Five of our favorite alien movies

Posted by Melissa Locker on
We’re showing “District 9” on Sunday at 8/7 c. In the film (not real life, so don’t worry) it’s been 28 years since the aliens made first contact, but there was never any attack from the skies, nor any profound technological revelation capable of advancing our society. Instead, the aliens were treated as refugees. They were the last of their kind, and in order to accommodate them, the government of South Africa set up a makeshift home in District 9 as politicians and world leaders debated how to handle the situation. As the humans begin to grow wary of the unwelcome intruders, a private company called Multi-National United (MNU) is assigned the task of controlling the aliens. But MNU is less interested in the aliens’ welfare than attempting to understand how their weaponry works. Should they manage to make that breakthrough, they will receive tremendous profits to fund their research. Unfortunately, the highly advanced weaponry requires alien DNA in order to be activated. When MNU field operative Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is exposed to biotechnology that causes his DNA to mutate, the tensions between the aliens and the humans intensifies. Wikus is the key to unlocking the alien’s technology, and he quickly becomes the most wanted man on the planet. Ostracized and isolated, Wikus retreats to District 9 in a desperate bid to shake his dogged pursuers.
“District 9” offered an interesting twist on an old genre: The alien flick. From “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and “The Blob” to “War of the Worlds” and “Independence Day” the idea that extraterrestrial life is out there and kind of hating on us is a popular topic for Hollywood. And we say: Bring it.
Here are five of our favorite alien movies:
1. “E.T.”
Also: Happy 30th Birthday “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (released June 1982)
2. “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”
3. “Lifeforce”
4. “The Alien Trilogy”
5. “Starship Troopers”
And here’s the trailer of “District 9” watch now and tune in on Sunday at 8/7c:
“District 9” airs on IFC on Sunday, Jun. 3 at 8 PM ET; Monday, Jun. 4 at 12:45 AM ET; Thursday, Jun. 7 at 8 PM ET; and Friday, Jun. 8 at 12:45 AM ET
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