As we look at the star-filled night sky, and contemplate our existence on Earth, beware there are eyes upon you from beyond the stars as well.
Are we really alone? Do aliens exist? What are their intentions? What are we to do during an alien invasion? These questions have often come across our minds and fascinated us while also giving us chills thinking about the possibilities.
These questions have found many possible answers through their depiction in the form of movies. But before diving into them let us know in detail what exactly are Alien Invasion movies and what genre they fall under.
Alien invasion movies are movies that feature extraterrestrials getting their hands on advanced weaponry and fighting against humans.
Invariably, these invaders will nearly destroy the human race before being stopped by some unlikely hero (or heroine) who can take down an army of aliens without a single shot fired.
An Alien invasion is a subgenre of science fiction in which aliens invade Earth, usually with hostile intent. The classic “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is among the best-known early examples, though similar themes have appeared repeatedly since then.
Annihilation
In a twisted, genre-bending story about a group of women whose adventures across a hostile landscape reveal their extraordinary courage, Annihilation follows the first woman in history to venture into Area X — an area where the laws of nature don’t apply and our time is irrevocably changed.
She eventually ventures into a land of mutated scenery filled with creatures. This proves to be gorgeous as well as a dangerous change of landscape that not only threatens their lives but also their sanity.
Director: Alex Garland
Cast: Natalie Portman, Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Beyond Skyline
The movie Beyond Skyline is an epic science fiction film filmed in the Philippines. The story centers on a post-apocalyptic future where mankind has almost completely destroyed itself. Because of this, other life forms have risen and taken over many parts of the Earth.
In one part of the world, a small community is held back by a series of caves and tunnels that are used as a shelter for inexperienced young people to learn about themselves.
One day, a spaceship crashes near the community and causes some trouble. The people are afraid that these strange creatures will attack them, but they soon realize that they have something in common: both sides need each other to survive.
Director: Liam O’ Donnell
Cast: Frank Grillo, Bojana Novakovic, Jonny Weston, Callan Mulvey, Jacob Vargas
A Quiet Place
A Quiet Place (2016) is a horror film about siblings hiding from aliens that hunt by sound. Led by sisters Regan and Lee Abbott, the family lives in silence: no talking or walking, not even whispers.
The Abbotts have lived this way since childhood, defending themselves with weapons like squeaky fans and electrical tape. While they travel with him to Gardner’s stronghold, they discover that his own past isn’t exactly as it seems.
Director: John Krasinski
Cast: John Krasinski, Milliecent Simmonds, Emily Blunt, Leon Russom
Arrival
Arrival, a science fiction drama set in the year 2054 and based on the novel “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang, is told through a series of flashbacks that tell the story of linguistics professor Louise Banks and her interaction with military researcher Ian Donnelly.
These aliens have landed in 12 locations of the world and Banks must figure out their language to avoid a huge catastrophe.
She eventually reaches close to an answer, all the while dealing with severe flashbacks or rather glimpses into her own future, but she must continue her quest to understand their message to save mankind.
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Jeremy renner, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amy Adams, Mark O’ Brien, Tzi Ma
Justice League
The epic action adventure Justice League is based on the most famous superheroes in comics, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
The world has grown used to them and their abilities using all kinds of advanced technology to aid them against threats that would otherwise be impossible for a single human being to face alone.
But when a mysterious man calling himself Darkseid rallies an army of Parademons – evil creatures from another dimension – and declares war on Earth, it takes the heroes’ combined might to protect mankind from annihilation.
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Mamoa, Erza Miller
Independence Day
This film is set against the backdrop of a day in the United States dedicated to celebrating its independence. A group of people have gathered together on the Fourth of July, enjoying a party and fireworks.
As they are watching the show, however, they are not aware that they were being watched by an alien spacecraft on a reconnaissance mission above them.
As night falls, it moves closer to take pictures just as one of them makes a careless remark about how beautiful it is. The spacecraft fires back at this callousness with fatal consequences for our heroes.
Director: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Bill Pullman, Mary McDonnell, Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch
Pixels
President Will Cooper (Kevin James) knows that he must employ a similar strategy, so when aliens intercept video feeds of classic arcade games and misinterpret them as a declaration of war, they attack Earth. Knowing this is no time to be cocky or complacent—especially since the fate of humanity hangs in the balance!
Former arcade champion and home theater installer Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler) is hired by Starfighter, a company specializing in the destruction of alien invaders. He leads an all-star team consisting of old school video game champions and a military specialist who will help him save humanity from total destruction at the hands of aliens.
