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Arrival
After discovering how the world was ending at the hands of a rampaging alien army, linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) uses the latest in artificial intelligence to try and communicate with the creatures and give humanity the best chance of survival.
Synopsis:
When linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is asked to join the government’s secret effort to communicate with an alien presence, she doesn’t realize the impact it will have on her own life. When 2036’s cataclysmic attacks become ever more apparent, the world calls on Louise and physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) to work with expert alien hunter Dr. Banks on a risky communication plan.
Status: In production
Moon
After scientist Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 landed on the moon, NASA soon discovers that the U.
Star Wars
The Handmaiden
The Martian
Ender’s Game
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Interstellar
Ghostbusters
WALL-E
Do I need to point out that I’m a science nerd? The truth is, most Hollywood movies are completely unrealistic, but some of them are just too cool to pass up. Now that we’re at the point where the movies made in space have finally hit the big screen, let’s take a look at the 10 sci-fi movies made in space that we’ll always remember.
10. Sunshine
First off, this is a technically a horror movie, but it’s really so much more. It’s a story about a group of astronauts that are forced to survive on a desolate planet after a nuclear accident. They are stuck on a narrow strip of land and have to fight off the hostile environment.
Guardians of the Galaxy
I have to start this off by saying that I really love this movie. The thing about it is that it’s about 20 years old. I know. But what the heck. This movie follows the adventures of the Guardians of the Galaxy as they go on intergalactic adventures across the galaxy. What I like is that they do it in a completely funny and fun way. So even though this movie has been released so long ago that you may have seen it already, go watch it again. If you haven’t I will break down the ten best scenes of the movie here.
Walking the Halls of Graduation:
We get to see Peter and Nebula getting ready for their graduations. This is hilarious. They get ready as normal, but the Guardians of the Galaxy bring in everything that makes them look cool. They bring in large guns. They bring in drones.
The Martian
The future looks bright when Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain get into space and do battle with a robot in the little known and under-seen film The Martian.
That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to those of you who have seen the film. If you haven’t seen it, the film is based on the novel of the same name written by Andy Weir. But it also takes a significant step in the same direction. Matt Damon’s character Mark Watney is on a mission to become the first person ever to return to earth after being cast into a harrowing and for Watney completely believable voyage to get back. His robotic comrades also have a very particular mission, as well, one that they are willing to kill over.
Passengers
Directed by Scott Derrickson (Sinister)
Starring Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne
Synopsis: A spaceship has accidentally grown too crowded, causing some of its 200 occupants to wake up 90 years early. The captain (Pratt) of the ship, Aurora Lane, is given one year to save them before they begin to die.
4. Underworld: Blood Wars
Directed by Yanick Rheeme
Starring Kate Beckinsale, Theo James, Lara Pulver, John Hannah
Synopsis: In the sequel to the fifth film in the Underworld series, Selene (Beckinsale) seeks to reclaim her immortality. Her quest takes her to the snowy wastes of Bulgaria where she collides with a young immortal who holds secrets.
5.
Interstellar
The Martian
Gravity
Interstellar’s breathtaking visuals were created in 5,000 feet under water at New Zealand’s Weta Digital. Like Gravity, the results are something to marvel.
Most of you probably know that a lot of scenes in Interstellar are quite similar to scenes from A Beautiful Mind and The Theory of Everything. Such inspirations are nothing surprising. Look at Interstellar for inspiration and we’ll see an air force being trained with a humanoid robot (think R2-D2 from Star Wars).
Read: 10 Sci-Fi Movies Made in Space that You Must Watch.
Dear Theos: A Letter to God
Yossi Ghinsberg
This movie is based on the life of a 27-year-old man, who survived 4 months alone in the Atlas mountains of Iran in 1981.
Moonraker
The main antagonist in the movie is a man named Hugo Drax, who resides on the lunar colony The Moonbase. He is a millionaire industrialist who wishes to destroy Earth by getting rid of its population.
The Moonraker
Practical Effects
The effects in this movie were very realistic. The astronaut’s spacesuits, ship, city and missiles were made with out-of-this-world designs and effects. To add to that, the scenes were shot practically on Earth’s moon. The movie won the Visual Effects Academy Award and Hugo Drax also got the last place in an evil contest where he had to see if he could go to the Moon or not.
Porno on the Moon
In the movie, Sean Connery and Glynis Johns play the two main protagonists. Connery is a detective who goes undercover on a sex-and-drugs ring called Nu-Girl.
Battlestar Galactica (original)
This is a fast paced space adventure. When we last saw Cylons, they had rebelled and attacked the Twelve Colonies of the Colonial Empire of Earth. Colonists fighting for their lives fought bravely but were unable to defeat the Cylons. Since then, mankind lived in a limbo as the Cylons continued their perpetual rule of Earth and humans roamed the universe to survive. With the Cylons entrenched on Earth, humanity are able to explore more of the universe.
Battlestar Galactica: Part II
The war between humans and Cylons continues. The entire human race is under threat of extinction after a Cylon raid. The remaining soldiers of the Colonial Fleet are led by the Senior Commander, Baltar, who leads the survivors to a strange area which they must call the Ark.
Ender’s Game
Ender’s Game (2013)
The science of the film is based on the book Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, and the film’s actual filming took place in the Canadian cities of Winnipeg and Calgary. The film has won a Young Artist Award for Hayden Christensen and garnered seven Saturn Awards. It currently has a 63% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Ender’s Game Movie Trailer
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The Day the Earth Stood Still was remade in 2008. This film is a remake of the 1951 film, with a heavy science fiction focus. The cast includes Keanu Reeves, Michael Giacchino, Meryl Streep, Sam Rockwell, and Hilary Swank. The film has a 57% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
I, Robot.
Captain America: The First Avenger.
2001: A Space Odyssey.
Blade Runner.
Predator.
Starship Troopers.
The Martian.
And these are only a handful of movies that were filmed on a set and with sets in space, with ‘set’ meaning the spaceships of sci-fi movies. There are a lot more.
Annette Kellerman has recently written a great piece about it for Vanity Fair, which she’s posting on her blog, making some excellent points. I especially like how she thinks of things.
My other favorite episode of StarTalk Radio is the one where they dissect classic sci-fi movies with Cosmos, but I wouldn’t be able to do an episode like that as a whole episode.
For a podcast of random science and entertainment tidbits, I highly recommend The Floopers Podcast.
