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Many children across multiple generations often dream of being astronauts. With space epics such as Star Wars, Star Trek, and Guardians of the Galaxy filling movie screens since the 1960s, it’s no wonder why.
Many find the science of astronomy and the exploration of deep space fascinating. However, there is a lot of danger that many fail to consider. Luckily, certain filmmakers are well aware of how risky it is and choose to relay that message in their movies…and then some.
‘Gravity’ (2013)
Gravity is an incredible space survival story starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as two astronauts who become stranded when a flying cloud of debris destroys their space shuttle. The film details the struggle experienced when trying to get back home while stuck in zero gravity and an endless void.
This movie made it very apparent that space is a terrifying place. Not only are your necessities like food and water limited, but so is oxygen. And you can’t rely on all your senses, as when disaster strikes, there is no way for you to hear it—being stuck in a vast expanse of nothingness while completely alone with limited options is horrifying.
‘Alien’ (1979)
This movie and any of its numerous sequels are perfectly good cases against deep space exploration. The first film’s tagline perfectly exemplifies it: “In space, no one can hear you scream.” When a spaceship crew finds themselves the victims of a predatory alien species known as the Xenomorphs, there truly is nowhere to hide.
For one, the Xenomorph is the apex predator, hard to track or fight. On top of that, any attempts at calling for backup or assistance are practically useless. Space is simply too large, and there is no telling whether help will arrive in time. They could make an emergency landing on a nearby planet, but no guarantee that said planet would be appropriate for humans to walk on or that it would provide any respite. They are completely isolated, with no way to ensure their survival, which can also be said for real-life space expeditions in the future. Sure, the chances of running into an alien life form aboard a modern satellite are pretty slim, but they’re never zero.
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the most unique sci-fi films ever made. This is due in part to the brilliant mind of director Stanley Kubrick and the fact that the movie’s practical effects were extremely advanced for the time. The movie focuses on a small group of explorers who venture into space along with the SuperComputer HAL 9000 (Douglas Rain).
In search of a potential origin from a mysterious artificial relic uncovered beneath the moon’s surface, the movie begins as a simple expedition to Jupiter. Unfortunately, HAL the SuperComputer possesses a personality, and it’s not a very nice one. While other space movies focus on the external dangers that come with facing the unknown, whether it be alien life or hostile planets, this film takes a different spin and shows what happens when even your own equipment is trying to kill you.
‘Interstellar’ (2014)
When Earth becomes subject to a series of dust storms that render the planet uninhabitable, former NASA pilot Dr. Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is among the few selected to venture out into space and secured a new world suitable for habitation. Even though Cooper has his crew with him and is far from alone, space is still portrayed as frightening.
For one, many of the planets they arrive at are hostile environments, and the flow of time experienced by the travelers is different from that on Earth. As Cooper ages only a few days, his daughter’s entire life plays out while he is gone. Furthermore, the crew becomes subject to other hazardous events in space, including a black hole. It puts into perspective just how tiny Earth is compared to the rest of the universe.
‘The Martian’ (2015)
The vast majority of The Martian doesn’t actually take place in space, but rather on the planet Mars. After a dust storm prompts a team of researchers to evacuate swiftly, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is incorrectly presumed dead. The rest of the crew leaves him on the red planet, where he wakes up completely alone.
Even though the movie doesn’t show much of outer space itself, it still serves as an example of how isolating other worlds can be, even if it’s a world right next to the one you call home. It’s also another film that portrays how dangerous things are in space and how quickly catastrophe can strike at any given moment due to natural phenomena.
‘High Life’ (2018)
High Life is an underrated masterpiece from director Claire Denis that explores the terrifying natures of black holes–large, vacuous entities that suck in everything around it, including light. In this science-fiction/horror hybrid film, a group of criminals is forcibly sent into space to extract material from a black hole, which proves to be just as dangerous and scary as it sounds.
Though other unspeakable horrors occur on the spacecraft, the nature of black holes appears in full force, with a phenomenon known as “spaghettification” appearing on-screen, which is anything but pretty. Aside from the dangers on board the ship, this is another film that shows how dangerous outer space is.
‘Marooned’ (1969)
Marooned is such a terrifying film because it’s entirely plausible. While on an experimental seven-month mission, a shuttle carrying three astronauts suddenly malfunctions. Its engines fail, and ground control determines that the three men aboard have no way of returning into the atmosphere with the ship in its current state.
NASA elects to send a rescue shuttle, though there is one major problem–a hurricane is blowing over Cape Canaveral, which makes a shuttle launch impossible. This effectively makes the three men stranded in space, with only two days of oxygen remaining. It’s the definitive worst nightmare for any astronaut (and many non-astronauts).
‘Apollo 18’ (2011)
The premise of the cinematic dumpster fire known as Apollo 18 is that NASA’s Apollo 17 mission was not, in fact, its final mission to the moon and that there was an eighteenth that went horribly wrong, which caused all evidence of it to be erased.
Much like The Martian, Apollo 18 doesn’t happen so much in space as it does somewhere other than Earth – in this case, the Moon. The moon is arguably much scarier than Mars because it appears in a constant state of darkness. When the astronauts’ gear begins to malfunction and impede their journey home, somewhere where it’s constantly dark is not a place anyone wants to be–especially if said place may or may not be inhabited by extra-terrestrials.
‘Life’ (2017)
LIfe is a seemingly innocent film on the surface but eventually becomes much more sinister. In Life, a group of scientists recovers soil samples containing a form of bacterial life found on Mars. The sample is brought back to Earth and is adorably named “Calvin” by American schoolchildren.
Calvin starts as a simple test subject, but it doesn’t take long before it becomes hostile. It seems to have a parasitic nature, devouring all small life forms that stand in its way, which allows it to grow larger. The movie warns that maybe bringing extra-terrestrial life forms back to Earth isn’t the best idea, especially if you aren’t aware of the exact nature of the organism.
‘Ad Astra’ (2019)
When a doomed expedition to a foreign solar system causes the disappearance of a young man’s father, he decides to become an astronaut as he grows older to find out the truth about what happened. Though the movie’s premise is innocent enough, it does a good job of showing how little humanity knows about the universe.
The solar system in question is extremely hostile, and not only that, it contains a threat that could quite literally, end the entire universe were it let out of control. The thought that something could be out there, in the deepest reaches of space, with that amount of destructive power completely unknown to humanity is profoundly terrifying.
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