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From '2001: A Space Odyssey' to 'Star Wars': 7 space movies you should watch

The possibility of finding life on the other planet is a theme Hollywood has tackled many times. Welcome to nerd heaven.

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(L-R) 2001: A Space Odessey, Avatar, Interstellar, Wall E
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NASA made a surprise announcement on Wednesday, revealing that there are seven Earth-sized planets, three of which may have water, bolstering the possibility of finding extraterrestrial life at just 40 light years away.

The concept of extraterrestrial life or leaving the Earth has fascinated filmmakers across the globe just as it has intrigued scientists. Who wouldn't want to bite into a meaty science fiction script when a studio is ready to spend and you get to invent new CGI/VFX technology to create these new worlds? (Yes, I am looking at you, James Cameron.)

Hollywood has made a lot of movies keeping in mind the concept of space, ET, alien invasion (Alien, The Predator), human invasion on alien planets (Avatar, Starship Troopers) etc. 

Do not forget Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, and other universes that boast a fandom of millions of people.

Given the vast amount of content available, let's try to look at the absolute musts for your watchlist

2001: A Space Odyssey

Ask any nerd, critic, or an actor worth their salt which is the one sci/fi movie they like, the answer will be unanimous. 2001: A Space Odyssey

The legendary Stanley Kubrick wrote the script with Arthur C Clarke. The movie is revered for its scientifically accurate depiction of the flights and the effects of gravity. It made way for new special effects, laying the groundwork for the movie imagery we see now. 

The movie chronicles the story of a voyage to the Jupiter with AI called HAL, after a mysterious black monolith affecting the human evolution surfaces. 

Avatar

James Cameron is another filmmaker extensively fascinated by tech, space, alien concepts and their effect on human lives. He brought us The Terminator and Skynet. He stayed away from technology for Titanic. But then took off again in 2009 for Avatar. This time, inventing new techniques for visual effects, motion capture, and the lot. 

The story of Jake Sully falling for alien Neytiri and then turning against his own bosses in order to save her planet Na'vi is a love story at its very core. But it also shows how co-existing with extraterritorial life may be possible.

Avatar boasts of having the highest global box office collection after bagging over $2 billion during its theatrical round.

Star Wars

This is a universe in itself. George Lucas unleashed the Star Wars: A New Hope onto the world on May 25, 1977, and nothing was ever the same again. 

So far, the franchise is 9 movies strong with Star Wars: The Force Awakens boasting the title of second biggest box office grosser of all time. Then the Skywalker Saga has spawned animation series, video games, novels, comic books and theme park. You name it and Star Wars has it.

The galaxy far far away has Millennium Falcon, X-Wings, and other awesome vehicles. They have lightsabers. They have storm troopers, and the Death Star (made and then destroyed twice). Perfect series for a weekend marathon.

Wall-E

After 700 years of doing what he was built for - he'll discover what he's meant for. 

The Pixar movie is a story of a waste-collecting robot Wall.E who preserves the one green sapling sprung in all that dump after the humankind fled off the blue planet in search of new habitation. But then it boards the ship that has come to Earth in search of signs of life. The sweet love story of two droids also reflects on what might happen if we completely gave into the material benefits.

Gravity

Getting to space is not as easy as devouring a piece of pie. Hidden Figures has shown us what goes behind putting a man into orbit. But a movie like Gravity shows what can go wrong. There is no air pressure, no oxygen to carry sound. It's only you, your heartbeat, and the void. 

Gravity won the Oscar for best sound editing, sound mixing, visual effects, editing, cinematography, musical score, and best director in 2014. But kudos to Sandra Bullock for holding the screen on her own. This is the one movie you will watch with baited breath.

The Martian

Matt Damon is left behind in this movie. This is a running joke when it comes Damon. The lad was left behind in Saving Private Ryan, and then in Interstellar too. In the distant future, Damon's character, Mark Watney gets left behind on Mars as the rest of the crew of manned mission escapes a storm on the red planet. 

Watney survives the difficult conditions on the red planet with the help of limited resources, farming potatoes, and a relentless team at NASA working to get him back.

Director Ridley Scott has made other iconic movies that deal with extraterrestrials (Alien which has a sequel coming up in Alien Covenant), life in the future with droids (Blade Runner, which also has a sequel coming up in Blade Runner 2048). But The Martian manages to strike a chord because of its proximity to reality.

Interstellar

Christopher Nolan interweaves philosophy with space travel in this movie.  A group of astronauts, played by Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway among others, travel through a wormhole to find a planet on which the mankind can survive after the Earth is riddled with famines, droughts, and other disasters.

Damon is stranded yet again.

It's the story of a father securing the future of his children by leaving them behind, never to see them again. But a combination of various theories of space-time continuum keeps McConaughey's Cooper in constant touch with his kids. Basically, space is a tricky place to be in.

Bonus - Star Trek

Gene Roddenberry's universe deserves a special mention as a lot of NASA scientists claim to be inspired by the imaginary possibilities presented by the screenwriter. 

Roddenberry's adventures gave Captain James Tiberius Kirk, Commander Spock, Dr. Leoanard 'Bones' McCoy, Lieutenant Commander Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, Ensign Pavel Chekov to the world. The heroes on galactical voyages are still revered by all. 

The actors, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nicholas, and William Shatner became icons and inspired millions of kids when it first released as a TV series in 1966, and continue to do so now.

The TV series was revived as a movie franchise by JJ Abrams. And now the magic will come back to the small screen once again later this year.

We don't know when we can get to TRAPPIST-1's territory and we don't know what awaits there. But then, we are only bound by our imagination.

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