Let’s be honest and say that thanks to the human imagination and possibly just plain common sense when it comes to encountering alien life we’re probably bound to be outmatched initially, especially if the aliens are bred and engineered, are capable of space travel, and have anything that could possibly top a nuclear device. But what’s been seen in many alien movies, no matter how impractical it might be, is that humanity doesn’t like being relegated to the bottom rung of the ladder. Even if our species is placed there without hope of dominating any other alien species, we’re bound and determined to let those tougher and smarter than us know that our tenacity and sheer stubbornness are going to carry the day one way or another since being human means that we don’t generally give up and that if we’re going down, we’re going to do so fighting, and we’ll gladly take our aggressors with us. With that in mind, here are 10 of the best humans vs. aliens fight scenes.
10. Steven Hiller and David Levinson vs. Harvesters – Independence Day
I could have put Randy Quaid’s final moment on here and it would have been okay, but this scene resonated a little more since while it’s every bit as aggressive and a definite ‘take you with me’ moment, Hiller and Levinson are off like a shot the moment that their ship is freed from the central control. Of course, up until that moment they’re bound and determined to let the aliens know that they’re about to face the end with a smile on their faces. Not a lot of people can smile when the prospect of death is so certain, but look at it this way, they were making certain that humanity would have a chance, and that’s worth it. Right?
9. Nada vs. Ghouls – They Live
Anyone that says this movie isn’t relevant today is living without the benefit of having seen this movie in the first place, since not only does it resonate in a big way, but it’s still one of those hidden gems that a lot of people should think about watching at least once. The moment that Nada realizes that the world around him has been overtaken and redesigned to keep people complacent and unaware of the fact that they’re being manipulated, it takes a little while, but he goes on a spree that is simply epic. Plus, this particular line has been used in a few other movies, and it’s been great every time.
8. Jason Nesmith vs. Sarris – Galaxy Quest
Normally you wouldn’t want to send in an actor to contend with an experienced general, but Galaxy Quest kind of changed the rules this time around since Jason started taking things a little more serious once it became obvious that if he couldn’t find a way to beat Sarris that his whole crew would suffer. A dogfight in space isn’t exactly something that makes a lot of sense considering that it would often favor the ship with the heavier shields and greater armament, but when the smaller ship is dragging enough explosive mines behind it to put a crater in a planet it feels as though the odds would even out a little.
7. Major William Cage vs. Alpha – Edge of Tomorrow
Yes, it’s true, Cage has a lot of impressive scenes in this movie after he’s been living out the same day for who knows how many years, but this one scene was the best since he was as of yet untrained, inexperienced, and had yet to relive the day. He was a complete novice when this scene happened and as a result, he was flat on his back and not at all ready for whatever came next. But when he grabbed the claymore and let it rip he still wasn’t ready, since he didn’t realize that the Alpha he killed was somehow related to a xenomorph (kidding, just jokes) as its acidic blood ate through his form and entered his bloodstream, thereby starting the loop.
6. John Murdock vs. Mr. Book – Dark City
This fight feels as though it could have been a lot more impressive, but given that it was one psychic against another, it wasn’t too bad since the sheer amount of damage that John and Mr. Book did to the Strangers’ hidden location beneath their city was insane. But to think that John had developed the ability to Tune, as they called it, leaves one to wonder how long humans had existed upon the surface and how many times the city had been built, torn down, and rebuilt. Generations were needed for humans to achieve this feat after all, and there was no telling how long any of them had been there.
5. Titan vs. Drej – Titan A.E.
The applications of energy in this animated movie probably made a lot of educated individuals cringe if they ever saw it, but in terms of the fantasy, it was pretty cool since the Titan needed fuel of some sort to power its engines so that it could accomplish the task of creating a new world. Since the Drej were pure energy, one can make the conclusion, for the sake of this movie, that they would be able to be absorbed and thereby start the process. That feels a little too simple, but it’s a movie, and it’s animated, so dampening the wonder isn’t exactly necessary. The only question that remains is whether there would be any semblance of the Drej left within the world that utilized their energy to exist. Hey, it’s an honest question.
4. Riddick vs. Bioraptor – Pitch Black
So just to be clear, Riddick has been awesome since he came on the scene and didn’t need to build up to anything. This guy came into the movies to be a badass and he’s succeeded in every movie so far in the opinion of many fans. The bioraptors are nasty critters, there’s no doubt of that, and yet he managed to take them on, at least one on one, without that much trouble. To be serious, the challenges he would face in the following two movies were a lot harder than these things, until he was forced to take on more than one at a time at least since even a Furyan has his limits when it comes to a fight.
3. Agent J vs. Bug – Men in Black
There is a time when a person simply has to say to hell with it and go for as much as they can get when they’re outmatched. A bug the size of a small elephant isn’t something that a lot of people would willingly insult, let alone stand toe to toe with. But J was tasked with keeping the bug from leaving the planet, so he came up with something that managed to get the creature’s attention, especially since the bug had already made it clear where his loyalties were. There is a question though, and that’s whether or not J knew that K was about to cock his gun before he stood face to face with the bug, or he just got lucky.
2. Dutch vs. Predator – Predator
With all the roles that Schwarzenegger has taken on, this is probably the biggest mismatch since with Conan people always expected the barbarian to come through since he was strong, insanely tough, and knew how to handle a sword. With all respect to Dutch, the Predator made him look like a child with the greatest of ease. His ability to camouflage himself from the Predator for a short time was impressive, and his fieldcraft was obviously up to snuff, but in a hand-to-hand battle the Predator took a hit from Dutch and his head barely moved. Yeah, that’s a pretty serious mismatch.
1. Ripley vs. Xenomorph Queen – Aliens
Quite a few people might have been hoping to see the fight between Ripley and the queen on the Sulaco since it was a much more even fight given that Ripley had the loader and delivered one of the more iconic lines in movie history. But there was something about this scene that stuck with me, and it was the fact that Ripley had already shown the queen what her weapon could do. The moment an egg started to open next to her, the cock of Ripley’s head could have easily been translated as ‘No you didn’t’ before she decided to fry the eggs and cause a general ruckus before heading out.
Humans don’t like to lose, as it’s been proven quite often.
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