Out of this world: 20 iconic films about space

On your couch, no one can hear you scream. Well, I guess the neighbors can, but that doesn't stop the isolation from creeping in while watching this science-fiction classic. While Sigourney Weaver fights an alien in space, you won't know whether to cry for help or curl into a ball of despair. 

Alien was pitched as Jaws in Space, so the sequel might have been pitched as Rambo in Space. With James Cameron as director, the sequel traded the original's claustrophobic horror for straight-up action. As Sigourney Weaver goes back to space, she discovers there's a whole lot more than one alien. There are a million aliens waiting to be torched.

Before there was Top Gun, there was The Right Stuff. The story of hotshot pilots who eventually flew to the moon, these dudes aren't playing shirtless volleyball or making aviator sales. They're just dudes who want to break the sound barrier. Moving, magnificent and magnificently touching, this is a space movie done the right way.

In this trippy space exploration, a group of astronauts land right in the moon's animated eye. It's funny and stunning in equal measure.

Taking footage from multiple space explorations, this documentary puts audiences in the shoes of astronauts. From shots of the galaxy to stars whizzing by, it's something to behold.

In a galaxy far, far away, people thought Star Wars was going to be a flop. Even the director's friends mocked his vision. But of course, now people see the franchise for what it is: the highest-grossing series in the galaxy. A rollicking space opera that kicked off with this masterful blockbuster, Star Wars sees the protagonist try to save the galaxy with his mind.

A movie about the outer reaches of space and the inner depths of the human mind. Solaris is as much about outer space as it is inner space, the questions that float around the human brain and the way some people would prefer to live in their dreams. Andrei Tarkovsky's dreamy spectacle sees an astronaut haunted by his dead wife while his spaceship orbits mindlessly.

Interstellar has more than just literal stars, with the likes of Mathew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon, Michael Caine, Mackenzie Foy and Ellen Burstyn. But it's the director we remember. Christopher Nolan reaches for the stars and finds a well of cosmic spectacle and philosophical material.

Yeah, it's just people floating around for the entire film. But so what? It doesn't matter that this married couple does nothing but float aimlessly when the floating is this spectacular. Alfonso Cuaron pushes CGI to new boundaries with Gravity.

How do you survive when you're stranded on another planet? There's no food, water, or hope. You build a garden, that's how. Apparently, mankind can survive on another planet, especially when the man in question is Matt Damon, who brings levity to a movie about emotional gravity.

No, not the remake. We're talking about the original that froze audiences in their tracks. When an alien visits mankind to deliver a message, things get supernatural.

One of the most emotive characters in all of animation is a robot? Yep! Thanks to the folks at Pixar and a City Lights homage, this robot may have you balling your eyes out. 

He's more than just Ken--he's one of the most versatile actors in the galaxy. Ryan Gosling brings brooding charisma to Neil Armstrong, whose journey into space takes on a personal meaning to him.

There were a million moving pieces behind the first-ever space launch, some more behind the scenes than others. These ladies were so behind the scenes people didn't even know their names until this uplifting film hit theaters.

Ridley Scott's classic wasn't very well received when released, but now mankind has come around to this mysterious film. A haunting mix of noir and science-fiction, this tale of a human detective tracking down a female robot has become a genre talking point.

The greatest science-fiction movie ever made, 2001: A Space Odyssey, exists in a different category from the rest of the genre. In fact, it exists in a different universe. There's never been anything like Stanley Kubrick's space opera, which follows the evolution of technology on an intergalactic scale.

They come from space and they look like humans. Aliens could be among us. In this science-fiction classic, aliens are hatched in pods to look like humans and no one is prepared. Terrifying, tantalizing and terrifically taut, this movie hatched an entire species of film.

Audiences were over the moon when they saw Steven Spielberg's vision. When an alien arrives in a suburban neighborhood to promote Reeses--or whatever he's doing--audiences got a supernatural escape from their 80s routines.

This is another one of those movies where space comes to mankind. There are great movies about mankind venturing to space, but there's perhaps something even scarier about space coming to mankind. In John Carpenter's icy thriller, the aliens arrive in all shapes and  sizes, and they're morphing into humans.

There's only so much you can do with a live-action space movie. You are limited by what technology allows while animators can visualize any story they want. Hayao Miyazaki understands the limitless possibilities of animation more than anyone. His wonderful film, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, is a perfect example of what animated movies can be.