What Movie Would You Show to an Alien...

by The-Social-Introvert | created - 03 Mar 2016 | updated - 02 Jun 2016 | Public

...who has recently arrived on Earth, just to showcase what Mankind is capable of?

Choose from the following films (chosen by IMDb Poll Board members)

Discuss the list here

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1. Spirited Away (2001)

PG | 125 min | Animation, Adventure, Family

96 Metascore

During her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino, Rumi Hiiragi

Votes: 848,981 | Gross: $10.06M

Illustrates that humanity is capable of great feats of imagination, love and redemption.

(Chosen by TsarStepan)

2. Samsara (I) (2011)

PG-13 | 102 min | Documentary, Music

65 Metascore

Filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.

Director: Ron Fricke | Stars: Balinese Tari Legong Dancers, Ni Made Megahadi Pratiwi, Puti Sri Candra Dewi, Putu Dinda Pratika

Votes: 38,029 | Gross: $2.67M

Showcases, without judging, the beauty, wonders, depravity, oddities and the ironies of the human race.

(Chosen by The-Social-Introvert)

3. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

G | 92 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

83 Metascore

An alien lands in Washington, D.C. and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets.

Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe

Votes: 85,744

Advertises the potential reaction to alien visitors from humans - both the positive and the negative.

(Chosen by urbanemovies)

4. Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)

Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance

A French actress filming an anti-war film in Hiroshima has an affair with a married Japanese architect as they share their differing perspectives on war.

Director: Alain Resnais | Stars: Emmanuelle Riva, Eiji Okada, Stella Dassas, Pierre Barbaud

Votes: 35,878 | Gross: $0.09M

"No mouse was ever stupid enough to construct a mousetrap but we created the atomic bomb."

(Chosen by dandelion24)

5. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

90 Metascore

Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.

Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness

Votes: 1,449,241 | Gross: $322.74M

The aliens may think we have special powers which we can use to defeat enemies much more powerful than we are.

(Chosen by Drevnibor)

6. Independence Day (1996)

PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

59 Metascore

The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.

Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell

Votes: 605,471 | Gross: $306.17M

Sending the message: Don't mess with us.

(Chosen by BoltBait)

7. Fantasia (1940)

G | 124 min | Animation, Family, Fantasy

96 Metascore

A series of eight famous pieces of classical music, conducted by Leopold Stokowski and interpreted in animation by Walt Disney's team of artists.

Directors: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe Jr., Norman Ferguson, David Hand, Jim Handley, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Ben Sharpsteen | Stars: Leopold Stokowski, Deems Taylor, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Corey Burton

Votes: 103,959 | Gross: $76.41M

Boasts the visual and auditory talent of our race.

(Chosen by dan_dassow)

8. City Lights (1931)

G | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

99 Metascore

With the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.

Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers

Votes: 196,010 | Gross: $0.02M

"Little Prince" author Saint-Exupéry said: "One sees well only with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes." I guess Chaplin's view would slightly differ as for the cinematic genius, one would see well only with the eyes AND the heart. The essential is inaudible to the ears. And only a silent movie could have kept such a universal and timeless appeal as the film speaks humanity's universal language through laughs, cheers and tears and the depiction of the most beautiful and valuable human virtues: kindness.

(Chosen by ElMaruecan82)

9. 12 Angry Men (1957)

Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama

97 Metascore

The jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler

Votes: 864,682 | Gross: $4.36M

Advertises the ideals of our justice system in the face of presumption and prejudice.

(Chosen by NJtoTX)

10. Alien (1979)

R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi

89 Metascore

The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.

Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright

Votes: 950,127 | Gross: $78.90M

Shows what the natural reactions of humans would be to a hostile extra terrestrial

(Chosen by DoctorBuster)

11. E.T. (1982)

PG | 115 min | Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi

92 Metascore

A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace

Votes: 437,388 | Gross: $435.11M

Shows that we have the capacity for empathy (even on a psychic level)

(Chosen by Rafael_M)

12. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

G | 86 min | Animation, Comedy, Family

86 Metascore

When two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wondrous forest spirits who live nearby.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Hitoshi Takagi, Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, Shigesato Itoi

Votes: 380,074 | Gross: $1.11M

Showcases a basic sense of trust

(Chosen by albstein)

13. Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

Not Rated | 86 min | Documentary, Music

72 Metascore

A collection of expertly photographed phenomena with no conventional plot. The footage focuses on the relationship between nature, humanity, and technology.

Director: Godfrey Reggio | Stars: Edward Asner, Pat Benatar, Jerry Brown, Johnny Carson

Votes: 41,466 | Gross: $1.72M

Focuses on nature, humanity and the relationship between them

(Chosen by kobe_q)

14. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Approved | 179 min | Drama, War

60 Metascore

In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.

Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich

Votes: 85,442

Demonstrates that everyone in society is accountable for their actions and that we cannot simply state that we were doing our job.

(Chosen by dan_dassow)

15. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

PG | 95 min | Comedy, War

97 Metascore

An unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn

Votes: 518,054 | Gross: $0.28M

Humanity has a great capacity of self destruction and will do so if we are left to our own devices.

(Chosen by dan_dassow)

16. Fail Safe (1964)

Approved | 112 min | Drama, Thriller

75 Metascore

A technical malfunction sends American planes to Moscow to deliver a nuclear attack. Can all-out war be averted?

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Dan O'Herlihy

Votes: 24,402

Some humans are willing to make great sacrifices to save the human race from destruction.

(Chosen by dan_dassow)



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