Discover the most popular movie the year you were born

1979 – Alien

Remember when John Hurt was lying on a table and all of a sudden an alien popped out of his stomach? Space became a lot less mystifying and a lot more terrifying.  Alien is a Ridley Scott masterpiece that follows a space crew who goes to explore the unknown world of space and end up being attacked by a powerful and scary alien.

The movie was one of the first to bring the fear of space to the limelight. While Star Wars arguably has some fearsome characters like Jabba the Hutt, Aliens was one of the first cinematic franchises to show us the literal dark side of space. When we think of going to other planets, it is fascinating and we can’t wait to see what the universe has to offer us. In the world of Alien, that is definitely not the feeling we leave with after watching the movie.

It also brought Ellen Ripley into our lives. Sigourney Weaver played this amazing woman who took on an alien and survived. Very empowering for women, Alien was revolutionary and, like other movies on this list, helped to spawn an entire series.

Apart from the sequels to Alien itself, the movies Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, in recent years, are also part of the franchise.