The 30 Best Space Movies of All Time

The Last Starfighter has such a fun premise, one very rooted in 1980s culture: Teenage trailer park resident Alex happens to be exceptionally good at an arcade game, and he achieves the highest score, he finds out that the game is actually a recruitment tool for a war happening between two alien civilizations. Thankfully, he's been recruited for the non-evil side of the war. The catch is he might be the galaxy's only hope in stopping it. Featuring The Music Man’s Robert Preston as the alien who becomes Alex's mentor, the movie was an early pioneer in using computer-generated graphics for its depiction of space travel. The effects look all right by modern standards, but this movie's plucky spirit holds up a lot better. — L.S. Miller

Watch The Last Starfighter now on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

In space, no one can hear your scream... but they might be able to hear you laugh. Mel Brooks’ classic 1987 parody of the original Star Wars saga (plus a few other space-based and sci-fi flicks for good measure) has almost as many memorable moments as its source material. You’ve got hilarious characters (John Candy’s Barf, Rick Moranis’ Lord Dark Helmet, Joan Rivers’ Dot Matrix, etc), absurd lampoons of the most famous space opera of all time (Pizza the Hutt, Yogurt’s quest to milk the franchise into oblivion, etc), and the simple pleasures of well-delivered, silly-ass jokes (“I knew it, I’m surrounded by assholes!,“ “We ain’t found shit!,“ “When will then be now?,“ etc). May the Schwartz be with you, Brooks and company — and with Josh Gad and the team taking on the long awaited sequel. — Jonah Krueger

Watch Spaceballs now on AMC+ and The Roku Channel or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe giveth, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe taketh away. In this case, Guardians of the Galaxy was a gargantuan gift to those of us who wanted to see more superhero action in space. The movie balances on the wits and whims of Chris Pratt's Peter Quill, a space adventurer who steals an orb coveted by Ronan (Lee Pace), a formidable villain. In order to escape the clutches of Ronan, Quill is forced into a reluctant truce with a band of far-flung misfits, none of whom are the heroes we might hope would be in charge of saving the universe. Space is the place for Guardians, but the underlying theme is the friendship discovered along the way. — Kiana Fitzgerald

Watch Guardians of the Galaxy now on Disney+ or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Special effects savant Douglas Trumbull helped turn many sci-fi concepts into cinematic classics, including No. 1 on this list. His directing career, while brief, includes one masterpiece, with a plot so poignant it’s hard to describe without sinking into depression. In the far future, humanity has wiped out all forests on Earth, and our once-vast biodiversity is reduced to a few geodesic domes orbiting Saturn on American Airlines-branded spacecraft. But when budgets get tight, AA orders those ships to return to commercial service, their domes exploded. Space botanist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) refuses. Silent Running asks, what is worth sacrificing, and what is worth saving? — Wren Graves

Watch Silent Running now on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Starring Vin Diesel as Richard B. Riddick, a most dangerous criminal and murderer, Pitch Black focuses on an interstellar mission that situates Riddick as a prisoner among a crew fighting for survival after a spaceship collision. It's soon discovered that Riddick has surgically-altered eyes that allow him to see in the dark, but make him sensitive to light. This is very important for reasons that eventually reveal themselves, one of them being that the planet the crew crash-lands on circles within a three-star system, meaning at least one sun never sets. Light and dark come in cycles, and Pitch Black explores the perception — or lack thereof — that ties the two together. — K. Fitzgerald

Watch Pitch Black now on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Sci-fi and horror have always been two flavors that taste great together, but Event Horizon really took it to the next level. Critically panned upon its premiere, director Paul W.S. Anderson's rare foray into non-video-game-inspired storytelling has become a cult favorite for its deranged Hellraiser-esque visuals, its central spaceship a setting for torture and despair as Sam Neill's conflicted scientist finds himself pulled into madness. Rumors abound about an unrated director's cut... but honestly, the movie's disturbing enough as it is, a helpful reminder that going to space might be a terribly bad idea. — L.S. Miller

Watch Event Horizon now on Paramount+ and Hoopla or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Director Andrei Tarkovsky takes his time with his adaptation of the Stanislaw Lem novel, aiming for a more humanist look at exploring the cosmos than Kubrick's earlier 2001: A Space Odyssey. Hence a story about a psychologist sent to investigate what's happened on a space station in disarray. Why is the station in disarray? Well, it's orbiting the titular fictional planet, which may or may not be haunting the crew with their deceased loved ones. It's a very slow burn of a movie, but its character-focused approach to sci-fi, and Tarkovsky's remarkable visual style made it pioneering in its time and still very powerful today. — L.S. Miller

Watch Solaris now on HBO Max, Kanopy, The Criterion Channel, and Tubi or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

