Top 11 Alien Movies
- CJ Tiernan
- Dec 6, 2025
- 8 min read
By CJ Tiernan
First off, I want to clarify that this list covers movies that contain extra-terrestrial beings, whether in space or on Earth. It is not limited exclusively to the Xenomorph-littered series that began with Ridley Scott and Sigourney Weaver back in the '70s. Both Alien and Aliens are in my Top 400 Movies of all time (but unfortunately don't make the cut for this list), but I haven't seen all of the Alien movies and I'm not even sure there are 11 to create an entire list.
This list is about movies with aliens. We love alien movies. They can be scary or funny, but they challenge our reality in a really fundamental way. Whether they have come to meet our leader or just want to hang out, their very existence shatters the world as it was before. I love that as a theme. I also enjoy watching humanity rally as an entire species to take on an impossible threat. Below is a list of my Top 11 favorite Alien Movies of all time that I've ever seen.
1. Super 8 (2011)
This movie is a J.J Abrams homage to Steven Spielberg. Apart from the lens flares, it is designed to conjure the vibe of '80s movies. Spielberg created a couple of very famous alien movies in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. He actually produced this movie. Super 8 is story of a group of kids hanging out and filming their own movie (on a Super 8 film camera, if you can believe it. I mean what are the odds?) at a train station when they see a car driving the wrong way on the tracks and collide with the train, derailing it. They then watch as something escapes from one of the train cars. The military (always a classic bad guy in these types of movies) descends upon the town. The kids aren't believed by the adults (another classic trope) and are forced to solve this pesky alien problem all on their own. All in all, a great movie.
2. Men in Black (1997)
Men in Black is awesome. Will Smith is fantastic as the "new hotness" and Tommy Lee Jones plays the jaded straight-man to perfection. Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub, and Vincent D'Onofrio are also fantastic. I love action movies with comedy. This movie oozes cool while being very funny. The test-taking scene where everyone is quiet while Will Smith can't get comfortable in his chair and then loudly scoots the table across the room to help him is hysterical and lives rent-free in my head. Also, the "aliens among us" vibe and the "neuralyzer" (the mind-wiping gadget that we've all prayed was real a time or two in our lives whilst our mouth was full of toes) have gone on to be lasting elements and references in society. If you can believe it, Spielberg was a producer on this one too.
3. Galaxy Quest (1999)
Galaxy Quest is my kind of movie. Actors who played roles on a TV Show that was very Star Trekian are abducted by actual aliens in an attempt to save their people from a more sinister alien race. It taps into all sorts of various emotions and is just a really fun, really cool flick. It stars Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, and Sam Rockwell in delightful roles. It is one of Tim Allen's very best acting performances. And while Galaxy Quest wasn't produced by Steven Spielberg, it was released by Dreamworks, which is the company he created. He did visit the set and allegedly suggested a romantic sub-plot. This guy is everywhere.
4. Independence Day (1996)
The speech given by the president (Bill Pullman, in his best role since Spaceballs) is one of the greatest moments in movie history. I listen to it every Fourth of July. It is one of those beautiful, humanity-over-everything moments that also feels wildly patriotic. The movie, which again stars Will Smith, is a classic alien invasion movie. Some of the effects are really cool and, because they were done practically, hold up really well. The fire crawling sideways along the city is such a cool visual. Spoiler Alert: Will Smith saves the day and pops a cigar in his mouth (he just bites it, it's for the look, he doesn't light it), Randy Quaid dies a hero, and Judd Hirsch and Jeff Goldblum trojan-horse their way to victory. Human life, uh, finds a way.
5a. Toy Story (1995)
Yep, I cheated again. Well, kinda. This is not an alien movie in typical fashion. The aliens in this movie are toy aliens inside of a claw machine. "The claw, it moves. It chooses who will stay and who will go." I love this movie and the aliens in it do talk and move so, you know, it counts I think. The Aliens aren't totally central to the plot of the movie (though they have their moment in the sun, I mean at Pizza Planet) so I included an extra film on the list to sate your hunger for alien movies. Seriously though, Toy Story is a fantastic movie and reigns as my top Pixar movie of all time.
