'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' & 7 Other Sci-Fi Movies to Watch if You Liked 'Project Hail Mary'
There is loneliness in space, the wonder of first contact, and the power of friendship to overcome any boundary.
Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling, is a rare example of science fiction that is smart, touching, and entertaining all at once.
If you've already seen the movie several times and are looking for something similar, we've compiled a list of eight of the best sci-fi films in a similar vein.
1. 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial', 1982
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%
This is a childhood movie whose lessons are worth revisiting, even if they have already been learned. The story follows a boy named Elliott who struggles to fit in with his peers. One day, he meets an alien who becomes his best friend.
This benchmark film not only melts hearts, but also teaches viewers how to interact with aliens. For example, it shows that aliens love candy and need companionship, just like humans.
While it's uncertain whether Spielberg's humanistic tale will help you deal with invaders as successfully as Elliott did, if they arrive on Earth with a friendly attitude, you can immediately turn to scenes from this timeless classic for guidance.
2. 'The Fifth Element', 1997
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%
The Fifth Element is a vibrant ride filled with chases, jokes, and shootouts. It offers an ironic commentary on the obsession with the chosen trope that plagues many in the genre.
Set in 2263, the movie follows the humanoid Leeloo as she falls into a taxi. She and the driver, a former soldier named Korben, are trying to escape the villain Zorg, who plans to destroy Earth.
3. 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', 1977
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%
This movie became Steven Spielberg's signature work – it was nominated for nine Oscars and won two.
The idea for Contact is partly based on the work of Project Blue Book consultant, astronomer, and ufologist Josef Hynek. Hynek argued that some UFO research findings could not be explained scientifically.
The film's title refers to Hynek's classification of "alien close encounters": First-degree contact is the sighting of a UFO, second-degree contact is the acquisition of physical evidence confirming the existence of an alien, and third-degree contact is actual contact with alien life forms.
4. 'Back to the Future', 1985
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%
Representatives of several generations are returning to Robert Zemeckis's classics for completely different reasons, rooted in nostalgia, forgotten sensations of novelty, and an excess of emotion.
We all want to correct the mistakes of the past, observe the youth of fathers and sons, and repeat the memorized lines of Marty McFly and Doc Brown.
5. 'Arrival', 2016
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%
Aliens who have landed on Earth want to share their knowledge with humanity. However, they encounter the most obvious problem first: the language barrier. Arrival is a clever game with both everyday language and cinematic vocabulary, or cinematic language.
Denis Villeneuve sends his characters and the audience on a quest to decipher cosmic codes. By the time they reach the end, you may feel cheated in the best sense of the word.
6. 'Life', 2017
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 67%
This old-school horror movie is reminiscent of the 80s, the heyday of wild slashers and dark space horrors.
A group of researchers encounters an alien creature and attempts to establish contact with it. The entire planet watches this event with bated breath. Scientists predict a new era of discovery, but the visitor from outer space has other plans.
Life addresses a long-held fear of science and the unknown: what lies hidden in the depths of space? It's better not to know.
7. 'The Faculty', 1998
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 58%
In Robert Rodriguez's cult movie, aliens invade a school and possess the teachers. While the nerds and troublemakers gradually fall prey to the visitors from outer space, a group of lower-caste students declares war on the invaders.
As in Edgar Wright's The World's End, the aliens represent normality and seek to reduce all humanity to a common denominator.
This explains the image of the main characters as rebels and geeks who disregard taboos and oppose society. Echoing the protagonists, Rodriguez makes a film with a punk spirit: bloody, full of cynical humor, and defiant.
8. 'The World's End', 2013
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%
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As often happens in Edgar Wright movies, the story of a group of friends who decide to reminisce and visit every bar in their small town develops in a completely unpredictable way.
At one point, the friends discover that aliens have occupied the area and replaced all the local inhabitants with exact copies. The aliens merely want to transform humans into a better race, free of all flaws.
In this sense, The World's End is an ode to sloppiness, carelessness, kidult spontaneity, and strong friendship.