If we were ranking this list based on influence alone, Le Voyage dans la Lune (or, in English, A Trip to the Moon) would be an obvious choice for first place. Over the course of just about 15 minutes, the 1902 silent film presented early filmgoers with a spectacle that they had quite literally never seen before via innovative editing techniques, sensational production trickery, and its focus on entertainment. Now, more than a full century later, its imagery remains iconic (primarily the space vessel lodged in the eye of the man in the moon), and for good reason. There are countless films that take place among the stars, and likely none of them would have been possible without Le Voyage dans la Lune’s groundbreaking launch. — J. Krueger

Watch A Trip to the Moon now on HBO Max or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

As Lynch-heads will tell you, Dune (1984) is a flawed but underrated adaptation, and as cinephiles from the early 2020s will tell you, Dune: Part One is a fantastic introductory epic that would have made an even bigger splash if not for its pandemic-kneecapped theatrical release. But, as we will tell you, the real Lisan Al-Gaib of the franchise (thus far, at least) is Dune: Part Two. Masterfully building off of the world established by its predecessor, upping the spectacle, and featuring stellar performance after stellar performance, Denis Villeneuve's sequel landed like Gen Z's Empire Strikes Back — and deservingly so. Even if Dune: Part Three botches the landing (unlikely as that may be), Dune: Part Two is sure to remain one of the most stunning space operas of the 21st century, if not of all time. — J. Krueger

Watch Dune: Part Two now on HBO Max or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

John Carpenter made his directorial debut with this gritty, wry look at space travel, one that embraces the rough reality of what it would mean long term. The ship occupied by this ragtag crew is falling apart after 20 years in space, and the remaining spacemen on board are just doing whatever they can to stay sane despite the tedium. When disaster strikes, these dudes handle it the best they can — unfortunately, not very well.

Dark Star began as a student film project at the University of Southern California, and while star Dan O'Bannon wouldn't go on to have a vibrant acting career, he did find success a little later that decade as the writer of Ridley Scott's Alien (a movie that just might pop up later on this list). — L.S. Miller

Watch Dark Star now on Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Hoopla, The Criterion Channel, Pluto TV, and Tubi or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Fans of the Alien franchise can argue to the moon and back about which movie is better, the original Alien (1979) or its sequel, Aliens (1986). They're both great films, but while Alien was a slow-burn sci-fi thriller, Aliens brought the blockbuster action that the first movie lacked. Sigourney Weaver takes her role of Ellen Ripley to a new level in Aliens, cementing her as one of the most badass characters in movie history. Add in memorable characters like Hicks, Bishop, Hudson, and Vasquez, not to mention little Newt — all perfectly played by the respective actors — as well as a handful of heart-stopping sequences, and Aliens stands as one of the best sequels in any genre. — Spencer Kaufman

Watch Aliens now on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

A psychedelic, allegorical, beautifully presented piece of sci-fi animation, La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet) is one of the most interesting astrological trips a cinephile can take. Based on Stefan Wul’s 1957 novel Oms en série, La Planète Sauvage presents a classical story of revolution and justice rendered in immaculate 2D animation, all set to Alain Goraguer’s brilliant psych-jazz. From a strictly audio-visual perspective, it’s one of the most creative, fantastical (fitting, eh) representations of an extraterrestrial society ever put to screen. Pay attention to the story, and you’ll find that society and its attitudes seem all too familiar... — J. Krueger

Watch Fantastic Planet now on HBO Max, The Criterion Channel, and The Roku Channel or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Five years after revolutionizing the zombie genre with 28 Days Later, director Danny Boyle, writer Alex Garland, and leading man Cillian Murphy reunited to create a divisive science fiction epic whose reputation never burned as bright as its predecessor. Which is such a shame, because the trio were equally innovative on Sunshine. The score and visuals are masterful though, and the ensemble cast is filled with future stars. Sunshine is as intense and spectacular as riding a rocket into the sun, and there’s enough majestic images and ideas along the way to make it an unforgettable experience. — Tyler Franklin

Watch Sunshine now on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Director Duncan Jones was deliberate in making a movie for a “science fiction-literate audience,” and the result is a remarkable success for a first-time filmmaker on a shoestring budget. Moon is a minimalist masterpiece meant to evoke thought more than entertain with action. Sam Rockwell is the one-man principal cast that remains on-screen for virtually the entire runtime, and his portrayal of the mental (and physical) unraveling that occurs in prolonged isolation fuels the entire journey. The meaty philosophical questions it asks about identity and utilitarianism give audiences plenty to think about even after the credits roll. — T. Franklin

