Aliens Are Our Friends

652   6.9   7.3 

Ka-el is the last survivor of Krypton, a distant planet that was destroyed thru ecological disaster.
Here are Earth, our yellow sun provides him with the power of a god.
Under the name Superman, Ka-El has the ability be fly faster than a speeding bullet, be more powerful than a locomotive & to leap over tall buildings with a single bound (his flying ability probably helps him with that). Not to mention x-ray and heat vision, withstand extreme temperatures, hurricane force breath & the ability to wear a wardrobe ensemble consisting of a cape, boots and colorful underwear worn over equally colorful tights.
And what does Superman do with all this power that would allow him to squash us mere mortals with not so much as a mere thought?
He uses it to protect us from all those who would mean us fair citizens harm through the violation of truth, justice and the American way.
Because even within an alien sentient being, no matter how distant his origins, or how impervious he may be to gunfire, there's always chance to find a heart of a hero.
And when it comes to the Man Of Steel,
that's just how he rolls.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

2277   7.1   7.9 

Steven Spielberg's sci-fi masterpiece. That is, with the exception of the number one entry on this list, of course.
An extra-terrestial becomes trapped on our planet & befriends an Earthling boy who shares a it's love for Reese's Pieces. From there, these two beings "from different worlds" (one of the rare times that this phrase is meant literally), began to share each other's experiences in a bond that can only result from unconditional acceptance.
A moving picture which teaches that when it comes to a deep longing for love in the form of kindness & friendship we humans are not alone.
And all we have to do to get it, even on a universally galactic level, is to just "be.... good".

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

511   6.8   7.5 

Or "Close Encounters Of The Under-Water Kind".
Or maybe "The Day The Ocean Stood Still".
We humans are a species capable of our own destruction. Or of our own salvation.
And though sometimes, it's can seem like we're going down the road of total annihilation, there's still enough within us to choose otherwise.
At least, that's the kind of hope the water-breathing life-forms from outer space in this film seem to hold about us.
Personally, I think this is James Cameron's masterpiece. It's actually two stories in one. The alien storyline that provides the twist for the film, crossed over with the tension building plot involving the scientific crew & the naval SEAL team. And both plots, while differently paced, are still very excellently executed. Now, while the edited version that was originally released into theatres is a fine film, for my money, the uncut version is what truly reveals just how great this movie really is.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

1142   7.9   8.4 

In 2001, aliens come in the form of heavy monolith blocks.
And after escaping a death at the hands of a crafty computer that had taken on an evil sentient intelligence,
these aliens will sweep you up & send on you on the psychodelickest trip of your life.
And all without the use of drugs.

Damn.
Where was I during the year 2001 that I missed the party?

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

702   7.1   7.8 

Up to the point in time that Close Encounters was first released in theatres, for me, this movie represented the most realistic handling of the story of making contact with aliens beings that I had ever seen. The manner in which it handled this theme is most likely what inspired later films like Contact & Signs, both which tried admirably to emulate the "validity" of Encounters. So convincing was the portrayal of this first contact, that upon my first viewing lo those many years ago, it made it almost believable for me that the idea of extra-terrestrials could actually be a reality. Also, it was done with such a sense of awe-inspiring hope & elegant beauty, that even now, at my spirit-hardened age, it almost makes me wish that aliens do indeed exist (& maybe they do exist, but that's an entirely different website, altogether).

Mannnn....I wish a UFO would come down & fly me away into the limitless potential of space.

Sans anal-probes, of course.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

140   6   6.8 

An alien being comes down to Earth, morphs into a human form in order to understand our species & then begins a race against time to meet with his star-faring rendevous party before the government military can get it's hands on him/it. But not before he/it can get a girl pregnant.
Simply put,
this movie is E.T. for adults.
Or at least, it's for those of us whose mind's are mature enough to understand that when it comes to traffic lights, red means "stop", green means "go" & yellow means "go very fast".

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

514   6.6   7.2 

In K-Pax, Kevin Spacey is "Prot", a "wandering spirit" who is either a mental patient masquerading as an alien
or
an alien masquerading as a mental patient.
Jeff Bridges plays Dr. Mark Powell, the psychiatrist who's job is to figure out which one it is. And though, as a man of science, he tends to strongly lean towards the former, he can't ignore that this patient/alien gives off the signals that it might be the latter. Signals in the form of Prot knowing certain astronomical information that few others on this planet know. Or being able to solve seemingly improbable mathemical theories.
And even when Dr. Powell comes across a background history of Prot as a man who has been severly psychologically and emotionally scarred, Prot still shows an unearthly ability to be able to soothe, unite & ultimately, provide hope to his fellow institutionalized inmates.
As a film, K-PAX weaves through it's various "less epic" identities of E.T., Starman, and even of a fluffier version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.
But, as with most sci-fi movies with the "aliens walking amongst humans to better understan humankind" theme, it tries to end with a life-lesson that teaches us more about us than it does "them".
In this case, no matter how crazy our individualized inner-scars can make us,
sometimes, all we need is a hopeful hand extended in friendship to help brings us back down to Earth.
And if that lesson comes off sounding as a bit too "spacey-headed", please take into account what Hollywood writers of these types of scripts have in common with people from K-Pax: They both tend to be a buncha distant souls that live out amongst the stars.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

