The Coolest Alien Invasion Films
by DrewMoyer578 | created - 02 Dec 2013 | updated - 02 Dec 2013 | PublicOnly counting movies that take place on present-day earth, here are some of the best as well as the not-so-good-but-they're-just-dumb-enough-to-be-entertaining alien invasion movies that I have seen.
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1. The Thing (1982)
R | 109 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard Masur
Votes: 466,841 | Gross: $13.78M
Honestly, this is the coolest alien life form to invade our planet.
2. War of the Worlds (2005)
PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An alien invasion threatens the future of humanity. The catastrophic nightmare is depicted through the eyes of one American family fighting for survival.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins, Miranda Otto
Votes: 475,362 | Gross: $234.28M
3. The War of the Worlds (1953)
G | 85 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A small town in California is attacked by Martians, beginning a worldwide invasion.
Director: Byron Haskin | Stars: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne, Robert Cornthwaite
Votes: 38,548 | Gross: $4.36M
4. Independence Day (1996)
PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell
Votes: 605,839 | Gross: $306.17M
Really dumb but really cool
5. Bad Taste (1987)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
The population of a small town disappears and is replaced by aliens that chase human flesh for their intergalactic fast-food chain.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Terry Potter, Pete O'Herne, Craig Smith, Mike Minett
Votes: 49,130
Aliens invading earth and using us as meat for an intergalactic fast food restaurant. Brilliant!
6. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
G | 92 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
An alien lands in Washington, D.C. and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe
Votes: 85,783
Only counting this one. Pretty much just ignore the remake.
7. Skyline (2010)
PG-13 | 92 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, drawing people outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth.
Directors: Colin Strause, Greg Strause | Stars: Eric Balfour, Donald Faison, Scottie Thompson, Brittany Daniel
Votes: 92,186 | Gross: $21.37M
Dumb plot but pretty decent effects.
8. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Approved | 80 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, King Donovan
Votes: 54,778
9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
PG | 115 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city's residents one body at a time.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 69,888 | Gross: $24.95M
Pretty good remake
10. Monsters (2010)
R | 94 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Six years after Earth has suffered an alien invasion, a cynical journalist agrees to escort a shaken American tourist through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the U.S. border.
Director: Gareth Edwards | Stars: Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able, Mario Zuniga Benavides, Annalee Jefferies
Votes: 97,649 | Gross: $0.24M
Very underrated. Check this one out.
11. They Live (1988)
R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
They influence our decisions without us knowing it. They numb our senses without us feeling it. They control our lives without us realizing it. They live.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George 'Buck' Flower
Votes: 145,536 | Gross: $13.01M
12. Predator (1987)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Elpidia Carrillo
Votes: 455,032 | Gross: $59.74M
13. Predator 2 (1990)
R | 108 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
The Predator returns to Earth, this time to stake a claim on the war-torn streets of a dystopian Los Angeles.
Director: Stephen Hopkins | Stars: Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Kevin Peter Hall, Rubén Blades
Votes: 182,670 | Gross: $30.67M
14. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
R | 94 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Warring Alien and Predator races descend on a rural Colorado town, where unsuspecting residents must band together for any chance of survival.
Directors: Colin Strause, Greg Strause | Stars: Reiko Aylesworth, Steven Pasquale, Shareeka Epps, John Ortiz
Votes: 133,194 | Gross: $41.80M
If you can even see what's going on, this movie is so dark.
15. Mars Attacks! (1996)
PG-13 | 106 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
Earth is invaded by Martians with unbeatable weapons and a cruel sense of humor.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Annette Bening
Votes: 243,589 | Gross: $37.77M
Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack! Ack!
16. Signs (2002)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A widowed former reverend living with his children and brother on a Pennsylvania farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields, which suggests something more frightening to come.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin
Votes: 385,825 | Gross: $227.97M
Slow and very small scale for a worldwide invasion, but still pretty decent.
17. The Faculty (1998)
R | 104 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
When Casey Connor, Herrington High School's newspaper photographer, witnesses the murder of a nurse and sees her alive again, he decides to investigate the bizarre happenings.
