Although Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Elon Musk would like to tell you otherwise, the vast majority of humans will never go anywhere near space. However, that does not mean you cannot experience it vicariously.
Space movies offer the audience a healthy dose of existential dread and a fleeting glimpse of galaxies and planets far beyond our wildest dreams, all from the safety of your living rooms. So, let us track down the best space movies for all the science buffs out there.
Gravity
It is impressive how director Alfonso Cuarón, special effects company Framestore, and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, have managed to skillfully recreate the dizzying endlessness of space in this movie — that terrifying fear of falling, of tumbling backward through an empty black void is present constantly. This low-Earth-orbit thriller starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock as Hubble repair astronauts, left stranded in space, is an unmissable film.
Hidden Figures
This 2016 film by Theodore Melfi captures the story of those not seen, as suggested by the title. This film highlights the efforts of Mary Jackson, Dorothy Vaughn and Katherine Johnson’s work at NASA and their vital contribution as mathematicians to getting John Glenn to space and back in one piece. But what makes Hidden Figures shine so brightly is that for the most part, it keeps the focus on these incredible women.
First Man
In this 2018 biographical drama, Ryan Gosling stars as Neil Armstrong and is based on the book “First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong” by James R. Hansen. The film largely focuses on the inner and outer life of Armstrong as he prepares to become the first man on the moon— a mission that appeared at the time to be perilous and foolhardy than anything else.
Interstellar
Interstellar is a mind-bending, dystopian thriller starring Matthew McConaughey as an astronaut turned farmer recruited to find a new home planet for a dwindling population struggling to survive dust storms and global crop failures. This Christopher Nolan's Oscar-winning movie is like a sci-fi love letter.
The Martian
Waking up stranded from everyone you know and forced to plant potatoes using your feces to survive would be a bad day on Earth, let alone Mars. This space film is more fun than it has the right to be. There isn’t a tragic male anti-hero in this movie. The writing is excellent, with a long list of quotes that will inspire you immensely.
Depicting extraterrestrial struggles to growing crops in space, these are some of the best space movies out there.
