Hollywood is no stranger to telling exhilarating, awe-inspiring stories surrounding astronauts and their thrilling missions traveling to space. From real-life reenactments of famous events like Project Mercury and Neil Armstrong’s groundbreaking walk on the Moon during Apollo 11 to completely imagined tales of survival such as being left untethered in space, the cinema has dazzled moviegoers with its electrifying visuals and tales.
Innovative director Christopher Nolan blew audiences away with his Oscar-winning sci-fi masterpiece Interstellar, while Ridley Scott introduced the world to two unforgettable space-themed pictures, Alien and The Martian. Let’s take a look at twelve of the best movies the big screen has to offer about astronauts.
12 Space Cowboys
Hollywood legends Clint Eastwood, Donal Sutherland, Tommy Lee Jones, and James Garner headlined the 2000 adventure drama Space Cowboys, which follows a group of retired former test pilots who are enlisted to go to space in order to repair a failing Soviet satellite and prevent it from coming into the Earth's atmosphere.
Eastwood leads the engrossing picture as the satellite's engineer Frank Corvin, who enlists his old crew to help him on his mission and finally achieve their dreams of traveling to space after pining to do so for over forty years. Space Cowboys was praised for its special effects and commanding lead performances, and was both a critical and commercial success.
11 First Man
Ryan Gosling once again delivered a compelling performance when he starred as legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong in the 2018 biographical drama First Man, which chronicles the events that led up to the space trailblazer becoming the first person to walk on the Moon following the groundbreaking Apollo 11 mission in 1969.
The underrated film shines a light on both Armstrong's personal life including his relationship with his wife Janet (Claire Foy) as well as his emergence as one of the twentieth century's most iconic and revered astronauts. First Man won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and topped numerous critics' lists for their top ten films of the year, including Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair.
10 Moon
Sam Rockwell showcased his impeccable acting prowess when he starred as the lonely and struggling astronaut Sam Bell in the 2009 sci-fi drama Moon, centering on the weary Bell as he finally nears the conclusion of his three-year stint at a lunar mine, with only the robot GERTY (Kevin Spacey) being his only companion throughout the period. As he prepares to be reunited with his wife and daughter, Bell's health quickly begins to deteriorate following a devastating accident and he begins to hallucinate and question what is reality.
Rockwell was outstanding as the desolate astronaut, with Moon going on to win the BIFA Award for Best British Independent Film as well as the Huge Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. The sci-fi flick was also praised by the scientific community for its realistic depiction of space and technology and what humanity's future could look like if colonies were created outside of Earth.
9 The Right Stuff
Philip Kaufman directed the 1983 epic historical drama The Right Stuff, an adaptation of the Tom Wolfe book of the same name that focuses on seven gifted military pilots who were chosen to be a part of the first human spaceflight conducted by the United States known as Project Mercury.
The film features the talents of stars like Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, and Dennis Quaid and chronicles the astronauts' personal lives and struggles and the creation of the cutting-edge space program that resulted in six successful space missions between 1958 to 1963.
The Right Stuff masterfully captured the political and social climate of the era as the United States raced to safely get a man into Earth orbit before the Soviet Union was able to do so. Lauded for its historical accuracy, the spectacular picture was a box-office dud but a knockout with critics and went on to win four Academy Awards after being nominated for eight.
8 The Martian
Revered director Ridley Scott enlisted Hollywood heavy hitter Matt Damon to star in his breathtaking 2015 sci-fi extravaganza The Martian. The actor served up a tour de force performance as an astronaut mistakenly left behind on Mars after a violent storm leaves him presumed dead, with the stranded man fighting to keep his wits in hopes of surviving the inhospitable planet. Mechanical engineer and botanist Dr. Mark Watney must work with his sparse supplies and resources to live as his fellow NASA team members race to rescue him before his time runs out.
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Scott set out to make The Martian (an adaptation of Andy Weir novel) as accurate and realistic as possible, teaming up with NASA to correctly depict the technology and science featured in the drama. The blockbuster hit raked in over $630 million and won two Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture and Best Actor for Damon, and was named the Film of the Year by the National Board of Review.
7 Gravity
Audiences all across the world were taken on an anxiety-inducing thrill ride when they watched Alfonso Cuarón's 2013 sci-fi thriller Gravity, following a pair of American astronauts as they terrifyingly become stranded in space after their shuttle is destroyed in orbit and struggle to find a way back to Earth.
Sandra Bullock was remarkable in a powerhouse performance as Dr. Ryan Stone, a medical engineer embarking on her first shuttle mission with veteran astronaut Lieutenant Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), with the duo ending up tethered to one another as they float aimlessly in the vast darkness of space.
The eerie and unsettling thriller is truly propelled by Bullock, as she was the only person on-screen for the majority of the film with the actress brilliantly capturing Stone's unimaginable fear and anguish. Gravity took home seven Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Visual Effects, and remains a major cinematic triumph of the sci-fi genre.