Director: Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett
Votes: 135,149 | Gross: $40.06M
18. Super 8 (2011)
PG-13 | 112 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
During the summer of 1979, a group of friends witness a train crash and investigate subsequent unexplained events in their small town.
Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Elle Fanning, AJ Michalka, Kyle Chandler, Joel Courtney
Votes: 367,606 | Gross: $127.00M
19. Grabbers (2012)
Not Rated | 94 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
When an island off the coast of Ireland is invaded by bloodsucking aliens, the heroes discover that getting drunk is the only way to survive.
Director: Jon Wright | Stars: Killian Coyle, Stuart Graham, Michael Hough, Richard Coyle
Votes: 19,527
20. Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
PG-13 | 88 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Aliens who look like clowns come from outer space and terrorize a small town.
Director: Stephen Chiodo | Stars: Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, John Allen Nelson, John Vernon
Votes: 45,502 | Gross: $15.63M
Definitely the campiest alien invasion flick.
21. Altered (2006)
R | 88 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Fifteen years ago, a group of men's lives were forever changed by a strange occurrence. Now, the same group of men will spend a night together ... in terror.
Director: Eduardo Sánchez | Stars: Adam Kaufman, Catherine Mangan, Brad William Henke, Michael C. Williams
Votes: 10,936
22. Species (1995)
R | 108 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A group of scientists try to track down and trap a killer alien seductress before she successfully mates with a human.
Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Natasha Henstridge, Michael Madsen, Ben Kingsley, Alfred Molina
Votes: 85,280 | Gross: $60.07M
Probably the sexiest alien invasion movie.
23. Battleship (2012)
PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A fleet of ships is forced to do battle with an armada of unknown origins in order to discover and thwart their destructive goals.
Director: Peter Berg | Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Brooklyn Decker, Liam Neeson, Rihanna
Votes: 257,402 | Gross: $65.42M
24. Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
PG-13 | 119 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A spaceship arrives in 1873 Arizona to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. All that stands in their way: a posse of cowboys and natives.
Director: Jon Favreau | Stars: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Abigail Spencer
Votes: 232,534 | Gross: $100.24M
25. Attack the Block (2011)
R | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion.
Director: Joe Cornish | Stars: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, Leeon Jones
Votes: 111,438 | Gross: $1.02M
26. Men in Black (1997)
PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
James, an NYC cop, is hired by Agent K of a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial life on Earth. Together, they must recover an item that has been stolen by an intergalactic villain.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 613,116 | Gross: $250.69M
27. The World's End (2013)
R | 109 min | Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from twenty years earlier unwittingly become humanity's only hope for survival.
Director: Edgar Wright | Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Rosamund Pike
Votes: 298,261 | Gross: $26.00M
28. The Thing from Another World (1951)
Approved | 87 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a bloodthirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.
Directors: Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks | Stars: Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, James Arness, Robert Cornthwaite
Votes: 33,387
Not as good as John Carpenter's version, but this is still pretty good.
29. Pacific Rim (2013)
PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot and a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day
Votes: 531,026 | Gross: $101.80M
Inter-dimensional aliens, but aliens never the less.
30. Fire in the Sky (1993)
PG-13 | 109 min | Biography, Drama, Fantasy
An Arizona logger mysteriously disappears for five days in an alleged encounter with a flying saucer in 1975. His co-workers endure ridicule and contempt as they are wrongly accused of murder.
Director: Robert Lieberman | Stars: D.B. Sweeney, Robert Patrick, Craig Sheffer, Peter Berg
Votes: 28,438 | Gross: $20.10M
31. The Blob (1958)
Approved | 86 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
An alien lifeform consumes everything in its path as it grows and grows.
Directors: Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr., Russell S. Doughten Jr. | Stars: Steve McQueen, Aneta Corsaut, Earl Rowe, Olin Howland
Votes: 29,389
32. Transformers (2007)
PG-13 | 144 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An ancient struggle between two Cybertronian races, the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, comes to Earth, with a clue to the ultimate power held by a teenager.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson
Votes: 674,998 | Gross: $319.25M
The only one of the series that's watchable.
33. District 9 (2009)
R | 112 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Violence ensues after an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth finds a kindred spirit in a government agent exposed to their biotechnology.
