This Island Earth (1955)
Abduction into an Alien War
Beautifully colourful 1950s SF film about scientists who are abducted to take part in a war between two alien species
Other Planets
Other Planets refers to any other planet that is visited in the course of an SF film. The worlds of the Solar System are dealt with in more detail under Mars, Venus, The Moon and Journeys Inside the Solar System.
Visits to other planets were for many years (up until the 1950s) confined within the Solar System – the exception might be Flash Gordon’s Mongo. These were hardly scientific – most planets being represented with Earth-like atmosphere and inhabited or the unserious whimsies of Georges Melies where the Moon and Sun had faces.
Depictions of extra-solar planets began to enter in the Space Exploration films of the 1950s and in particular tv shows like Doctor Who (1963-89), Lost in Space (1965-8) and Star Trek (1966-9), which showed a widely inhabited galaxy beyond the Solar System – although in the majority of cases still inhabited by people that looked just like us, spoke English and lived on Earth-like planets. A large part of the reason for this being that creating non-human and exotic places was far more expensive than simply going on location in Bronson Canyon or the BBC Quarry.
The much more diverse galaxy started to come in in Star Wars (1977) and sequels, showing a galaxy of worlds and different environments – desert or ice worlds, forest moons, volcanic worlds. The new Star Trek series of the 1980s/90s created more exotic aliens with strange facial appliances. However, these were still all variants on humanoid aliens and earth-like planets for the most part.
Since this, not a huge amount is changed. There are plentiful films that depict well-inhabited galaxies. And a number of others that depict exotic worlds. However, with occasional exceptions, there are only a few works that have the imagination (or budget) to go for the truly exotic and different.
Thor (2011)
Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
The film adaptation of Marvel Comics’ The Mighty Thor is placed in the hands of Kenneth Branagh who delivers an okay film, if one where he never quite seems at home with the superheroic action
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
The third of the MCU’s Thor films. This time Kiwi director Taikia Waititi gives much more of a comedic emphasis where you get the impression the intention has been to push the film in the direction of Guardians of the Galaxy. On the other hand, the superheroics are routine
Thor: Tales of Asgard (2011)
Animation/Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
Though Marvel Comics have had massive success with their big screen adaptations in the 00s, they have been far less successful with their attempts to spin off animated films. An okay but unexceptional animated prequel released at the same time as the first Thor live-action film
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
Sequel to Thor that earranges the same basic elements much more satisfyingly than the first film – the actors (with the exception of a tranquilised Natalie Portman) seem more at home in their roles and a director who is more confident with the effects and superheroics. That said, it is starting to feel like Marvel is shuffling the same plot ingredients around between films
Titan A.E. (2000)
Animation/Space Opera
Very nicely made space opera from animator Don Bluth, operating from a Joss Whedon script, that unfortunately proved a big box-office flop
Transformers One (2024)
Transformers Origin Story/Animation
Since Michael Bay retired from the series, The Transformers films have been looking for new directions. This ventures into animation to tell a Transformers origin story
Transformers: The Last Knight (2017)
Live-Action Transformer Robots
The fifth of Michael Bay’s Transformers films. This comes with more of an outright comedy focus than any of the other films where Bay seems to be second-guessing his critics and spoofing his own peccadilloes in quote marks, only to produce the silliest entry in the series yet
The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Transformer Robot Wars/Animation
Animated theatrically released spinoff from the original Transformers tv series. The film mostly serves to highlight the considerable number of characters where to the uninitiated it is frequently difficult to tell one side from the next.
Treasure Planet (2002)
Disney Animation/Treasure Island in Outer Space
Disney animated film that proved a flop, this lazily remakes Treasure Island set in space. The result is bad science-fiction with sailing ships in space, Ben Gumm as a malfunctioning robot and so on
The Turkish Star Wars (1982)
Planetary Adventure/Bad Movie Classic
A strong contender for Worst Film Ever. Rather than create any effects, it has simply uplifted footage from Star Wars, while the score is a mismash taken from popular films of the era. The dialogue is so bizarrely surreal it makes the brain hurt trying to understand it
2 + 5 Mission Hydra (1966)
Italian Space Opera
An Italian space opera where a professor and associates are abducted after finding an alien craft. The film’s main distinction was being redubbed in English under the title Star Pilot to be released as a copy of Star Wars
2001: A Space Travesty (2000)
Intergalactic Farce
Supposedly an Airplane-styled movie parody that takes on 2001: A Space Odyssey (although this soon gets forgotten), this is one of the most painfully unfunny films ever made
Upside Down (2012)
Two Worlds with Gravity in Opposing Directions
The frustration of a film that has a scientifically nonsensical premise – two planets where gravity is oriented in opposing directions – that is also surprisingly imaginatively made. This creates some genuinely amazing visuals and designs of the two worlds and showing the people on them interacting
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
Space Opera/Comic-Book Adaptation
It was a box-office bomb but this is one of the most breathtaking and completely designed SF work to ever cross the screen. In terms of effects, sets and costuming, Luc Besson gives us a work that is an overwhelming treat for the eyes
Valley of the Dragons (1961)
Jules Verne Adaptation/Prehistoric Lost World on a Comet
Among the 1950s/60s spate of Jules Verne films, this was an adaptation of one of Vernr’s lesser-known works Hector Servadac/Off on a Comet. That said, all the but the notion of people swept up on a comet is thrown out and the rest played as a prehistoric lost world adventure
Vampirella (1996)
Comic Book Adaptation/Alien Vampire Heroine
Disappointingly tatty rendering of the famous comic-book strip as a low-budget Roger Corman production. Vampirella is missing her distinctive costume and Talisa Soto comes nowhere near the comic-book character’s statuesque voluptuousness
Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968)
Expedition to Venus/Russian SF Film
Another Roger Corman film made up out of footage recycled from Russian SF films and pseudnonymously directed by a young Peter Bogdanovich in a rather silly plot about astronauts encountering dinosaur-worshipping women on Venus
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)
Expedition to Venus/Russian SF Film
Roger Corman had a good deal of success in the 1960s by buying up footage from Soviet SF films, shooting English language inserts and reissuing them. Bar a handful of scenes with some Hollywood actors, this is almost the whole of the Russian film Storm Planet
War Between the Planets (1966)
Italian Space Opera
One of the various Italian space operas of the 1960s from director Antonio Margheriti. This has a certain colourful ambition despite frequently being let down by cheap effects
Warning from Space (1956)
Japanese Alien Visitors Film
The first Japanese entry in the great alien invader fad of the 1950s. Nothing great but it does boast the awesomeness of starfish-shaped aliens
When Worlds Collide (1951)
Planetary Collision/End of the World
Classic George Pal produced effects spectacular where Earth faces destruction in the face of collision with an oncoming planet and the efforts to build an ark so that some might survive
The Whispering Star (2015)
Intergalactic Package Delivery Android
The very strange Japanese director Shion Sono makes a film about an intergalactic package delivery android, although this is anything but a regular SF film. Filmed in the Fukushima Exclusion Zone.
The Wild Blue Yonder (2005)
Alien Visitors/Space Journey Mockumentary
Eccentric Werner Herzog film where he tries to convince us that footage from a space shuttle mission and taken under the polar ice cap is documentary footage of a trip to explore an alien planet
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Young Adult/Magical Journey Across the Universe
High-profile adaptation of the classic children’s work by Madeline L’Engle that has been entirely wrenched out of shape by its director to become a heavy-handed message about diversity. It is SF made by people who think the genre is just eye candy and absurdly over-the-top costumes