Director: Chris Columbus
Cast: Kevin James, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Monaghan, Adam Sandler, Brian Cox
Avengers: End Game
This is the last part of a series in which it is discussed all the ways that Iron Man could save himself. In this movie, all the MCU heroes went back in time to try and defeat Thanos by taking back his Infinity Stones.
After ten years of fighting the never-ending war against Thanos and his Infinity Gauntlet, the Avengers are on the brink of defeat. But with the help of two mysterious strangers, they will set into motion a series of events that will change the lives of everyone they have ever known – including themselves.
Director -Anthony Russo and Joe Russo
Cast- Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man: · Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America: · Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk: · Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Edge of Tomorrow
In the dark days of tomorrow, in a time of war, an ordinary soldier in the armies of Earth is thrust into the extraordinary role of Tom Cruise’s character: Cage. This is Edge of Tomorrow. In this story, war has destroyed all that we know, and ravages our planet to its core. Our only hope lies within the courage, skill and sacrifice of those who answer that call.”
Tom Cruise plays a soldier in a world of near-indestructible robots who, trapped in a time loop, must fight off enemy assaults from the past and future to save humanity from extinction.
Director: Dough Liman
Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong, Tom Cruise, Tony Way, Emily Blunt
The Predator
The Predator is a movie based on the 2014 sci-fi horror film and 1999 hit one-liners. The Predator shows a team of elite soldiers sent to rescue the daughter of their boss.
Their mission takes them to Mexico where they’ll have to fight against an advanced form of government-allied predators and face off against an unknown threat in the form of a clan of witches who live deep in the jungle.
Director: Shane Black
Cast: Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Jane, Olivia Munn
Battleship
In the summer of 2012, the U.S. Navy sets up a training exercise in international waters when a mysterious object appears on thermal scans, suggesting it might be an unidentified vessel.
After an aircraft and ship are dispatched to investigate it, the object shows visual contact with them and fires missiles at them. Amidst this chaos communication and navigation systems fail on board both ships.
The two ships face off against each other for two chaotic hours as both sides try to determine what they’re up against through broken communication lines and salvaged electronics.
Director: Peter Berg
Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna, Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson
The Day The Earth Stood Still
The Day the Earth Stood Still is an American science fiction horror film released in 2008.
The basic story involves Keanu Reeves as Klaatu, a peaceful alien bent on protecting the Earth. After crashing his spacecraft in Rochester, New York, Klaatu witnesses humanity’s destruction at the hands of mad scientist Clayton Bates and his remote-controlled flying saucer.
Aided by an FBI agent, a group of scientists try to save mankind from its impending doom but ultimately fail due to the interference of Bates’ son Robert Poole.
Director: Scott Derrickson
Cast: Jennifer Connelly, John Cleese, Jon Hamm, Keanu Reeves
The 5th Wave
The film follows Cassie Sullivan, a young woman who has survived the first wave of attacks on Earth by the eponymous aliens known as the Takers.
She is part of a group of young survivors who are trying to figure out what happened to their families and friends.
As she learns more about what happened before she was saved by a second wave of Takers in her neighborhood, Cassie discovers that there are others like her around the world—and they have been preparing for the third wave of attacks.
Director: J Blakeson
Cast: Nick Robinson, Maggie Siff, Alex Roe, Maria Bello, Chloe Grace Moretz
War of the Worlds
In the 2005 film War of the Worlds, Tom Cruise plays a reporter who is on assignment from the New York Herald Tribunes to cover an alien invasion.
However, when he arrives in New Jersey, he finds that the aliens have already conquered the earth.
The movie was based on H.G. Wells’s book The War of the Worlds and tells a story about an alien invasion that happens in everyday life.
The characters have no idea what is happening and don’t know how to react.
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Tom Cruise, Mirando Otto, Rick Gonzalez
The Thing
The movie opens with an Antarctic research station crew fighting off an alien creature that has stowed away on the plane they are traveling on.
After landing, they discover that their supplies are being slowly drained by a large creature lurking in their food supply. They also come under attack from a second creature that appears to be invisible to humans but can be seen by dogs.
When they discover what is attacking them, they realize that it may actually be one of their own team members, feeding on their blood and killing them one-by-one in order to stay hidden from others who might have noticed his presence aboard ship or might otherwise have discovered what he was doing during some other activity aboard ship.
Director: John Carpenter
Cast: A. Wilford Brimley, David Clennon, Keith David, Kurt Russell