Don Kaye from SyFy Wire has compiled an entire list of alien invasion movies which are thought to be the best of all time, but as you might guess everyone has their favorites and no matter what the box office says people are going to argue about what’s the best in any case. I’ll definitely agree with him and others on a few movies but when it comes to others eyes might roll and lips might part as people begin to make their own arguments for their own choices. It’s a matter of perspective and what people find the most disturbing after all, wanton violence or the insidious way that some aliens seem to worm their way into society. What’s scarier, an alien species that seeks to simply devastate and destroy as it spread even further or a species that finds a way to infiltrate those they wish to conquer? A lot of people would debate this until they’re blue in the face and before cinematography was ever brought into the mix, but when thinking about the alien invasion movies that really terrify people there are a select few that manage to get our hearts pumping.
Here are five of the all-time best alien invasion movies.
5. They Live
It would seem Steven Hyden of The Ringer and the creator of the movie, James Cameron, are both big on social commentary and how it was used in this movie. You can’t deny the parallels between They Live and our current societal landscape, but seeing subliminal messages and believing that everything that’s done by those in power is to just fatten us up for the kill does seem a little paranoid. Plus, the idea that the savior of the world has to wait until he’s out of bubblegum to come in and kick ass is kind of hard to believe since in this day and age the same individuals that follow this simple doctrine are those that seem to spread the same message, just in a different way.
4. Aliens
Haleigh Foutch of Collider has this ranked second in the Alien franchise and it’s easy to see why since Alien was the first and most unexpected among the movies that came along. But the great thing about this movie is that despite the audience expecting the same type of creature, they certainly didn’t expect that a group of hardened Marines were going to have as much trouble as the crew of a commercial ship. The surprise of course comes when it’s realized that not only is there an entire hive of these creatures, but there’s a queen among them as well that’s continuing to make the eggs and therefore increase the size of her army.
3. Independence Day
Amazingly this movie did quite well on Rotten Tomatoes and didn’t garner a whole lot of criticism until it was well on its way to becoming a home video, but the sequel didn’t pan out nearly as well even with the added effects. One reason this movie gets the nod is that when it comes to destruction this alien race didn’t bother to communicate or even threaten until it was given the chance to show what it was all about. The moment they turned violent it was pretty obvious what they were there to do. Unfortunately as it seems with many alien movies when it comes to human technology and alien technology it would seem that we’re way outmatched until we can find a weakness that the aliens don’t realize they have.
2. Superman II
This wasn’t that much of an invasion to be honest since there were only three former Kryptonians to deal with, but they were easily more than enough when it came to the damage they could inflict. If not for Superman they would have been able to take over the world quite easily, though even the man of steel had an issue when it came to tackling all three of them. If not for a few moments in which he managed to get the upper hand Superman might have been forced to eat a pretty heavy loss. No one really thought that Superman might lose of course, but with three individuals that had powers just like his it was enough to think that he might have a much harder fight on his hands.
1. The Thing
This would have to get nod for being the scariest and most dangerous alien invasion of all time since anything that can mimic human beings or anything else it touches is bound to be seen as a serious danger. There’s that, and the fact that it always seems to need to be consuming something, anything, in order to replicate itself and make more beings just like it. If not for being buried in the ice and being afraid of fire this creature might have a shot at taking over the world.
Keep in mind these picks are my own for the all-time best, I’d love to hear more ideas.
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