Top 10: Aliens

A mainstay of all cinema since it's inception, has been it's exploration of science fiction themes. It is only natural for humans to ponder their own place in the Universe and whether or not there are any other forms of life out there. Through the varied forms of extra terrestrials in film, Hollywood has explored almost all sides of what our first contact with life from another world might be like; be they gentle and docile or ferocious invading monsters. Throughout the many genres Hollywood goes through the ages with such as musicals, pirate swashbucklers and epic period films, they inevitably will fall afoul of their time and cease to attract audiences. Sci-fi never goes out of fashion and is always a successful genre to utilise. However, this means it grows ever harder to provide new takes on any visitors from a different world. This Summer alone shows the genre has no signs of dying with Super 8, Cowboys & Aliens, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Thor, Green Lantern, Attack The Block and even The Tree of Life, each pondering the hows and whys of the Universe, to varying degrees of success. Here is a list of my personal favourites:

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

OK, obvious choice here, but he truly is one of the most memorable creations ever to grace the screens. That a creature as ugly as he could elicit genuine emotion and feeling from the audience to such a degree that no matter if they're child, woman or man, will always be left bawling on the floor come that end, is quite an accomplishment. In a genre crowded with terrifying marauders and invading robots, E.T. is a reminder that there are a few nice guys out there in space.





The Thing

Released the same year as E.T., but to far less commercial success, it was only in later years that the cult of John Carpenters classic began to grow and people realised what a terrifying achievement it was. To this day, many of the prosthetics and effects hold up brilliantly and still continue to shock and unnerve. It's terror comes from the fact that this life form could be your best friend and you might never know. That coupled with it's brilliantly utilised and claustrophobic Antarctic setting make it's effect all the greater. While we never actually get to see the original shape of the creature, it's various graphic shape shiftings is enough to imply we never want to. That remake/prequel due for release later this year sure has a lot to live up to.





Predator

Somewhat sullied by those pointless and horrible Alien Vs. Predator mash ups, this guys power remains undiminished. While the film begins as a very standard boys action rescue flick, it quickly morphs into a tense face off between the hunter from another world and Schwarzeneggers lone special ops agent. History has it that one of the creatures most defining physical aspects, it's mandible face actually came from a James Cameron design. While the late great Stan Winston helped create the iconic design, it's original effort was far from the imposing warrior. In fact it more closely resembled a small version of a man in a Godzilla costume mindlessly running about - brief snippets of which can be seen on the DVD. Had that actually been it's final design then you can rest assured, it would be a very different film than the one we are left with.




Alien

Perhaps possibly the monster that comes to your head when you think of aliens on film, HR Giger's unsettling and disturbing design of a phallic, acid blooded and almost indestructible killing machine was the stuff of nightmares for years after that first Alien film. Yet again, those pesky Alien Vs. Predator films, plus it's franchises own turds (Alien Resurrection) have come close to dwindling the immense power of such a classic movie monster, but have failed. A truly unsettling creation; a creature that grows inside it's host before unceremoniously giving 'birth' to itself through it's hosts ribcage would be bad enough, did it not also grow into a two metre tall, unstoppable and incredibly pissed off monster. From the facehugger to it's adult stage, it goes through many incarcerations, each one of them incredibly effective.




District 9

The aliens in District 9 are not part of a hostile planet takeover of Earth. Rather they are a weak species who have crash landed in Johannesburg. Interestingly, we do not treat them as an historical first meeting with inter dimensional beings we could learn something from, rather a burden on our economy in which director Neill Blomkamp makes some not so subtle comparisons with racism in his native country. While they are described as drone workers for a much stronger infrastructure of aliens that have already died by the time they get here, they are nontheless strong and vicious enough to take care of themselves. However, if these prawns are the weaklings, then imagine what the big guns will be like like when they return to Earth in the mooted sequel. Our main guide into their world is Christopher Johnson, whom we discover shares a few parallels with human behaviour and is sometimes more human, than the humans themselves.




Paul

The thing about Paul is that while the film may not be a classic by any means, the great animation on the character mixed with Seth Rogans delivery of him means he is one of the first CGI characters to hilariously riff and improv with our main live action characters. I love that thousands of dollars went into a character that moons, curses, smokes weed and quotes various sci-fi films at our heroes. Because of this, it is easy to forget that Paul is entirely CG. Putting so much pressure on the character to succeed was a risky move, but they pull it off; so much so in fact, that most of the films success is down to the little guy.




Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Spielberg's second appearance on the list with yet again, another cuddly pacifist view on what visitors from another world might be like. The true drama in the film comes from Roy Neary's (Richard Dreyfuss) obsession with his first initial and brief encounter with them as it threatens to overtake his life and destroy his family. So come the end, when the little grey guys (the most typical design on this list, but no less effective) turn up, they bring awe inspiring spectacle and dazzling technology shrouded in glorious light. These guys are more curious and insightful than hell bent on enslaving man kind for their own ends. The end result is one of the most incredible climaxes in cinema history, using music as communication to stunning effect.




The Abyss
Again, another variation on more peaceful aliens, this frequently overlooked James Cameron classic, is still an incredibly tense and often claustrophobic thriller, set deep under the oceans. The film supposes that aliens have been here all along, living unbeknownst to man in the deep abysses of our oceans. When they finally appear for the films climax, they appear almost angelic and help save our heroes. Of course they also manage to show mankind the error of their ways and come off more as observers than any life forms willing to make contact with us. This scene is perhaps the most memorable in the film.




Independence Day
OK, so some of it's power may have diminished with director Roland Emmerich deciding to do almost the exact same thing with each disaster film since this films release but the fact remains, that this films has has one of the most epic alien invasion build ups ever and some pretty great set pieces. Thank god that alien technology was compatible with Apple otherwise we would have all been screwed. This one is for the boy inside you.




Signs
Before both M. Night Shyamalan's career went down the pan and found footage movies were overdone, we had this great moment from Signs. Up to this point we know something is happening in the world, but don't know what and this brief but incredibly hair raising moment from the film works wonders in upping the horror stakes. It's cam recorded footage on the TV only adds to it's effect; we could imagine watching the news and reacting much like Joaquin Phoenix character does. It's effect comes from us putting ourselves in that situation and wondering just what the hell we would do? Of course, the film then squanders all this in the third act showing that the only thing that can kill the aliens is water. Good work then on invading a planet that is almost entirely covered with the stuff.