Top Alien Flicks

MARS ATTACKS! (1996): What happens when Tim Burton directs an alien film? "Mars Attacks!" is born. Amid speculation that a meteorite crashed to Earth from Mars some 15,000 years ago and contains indications of simple life forms, "Mars Attacks!" offers definitive proof of life on the Angry Red Planet. No single-celled organisms, these alien invaders are the big-brained variety with a flair for ray guns and planetwide pandemonium. Citizens of Earth face their doom with gung-ho valor and brainless abandon as little green men from outer space gleefully terrorize the planet in an all-star, cross-country sci-fi comedy.

DISTRICT 9 (2009): 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. An insightful look into the ways of old and apartheid of a new kind.

PREDATOR (1987): Some aliens arrive in peace, some are out to conquer. The Predator came to take us out one by one. He stands over seven feet tall, can disappear with cloaking technology, and has the best dreads outside of the Caribbean.

ALIEN (1979): Not the first foray into the alien film genre, and certainly not the last, but definately one of the best and most defining. A space ship answers what they believe to be a distress call, and unwittingly let a vicious alien on board. And who could forget the gruesome scene when the alien spawn came out of the guys' chest?

E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982): An extra-terrestrial is accidentally left behind on Earth and is befriended by a young boy and his brother and sister. As Elliot attempts to help his extra-terrestrial companion contact his home planet so that he might be rescued, the children must elude scientists and government agents determined to apprehend the alien for their own purposes...which results in an adventure greater than any of them could have imagined. Who could forgot the adorable Drew Barrymore, flying bicycles or "E.T. Phone Home?" Watch for nostalgic purposes.

MEN IN BLACK (1997): Aliens, secretly, are welcome on earth and co-exist in some cases with humans.The Men in Black were the best kept secret in the universe, monitoring and policing alien activity on Earth, making sure humans never realised they weren't actually alone. Sharp suits and gadgets interspersed with all different kinds of aliens (who could forget the skinny stick-like aliens in the kitchen drinking coffee and making wise-cracks) made for an entertaining and light(er)-hearted foray into the alien genre a success.

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951): Pretending that the 2008 remake never happened, an alien visitor lands and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed (as they present a danger to other planets). This played to the 1950s Cold War paranoia.

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005 &/ 1953): If there were a version somewhere between the now-dated 1953 adaption of the H.G. Wells' classic and the 2005 remake starring Tom Cruise (strong points being the special effects and big name lead), we'd all be happy campers. Sadly, no such thing exists, so appreciate the first for the story-telling and the latter for its performances and effects.

INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996): Ignoring gaping plot holes and melodramatic acting performances (you know who you are), the special effects are not to be missed. Ever wondered what would happen if aliens came to Earth and started vaporising cities? Wonder no more as this becomes an 'indepence day' for the world from aliens.

SIGNS (2002): Crop circles are at least as old as tractors, but what happens when they appear and are not a prank, but actually the work of extra-terrestial life forms? An interesting look into crop circles and the toll it takes on man and family in explaining them.