Aliens have been a large part of cinematic culture since the silent film era. The little green men from Mars and large towering creatures with 10 legs the size of skyscrapers continue to entertain audiences each year. Some of these otherworldly beings want to destroy the human race by any means necessary, while others want to help out the world and create peace through being the best friend anyone can have.
Whether it's MacDonald's loving alien in Mac and Me or a bloodthirsty giant creature in Cloverfield, one thing is for sure - someone is trying to say that the human race is not alone in the universe. Good or bad as that may be, the outer space aliens are entertaining. Here are the 5 Sci-fi movie aliens we'd want to be friends with and 5 we wouldn't.
Best Friend Alien: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
During an evening consisting of pizza and Dungeons & Dragons, an alien spaceship lands near a quiet suburb, not to kidnap a human and perform torturous experiments, but rather collect plant samples and observe other vegetation life. After the aliens are spooked by a noise, they quickly take off, leaving one of their own stranded on Earth. Luckily, this cute creature crosses paths with a young boy named Elliot, who teaches the newfound being about life, Star Wars toys, food, romance, and English. Meanwhile, the alien gives Elliot a flying bike ride high in the air, heals wounds, and teaches him how to feel and get drunk at the same time. Every adult transformed into a kid while watching this gemstone of a film.
Not Friendly: Space Gorilla In Attack The Block
Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish teamed up for a Sci-fi alien flick titled Attack the Block. It is about a group of kids in London who try to stop a nasty alien invasion. This comedic horror film sparked the career of John Boyega and proved there are still some original stories to tell in the alien genre. These space gorillas hurl towards Earth with their intense spiky black fur and long glowing fangs as they use London as their breeding grounds. These rough aliens have no problem mauling and biting body parts until blood and guts are spilled everywhere.
Best Friend Alien: Superman
Jor-El sent his only son Kal-El from Krypton to Earth to take care of the human race and help them defeat sinister evil around the galaxy. The world dubbed this alien from another planet Superman, who looks human but is anything but that. His powers consist of flight, x-ray vision, super speed, chilled breath, laser eyes, super strength, and about a dozen other powers.
Superman is meant to be the best of the human race and he succeeds at that 99% of the time, even when Richard Pryor is involved. This is one alien to befriend even if he has a penchant for glasses, tights, and capes.
Not Friendly: The Thing
The 1951 film The Thing From Another World showcased a group of people in the US Airforce who come across a crashed spaceship with a frozen humanoid alien inside. All is rather gentle and a tiny bit chaotic from there. However, in 1982, legendary horror maestro John Carpenter added his terrifying flair to the remake and created one of the scariest and bloodiest films ever made with The Thing. A group of scientists and engineers holed up in Antarctica come across a lovely looking dog who is secretly a sadistic alien who takes the form of any living creature to kill every last human on the planet. Thank goodness for Kurt Russell and his willingness to pour whiskey into a computer and not trust Wilford Brimley.
Best Friend Alien: Alien in Close Encounters of The Third Kind
At first glance, the aliens in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of The Third Kind seem quite mean and scary. They terrorize the good folks of the USA, hypnotize citizens into building mashed potato models of a rock formation, and even abduct a young child.
In the end, these aliens are thoughtful and friendly as they bring previous abductees back to earth from showing them the secrets of the universe through the galaxy unharmed. They pick a few recruits and leave with a lovely instrumental song of peace.
Not Friendly: Killer Klowns From Outer Space
While many people are deathly afraid of the painted faces at the circus, clowns are there to provide laughter, comedy, and smiles for all ages. In the '80s, the Chiodo Brothers changed the game with Killer Klowns From Outer Space, which was their ode to old 50's horror. These alien clowns had clever ways of murdering humans, which led the evil clowns to wrap up bodies in cotton candy cocoons and drink the blood from their bodies. It's no doubt that this zany film became a cult hit, but these are a group of bozos that shouldn't be trifled with, even if they come with delicious looking pies.
Best Friend Alien: Wak and Neek in Explorers
Three kids in 1985 with a creative imagination and the will to fly into space, made their dream come true in Joe Dante's film Explorers that starred a young River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke. The three friends in question create this orb from their computer that can change in size and move anywhere it's programmed to do. Outer space is signaling them for a visit that leads them to steal a tilt-a-whirl carnival ride and retro-fit it as an actual spaceship that NASA could be proud of. Once in outer space, the boys meet up with two aliens named Wak and Neek who are huge fans of American television and love a good karaoke session to the tune of Little Richard. It's too bad Dante never made a sequel so the secrets of the universe could be revealed.
Not Friendly: They in They Live
John Carpenter took to the alien-infested streets with pro-wrestling superstar Rowdy Roddy Piper in They Live, that followed a drifter looking for work, but ends up discovering an entire alien race amongst the human population when he puts on special sunglasses.
The skull-faced aliens are disguised as humans who are trying to enslave humankind and change the environment to suit their needs to take over the planet by any means necessary by using force or subliminal messaging in advertisements that only the sunglasses reveal. Bubble gum, a shotgun, and a 12-minute long fist-fight are the key ingredients to saving the world this time around.
Best Friend Alien: The Fix-Its in Batteries Not Included
The writer for many films from Steven Spielberg and Guillermo Del Toro, named Matthew Robbins, got his chance to direct his feature film in 1987 called Batteries Not Included. The film followed an older couple who owned a long-standing apartment building and cafe in Manhattan that is trying to be torn down. The ruthless buyer sends over a gang to disrupt the life of the elderly couple and their tenants while destroying most of the building. When just about all is lost, a couple of small metal space ships arrive that seem to be alive, who quickly fix up any damage done and genuinely care for the residents. Turns out, these ships are an alien race who just want to help people and fix broken dreams.
Not Friendly: Xenomorph in Alien
A highly intelligent and beautiful creature whose sole purpose in life is to brutally kill anything that crosses its path is none other than the Xenomorph in Alien. It's quick, smart, and vicious on all accounts. The creature is also extremely difficult to kill since it has acid for blood. There's no reasoning or bartering with this alien, as it just wants to breed and kill every single life form it comes into contact with. If anyone comes near this beast, it's game over, man. Game over.