1. "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back"
   "Alien 3"
2. "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"
   "Alien vs Predator: Requiem"

"Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is widely considered the best "Star Trek" movie of the franchise. The movie was made without creator Gene Roddenberry, whose idea for Trek II involved Klingons preventing the assassination of JFK and then Spock having to assassinate him.

1. "Battlefield: Earth"
   "Wing Commander"
2. "Independence Day"
   "Rocket Man"

"Independence Day" involved a heck of a lot of destruction. The military was on board with the movie at first, and producers could have used a lot of legit military resources, but the Area 51 references made them back off and drop the movie.

1. "Apollo 13"
   "Battlefield: Earth"
2. "First Man"
   "Marooned"

"Apollo 13" is the true story of the almost disastrous Apollo mission to the moon. Ron Howard went all out to film the movie, and part of it was even filmed in NASA's zero-gravity trainer KC-135 jet.

1. "Planet of the Apes"
   "Mars Needs Moms"
2. "THX-1138"
   "Zardoz"

The original "Planet of the Apes" came out in 1968 and featured Charlton Heston as an astronaut who finds a really wonky Earth. To pull off all the ape effects, the movie needed 100 makeup artists on hand.

1. "Gravity"
   "Interstellar"
2. "The Martian"
   "The Arrival"

"The Martian," based on the book by the same name, stars Matt Damon as an astronaut stranded on Mars. Damon got a legit taste for solitude as all of his scenes were filmed while he was alone. He didn't meet most of his co-stars until he was done filming.

1. "E.T."
   "Life"
2. "Predator"
   "Aliens"

"Aliens" is one of the few sequels that most people agree surpassed the original. Sigourney Weaver reprises her role as Ellen Ripley and got quite a pay boost. Her salary of $35,000 for the first movie became $1 million for the sequel.

1. "Guardians of the Galaxy"
   "Starship Troopers"
2. "Galaxy Quest"
   "Spaceballs"

A surprise hit from the MCU, "Guardians of the Galaxy" was based on a comic book with which few people were familiar. The character of Groot was really old and first appeared in "Tales to Astonish" in 1960.

1. "Elysium"
   "Chappie"
2. "Avatar"
   "Mac and Me"

"Avatar" was really much more complex than many people realize. For instance, the costumes the aliens wear were designed for real, even though no one wore them. The animators needed the real fabric and texture to see and feel in order to design them virtually.

1. "Dante's Peak"
   "Geostorm"
2. "Armageddon"
   "Planet of the Apes"

"Armageddon" was one of the biggest space films of the '90s. The movie was mocked for its science, and even star Ben Affleck mentions on the commentary track that he questioned director Michael Bay about it not making sense. Bay told him to shut up.

1. "Galaxy Quest"
   "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi"
2. "Mission to Mars"
   "Titan AE"

The parody "Galaxy Quest" was surprisingly popular, especially among "Star Trek" fans. There was actually going to be a sequel to the movie, and the cast wanted to do it, but Alan Rickman's untimely death seems to have put that idea to rest.

1. "Independence Day"
   "Apollo 11"
2. "Moon"
   "Gravity"

"Gravity" took 4.5 years to make thanks to extensive animation. The space and technology you see in many scenes is all animated, and the only real parts are the faces of the actors. It took over two years just to do the animation.

1. "Hidden Figures"
   "First Man"
2. "Passengers"
   "Deep Space"

Based on Neil Armstrong and the real-life moon landing, "First Man" stars Ryan Gosling as Armstrong. The actual moon landing in 1969 was watched by an estimated 530 million people around the world.

1. "Titan AE"
   "Wall-E"
2. "Heavy Metal"
   "Space Jam"

"Wall-E" is one of the most adorable robots in movie history, ranking right up there with R2-D2. That makes sense since both Wall-E and R2-D2 were voiced by the same actor. Sound designer Ben Burtt made them both come to life.

