From the dawn of time, man has been fascinated by the stars and what — or more importantly, who — is out there. Unsurprisingly, from the dawn of filmmaking, Hollywood has been also been fascinated by visiting (and visitors from) other worlds. One of the earliest silent films, A Trip to the Moon, was about shooting astronauts to the moon (using a cannon) and the alien creatures they find. There are countless movies about aliens and here are four I think you should watch.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Roy Neary’s life is turned upside-down after having a close encounter with a UFO. After being tormented by visions and a need to know more, Roy meets others experiencing the same thing and travels to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming where Roy, the government, and the aliens all arrive for a monumental concert. Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, and Melinda Dillion, Close Encounters of the Third Kind is one of the greatest films about alien encounters ever made. A must watch, no matter what planet you’re from.

Starcrash (1978)

Hot on the heels of 1977’s Star Wars came a wave of films “influenced” by George Lucas’s masterpiece. In Starcrash, a smuggler and her alien sidekick go on a mission to rescue a prince from an evil character with a gigantic space weapon that can destroy planets. Sound familiar? Did I mention the alien sidekick uses a lightsaber? Perhaps “influenced” is too light of a word. Starcrash is not the best space opera of all time, but it’s an interesting time capsule from 1978; one of many movies that also took place in a galaxy far, far away. Starcrash features great sets, a goofy plot… and David Hasselhoff.

The Last Starfighter (1984)

Alex Rogan wants nothing more than to escape his small town and that opportunity presents itself after he beats the world record on an arcade game called The Last Starfighter. The arcade game is actually a recruiting tool, and before long a shifty alien named Centauri arrives to take Alex to space where he will become a Starfighter — for real! Featuring (then) groundbreaking CGI, lots of alien action, and the final theatrical performance of Robert Preston.

Naked Space/Spaceship/The Creature Wasn’t Nice (1981)

No matter what name you see this movie under, they’re all the same… and none of them are good! This “horror/comedy” that loosely parodies Alien stars Leslie Nielson, Cindy Williams, Gerrit Graham, Patrick Macnee, and (writer/director) Bruce Kimmel. After exploring a newly discovered planet, the crew of the Spaceship Vertigo bring a small organism (goo) on board that quickly grows into a large monster. When Dr. Stark figures out a way to connect the monster’s brain to the ship’s computer, they are able for the first time to hear the monster’s thoughts. And boy, is that monster hungry…

Movies about aliens and outer space are always fun summer viewing. Rent one of these films and pop an extra bucket of popcorn, just in case someone from “out there” stops by to join you.

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