Gorgo

1961 film directed by Eugene Lourie.

British film that cashed in on the popularity of Godzilla tells the story of a baby dinosaur that is displayed in the circus until its mother comes to rescue it and tears up London.

Surprisingly engaging considering how derivative it is.

Love dinosaur flicks.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054938/

First Men in the Moon

1964 sci-fi film directed by Nathan Juran and starring Edward Judd, Martha Hyer, and Lionel Jeffries.

H.G. Wells story about Victorian era scientists who devise a way to propel themselves to the moon is filled with comic relief thanks to Jeffries.

Fun and entertaining and suitable for the kids.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058100/

The Fifth Element

1997 Luc Besson film starring Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker.

This one has it all: sci-fi, adventure, action, comedy.

Cab driver (in the future, when cabs fly) has a woman "drop" in on him and both set out to save the universe. With Oldman over the top as the bad guy and Chris Tucker as a media "mouthpiece" who can't shut up (how unusual!) this one is fun and visually amazing.

Willis is great. So is Jovovich ("It's a multi-pass"). A fun ride.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119116/

Invaders From Mars

Totally scared me when I was a kid.

1953 original directed by William Cameron Menzies and stars Helena Carter and Arthur Franz.

Young boy sees UFO land and burrow underground and suddenly the townspeople are under the control of the Martians hidden in tunnels out in the farmland. Paranoid flick about who has been taken over by aliens and who hasn't.

I was convinced my folks were aliens for a long time. Still wonder sometimes.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045917/

Forbidden Planet

Ok, maybe you HAVE seen this one, but if not, definitely check it out.

1956 film directed by Fred McLeod stars Leslie Nielson, Walter Pidgeon, Anne
Francis, Jack Kelly, and Robbie the Robot.

Based on Shakespeare's The Tempest, this is the story of an Earth ship that travels to another planet looking for survivors of a previous expedition. All they find are a scientist, his daughter, and the robot created to help make their lives easier as the only inhabitants.

Along the way, the crew discovers a secret: a former civilization called the Krell, whose mind expanding technology has dire effects.

GREAT effects created by Disney studios. I've always had the suspicion that this film strongly influenced the creation of Star Trek. And Robbie is the coolest robot ever.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049223/

This Island Earth

This movie scared the hell out of me when I was a kid.

Surprisingly good sci-fi flick from 1955 directed by Joseph Newman stars Jeff Morrow, Rex Reason, and Faith Domergue.

Earth scientists are recruited to work on a secret project. Unbeknownst to them, their employers are aliens who communicate with their planet through a device called an Interossiter. The scientists are eventually abducted to the aliens' home planet where they help their abductors fend off other maurading aliens.

Suspenseful and quite elaborate special effects considering when it was made.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047577/

Five Million Years To Earth

Britsih Sci-Fi film with limited effects but mucho suspense and quite thought provoking.

Made in 1968 and directed by Roy Ward Baker, this thriller starts with the discovery of a spacecraft discovered by subway workers excavating an area underneath London. The craft contains the bodies of its crew. But anyone approaching the craft is affected strangely and that effect spreads.

Film deals with our origins, genetic memory, and psychic possibilities.

Different and interesting.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062168/