Alien invasion movies have been a staple of Human interest since the early 1950s. Movies like The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) set the stepping stones for future alien invasion movies.
But what makes an alien movie good? To start, I believe alien movies need to have some mystery to them, like a sense of unknowing. This gives the viewer a sense of never being able to understand how the aliens work. This will be my main base for ranking these alien invasion movies. I will also only be doing movies that involve aliens on earth, this will exclude master pieces like Alien (1979).
- Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Edge of Tomorrow is a fantastic action movie with a heavy focus on a repeating time loop. The movie star’s actors like Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, giving it an amazing cast just naming a few.
The story takes place at a time when an alien race called “Mimics” has invaded the world. The human race has banded together into one force. The movie follows William Cage (Tom Cruise), an army officer who got deranked after attempting to blackmail his general. Cage is placed onto a battlefield where he has to fight the mimics. He is brutally killed by a mimic who covers him in his blood giving him the power to relieve the day he dies. Cage has to use this newly found power to defeat the aliens.
This movie is a great action film that combines elements of action and science fiction. The idea of Cage reliving the same day gives the aliens a sense of mystery and power.
- Cloverfield (2008)
Cloverfield is a found footage alien/monster film that gives an amazing insight into what it would be like to be in one of these invasions. The film was produced by Bryan Burk and notably J.J. Abrams.
The movies take place in New York City, where an alien monster has emerged and begins attacking the city. The story is told through the perspective of a camera in a similar way to movies like The Blair Witch Project. The movie follows a group of people trying to save a girl stuck in the city as the monster destroys New York.
Cloverfield is a captivating movie that keeps audiences on their toes the entire time. The movie uses the found footage theme to give the viewer a sense of chaos as well as unknowing about what’s going to happen. Although this movie could be considered only a monster movie, I still believe it’s an alien movie because of the squeals.
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is arguably the greatest alien movie ever created. The movie was written and directed by legend Steven Speilberg.
Close Encounters is an alien movie that follows a blue collared worker named Roy Neary and Jillian Guiler. In the beginning of the movie, Roy experiences a close encounter with an alien ship while investigating power outages in the area. Roy becomes increasingly obsessed with the encounter and begins to shape out a large mountain that looks to be a replica of Devils Tower in Wyoming. Jillian begins to also have a similar obsession when she begins drawing the tower.
Close Encounters was an earth shattering movie that has become a cult classic in American culture. The movie explores aliens in a way that wasn’t really done before. Throughout the movie you never really see the alien but the presence is felt. The movie also has a few interesting elements like communication with the aliens and the aliens effect on the humans.
Notable mentions
Throughout the years there have been several great aliens movies; however, all of them wouldn’t fit in this list.
For example, Arrival (2016) was an amazing alien movie that had a focus on communication with the aliens, which became a major plot point.
2001 a Space Odyssey (1968), which is one of the greatest space movies, doesn’t have a heavy focus on aliens, but more so A.I. technology.
Annihilation (2018) is a great horror/sci fi movie that takes place in an alien zone taken over by alien wildlife.