Watch Moon now on Tubi or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Director Alfonso Cuarón and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki achieved an immersive feat on Gravity, putting you directly in the (space) shoes of astronauts Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) as they're stranded in outer space, detached from their shuttle. In addition to a powerhouse performance from Bullock, who carries a great deal of the film by herself, Gravity shows just how terrifying and merciless space really is. Each sequence is more tense than the last as Cuarón channels the beauty and horror of the unknown, and by the film's final frames, you'll want to go outside and touch grass — literally. — Paolo Ragusa

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Writer/director Luc Besson makes a lot of daring choices in The Fifth Element, to the point where the intergalactic fever dream teeters on chaos. While some of that is employed to disguise an otherwise slippery plot (I dare you to explain what the Fifth Element actually is), its main function underpins one of the most enjoyable world-building exercises in space film history. The Jean-Paul Gaultier-designed couture attire,  French comic book inspired aesthetics, and wide variety of characters establish a universe that feels distinct, futuristic, and full. It's arthouse camp meets pop sci-fi, delivered with fun, fast-paced filmmaking and absolutely electric performances from Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, and Chris Tucker. — Ben Kaye

Watch The Fifth Element now on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Who knew a silly ol' robot could mirror humanity back to us with such heart-wrenching emotion? Andrew Stanton apparently did, and he developed the film's concept for over a decade while at Pixar. WALL-E was a sensation upon release, and its philosophical themes about consumerism, environmentalism, and our complacency with technology have aged particularly well. Like many great space films, WALL-E uses the cosmos as a canvas for something far more urgent: a reckoning with humanity's greatest flaws. It has its weighty themes, but overall, it's still a love story, and rooting for the titular waste-compactor bot remains an easy ask. — P. Ragusa

Watch Wall-E now on Disney+ or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Take the cast of Star Trek and put them where no actor has gone before: on a real alien spaceship. Meta premises rarely work as well as they do in Galaxy Quest, a shining example of how mind melding deconstructive satire and sincere homage can produce an enduring love letter. An elite cast takes the film's outlandish conceit as seriously as they do the plot's high-stakes, becoming both points-of-entry for the audience and surrogates for our nerdiest sci-fi fantasies. Navigating tropes like the panicky "unnamed redshirt" to the Shakespearian actor's absurd catchphrase to the pointless "chomper" hallway, Galaxy Quest does its job so well it was once ranked the seventh best Star Trek movie by fans at an actual Star Trek convention. — B. Kaye

Watch Galaxy Quest now on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

George Lucas created a "galaxy far, far away" from scratch with the first installment of Star Wars. The vibrant planet Tatooine, with its various factions, serves as the backdrop for establishing the franchise's lore, introducing the Rebel Alliance and their misfit band of allies — both robots and humans — as they scheme to take down the Galactic Empire's massive Death Star space station. Captivating performances from a baby-faced Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford as the swashbuckling Han Solo, and Carrie Fisher as the whip-smart Princess Leia established the film as a gold standard for the space opera genre, and that epic Death Star climax (the Battle of Yavin, for you nerds out there) remains one of cinema's most iconic moments. — Eddie Fu

Watch Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope now on Disney+ or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

“Houston, we have a problem.” A lesser pairing of actor and director might have turned this into a melodramatic shout, but Tom Hanks’ Jim Lowell is almost calm as he says it, locked in, trusting Ron Howard to ratchet up the anxiety with a montage of quick cuts. Apollo 13 returns again and again to this recipe, with both ground control and astronauts trying not to lose their shit in the face of impending catastrophe. Even knowing how it ends, the long wait during reentry is almost unbearable, and when Hanks finally crackles on the radio to say, “It’s good to see you again,” it’s hard not to cheer. Apollo 13 is a fitting tribute to one of the most heroic moments in the real history of space. — W. Graves

Watch Apollo 13 now on Paramount+ and Kanopy or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Based on the book by Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff uses its three hour and 12 minute runtime to track the early history of the American space program, beginning in 1947 with the dangerous testing of high-speed aircraft and concluding in 1963, with the end of the Mercury program. In that time, we see men deemed to have ::points at title:: grapple with the seeming impossibility of escaping Earth's atmosphere, while knowing that the Soviet Union is also racing them to the stars. Director Philip Kaufman didn't put a premium on historical accuracy (at least if you ask most of the real-life figures featured in the film) but he did create a soaring tribute to human accomplishment, with some thrilling flight sequences. — L.S. Miller

Watch The Right Stuff now on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Ridley Scott’s late-period masterwork features all the best aspects of science fiction. There’s a real love of science, with technical procedural elements that recall the nail-biting precision of Apollo 13. There’s a grandness of scale, quietly expanding how we think about humanity back home on our pale, blue dot. And there’s a genuinely interesting character at the center of it all, brought to life with vivid, wry resolve by a never-better Matt Damon. The supporting cast is no slouch either, grounding the film’s more audacious moments in something warm and recognizably human. With an irresistible mix of hard reality and soaring imagination, The Martian will make you proud to be an Earthling. — W. Graves

