Inspired by the impending release of Ridley Scott’s The Martian, a rousing sci fi survival movie starring Matt Damon as a castaway on Mars forced to “science the shit” out of his challenging situation, we climbed into our space suits, blasted up, up and away and eagerly explored the known movie universe for our ten favourite off-world classics.
Because who doesn’t like to get away, every once in a while?
John Carter (2012)
“You are ugly, but you are beautiful.”
A battle-weary Confederate captain (Taylor Kitsch) stumbles upon a cave-dwelling alien and astral projects his way to Mars, or Barsoom as the locals call it, in this cruelly underrated fish-out-of-water adventure from Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs and Wall*E director Andrew Stanton. Filled with manipulative Martian gods, enormous, ape-like beasties, exotic princesses and green-skinned, four-armed, tusk-wielding warriors, John Carter is epic, exciting, exotic, and shamefully underrated.
Avatar (2009)
“How does it feel to betray your own race?”
Epic dragon-straddling smurfery from the Master of Big, James Cameron, Avatar follows the exploits of wicked, eco-unfriendly humans as they endeavour to mine the heart and soul out of Pandora, a lush but deadly tropical paradise notable for impossible floating islands, animals you can plug your tail into and athletic blue aliens who seriously dig nature. At silly as it sounds, but hell, it works a treat and the battle sequences are out-of-this-world awesome.
Moon (2009)
“Is there someone else in the room?”
From debut director Duncan Jones came this cerebral sci fi classic, a thoughtful meditation on identity, isolation and insanity starring the uniquely offbeat Sam Rockwell as a one-man mining operation, languishing on the Moon, dreaming of nothing but returning to Earth. Sensitive and humane with a quirky sense of humour and gorgeous, otherworldly visuals that belie the movie’s modest budget, Moon is a precious, mind-bending thing.
Pitch Black (2000)
“It ain’t me you gotta worry about.”
Planet Number Two of the M-344/G system sounds like a harmless enough place to crash-land a spaceship. Dusty and barren, certainly, but a safe enough rock to be marooned on. Unless you’re there when all three of its suns are eclipsed, for an entire month, prompting hitherto hidden legions of large, reptilian, blood-hungry beasts to swarm the surface and eat everything. Under those circumstances, it is, of course, a nightmare. Fun for us though, as mirror-eyed psycho Riddick (Vin Diesel) violently navigates the shadows in this edgy, exciting and occasionally horrifying survival tale.
Total Recall (1990)
“You make me wish I had three hands…”
Paul Verhoeven messes with our minds in this ingenious 21st Century adventure based on the classic Phil Dick tale ‘We can remember it for you wholesale’. Arnold Schwarzenegger battles a tyrant on Mars, but is it real, or really a dream? Blessed with a near total lack of restraint, the director of RoboCop does it again, going for broke with a vicious sense of humour, paying keen attention to all things violent and, best of all, grossing us out at every opportunity (bug up the nose, anyone?). A twisted adrenalin rush of action and ideas, Total Recall is a wild, inventive ride.
Aliens (1986)
“Game over man!”
Director James Cameron strands us on the most hostile of planets, the utterly charmless LV-426, and freaks us roundly out in this epic sequel to Ridley Scott’s claustrophobic monster classic, Alien. As dark and scary as the original, but on a much larger scale, Aliens is as much an action picture as it is a horror flick. A tale of gung ho space marines battling homicidal xenomorphs, it’s grand, exciting and intense with buckets of gore and ludicrously massive guns.
Outland (1981)
“If you’re looking for sterling character you’re in the wrong place.”
A tense and deliberately paced remake of High Noon that’s largely set aboard a space station orbiting Jupiter, Outland casts Sean Connery in the Gary Cooper role, alone against the rest as a stoic space cop who paints a big red target on his forehead by standing up to local bully Peter Boyle and his interstellar drug dealing associates. Darkly atmospheric with due care and attention paid to the characters and their dialogue, the movie gradually builds to a long and satisfying climax as Sean gets busy with a gang of hired guns. This is gritty stuff and no mistake, grimly realistic and disturbingly plausible. Just don’t expect many laughs, or even one.
Flash Gordon (1980)
“No! Not the Bore Worms!”
Explore the many moons of Mongo in this kitsch comicbook adventure, a rollercoaster alien encounter with a knowing sense of humour and an irrepressible glam rock soundtrack. Defending our planet from chrome-domed superfiend Ming the Merciless (Max Von Sydow), champion jock Flash (Sam J. Jones) rockets into space with maddish scientist Zarkov (Topol) and distressed damsel Dale (Melody Anderson). Hilariously silly, beautiful, ingenious and packed with action highlights.
Star Wars Episodes IV-VI (1977-1983)
“That’s no moon…”
Hard though it is to ignore the past twenty years of franchise-ruining prequels, spin-offs and special editions, let’s try and remember the good times. Star Wars was once perfect and pure, and we loved it. Set a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the movies detailed the mother of all family feuds and spanned every possible sort of planet, from icy (Hoth), swampy (Dagobah) and sandy (Tatooine) to foresty (Endor), tropical (Yavin 4) and even man made (The Death Star).
Forbidden Planet (1956)
“Sorry, miss. I was giving myself an oil-job.”
A hulking, invisible beast from the tortured subconscious of a mad scientist (Walter Pidgeon) terrorises the Earth crew sent to rescue him in Forbidden Planet, the premier sci fi spectacular of the 1950s. Powered by unfathomable alien tech, the Id Monster roams the wastes of Altair IV, the eerily beautiful home of Robby the Robot, the greatest ever movie mecha, a prime chunk of retro tech with an abdominal chemical lab that produces everything from diamonds to whisky. Splendid!
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