5b. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Tom Cruise dipped his toes into the Sci-Fi waters on several occasions. Vanilla Sky, Oblivion, and War of the Worlds were all solid movies. Some may argue that Minority Report was Tom Cruise's best Sci-Fi flick, but (even though I love that one) I believe it was Edge of Tomorrow (or "Live, Die, Repeat" as it is sometimes called, as that was the tag line of the movie). It is both an alien movie and a time-loop movie, as Tom Cruise dies on the battlefield after accidentally absorbing an alien power. He is forced to continually live out (and thus die) the same battle until he can progress far enough to save humanity from aliens. It is an awesome action movie and Emily Blunt's performance is also outstanding.
6. District 9 (2009)
This one is an alien movie that makes several satisfying and unique changes to the typical format. For one, it's largely shot in mocumentary format. That alone presents its own unique style. Secondly, the alien invasion is seemingly less successful than most in other movies. The aliens are kept in cages, in a concentration camp-esque manner. They are treated poorly. Lastly, the story takes place in South Africa, as opposed to setting it in the U.S. like most other stories (although Edge of Tomorrow was in Europe). Themes of segregation (especially relevant to South Africa) and xenophobia are prevalent. Sharlito Copley's performance as the main character, Wikus (pronounced Vickis), is marvelous. This might be the movie that creates the most sympathy for aliens, which is hard to do when they don't look very human.
7. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
A superhero movie! Thor is from another planet and so is almost every single character in this movie, so I believe the alien movie concept is apt. In this movie, Thor is forced to fight "a friend from work" in an arena battle after being captured by the Grandmaster (another Jeff Goldblum sighting! That guy sometimes seems part alien himself, doesn't he?). This is one of the funniest and most fun superhero movies of all time. In addition to Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tessa Thompson, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Cate Blanchett, and Idris Elba are all excellent. This is the third (and best) Thor movie.
8. Signs (2002)
Signs is my favorite M. Night Shyamalan movie (man, that plural makes the verb tense feel off). I know most people will pick The Sixth Sense, but I don't think I properly appreciated that one when I first saw it. I was like 12. The idea of a twist wasn't really in my consciousness so it didn't blow my mind the way it did some others. And now the twist has become the most ubiquitous twist in film history, so it wouldn't hit the same on a repeat viewing. Anyway, Signs is awesome. A pastor who has quit pasting (or whatever a pastor does) after his wife dies lives with his two kids and his younger brother. Joaquin Phoenix as the younger brother is my favorite part, although the two young kids (played by Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin to perfection) are phenomenal. They live on a farm and notice a crop circle and then follow along on the news as more and more show up across the world. When they finally encounter an alien, they vanquish it with the power of (Spoiler Alert!) water. It is such a fun ride. I highly recommend it.
9. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
In my travels, I've come to find that not very many people liked the movie more than the book. I saw the movie years before I ever read the book so maybe my issue is in the order-of-operations ilk, but I truly love this movie. It is weird. I'm big on weird. From Sam Rockwell as a character with two heads to Alan Rickman playing the voice of a depressed robot (hey, how about that! A Galaxy Quest mini-reunion in a movie with "galaxy" in the title), this movie just oozes weird. Including a narrator (Stephen Fry, who also did the reading for the audiobooks in the series) was a great source of comedy that helped to keep some semblance of the tone of the book. Martin Freeman, Mos Def, Bill Nighy, and John Malkovich are also a joy in this.
10. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
This is the other superhero movie on this list. Everyone but the main character, Peter Quill, is an alien (that's not, like, the plot, just an observation). In the movie, a group of misfits band together to steal an object (that turns out to be an infinity stone). It is funny (as most James Gunn vehicles are) and full of action and needle drops (as most James Gunn vehicles are). It is my third favorite movie in the MCU and is a smackerel of visual delight (Smackerel of Visual Delight - dibs on that as my band name).
11. Cloverfield (2008)
This was the first found footage movie I ever saw. It was a real treat. At a going away party in New York, a group of friends hang out until the city is attacked by a giant monster. Although the mythos behind the monster is basically not revealed at all, we do see what we are led to believe is the alien crashing into the ocean at the start of the movie. Because of the origin as an extra-terrestrial, this is an alien movie. T.J. Miller, Odette Yustman, and Lizzy Caplan are the stand-outs in this cast. This is my second favorite found footage movie of all time (behind Late Night with the Devil) and a real stand-out in the alien/monster/horror genre all together. No idea how the name ties in, though.
Final Thoughts
Alien movies are so engaging. They force us to put ourselves in that "what-if" mindset. They play with our emotions and our expectations. I have loved so many different ones it was hard to pare-down this list. I will leave a small list of movies that just missed the cut down below. Please let me know in the comments if I missed any of your favorite alien movies. Thanks!
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