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2001 Space Odyssey
Kubrick directs this epic science fiction space film. With no talking for the first thirty minutes of the film it really makes you pay attention and love the visuals on what Kubrick wants to tell you. With its iconic soundtrack and groud-breaking cinematography with spectacular special effects made it must watch. -
Alien
Directed by Ridley Scott, written by Dan O'Bannon, and starring Sigourney Weaver. It was so successful that it opened to door to: a huge movie franchise, toys, comics, novels, and video games. There was a crew of over 200 people that worked on building the three main sets. 1/24th scale miniature models of the the planets were made and then they were scaled up to make the sets. Sand, rock, plaster and fiberglass were brought in to make the sets. -
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison, and starring Henry Thomas. It beat Star Wars: A New Hope to become the highest grossing film of all time and held that title for 11 years. The puppet of E.T. was controlled with animatronics as well as by little people and a young boy born without legs. The cost to produce the puppet and it's 4 heads was said to be $1.5 million. -
The Right Stuff
Written and directed by Philip Kaufman, it had a huge list of movie stars on the cast. The premier was held at Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 16, 1983. The movie was a bomb at the box office but went on to win 4 Academy Awards (nominated for 8). This movie used many real and scale models of aircraft. Model planes on wires and a fog machine were used for some for the cloudy scenes. A small amount of special effects were used in the movie as well. -
Apollo 13
Being brought to life by Ron Howard, Apollo 13 bring an exciting look back at history. Astronauts who went to space and had to make it home with the biggest challenge of their lives! Outstanding with its most famous line "Houston, we've had a problem here." -
Armageddon
Directed by Michael Bay, written by JJ Abrams, starring Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, and many other big stars. Considered by most critics to be among the worst films ever made, it was the highest grossing film of the year in 1998, and has a cult-like following. While most of the space scenes in this movie were created using special effects, an additional $3 million was used only months before the release to make it stand apart from 'Deep Impact' which was released only months earlier. -
October Sky
Directed by Joe Johnston, written by Lewis Colick, and starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Based on the true story of Homer H. Hickam Jr., a coal miner's son who was inspired by the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957. While the story takes place in West Virginia, the set was constructed in Tennessee to look like the 1957 town it took place in. The crew even dug a new mine for the set. They filmed the train scenes at an old rail yard and painted a train and tore up old track and laid down new track to use. -
Firefly
Written and Directed by Joss Whedon, starring Nathan Fillion. The series was cancelled after only 14 episodes but it has a major base of diehard fans. The movie Serenity, released in 2005, was the final chapter in the story of Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his crew. Unless there is a reboot coming? The ship, which is where most of the story takes place, was constructed in 2 parts representing both floors. Special effects were used for most of the flying scenes viewed from outside the ship. -
Star Wars Episode 3
George Lucas bring the sixth film to the Skywalker saga transformed how we looked at and viewed films in the early 2000s. Epic fights and stunning planets for us to visit. Lucas had a vision and embarked on an epic journey to bring the bridge between two generations. -
Interstellar
Nolans epic of space adventure has much more than travel. Love transcending past time to save a world of people. With earth having a last chance at survival with a lack of resources causing the human race to be extinct. -
Altered Carbon
Altered Carbon has a lot going for it - it's production values are high, it's absolutely gorgeous to look at, and it's playing at themes that might very well be interesting. Developing scenes and making you sit at the edge of your seat. -
The Mandalorian
Created by Jon Favreau and starring Pedro Pascal. The show takes place five years after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Lucasfilm teamed up with Epic Games to create 'StageCraft' using the Unreal Engine. The new technology uses LED screens to project a virtual background that the actors then perform in front of, instead of being shot on a green stage and adding the effects in later. -
Midnight Sky
Earth contaminated with air radiation forces Augustine a observer living in the Artic to try and send a word to those in space that earth isn't safe to live on.
