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“The Top Ten in Outer Space”

“The Top Ten Movies in Outer Space” is enjoyable reading and a topic dear to my heart: these “top 10” lists are inherently interesting.

I don’t know why the author made the arbitrary cutoff with films made after we reached the Moon. The 50’s was the golden age of outer space movies and deserved more attention. I would not include any Star Wars movies in the list and maybe only the Borg movie from the Star Trek series (First Contact).

All time #1 is Forbidden Planet, whose crew, ship and concept are the model for Star Trek. Flash Gordon scores high, too, and Lucas acknowledges the debt in his scrolling opening credits format.

Also from the 50’s, This Island Earth was truly memorable. Aliens destroy their own planet and try to take ours. Journey to the Seventh Planet, with John Agar, is a personal favorite of mine though a solid B.

2001: a Space Odyssey goes near the top, and so does Alien, though the latter was prefigured by It! The Terror from Beyond Space. Can’t leave those spaceship doors open unattended.

I would also include Tarkovsky’s monumental Solaris as one of the best. Starship Troopers and Enemy Mine also deserve consideration.

Copyright © 2007 by Bill Bowler

Thanks for the viewing list, Bill. I have a few to catch up on, I see!

It might make an interesting article to compare the films from before July 1969 with those that followed. But I can’t be sure, offhand: maybe the Moon landing made a cultural impact on science fiction films; maybe other influences have been more important.

Don