10 Best Space Movies Of All Time

This one is a bit of a cheat, but it would be an injustice to choose any single Alien film, as each entry expands the lore, technology and creatures, giving audiences not just a horror movie in space, but a whole horror universe.

The saga goes from the creation of humanity by a race of space engineers; to their technological development, creation of AI and space exploration; to AI's destruction of the engineers and the unleashing of a whole new evil on the universe: the Xenomorph.

For four of the six films, Sigourney Weaver's Ripley was the monsters' counterpoint, a tough-as-nails WO who survived to fight the Xenomorph threat time and again, until she died doing just that. But even this didn't keep her down for long.

Prometheus and Covenant added another layer to the mythology in David (Michael Fassbender), the android with god delusions, whose name and daily routine aboard an empty ship delicately evokes 2001 (every space director’s favourite nod and wink), while his character arc takes the HAL 9000 concept and doubles down, resulting in untold destruction and the literal annihilation of god.

Each film presents its own take on the Alien mythos, without straying too far from the gory aesthetic of Ridley Scott's original 1979 picture, and the saga has utilised the talents of a string of visionaries, including James Cameron, David Fincher and Joss Whedon.

Whether this has always ended well or not, space has rarely looked this brutal, this terrifying or this good.