According to a recent survey, three out of every four Americans believe that our planet will be visited by extraterrestrials within the next 100 years. Whether the visitors are hostile bug-like overlords or cute little piles of goo, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that little green men will eventually visit our mud ball. You want to be ready when they land, right? So start out by watching a few sci-fi flicks.

As you look over our list, consider the following important questions:

  • What is man’s (and woman’s) purpose in the universe?
  • Is it possible to create an artificial intelligence that could out-think humans?
  • Would a visiting extraterrestrial be violent or peaceful?
  • How long will it be until everyday people travel through space?
  • Who ate all of my Doritos?!

1. ALIENS (1986)

That's right, we're giving our thumbs up to the second film. Don't get us wrong, Alien was great, but Aliens joins the pantheon of Godfather II and Toy Story 2 as films where the sequel improved upon the original. The second film is scarier, more suspenseful, has better special effects, and is all around kick-ass-er.

Fifty-seven years ago, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) was on a team that explored a planet that just happened to be infested with huge nasty people-eating aliens. Ripley was the only one to get off the planet alive, and she goes into a cryogenic sleep until someone can find her damaged space ship. That's where Aliens picks up . . . Ripley is awakened from her 57-year cryogenic siesta to discover that "The Government" sent a whole slew of people to the alien planet to colonize it. However, all contact has been lost, and the crew that found Ripley has been sent to the planet to see what happened. Understandably, Ripley freaks out and tries to prevent anyone from going back to the planet, but when her protestations fall on deaf ears, she sadly agrees to join the mission, believing that she can help the crew get through the mission alive.

But all this plot means jack-squat. This is a classic sci-fi/action movie that is so packed with tension and surprise, that you'll have trouble not pressing the pause button to get a breather. And in the center of all the action is the talented Ms. Ripley.

As Ripley, Sigourney Weaver turns in nothing short of an amazing performance. Think about it . . . what other woman has been so capable an action hero? How many actors get nominated for Oscars in a role that is almost pure action? The reason is because Sigourney lets you see that Ripley is human, not a Schwarzeneggerian mass of muscle. For instance, at one point, Ripley teams up with a 7-year-old girl named Newt, putting her in the dual roles of mother and warrior. In most movies, the little girl would be a wisecracking sidekick, but not here. Instead, Newt keeps Ripley human, preventing her from becoming a killing machine. In a way, Ripley is a classic anti-hero. She doesn't want to fight (she doesn't even want to return to the planet), but when cornered, she can kick bootie along with the best of them.

Notes:

  • The second in a series of 4: Alien, Aliens, Alien³, and Alien: Resurrection

  • Nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including Best Actress and Score

  • Won 2 Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects and Sound Effects Editing

2. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)

Close encounter of the 1st kind: seeing a UFO Close encounter of the 2nd kind: UFO leaves physical trace Close encounter of the 3rd kind: actual contact with alien

This movie has been analyzed, re-analyzed, and re-re-analyzed by countless academics. Is the film a religious metaphor, and if so, what is it saying about God? Or is it symbolic of the Cold War, where the aliens represent Russia, at first inspiring militaristic reaction, but proving to be peaceful and friendly? Or is it about man losing himself in technology? Whatever your interpretation, it's a great sci-fi flick.

The plot focuses on Roy (Richard Dreyfuss), who sees something strange in the sky while driving down a darkened road. The object flies away, but Roy becomes obsessed with visions of a weird rock formation. Across the country, several others saw objects in the sky and are experiencing similar reactions. What are these visions, and how is the government involved?

Kudos must be given to Spielberg for making an alien movie that does not focus on the aliens, but rather, to people's reactions to them. How do you really think the US government would react if aliens sent a message that they were getting ready to visit the Earth? What if a few random people somehow "knew" that they were coming? How would the aliens communicate, and how would we communicate back? Without giving anything away, let us say that the best parts of this movie are watching these different little clues pop up.

A nice touch: take note of Roy's kids. They are obnoxious, talk while he's trying to talk, and generally get in the way. In short, they act like real kids.

Notes:

  • Nominated for 9 Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Melinda Dillon, Score, and Director (Spielberg's first nomination)

  • Won 2 Academy Awards: Best Cinematography and Sound Effects Editing

  • Steven Spielberg also wrote the screenplay

  • After the movie was a hit, Spielberg was given another $2 million to re-shoot some scenes inside the ship. His director's cut was released in 1980, and is the only one you can rent

  • Placed #64 on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Movies" List

3. E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL

Think about the similarities between The Wizard of Oz and E.T. Both are stories about children and childhood. "The home" also plays a central role in both films, or did you think that the similarity between the catchphrases "There's no place like home" and "Phone home" was just a coincidence? Finally, in both films, the lead character meets three new friends (be it a scarecrow, tin man, and lion, or three suburban siblings) to help them on their quest to get back home. Is it any wonder that E.T. was a hit? It's almost exactly like The Wizard, except instead of going to the land of Oz, Dorothy lands in California (only a tad stranger).