815   6.6   7.3 

What Close Encounters Of The 3rd. Kind did back in the 70's, this film takes to the next evolutionary step, in terms of the actual physics & concepts of a meeting 'tween us mere mortals and any life-forms from beyond the stars.
For my money, Contact contains some of the best discussions of religion and atheism in any film ever made. It's depictions of the manner that things like general fear & politics can get in the way of a true quest for knowledge is both basely intelligent & comprehendibly poignant. This film's plot does a great job treading on the subject of how our society is constantly struggling between the comfort of what we already know & the confrontational truths about our species that can be revealed as result of the discovery of what is new, especially if seen thru the "eyes" of a life-form that's a lot smarter than us.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

389   6   6.6 

The aliens have touched down, and they're not here to conquer us, morph into our bodies, drain us of our energy sources, or steal our sun. They just want to take a few of their "left-overs" from their first visit, home.
And if not, at least take some of our senior citizens with 'em.
Which is fine by us.
Cuz in space, no one can hear an old man fart.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

491   6.4   7.2 

What if the the first alien life-forms to make contact with us happen to be the kind that watch too much television? Or even worse, what if they're Trekkies?
Galaxy-Quest starts out as a parody of the Star Trek franchise, but then, with just the right amount of heart, wry humor & even some satirical intelligence, this movie then evolves into a sci-fi adventure film with a premise that is alot of fun, on point and with a story that ends up standing distinctively on it's own.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

1162   7   7.4 

I know that the Transformers movie can fall under both categories of good aliens or bad aliens, but since I filled up my bad aliens list already, I decided to to put in this list.
Also, despite the bad aliens, I think the emphasis here seems to be a bit more on an alien species that comes here to Earth to help protect us.
As far as it's premise is concerned, take a classic cartoon about a bunch of large alien sentients that take on the form of robots from outer space, and have the ability to change into a bunch a cool vehicles that raised the testosterone level to the point that little boys became little "guys", mix in a healthy batch of modern day hard driving live action peppered in with a few swear words & gritty gun play,
and top it all off with the absolutely & ridiculously hot Megan Fox,
and there you have it.
A summer super-mega-blockbuster incorporating all the things that can easily make the males of our species grunt with ultimate ball-quivering delight.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

397   7.1   7.9 

Just when I thought that my hairy pimp-ass had finally reached a point in life that was so hardcore,
that even the idea that I could get misty over a movie-ending was, for me, so far away of an idea, that it was practically on the otherside of da 'hood. Dawg.
Then comes along the Iron Giant, & proves me wrong.
And it's not just that it's a movie,
but even worse, it's an animated movie.
A cartoon.



Whenever I watch the scene with the line " ....Superman.",
I always find it quite difficult to refrain from repeatingly dabbing at that "something in my eye" that starts to become annoyingly persistent.
Damn.
This movie makes life hard out here for a pimp.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

113   6.3   6.4 

A teenage kid discovers that the video game he has mastered is secretly a celestial training simulation program, when he is notified by an alien who reveals to him that he is a gunner/star-soldier in an intergalactic war between good & evil.
So, to all you video gamers out there, don't listen to society when it tries to convince you that all those hours spent on your x-box, gameboy or psp will eventually accumulate into a vast amount of wasted life.
For all anybody knows, you could very well be the last starfighter.

Therefore,
feel free to grab your wii & play with yourself as much as you like.
The future of the galaxy may depend on it.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

837   6.6   7.1 

Take E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,
make Elliot more ethnic & change him into a girl,
then take E.T. himself and make him alot more bad-@ss, but still cute,
& then transform the whole thing into a cartoon,
& there you go.
You've got this movie.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

107   6.4   6.6 

Enemy Mine is a film that starts out as a "bad alien movie & then evolves into a "good alien" movie by intergalactically pondering the question of "Why can't we all just get along?"

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

196   6   6.1 

Elderly owners of a small, crumbling tenant building are threatened with eviction, but are saved by tiny sentient flying saucers.
A Mini-Me version of Close Encounters Of The 3rd. Kind, with just a splash of Cocoon, for flavor.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

152   5.4   4.9 

For all those woman who ask "Why aren't there any good men around?",
this movie answer that question.
Because they're all on other planets.

And to be honest, these other-planetary men aren't really all that good.
It's just y'all girls are all too easy.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

83   4.1   4 

Take my Superman: The Movie entry at the beginning of this list,
replace all the parts referring to the lead character as a man with references to being a female,
make the movie alot lamer,
and there you go.
You've got this movie.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

87   4.4   4.5 

After watching this particular "favorite martian" movie, I realized that the favorite martian in My Favorite Martian is definitely not my favorite martian.
Evenmore, My Favorite Martian is definitely not my favorite martian movie.
However, it's not my worst favorite martian movie either....

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

14   3.7   2.9 

.....this one is.

The Mighty Celestial's rating: