After Project Hail Mary, Watch These 5 Sci-Fi Movies That Are All 10/10

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And, while they definitely have their fans, we can’t quite say The Martian, Interstellar, Moon, Gravity, Sunshine, Contact, or First Man are 10/10 movies. However, if you loved Project Hail Mary you should definitely watch them, especially The Martian and First Man.

5) Apollo 13

The reasons Apollo 13 works so well are plentiful. Ron Howard’s touching brand of distinctly human was perfect for a narrative where one half of the characters ware desperately hoping they can return home and the other half are watching the television with growing dread that their loved ones simply will not be able to achieve that homecoming.

Apollo 13 also gets major points for its scientific accuracy. There are any number of YouTube videos out there focusing on a scientist or astronaut singing its technological praises. Toss in the perfect casting of Kevin Bacon, Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, and Ed Harris, and this is one of the best movies of the 1990s.

Stream Apollo 13 on AMC+ Roku Premium Channel.

4) Arrival

Most alien meets human narratives are filled with laser blasts and the White House exploding and taking out a helicopter that couldn’t get out of the blast radius in time. Arrival, like Project Hail Mary, is the diametric opposite.

Arrival actually is quite a bit like Project Hail Mary, not that Andy Weir copied it or its source material, the novella “Story of Your Life.” It’s just that both of them feature one culture slowly learning the communication methods of the other. It’s just, in the case of Arrival, it’s far more serious. There are no “fist my bump” moments, in other words.

Stream Arrival for free on Kanopy.

3) Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Like with Arrival and the next entry on our list, Close Encounters of the Third Kind helps solidify the argument that the best alien movies feature exactly zero wars. They feature peaceful communication and the outreaching of hands (with one of those hands typically having less or more than five digits).

Clone Encounters is capable of building tension, e.g. the early set piece with the lights pouring into the home of a mother and her son, but for the most part what it’s trying to capture is the awe that comes with seeing something new. We believe the characters are feeling that awe, thus we feel it ourselves.

2) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Many people’s choice for the best sci-fi movie ever made, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is another highpoint in Steven Spielberg’s career, just like Close Encounters. But E.T. is even better, it manages to top even that earlier classic in terms of heart. It’s also a little stronger in the pacing department.

Absolutely everything about E.T. works. Its narrative beats tug at the heartstrings of children and adults alike. It’s a symphony of emotion, with a wonderful title character generated by convincing practical effects and an all-around excellent cast.

Stream E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for free with ads on The Roku Channel.

1) 2001: A Space Odyssey

There are plenty of faster-paced crowd pleasers out there, but even those who are a bit bored by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey will have no shortage of appreciation for just how massive in scope it is. It’s also a marvel of practical effects.

This is a look at how humans have changed the Earth by just being on it. As our brains have become increasingly complex so too has our technology. But, in the end, we may find that technology coming back to bite us in the butt. And, to that point, this was one of the first works of art to point a worrying finger at A.I. It should definitely be appreciated for that.

Stream 2001: A Space Odyssey on HBO Max.

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