1. Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977
This film follows a group of people who attempt to contact alien intelligence.
Roy Neary witnesses a UFO when it passes by his truck and its bright lights lightly burn his face. Roy becomes fascinated with UFOs and is obsessed with finding out more about them.
Meanwhile a group of scientists and researchers discover Flight 19 - a plane that went missing 30 years ago but turns up intact.
2. Star Wars franchise 1977 - present
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We couldn't compile a sci-fi list without including the Star Wars movies. You'll never see so many aliens in one film!
Star Wars tells the story of adventures "in a galaxy far, far away".
The franchise began in 1977 with the original movie simply titled Star Wars. It was an instant success, quickly becoming a worldwide cult hit.
Star Wars has gone on to expand, including books, comic books and games as well as movies.
3. Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978
A remake of the classic horror film from 1954.
In San Francisco Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) notices that people are starting to change and their moods are different.
When a writer and his wife discover a mutilated corpse he knows something sinister is going on.
There is an enemy attacking the city.
4. Star Trek franchise 1979 - present day
This follows the adventures of the USS Enterprise which represents the United Federation of Planets. The crew is on a mission to explore new worlds and "boldly go where no one has gone before".
The first film was released in 1979 and was about a massive energy cloud heading towards Earth. The film borrowed many elements from The Changeling - an episode of the TV series Star Trek.
5. E.T. 1982
A classic 80s film about a gentle alien who is stranded on Earth and befriends a young boy called Elliott.
Director Steven Spielberg shot most of the film from the eye-level of a child, in a bid to connect further with Elliott and E.T.
A 2ft10ins tall stunt man did most of the full body shots of E.T. but the kitchen scenes were done by a 12-year-old boy who had no legs but was an expert at walking on his hands.
6. Men in Black, 1997
Will Smith plays an NYPD officer recruited by Tommy Lee Jones' agent 'K' into a secret organisation known as the Men in Black for the purpose of 'protecting the Earth from the scum of the universe'.
Armed with their mind-wiping neuralizers, they keep tabs on the alien refugees who have made our planet their home.
When an alien crash-lands in new York and kills a farmer, the agents must do everything in their power to prevent all-out alien war breaking out.
7. Avatar 2009
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When his brother is killed marine Jake Sully decides to take up a mission on a distant world called Pandora.
There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge - who wants to get rid of the native humanoids called the Na'vi - so he can mine the precious material in their woodland.
Jake begins to bond with the natives and falls in love with a beautiful alien called Neytir.
It's rumoured there are four sequels of this film in the pipeline, with one being released every Christmas.
8. PAUL 2011
It might not be a serious alien movie but it's funny, sweet and also appeals to people who aren't sci-fi fans.
The storyline follows a wisecracking alien called Paul who decides to escape from his compound, at a top-secret US military base, and return to his spaceship.
Along his adventures he meets two sci-fi fans, Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost).
9. / 10. Independence Day 1996 /Independence Day: Resurgence 2016
Disparate groups of people converge in the Nevada desert in the aftermath of a worldwide attack by an extraterrestrial race of unknown origin. Along with the rest of the world, they launch a last-ditch counterattack on July 4 – Independence Day in the United States.
Bill Pullman and and Jeff Goldblum also appear in the sequel set 20 years after the events of the first film, during which the United Nations has collaborated to form Earth Space Defense (ESD), an international military defense and research organization. Through reverse engineering, the world has harnessed the power of alien technology and laid the groundwork to resist a second invasion
