Best alien movies

Humanity’s ideas of alien existence often says more about us than the little green men we envision. Our conception of life beyond Earth reflects our collective hopes and fears about the unknown and about technology, as well as our knowledge of the larger universe—which changes dramatically as time goes on.

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

As America dealt with the Red Scare in the 1950s, influential alien 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’s 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 also reflected in movies such as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” and “Cocoon.”

These days, otherworldly characters appear in a wide range of roles, from the alien force that mutates biological creatures in “Annihilation” to the more kindly, time-bending heptapods of “Arrival.” With the wide number of alien movies throughout the history of film, how can viewers determine which extraterrestrial features are most 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 be main characters or central to the plot of the film.

The Vast of Night (2019)

– Director: 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 be extraterrestrial. Andrew Patterson’s debut feature was inspired by real-life unexplained events, such as the Kecksburg Incident and the Foss Lake disappearances.

Starman (1984)

– Director: John Carpenter
– Letterboxd user rating: 3.49
– IMDb user rating: 7.0
– Metascore: 70
– Runtime: 115 min

In “Starman,” an alien (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.

Men in Black (1997)

– Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
– Letterboxd user rating: 3.54
– IMDb user rating: 7.3
– Metascore: 71
– Runtime: 98 min

Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones lead this sci-fi action comedy, playing two agents of a secret organization called the Men in Black. Their job is to supervise the extraterrestrial creatures who live on Earth, and conceal their existence from ordinary humans. However, things are thrown into chaos when they uncover an alien assassin’s plot to kill two alien ambassadors living in New York City. “Men in Black” became a box office hit, leading to multiple sequels and an animated children’s series.

Treasure Planet (2002)

– Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker
– Letterboxd user rating: 3.61
– IMDb user rating: 7.2
– Metascore: 60
– Runtime: 95 min

Disney secured a Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination for “Treasure Planet,” an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 adventure novel of the same name. In the film, 15-year-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 alien space galleon, fighting off black holes and a mutinous cyborg pirate in hopes of finding the mythic treasure.