Steven Spielberg has defined alien cinema for decades. ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’, ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’, and ‘War of the Worlds’ all carry his fingerprints. But the genre has never belonged to him alone. Some of the most gripping, inventive, and wildly entertaining extraterrestrial films came from directors who had nothing to do with Spielberg. Here are ten that prove it.
Alien (1979) by Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott’s Alien, released in 1979, chronicles the struggle of the crew of a deep-space commercial spacecraft to survive an encounter with a terrifying alien creature. The film stars Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, and John Hurt. The premise is as simple as it gets: a signal leads a crew to a derelict spacecraft, one man gets infected, and everything falls apart from there. The last person to be cast was Sigourney Weaver, who had Broadway experience but was unknown in the film business. Producers Walter Hill and David Giler wanted a woman to be the lead character and were really impressed with her audition, so they cast her as Ripley. The Xenomorph itself was designed by Swiss surrealist H.R. Giger, which explains why it looks like nothing else in cinema. Alien remains the standard against which all sci-fi horror films are measured.
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The Thing (1982) by John Carpenter
Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella Who Goes There?, The Thing tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter an extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates, other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other. The film tanked on release, largely because it came out the same summer as E.T. John Carpenter famously said: “The movie tanked when it came out. It was hated, hated by fans.” He added that audiences in 1982 didn’t want to see a grueling, dark film. They wanted to see E.T. and The Thing was the opposite. Time has reversed that verdict completely. Today it is widely considered one of the greatest sci-fi horror films ever made.
Aliens (1986) by James Cameron
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of an alien attack, who agrees to return to the site with a unit of Colonial Marines to investigate after communications are lost with a human colony. Cameron made a deliberate choice to shift the franchise from horror to action. Following the success of The Terminator, Cameron opted not to follow the same formula as Alien, but to create a worthy combat sequel focusing “more on terror, less on horror.” The film received several awards and nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for Weaver at a time when the science-fiction genre was generally overlooked.
Predator (1987) by John McTiernan
Predator is a 1987 science fiction action horror film directed by John McTiernan. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Dutch, the leader of a paramilitary rescue team on a mission to save hostages in a Central American rainforest, who encounters a deadly extraterrestrial that stalks and hunts his team down. The original monster suit was scrapped entirely. While on a plane ride to Fox studios alongside Aliens director James Cameron, creature effects artist Stan Winston sketched monster ideas. Cameron suggested he had always wanted to see a creature with mandibles, which became part of the Predator’s iconic look. This was McTiernan’s first studio film. He made Die Hard the following year.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) by Robert Wise
The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 1951 science fiction film directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal. Set in the Cold War during the early stages of the nuclear arms race, the storyline involves a humanoid alien visitor who comes to Earth, accompanied by a powerful robot, to deliver an important message that will affect the entire human race. In 1995, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. The phrase “Klaatu barada nikto” from the film has been referenced in pop culture for over seven decades. Robert Wise, the director, had worked as editor for Citizen Kane before becoming a director.
Independence Day (1996) by Roland Emmerich
Independence Day is a 1996 science fiction action film directed by Roland Emmerich, starring an ensemble cast that includes Will Smith, Bill Pullman, and Jeff Goldblum. The film focuses on disparate groups of people who converge in the Nevada desert in the aftermath of a worldwide attack by a powerful extraterrestrial race. Emmerich conceived the film while promoting Stargate in Europe, when answering a question about his belief in the existence of alien life. The film grossed over $817.4 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1996 and the second-highest-grossing film ever at the time, behind Jurassic Park. It won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Mars Attacks! (1996) by Tim Burton
Released the same year as Independence Day, Mars Attacks! is a 1996 comic science fiction film directed by Tim Burton. The screenplay was based on a trading card series of the same name. The film features an enormous ensemble cast including Jack Nicholson in a dual role, Glenn Close, Annette Bening, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael J. Fox, and Natalie Portman. Burton’s film takes the opposite approach to alien cinema from every other entry on this list. It is gleefully absurd, operating as a satire of Cold War-era invasion films. While it received mixed reviews on release, it has built a devoted cult following over the decades.
District 9 (2009) by Neill Blomkamp
In District 9, a mothership arrives in 1982 and hovers over Johannesburg, South Africa. Inside, an investigation team finds over a million starved insectoid aliens. The South African government voluntarily relocates them to a refugee camp called District 9. The title and premise were inspired by events that took place in District Six, Cape Town during the apartheid era. The film was produced for $30 million and shot on location in Soweto. It earned $211 million and garnered Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, and Best Film Editing.
Arrival (2016) by Denis Villeneuve
Arrival is a 2016 science fiction drama film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Eric Heisserer, based on the 1998 novella “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang. The film stars Amy Adams as Louise Banks, a linguist engaged by the United States Army to discover how to communicate with extraterrestrials who have arrived on Earth, before tensions lead to war. The film received eight nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won for Best Sound Editing. Rather than focus on conflict, it builds its entire tension around the question of language and whether communication is even possible between species.
Super 8 (2011) by J.J. Abrams
Released in June 2011, Super 8 looked to recapture the adventurous tone and spirit of classic Amblin productions like E.T. and The Goonies. The film revolves around a group of kids who get caught up in a mysterious alien conspiracy after they witness a shocking train crash while shooting their zombie movie. Spielberg produced but did not direct, and that distinction matters here. Abrams brought his own visual language to what is essentially an homage to the science fiction cinema of his childhood. Joel Courtney grounds the entire picture as Joe Lamb, a young boy grieving the loss of his mother, and Kyle Chandler is characteristically great as Joe’s father, the sheriff who investigates strange happenings around town after the alien escapes from the train.