1. "Avatar"
   "District 9"
2. "Enemy Mine"
   "Space Camp"

"District 9" proved to be a really popular movie, and one day there may be a sequel, if the director ever gets around to it. Casting shouldn't be an issue for the aliens since every single alien in the first movie was played by the same actor.

1. "Battefield: Earth"
   "Starship Troopers"
2. "Ender's Game"
   "Wing Commander"

"Starship Troopers" is based on a novel by Robert Heinlein. Despite that, director Paul Verhoeven didn't actually read the entire thing. He tried to, but he thought it was so bad, he didn't want to finish it.

1. "Thor: Ragnarok"
   "Space Station 76"
2. "Spaceballs"
   "Serenity"

Mel Brooks' "Spaceballs" is a classic sci-fi comedy that clearly parodies the "Star Wars" franchise. Brooks reportedly approached Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks to star in the movie, but both of them turned it down, and Bill Pullman got the role.

1. "Wing Commander"
   "Enemy Mine"
2. "Galaxy Quest"
   "Lost in Space"

Based on the classic '60s TV show "Lost in Space," there were hopes that this '90s version would start a new film franchise. The actors were all contracted to a three-picture deal until the first one kind of bombed and plans for more movies were scrapped.

1. "The Martian"
   "Red Planet"
2. "Total Recall"
   "Mission to Mars"

The first "Total Recall" starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and featured a lot of action on Mars. Schwarzenegger was initially turned down for the movie for being too manly. But he convinced another company to buy the production house out so he could be cast in the film.

1. "Valerian and the City of 1,000 Planets"
   "Jupiter Ascending"
2. "Fifth Element"
   "Lost in Space"

"The Fifth Element" was produced in Europe with a budget of $70 million. Initially, the casting of the movie had Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts in the lead roles and Prince playing Ruby Rhod.

1. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
   "Event Horizon"
2. "Star Trek Into Darkness"
   "Starship Troopers"

"Star Trek Into Darkness" featured Benedict Cumberbatch as the legendary villain Khan Noonien Singh. Cumberbatch filmed his audition for the movie on an iPhone in a friend's kitchen. It looks like it worked out.

1. "Superman Returns"
   "Guardians of the Galaxy 2"
2. "Justice League"
   "Avengers: Infinity War"

"Avengers: Infinity War" was obviously a huge success at the box office and has grossed over $2 billion. Despite all that money, it's only the fourth highest grossing film of all time, though. "Endgame" is No. 1.

1. "Star Trek: The Final Frontier"
   "Star Wars: Rogue One"
2. "Avatar"
   "Moonraker"

"Star Wars: Rogue One" was the first "Star Wars" movie that didn't feature a Jedi as a main character and also the first one that didn't have an opening text crawl. It's also the first one that isn't part of the main franchise.

1. "The Cloverfield Paradox"
   "Predator II"
2. "Galaxy of Terror"
   "Prometheus"

Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" is a prequel to the "Alien" franchise. Michael Fassbender plays the android David, which followed the weirdly alphabetical pattern of androids in the previous movies — Ash in "Alien," Bishop in "Aliens" and Call in "Alien: Resurrection."

1. "Critters"
   "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
2. "Barbarella"
   "Zathura"

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is based on the very popular book by Douglas Adams. Adams has an appearance in the movie, sort of. His head appears briefly as a planet in a tour of the galaxy.

1. "Gattaca"
   "Event Horizon"
2. "2001: A Space Odyssey"
   "Passengers"

A classic of the genre, "2001: A Space Odyssey" was directed by Stanley Kubrick. Nearly the entire movie was filmed indoors and the iconic black monolith was just wood painted with custom black paint.

1. "The Black Hole"
   "Valerian and the City of 1,000 Planets"
2. "Star Trek Into Darkness"
   "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" was clearly the most elaborate film of the entire franchise. The Canto Bight casino set covered two entire soundstages and took 16 weeks to build. The outside scenes were filmed in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

1. "Contact"
   "Interstellar"
2. "Gravity"
   "The Arrival"

"Interstellar" was one of Christopher Nolan's most popular films. They actually grew 500 acres of corn to use in the movie for the cornfield scene and then sold it at a profit after the movie wrapped.

