1953 H.G. Wells' classic novel of alien invasion was brought to the big screen and was directed by Byron Haskins and adapted by Barre Lyndon.
The film followed the residents of a small town are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills. Their joy is tempered some what when they discover it has passengers who are not very friendly.
War of the Worlds was a massive success when it was released, both critically and commercially, the film kicked off the disaster movie genre as well as cementing people's interest in outer space.
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Steven Spielberg has a second movie on a our list of some of the best alien films with Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
The movie follows Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) who becomes obsessed with meeting extraterrestrials after encountering a UFO on an abandoned road one night.
Against the wishes of his wife (Teri Garr) and children, Neary, along with another witness to the sighting (Melinda Dillon), travels to a mysterious mountain where the government has built a landing strip hoping to attract the aliens.
The movie was a critical and commercial success grossing $303.79 million at the global box office and went on to be nominated for nine Oscars.
Other alien movies that are also well worth a watch include Men In Black, Will Smith saving the planet once again, The Abyss, Aliens, Pitch Black and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
District 9 is released 4th September
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Alien