While it sounds strange, the lead character is not Elliot, the middle child who befriends the alien, but actually E.T. himself. Throughout the film, the camera constantly takes his point of view, be it from behind a bush or under a ghost costume. And while Elliot functions as E.T.'s translator (most notably through his connection to E.T.'s emotions), the film is still about E.T.'s quest to return home. The audience's connection with E.T. is so strong that you completely forget that he's not real.

The best thing about E.T. may be the perfect balance between fantasy and reality. Of course, none of it is real, but it's so funny and well-intended, that it'll melt the heart of even the toughest Scrooge. An unfortunate aftereffect of E.T., however, was the huge marketing blitz that developed. Reese's Pieces became the most popular candy, and you could see E.T.'s ugly image on everything from sheets to lunchboxes to underwear. Neil Diamond even wrote an anthem to E.T. called "Turn On Your Heartlight." Nonetheless, if you haven't seen the movie in a couple years, it's definitely worth revisiting.

Notes:

  • Until Titanic, the most successful film in history, making around $400 million

  • E.T.'s face was modeled after those of Albert Einstein and poet Carl Sandburg

  • E.T.'s voice was performed by Debra Winger

  • Nominated for 9 Academy Awards (including Best Picture and Director)

  • Won 4 Academy Awards: Best Score, Visual Effects, Sound, and Sound Effects Editing

  • Placed #25 on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Movies" List

4. STAR WARS TRILOGY (1977)

There is absolutely no excuse for not being completely familiar with this series, now four parts long. Yes, for a while there, you might have been dated out of the first three installments, but after George Lucas's latest marketing epidemic, every living creature on this planet has been inundated by Star Wars hype. And after the Jar-Jar Binks debacle, that has become something of an uncomfortable, not-so-fresh feeling.

But before Jar-Jar and Mini-Darth ruined the latest installment of Star Wars, George Lucas really had built up three strong pillars of the series. In many ways, Star Wars (Episode IV to be exact) is hokey: Princess Leia has bagels affixed to her head, Luke is the whiniest hero in cinematic history, and the movie has all the moral complexity of the Nuremberg trials. But in so many other ways, this flick completely exploded movie-dom: it is a technological marvel. Despite how rough the effects might now appear, they were completely unprecedented when the film was released. It also featured the debut of the greatest villain since Satan: Darth Vader. And one can't ignore that after Star Wars, every movie company on the planet tried to rip it off with their own sci-fi adventure. In short, Star Wars opened up space to more children than Neil Armstrong ever could.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) are excellent follow-ups, marking the increasing maturity and sophistication of the series. Of course, we never develop beyond the ken of an intelligent adolescent boy, but there is some growth. As a unit, the original three films form a core of unparalleled film culture; we are all abundantly familiar with phrases such as, "Use the force," and, "Luke, I am your father." See this trilogy to witness the birth of the current trend of blockbuster f/x-fests that dominate our cinemas every summer. See Episode I if you want to ruin a good thing.

Notes:

  • Star Wars was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor, and Screenplay

  • Star Wars won 6 Academy Awards: Best Music, Art/Set Direction, Costumes, Visual Effects, Film Editing, and Sound

  • The Empire Strikes Back was nominated for 3 Academy Awards (all technical)

  • The Empire Strikes Back won 1 Academy Award: Best Sound (it also won a Special Achievement Oscar for Visual Effects)

  • Return of the Jedi was nominated for 4 Academy Awards (all technical)

  • Star Wars is one of the few films that doesn't have ANY beginning credits (Lucas had to pay a huge fine, but he didn't care)

  • Star Wars placed #15 on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Movies" List

5. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

If Star Wars marks the infantile first steps of space-based science fiction, 2001 is the adult maturation of the form. Curiously, 2001 was released in 1968, nine years before Star Wars (though that might just mean that Stanley Kubrick is more mature than George Lucas). One could quibble that 2001's psychedelic passages are too adolescent and its vast mute tracts too self-aggrandizing, but as a whole, the film is a profound exploration of the modern condition and far more than simply a story about Mir-like space mishaps.

The tale introduces us to one of the most famous inanimate characters in all of film: HAL. HAL is the master computer aboard the Discovery, programmed to run the mission and, if necessary, to overrule its human masters in order to accomplish the mission's prime directive. Of course, when HAL himself turns out to have a glitch, the humans aboard his ship confront a quandary: how do you override an omniscient computer that has a particularly well-developed zest for life? Or, to dig into at least one dollop of symbolism, how do we fill the metaphysical void left by a fallible supreme being in our own lives?

Despite the human-vs.-computer-in-space description, the film is decidedly not a gripping thriller. It yawns with open space and silence for much of its length before plunging at its conclusion into an altered dimension of surrealism. To modern viewers with short attention spans, it seems to capture the 60s perfectly: a lot of boredom broken up by the occasional ridiculous hallucination. In this movie, though, Kubrick provokes serious questions about our role in the universe, and about the source of human and artificial intelligence, while promiscuously dropping metaphors about God, predestination, and free will. A heady mix, but it sure beats reading a bunch of philosophical tracts.

Notes:

  • Nominated for 4 Academy Awards, including Best Director and Screenplay

  • Won 1 Academy Award: Best Visual Effects

  • If you bump each letter of the name HAL up one, you get IBM. The screenwriter claimed that this was unintentional

  • Placed #22 on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Movies" List