1. "Passengers"
   "Solaris"
2. "The Fountain"
   "Gattaca"

"Passengers" is billed as a sci-fi romance movie, although the plot is a little creepy. The movie had a very negative response when it came out due to the choices made by Chris Pratt's character, which are less romantic and more scary and creepy.

1. "Star Wars: A New Hope"
   "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace"
2. "Sar Wars: Rogue One"
   "Solo: A Star Wars Story"

"Star Wars: A New Hope" is the first "Star Wars" movie any of us ever got to see. The first line of dialogue is spoken by C-3P0. There was a time when the movie was going to be called "The Star Wars: From the Adventures of Like Starkiller."

1. "Lost in Space"
   "Pandorum"
2. "Event Horizon"
   "Doom"

"Event Horizon" was a pretty grisly and terrifying film, but the original cut of the movie was so much worse, it received an NC-17 rating. Director Paul W. S. Anderson had to cut an entire half hour of the movie to make it work.

1. "The Adventures of Pluto Nash"
   "Enemy Mine"
2. "Moonraker"
   "The Right Stuff"

1985's "Enemy Mine" is a bit of an underrated classic starring Lou Gossett Jr. and Dennis Quaid. The alien language spoken in the movie was based on Russian but spoken in reverse.

1. "Elysium"
   "Ad Astra"
2. "Titan AE"
   "Geostorm"

"Titan AE" was an animated movie from the year 2000. Though the movie didn't make a big splash when it showed up, it's significant for being the first movie ever to be created and shown entirely digitally.

1. "SpaceCamp"
   "Apollo 11"
2. "First Man"
   "Flight of the Navigator"

"SpaceCamp" was a tragic victim of bad timing when it came out. It was slated to be released right around the same time as the real-life Challenger explosion. The studio naturally pulled the movie, and when it was released, it was pretty much a dud. It later became kind of a cult favorite.

1. "Event Horizon"
   "Lifeforce"
2. "Leprechaun in Space"
   "Jason X"

"Jason X" is the 10th move in the "Friday the 13th" franchise that inexplicably takes place on a space station in the year 2455. Producers of the film came up with the idea after tossing out every ludicrous idea they could think of, including one version that involved NASCAR.

1. "Elysium"
   "Interstellar"
2. "Moon"
   "Sunshine"

The movie "Sunshine" explores the idea of the sun facing a catastrophic event that may destroy it. The movie was reworked numerous times, and there were 35 different drafts of the script!

1. "Jupiter Ascending"
   "Fifth Element"
2. "Valerian and the City of 1,000 Planets"
   "Heavy Metal"

As hard as it may be to believe, not a single film before "Valerian and the City of 1000 Planets" ever used a Beatles song in the trailer. Director Luc Besson got permission from Paul McCartney himself.

1. "Moon"
   "Sunshine"
2. "Europa"
   "IO"

Sam Rockwell stars in "Moon," and he wasn't just the first choice for the movie, he's the actor for whom the movie was written. Duncan Jones had wanted to work with Rockwell, but they could never find the right project, so Jones made a movie for him.

1. "Moon"
   "Life"
2. "Sunshine"
   "Black Hole"

2017's "Life" is a sci-fi horror movie starring Ryan Reynolds. He was meant to be the star of the movie, but scheduling forced him to take a bit of a smaller role, which ended up being a surprise for the audience.

1. "Dracula 3000"
   "Alien vs Predator"
2. "Aliens"
   "Leprechaun 4: In Space"

The "Leprechaun" franchise headed to space with its fourth installment. If that sounds crazy, it's worth noting both "Friday the 13th" and "Hellraiser" also took their franchises into outer space. It's where a horror movie goes when it has nowhere else to go!

1. "Predators"
   "Enemy Mine"
2. "Alien: Resurrection"
   "Armageddon"

"Predators" was the first Predator movie to take place on another world. In the original movie, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme was cast as the alien, but he got fired for complaining too much.