7 Best Alien Movies of All Time

One of the best alien movies is from 2016 and is a horror thriller. 10 Cloverfield Lane was directed by Dan Trachtenberg as his directorial debut, and stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, and John Gallagher Jr. The story follows a young woman who, after a car crash, wakes up in an underground bunker with two men who insist that an event has left the surface of Earth uninhabitable.

When Michelle, played by Winstead, is able to escape the bunker, she hears a broadcast about the invaders and notices alien craft in the distance, which attacks her. It’s a dark and thrilling story that has an underlying alien theme that is perfect. 

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The 1996 science fiction action film is by far one of the best alien movies of all time. Starring an ensemble cast including Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, and more, Independence Day focuses on a group of people in the Nevada desert.

The group meets in the desert after a worldwide attack by a powerful extraterrestrial race. The group, and the others around the world, decide that they need to fight back. They choose the very fitting date of July 4th to do so, giving its patriotic name. 

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The Thing is one of the best alien movies of all time, however, it wasn’t a success when released. It received several negative reviews and was bashed for its repulsiveness and bleak, nihilist tone. The science fiction horror movie was based on the 1938 novella by John W. Campbell called Who Goes There? and stars Kurt Russell.

The story follows a group of American researchers in Antarctica who come across an eponymous “thing”, an extraterrestrial life form that assimilates, then imitates, other beings. Things start to take a turn when the group starts to realize that they can’t trust one another, and it might be the Thing taking their form. 

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There have been a few adaptations to this wonderful film, however nothing quite beats the original. The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 1951 science fiction film starring Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, and more.

The movie is based on the 1949 short story Farewell to the Master. Set during the Cold War, the storyline follows a humanoid alien who comes to Earth, accompanied by a powerful robot, to deliver a message that will affect the entire race. The movie was so influential that in 1995, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. 

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As far as best alien movies go, Predator is close to the top. Not only is it one of the most beloved movies, but the success of the movie launched a franchise containing films, novels, comics, games, and toys. Its influence is still being talked about today and integrated into pop culture.

The 1987 science fiction movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers focuses on the leader of an elite paramilitary rescue team on a mission to save hostages in Central America. In doing so, they end up encountering the deadly Predator, a skilled, technologically advanced extraterrestrial who stalks and hunts them down. 

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Arrival is one of the best alien movies of all time thanks to its unique look extraterrestrial with more fascination than fear. The science fiction drama was released in 2016 and was adapted by Eric Heisserer, who created the project as a spec script based on Ted Chiang’s short Story of Your Life.

The movie follows a linguist, played by Amy Adams, enlisted by the United States Army to discover how to communicate with extraterrestrials who have arrived on Earth before tensions rise and lead to war. It’s a unique take on the alien species and involves more communication than destruction. 

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It might not come as a shock that the best alien movie of all time is in fact Alien, the 1979 science fiction horror movie by Ridley Scott. Like Predator, Alien has received high praise and will go down in history as one of the greatest science fiction movies of all time.

The movie follows a crew on the commercial space tug called Nostromo who, after coming across a mysterious distress signal, find themselves up against a deadly and aggressive extraterrestrial loose within the vessel. It’s a terrifying and brilliant piece of media that any alien fan, or even horror fan, has to see at least once in their lifetime.