Great Alien / sci-fi films?

Alien?

That’s what I was going to say when I saw the question, Enzo, but I think it’s really quite different from Contact so probably not what he’s looking for.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The aliens come here, but still, it’s all about first contact.

this movie is nothing like contact, but its still sci-fi, but some would classify it as gothic: the thing by john carpenter.

mmmmmore! (thanks so far)

The Abyss. It’s Aliens under the surface of the sea, but they’re friendly, and people go exploring to find them!

Ok well I haven’t actually seen this but one that I found in our DVD cabinet is ‘Communion’ with Christopher Walken in it.

Katawa, I love that movie!

I’ve always loved Independence Day

@ shrub: yay! Non one’s every heard of it!

Mars Attacks isn’t at all like Contact, but it’s the first film that came to mind reading the introductory question.

Closer to Contact is Mission To Mars

Dark City is a kick ass movie.

2001: A Space Odyssey is the closest thing I can think of.

On a different note, Blade Runner is one of my favorite “Sci-Fi” movies, ever.

No aliens in those, tho’.

signs

@ckinyc: Hi! What’s new?

I love Signs! It’s my favorite M. Night film.

Stargate was similar

@fireside: Stargate is one of my favorite movies! Do you like the series too? I am a big fan and my mom and I have the entire series and all 3 movies on DVD. :)

Thanks guys, all suggestions have been great :)

@Katawa – No. I never really got into the series. I didn’t even know there were THREE movies
btw, i like the Obama avatar, but I miss your shoes

What about the X-files? haha.

Was it really the aliens she met in Contact?

@fireside: 2 movies were made after the series finished. It’s a really good show. My mother and I are addicted.

Thanks for the comment about my shoes. I’m actually wearing them right now. :)

Haha, my mum and I used to watch Stargate too. It got a little bit weird later on… but I remember liking the early stuff. Do you watch the Atlantis one?

Yeah, have those all on DVD as well. I miss a bunch when I’m at school, so my mom buys the seasons over the summer or winter break and I just have Atlantis marathons.

Haha that sounds like a lot of fun. I never have time to watch TV so mum always gets ahead of me on the series and I have to catch up by myself by borrowing other peoples DVDs (at least that’s what happened with Charmed, Doctor Who and Supernatural, sigh). Maybe for Christmas I’ll buy her all the Stargates and make her watch them with me in the holidays. Sorry for the off-topic chatter, Cage, I’ll go look for some more movies now =P

lol, i watched all 4 seasons of Doctor Who this summer in about two weeks.

More Whovians? Yay! I’ve only seen the new ones and I love them!

All 4, fireside? Haha. You do realise that it is the longest running science fiction television show ever (since 1963) with 8 doctors before Christopher Eccleston? You should check out the early ones. Epic.

yeah, i’ve seen some of the older ones but they weren’t available as torrents so they weren’t my focus this summer. definitely want to see them all though.

Oh ok yeah that sucks. I don’t know, I can’t work out whether the old ones or the new ones are better. I feel a little bit blasphemous saying that the new ones are better but….I think they are. The old ones will always have a place in my heart though. A couple of years ago they played every episode from the very first season to the last of the old ones every week day after the kids programs had finished, and I watched them after school every single day all the way through haha.

Our local PBS station once showed all the classic Who episodes from the first (An Unearthly Child) to the (then) current, at least the ones that the BBC hadn’t destroyed.
We are getting gypped out of a regular season (series) 5. That sucks!

@AstroChuck, there isn’t going to be a 2009 series. They’re taking a year off and having a few specials (like the Christmas Specials) after these in 2010 David Tennant is being replaced and a new Doctor is coming in

I know there isn’t a 2009 season, just specials (Xmas, this year, then 3 more in 09 and 10). But David Tennant himself mentioned playing the Doc in 2009 before his Doctor regenerates. Of course, he might have meant filming, and not airing.

David Tennant will no longer be the Doctor?????

I think I’ll curl up in a corner and cry now…

LOL Universal Soldiers just saw it, don’t expect much, and you’ll love it

I loooooove sci fi

This Island Earth (1955) starts with a scientist being sent an electronic parts catalogue with stuff in it so advanced that he has no idea how they work. He orders all the parts and they make a machine that communicates with aliens.

I thought the “aliens” were God in Contact or that was the implication at the end.
Anyway, it’s not alien-y, but Frequency is about reaching others from “beyond”.

not sure if this was mentioned before, but you might like “The Astronaut’s wife”. I think it is with Nicole Kidman. Or you could go for something more gory like “Species”. But I think the best one if you’re looking for the more romantic, discovery-type movie is certainly “Mission to Mars”.

Then of course there are Arthur C. Clarke’s classic Odysseys (however you spell them) directed by none other than Stanley Cubrik. Not sure if he did both books, but I’m certain I’ve seen at least one. It’s quite old though and the effects are not that impressive.

Or you could simply watch all the old Star Trek episodes :)

Danny Boyle’s Sunshine is excellent sci-fi

The answer to the original question of what film is most like Contact would be 2001 a Space Odyessy, but other great scifi include Dark City, Blade Runner, Day of the Triffids, the original Day the Earth Stood Still, and the TV series Battlestar Galactica, which I strongly suggest.

I confirm:

-2001: A Sace Odyssey (even though its allegory refers to other matters)
-Mission to Mars
-Close Encounters of the Third Kind
-Signs (different message though.. very..)
-The Abyss
-The Day the Earth Stood Still (original)
-The Quiet Earth (no Aliens, though)

If I think of any other good ones I’ll post ‘em.
enjoy and good luck for you searching.