Director: Neill Blomkamp | Stars: Sharlto Copley, David James, Jason Cope, Vanessa Haywood
Votes: 717,064 | Gross: $115.65M
34. Evolution (2001)
PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
A fire-fighting cadet, two college professors, and a geeky but sexy government scientist work against an alien organism that has been rapidly evolving since its arrival on Earth inside a meteor.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Julianne Moore, Seann William Scott
Votes: 136,288 | Gross: $38.35M
35. Evil Aliens (2005)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
A TV crew, desperate to boost ratings, arrive on a remote Welsh farming island to investigate an intriguing incident. A local girl and her boyfriend had been abducted by aliens, who also impregnated her.
Director: Jake West | Stars: Emily Booth, Jamie Honeybourne, Samuel Butler, Jodie Shaw
Votes: 6,094
36. Slither (2006)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
A small town is taken over by an alien plague, turning residents into zombies and all forms of mutant monsters.
Director: James Gunn | Stars: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, Don Thompson
Votes: 88,899 | Gross: $7.77M
37. The Puppet Masters (1994)
R | 109 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The Earth is invaded by stingray-shaped alien "slugs" that ride on people's backs and control their minds.
Director: Stuart Orme | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Julie Warner, Keith David
Votes: 9,709 | Gross: $8.64M
Not the one with the killer toys.
38. Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
Unrated | 83 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Extraterrestrials traveling in high-tech flying saucers contact a scientist as part of a plan to enslave the inhabitants of Earth.
Director: Fred F. Sears | Stars: Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor, Donald Curtis, Morris Ankrum
Votes: 9,114
39. The Avengers (2012)
PG-13 | 143 min | Action, Sci-Fi
Earth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are going to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.
Director: Joss Whedon | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner
Votes: 1,459,685 | Gross: $623.28M
This may be a bit of a cheat, but it technically did have a giant alien invasion at the end.
40. Dreamcatcher (2003)
R | 134 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Friends on a camping trip discover that the town they're vacationing in is being plagued in an unusual fashion by parasitic aliens from outer space.
Director: Lawrence Kasdan | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Damian Lewis
Votes: 96,481 | Gross: $33.72M
41. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
PG | 138 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Roy Neary, an Indiana electric lineman, finds his quiet and ordinary daily life turned upside down after a close encounter with a UFO, spurring him to an obsessed cross-country quest for answers as a momentous event approaches.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon
Votes: 216,953 | Gross: $132.09M
42. The Andromeda Strain (1971)
G | 131 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what killed the citizens of a small town and how the deadly contagion can be stopped.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: James Olson, Arthur Hill, David Wayne, Kate Reid
Votes: 40,451 | Gross: $3.42M
Only an alien virus is invading, but it's an alien life form so it counts.
43. The Watch (I) (2012)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
Four men who form a neighborhood watch group as a way to get out of their day-to-day family routines find themselves defending the Earth from an alien invasion.
Director: Akiva Schaffer | Stars: Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Billy Crudup
Votes: 133,051 | Gross: $35.35M
Pretty stupid but kinda funny.
44. Battle Los Angeles (2011)
PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A squad of U.S. Marines becomes the last line of defense against a global invasion.
Director: Jonathan Liebesman | Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ramón Rodríguez
Votes: 185,200 | Gross: $83.55M
45. The Arrival (1996)
PG-13 | 115 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Zane, an astronomer, discovers intelligent alien life. But the aliens are keeping a deadly secret, and will do anything to stop Zane from learning it.
Director: David Twohy | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Crouse, Richard Schiff, Shane
Votes: 38,190 | Gross: $14.05M
I think this is when we started to suspect Charlie Sheen himself was an alien. It still cannot be proved nor denied.
46. Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)
Not Rated | 79 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Evil aliens attack Earth and set their terrible "Plan 9" into action. As the aliens resurrect the dead of the Earth, the lives of the living are in danger.
Director: Edward D. Wood Jr. | Stars: Gregory Walcott, Tom Keene, Mona McKinnon, Duke Moore
Votes: 40,431
Soooooooooooooo bad but still fun.
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