|
The possibility of other signs of life outside of earth not only inspired some of the greatest literary minds but also spawned an exciting new genre in the form of what became known as ‘alien invasion movies.’
Written in the wake of Kenneth Arnold’s sensational saucer-sighting claim, H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds set the sci-fi ball rolling as the first work of alien invasion fiction. In 1953, the book was adapted for the silver screen in a film that was among the first alien invasion stories Hollywood ever told.
|
 |
|
Having ignited minds with the idea that we are not alone in the universe, from The War of the Worlds came the next spawn of prominent alien invasion films: 1951 offerings, The Thing from Another World and The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Unlike previous alien invasion films, The Day the Earth Stood Still showed extra-terrestrial beings in a different light. Instead of being presented as a terrifying and immediately threatening invader, the aliens are seen as an authoritative higher-being, come to reprimand humans and warn them that they will be destroyed if they don’t change their ways and learn to live in peace.
|
 |
|
The 1950s went in to alien over-drive with further films put into production and an influx of abduction and saucer crash-landing stories coming to light as more and more people were eager to share their tales of extra-terrestrial encounters.
You could credit the resurgence of alien films that followed decades later to three movie legends: Steven Speilberg, Ridley Scott and George Lucas. Speilberg, who changed the face of monster movies forever with Jaws just a few years earlier, did the same for alien films with Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977. The use of vastly improved special effects of the day set people’s imaginations buzzing to what a close encounter with aliens could really be like.
|
 |
| The ‘80s followed up with a more diverse menu of alien-based offerings thanks to animatronic and makeup advances. There were singular-creature Alien-inspired sci-fi horror flicks such as The Thing, Predator, and of course Aliens, a string of new off-the-wall B-movies. The award for the most bizarre alien film has to go to 1988 flick Killer Klowns from Outer Space. |
 |
| The game changer came in the form of Speilberg’s 1982 Blockbuster E.T. which turned our previous opinions of aliens on their heads. Goodbye to the tentacle-waving, stomach-puncturing aliens and welcome to the loveable, child-friendly E.T., who is vulnerable and in need of our help. |
 |
| On to the 90s and Tim Burton’s ode to B-movie alien films, Mars Attacks! His take on alien invasion brought us threatening but humorous Martians in his 1996 dark comedy. But it didn’t stop there. Will Smith stepped up to the mark to defend our home planet in Independence Day and Men in Black and the aliens struck again in Starship Troopers and The X Files. |
 |
| Alien invasion began to peter out for most of the last decade as CGI was still being perfected and superhero films saw resurgence that had every studio preoccupied with grabbing a piece of that pie. A few alien films still managed to squeeze past the flurry of capes and heroics, in the form of Signs and Steven Spielberg’s 2005 remake of War of the Worlds, but the sub-genre waned until about 2007/2008 when the genre took a small-budget approach to J.J. Abrams’ Cloverfield. |
 |
| Cloverfield, the story of a singular massive alien attack as witnessed by five young New-Yorkers, fused together several sub-genres of film. It successfully used a ‘found footage’ style that had previously been dismissed after The Blair Witch Project split public opinion. Also prominent was the classic ‘monster destroys skyscrapers’ motif, reminiscent of the days of Godzilla, but done with the subtlety of Alien. |
 |
| Now it seems that the aliens are remerging with a vengeance, ready to invade our planet and cinema screens to give recently popular vampires a run for their money in the film stakes. Given the sensational steps technology has taken over the last decade to create believable non-human life forms, we expect good things, though there seems to be a fine line between an entertaining and thought-provoking alien film and total schlock. To site recent attempts at the genre, some films will carelessly insert aliens into their stories, for example Battleship, whilst others like Prometheus strive to push the genre in new but familiar ways. |
 |
| Given the stream of new information we are constantly learning about our universe, yet how little we really know in the grand scheme of the vast space that engulfs us, the idea of life on other planets is set to continue to fascinate us and alien invasion stories will continue to enthral us and feed the eternal curiosity of earthling audiences. |
 |
|
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Film Page
E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL IS AVAILABLE NOW ON BLU-RAY. © 2012 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
|
