Little green men and Martians have been fixtures in science fiction and horror since H.G. Wells published The War of the Worlds at the turn of the 20th century. The story is one of the first to demonstrate that “I come in peace” is typically far from the case. But does that mean all of the encounters with aliens in pop culture are horrible? Who can forget the lovable antics of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial and his lesser cousin, Mac and Me? And how many folks are excited for Superman to hit theaters again, showing the globe how helpful an alien can be after they crash land into the lives of a loving elderly Kansas couple.
But what are other examples? What benevolent races should we welcome with open arms? What horrifying creatures should we hide from at all costs? We’ve dug around a bit to list out what we feel are some of the best and worst alien encounters you can experience on film, TV, or streaming. Loose is the word to use when defining this list, especially since these things are subjective and there are tons of options all out and about.
1) Best – Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Kicking things off, we’ve chosen a baseline for these opening encounters. Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind represents how most people hope a real-life alien encounter will go down. The invaders are coated in mystery throughout and unnerve people with their actions, but prove to be quite benevolent in the end. Nobody dies, some folks experience a gnarly sunburn, and Richard Dreyfuss gets to dance with little aliens before joining them to travel on their ship. It’s a great experience all around.
1) Worst – Aliens/Predator
The same can’t be said for any of the films in the Alien or Predator franchises. Both are so connected in pop culture, we really needed to connect them on this list. It’s a choice that also represents a catch-all for all the blood that gets spilled when these two alien races are around. In the latest offerings, we see a Predator slaughter a bunch of French trappers and members of an Indian tribe. And then in space, we have the Xenomorphs popping up after the events of the first movie and introducing a human hybrid that is far more creepy then it ever needed to be. Both encounters could make the list as some of the worst, and then you can move on to the rest of the franchises for even more. No amount of team-ups with the Predator can save their status, either.
2) Best – Childhood’s End
Arthur C. Clarke’s classic novel was finally adapted into a mini-series on SyFy in 2015, starring Charles Dance as the “Overlord” Karellan. These “overlords” are a race of aliens who arrive on Earth to assist humanity in transcending to the next stage of existence and join the “Overmind.” It plays out like other classic invasions, with people distrusting the aliens. The alien’s hooves, horns, and red skin don’t help matters either. They’re still not evil or deadly, like the Xenomorphs. Time is the true antagonist in this one.
[RELATED – From “A” to “Xenomorph,” All 9 Alien Films Ranked]
2) Worst – Three Body Problem
Similar in some ways, Netflix’s adaptation of the Three-Body Problem sees humanity preparing for an alien invasion after Earth’s location is revealed to an alien race by a disgruntled Chinese scientist. This is simplifying a lot of real history, but her radio transmission essentially dooms humanity for a slow-moving period of over 400 years. Humanity ends up additionally dooming itself through misadventure and ignorance, but this isn’t letting the aliens off the hook. The invaders, known as Trisolarians, never actually make it to Earth in the course of the story, using microscopic supercomputers called Sophons to stop our scientific progress and prepare the planet for takeover. We never stood a chance, even though we really thought we were better.
3) Best – 3rd Rock From the Sun
Television is typically ripe for alien invasion, usually in the negative variety. But there are exceptions. Alf and Coneheads walked so 3rd Rock from the Sun could run for six seasons. John Lithgow, Kristen Johnson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and French Stewart play a group of aliens on a scientific mission disguised as humans. The series deals with their attempts to adapt to life on Earth and live as a normal family, where hi-jinks ensue. It’s a sitcom, so there’s only so much that needs explaining. You watching fun aliens navigate human society for 130 episodes on network television, and that’s still considered a good thing.
3) Worst – X-Files
Meanwhile, over on Fox, we have The X-Files and its labyrinthine alien conspiracy mythology. You could say these aliens are similar to the family in 3rd Rock from the Sun, but we missed the episode where John Lithgow pumps black goo into an abductee to transform them into a hybrid creature that will help the alien colonists take over and settle Earth. We still prefer the Monster of the Week episodes better.
4) Best – Contact
Carl Sagan’s 1985 novel Contact jumped to film in 1997, shortly after Sagan passed away. The resulting Robert Zemeckis film starring Jodie Foster presents evidence of extraterrestrial life being discovered and first contact coming via a returning radio signal. Foster’s Dr. Ellie Arroway and the rest of the scientific community join to build a vehicle from schematics shared by the aliens, in hopes of facilitating an in-person meeting. It’s a positive experience throughout, with the real threats being other humans and religious zealots. The movie doesn’t stick the landing, but it is a fun ride.
4) Worst – The Thing
Coming in as the messiest alien encounter, John Carpenter’s The Thing stands alone. The ’80s remake is praised for its special effects and tweaks that made the alien a biological threat instead of a physical one. Instead of portraying the creature running around and killing scientists, The Thing seeds distrust, copies and absorbs victims as part of itself in an effort to reach civilization. The result is the opposite of Contact. Kurt Russell and crew are picked off one by one, sometimes by each other, and the final moments reflect the efforts to stop the alien from escaping. The scientists blow up their arctic base and lean on the hope that they managed to save humanity.
5) Best – Arrival
A recent addition to the canon is Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival. While the crux of the film is the personal story of Amy Adams’ Louise Banks and her exploration of the alien language in the movie.the These “heptapod” aliens use their language and its unique properties to aid humanity’s survival, revealing the heptapod’s themselves will need humanity’s help 3,000 years in the future. The language is a “tool” used to teach humanity to perceive time differently and in a non-linear fashion. Banks eventually learns about her own future, creating quite the problem for the decisions she has to make.
5) Worst – Mars Attacks
Helpful aliens are out there, typically far more than their “evil” brethren. But the Martians from Mars Attacks merely pose as helpful to humans before revealing they are bad to the bone. Unlike previous alien races on this list, the Martians operate on pure spite. They invade Earth for no reason other than mayhem it seems. They open the movie loading up their ships and other gadgets, pretending to be friendly at first until they can’t help themselves. Too bad they didn’t pay attention to human music before arriving.
Did we mention your favorite alien encounter above? Are there any that would better fit in the listings? Let us know in the comments.
The post The 5 Best (And Worst) Alien Encounters in Pop Culture appeared first on ComicBook.com.
