Avatar: Bonding With Aliens

Photo: 20th Century Fox Too many ingredients and aspects of Avatar are perhaps too reminiscent of other movies or simply too silly. But here it is in all its glory,…

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

In the near future, San Francisco scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) has invented a drug that is supposed to cure Alzheimer's... but its most dramatic effect is on apes in…

Close Encounters: E.T.’s First Visit

Photo: Columbia In 1964, the 16-year-old Steven Spielberg directed a science fiction film called Firelight. Clocking in at an impressive 135 minutes, the movie was made for $500 and premiered…

Super 8: Monster Mash

Kyle Chandler, Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning and Ron Eldard. Photo: Paramount Director J.J. Abrams's first major collaboration with Steven Spielberg prompted David Edelstein of New York Magazine to spell it…

V

The 1980s TV hit was updated for a post-9/11 audience, introducing elements of social criticism in its portrayal of how the arrival of huge spaceships affected people in the world's…

X-Men: First Class

This attempt to jump-start the franchise by taking it in a new direction tells the story of how the young Professor X and Magneto (James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender) learned how…

X-Men Origins: Wolverine 

In the 1840s, a young boy discovers that he has special powers; 160 years later, he's a veteran of every American conflict since the Civil War, but is about to…

Westworld 

Some time in the future, two tourists (Richard Benjamin, James Brolin) go to Westworld, a theme park built like a city in the Old West where the gunslingers are played…

Predators 

A group of killers, including a black ops soldier (Adrien Brody) who assumes leadership, are dropped into a jungle where they seem to be hunted by predatory aliens. Sounds like…

Terminator Salvation 

In 2018, John Connor (Christian Bale) thinks he has found a way to defeat the deadly machines, but he also needs to track down a teenager (Anton Yelchin) who will…