6 A Trip to the Moon
Widely regarded as one of the most influential films of all time and a trailblazer of the sci-fi genre, the 1902 French picture A Trip to the Moon tells the story of a group of astronomers as they go on a dangerous expedition to the Moon via a cannon-propelled capsule, where they explore its surface and cross paths with Selenites, one of whom they bring back with them on their return home. Director Georges Méliès drew inspiration from Jules Verne's literary classics From the Earth to the Moon and its sequel Around the Moon, with Méliès also starring in the groundbreaking adventure film.
A Trip to the Moon disappeared into obscurity due to Méliès' decline in popularity before once again gaining prominence in the 1930s, and was retrospectively lauded for combining "spectacle, sensation, and technical wizardry to create a cosmic fantasy that was an international sensation." It had a profound influence on both the silver screen and filmmakers and is a noteworthy example of early cinema.
5 Interstellar
From the genius mind of Christopher Nolan comes the breathtaking 2014 epic sci-fi film Interstellar, touting an elite ensemble cast led by Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain.
It is set in a dystopian future where a group of courageous astronauts set out to find a new home for Earth's inhabitants after famine devastates mankind and forces its survivors to find a different planet to inhabit. McConaughey stars as former NASA pilot Joseph Cooper, who daringly travels through a wormhole on his quest to locate a planet capable of being a habitable environment.
Undeniably one of Nolan's most visually stunning and thought-provoking pictures, Interstellar was lauded for its depiction of black holes and wormholes and theoretical astrophysics as well as its complex storyline and sensational performances. The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "Interstellar is an experience. Nolan's vision of our galaxy, and galaxies beyond, is daunting, majestic; the hardware of space travel looks right, almost familiar."
4 Alien
Sigourney Weaver became an overnight sensation and celebrated fierce heroine when she masterfully starred as Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott's acclaimed 1979 sci-fi horror hit Alien, centering on a horrific and malevolent extraterrestrial the commercial space tug Nostromo and its crew are terrorized by after awakening from their cryo-sleep capsules. Ripley and her fellow officers are in for the fight of their lives as they are stalked by the deadly lifeform aboard their space vessel, facing unfathomable horrors as well as one another in their battle for survival.
Lauded as one of the greatest and most influential sci-fi movies in cinematic history, Alien won three Saturn Awards and the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and launched a lucrative and enduring franchise while kick starting Weaver's prominent career. Alien continues to amass a devoted fan following and remains both a staple of Scott and Weaver's decorated Hollywood resume.
3 WALL-E
In Pixar's beloved and universally acclaimed 2008 animated sci-fi romance film WALL-E, the lonely titular robot is the last remaining Earth inhabitant of its kind, as the solitary character spends his days attempting to clean up the deserted planet with only the cockroach Hal as his companion.
WALL-E finds his mundane existence completely rocked when he meets the beautiful egg-shaped probe EVE, falling head-over-heels for the remarkable robot who came from the starship Axiom under the leadership of its Captain B. Macrea, following both her and the ship all throughout the galaxies.
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WALL-E has gone on to earn a reputation as one of the greatest animated movies of all time and was revered for tackling heavy subjects like ecocide, consumerism, and waste management. Rolling Stone praised the film and wrote, "No movie can be a downer that fills you with pure exhilaration. You leave WALL-E with a feeling of the rarest kind: that you've just enjoyed a close encounter with an enduring classic."
2 Apollo 13
With a spectacular A-list cast led by Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton, Ron Howard's spellbinding 1995 space docudrama Apollo 13 recounts the real-life harrowing story of the failed eponymous lunar mission in 1970 that was forced to be aborted after one of the oxygen tanks exploded, threatening the safety and survival of its three astronauts aboard. The talented trio appears as Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise, respectively, and the gripping drama depicts the events surrounding NASA's efforts and strategy to rescue the men and get them back home in one piece.
Howard went to painstaking lengths to ensure Apollo 13 was technically accurate, teaming up with NASA and having his lead stars attend U.S. Space Camp and participate in exercises in both a simulated Lunar Module and Command Module and learn about how to operate an aircraft. Apollo 13 is considered a major triumph for Howard, received nine Academy Award nominations, and remains a celebrated cinematic feat.
1 2001: A Space Odyssey
Innovative filmmaker Stanley Kubrick directed the classic 1968 epic sci-fi juggernaut 2001: A Space Odyssey, famously following Dr. David Bowman (Keir Dullea) as he and his fellow astronauts set out on a cryptic mission with the help of their sentient computer HAL to travel to Jupiter in order to look into a mysterious artifact and its perplexing origins.
Critics were blown away by the groundbreaking visuals and its exploration of fascinating themes like A.I., alien life, and the influence of technology, with Kubrick basing the screenplay on author Arthur C. Clarke's short story The Sentinel and teaming up with the writer for the script.
2001: A Space Odyssey won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and despite an initial polarizing critical reaction has since become the director's most acclaimed work and has landed on numerous lists as one of the greatest and most influential sci-fi movies of all time. It continues to be analyzed and dissected by writers, fans, and critics and is considered a major triumph of twentieth-century cinema.