Watch The Martian now on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

When the cast of the original 1960s Star Trek television series reunited for the franchise's first foray onto the big screen in 1979's The Motion Picture, the film didn't exactly boldly go where fans had hoped it would go. But that all changed three years later with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, unquestionably the best movie in the entire OG six-film franchise. Ricardo Montalban is mesmerizing as Captain Kirk's arch enemy Khan, while William Shatner (Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), and the rest of the crew are in top form in this action-packed sequel. Star Trek II also kicked off the franchise's best cinematic run, with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home completing an excellent three-film story arc. — S. Kaufman

Watch Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan now on Paramount+ or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Christopher Nolan's Interstellar is less known for its complexity when compared to the director's Inception, but it's still a pretty big mindfuck. Steeped in astrophysics, wormholes, and interplanetary exploration, the film centers on a future Earth that has become increasingly uninhabitable, thanks to churning dust storms and extensive crop blights. Ex-NASA pilot turned farmer Joseph Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is given the weighty responsibility of piloting a spacecraft with a crew of researchers for the purpose of finding a new planet that humans can call home. While space-focused science fiction is the through-line of the film, the non-negotiables of human connection are the true factors that drive Interstellar forward. — K. Fitzgerald

Watch Interstellar now on Paramount+, Hoopla, and Pluto TV or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

"They should have sent a poet." Robert Zemekis took a grounded approach to his adaptation of Carl Sagan's classic novel, even digitally manipulating footage of then-President Bill Clinton to center the movie very much in contemporary times. That makes some scenes feel a little dated today, but oh, when it's revealed that aliens have made contact with the planet Earth, and Earth's citizens quickly turn it into a political quagmire... That's timeless. All the earthbound mishegoss scientist Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) has to deal with before finally getting launched into the cosmos only amplifies the surreal beauty of what follows, a sentimental but powerful message about the power of connection. Contact plays like a prelude to the beginning of a better world, a world we might still hope to see one day. — L.S. Miller

Watch Contact now on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

If films like 2001: A Space Odyssey confronted the philosophical and existential horrors of the final frontier, Alien masterfully mined the setting for its tangible terrors. Initially written off by many critics of the time as merely an old-school creature feature set on a spaceship, Ridley Scott’s 1979 masterpiece is now rightly recognized as a blueprint for extraterrestrial horror. From Scott’s instantly gripping world building to the now iconic art direction and practical effects to motherfucking Sigourney Weaver, Alien is drowning in an intoxicatingly grisly, tense atmosphere (as well as acidic saliva). All respect to James Cameron and the varying charm of the many sequels and spinoffs, but it all comes back to 1979’s frighteningly enjoyable ride. — J. Krueger

Watch Alien now on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

A New Hope introduced us to the Star Wars universe, but The Empire Strikes Back is where shit got real. Not only is it one of the best sequels of all time, it's one of the definitive space epics; Empire’s riveting pace and its imaginative world building make every scene feel like a discovery. The whole film is a treat, but the Bespin-based final third of Empire is all the action and drama you could ever want in a space movie: A hero being frozen in carbonite and delivering one of the best exchanges in cinema ("I love you"... "I know."), a stunning lightsaber battle that goes on for an appropriately long amount of time, and the revelation that (spoiler alert) the evil guy is the good guy's dad. If you needed an example of the expansive potential of a good space epic, Empire's your film. — P. Ragusa

Watch Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back now on Disney+ or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.

Putting 2001 at the top of this list is a bit of a "no duh" moment, because yes, Stanley Kubrick's surreal masterpiece is nearly 60 years old, but its power as a chronicle of humanity's past and future hasn't diminished in that time. Starting with the early dawn of man before accelerating forward millennia, Kubrick collaborated with famed sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke to imagine the potential realities of space travel — including accommodations on the moon sponsored by hotel chain Howard Johnson's and video calls made possible by Bell Labs (the research unit of the original AT&T).

The core of the film is focused on a mission to Jupiter that goes horribly wrong, thanks to a rogue AI named Hal. Hal's efforts at self-preservation (by murdering the crew of the Discovery) create a potent blend of suspense for the middle portion of the film. What launches the movie into all-time-great status, though, is what happens next, as the Discovery's surviving officer arrives at Jupiter and... Well, there are a few interpretations of that ending, but no matter what you believe happened, the sequence is a dazzling, haunting, and profound conclusion that exploded our minds. A true Space Odyssey, 2001 is a movie that captures the full scope of the wonder and terror inherent in traveling amongst the stars. It has yet to be topped. — L.S. Miller

Watch 2001: A Space Odyssey now on HBO Max or on VOD via Apple TV and Amazon.