Ranker FilmList RulesVote up the best intelligent movies, or those that are smart, clever, etc.
Aliens are often depicted as intelligent life forms, yet a great deal of alien movies from the past don't necessarily warrant themselves as intelligent. While they may be completely entertaining, films like Mars Attacks may not be considered smart or clever—even if the writers decided to kill the aliens with blues music. Of course, this isn't to say all movies based on the extraterrestrial are the same—far from it, actually. Some of the best sci-fi movies of all time incorporate aliens into the mix, all the while coming off as intelligent films and changing the way these types of films go.
So, what constitutes a smart alien movie? Perhaps it's what a movie based around aliens doesn't include that makes it the intelligent kind. In other words, what do all of these quintessential sci-fi movies with aliens have in common? It's simple: humans and aliens in an all out war. Films like Arrival and Under the Skin, however, use aliens while also incorporating thought-provoking scenarios and social commentary throughout to ultimately become some of the more intelligent alien movies—and there are plenty more like it.
Check out the list of top alien movies below and vote up those you feel are smart and clever, or even evoke emotion within the viewer. You can also vote movies down if you don't feel they hit the mark, as well as add your own ideas of smart alien flicks to the list. Then check out our list of the best alien movies on Netflix.
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1,248185Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Harrison Ford, Carrie FisherReleased: 1980
Directed by: Irvin Kershner
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1,139183Alien
Sigourney Weaver, John HurtReleased: 1979
Directed by: Ridley Scott
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1,107193Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope - Despecialized Edition
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1,036195Aliens
Sigourney Weaver, Bill PaxtonReleased: 1986
Directed by: James Cameron
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1,041204E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Drew Barrymore, Erika EleniakReleased: 1982
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
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881261District 9
Sharlto Copley, Jed BrophyReleased: 2009
Directed by: Neill Blomkamp
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807282War of the Worlds
Tom Cruise, Morgan FreemanReleased: 2005
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
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706240Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Richard Dreyfuss, Teri GarrReleased: 1977
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
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726262Arrival
Amy Adams, Jeremy RennerReleased: 2016
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
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560209Signs
Mel Gibson, Joaquin PhoenixReleased: 2002
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
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6712662001: A Space Odyssey
Arthur C. Clarke, Leonard RossiterReleased: 1968
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
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658271Cloverfield
Odette Annable, Lizzy CaplanReleased: 2008
Directed by: Matt Reeves
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616261The Day the Earth Stood Still
Patricia Neal, Michael RennieReleased: 1951
Directed by: Robert Wise
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611266Alien: Covenant
Michael Fassbender, Katherine WaterstonReleased: 2017
Directed by: Ridley Scott
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633281Contact
Matthew McConaughey, Jodie FosterReleased: 1997
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
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575255Oblivion
Tom Cruise, Morgan FreemanReleased: 2013
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
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585262Super 8
Elle Fanning, AJ MichalkaReleased: 2011
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
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47027810 Cloverfield Lane
John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth WinsteadReleased: 2016
Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg
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406272Starman
Jeff Bridges, John CarpenterReleased: 1984
Directed by: John Carpenter
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724585The Thing
Kurt Russell, Keith DavidReleased: 1982
Directed by: John Carpenter
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279343Under the Skin
Scarlett Johansson, Kryštof HádekReleased: 2013
Directed by: Jonathan Glazer
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3240Men in Black International
Chris Hemsworth, Tessa ThompsonReleased: 2019
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
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170330The Man Who Fell to Earth
David Bowie, Rip TornReleased: 1976
Directed by: Nicolas Roeg
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131348Quatermass and the Pit
Julian Glover, Barbara ShelleyReleased: 1967
Directed by: Roy Ward Baker
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