Total Nerd TV Shows and Movies with the Best Use of Airlocks

856 votes 225 voters 58.7k views 26 items

List Rules Upvote the TV series and movies that made best use of airlocks, whether to advance plot, character, or overall awesomeness.

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There's that classic moment in so many sci-fi films and TV shows where the vacuum of space pulls at our heroes (or the villains) and our heart strings. There's something so intense and visceral about the power and endless abyss of space. Directors and writers have been toying with the airlock as an action set piece concept since the first space films and sci-fi TV shows.

It's used on dozens of television shows, many of them making it an ongoing threat or means of execution. Science fiction films like Alien, Sunshine, and Event Horizon have used airlocks in graphic ways to dismember or jettison one of the heroes (or main villain in the case of Alien and Aliens). Other times the airlock can even be used comedically, like in Austin Powers or Galaxy Quest.

This is a round up of all of those times airlocks featured prominently - and awesomely - in your favorite science fiction from both the small and big screens. Vote up the movies and TV shows that used the airlock the best - whether to rid a ship of cylons, or to get laughs.

1 59 VOTES

Alien

At the end of the film, the only way to kill the Xenomorph discharge it from the airlock... and it's awesome.

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51 8

Is this use effective?

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2 62 VOTES

Aliens

Just as in Alien, seemingly the only way to kill the Xenomorph is to throw it out the airlock. In this case, Ripley does so with the beastly front loader.

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52 10

Is this use effective?

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3 51 VOTES

The Martian

The airlock basically becomes the central antagonist at one point in this 2015 Ridley Scott film. After having survived for weeks on Mars with food he was able to grow himself (science!), Mark Watney (Matt Damon) *SPOILER* lost everything when an airlock blew, destroying all of his crops.

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41 10

Is this use effective?

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4 55 VOTES

2001: A Space Odyssey

David Bowman rushes out in another pod to rescue Frank Poole, who was being attacked by HAL 9000, but in the hubbub, he forgets his helmet. Oops.

HAL then refuses to open the pod bay doors so Bowman can reenter the Discovery. Since Bowman doesn't have a helmet, he has to throw himself out of the airlock so he can get back into the spaceship.

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38 17

Is this use effective?

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