The Ultimate Movie Binge: Space Adventures!

Each month the Cinelinx staff will write a handful of articles covering a specified film-related topic. These articles will be notified by the Movielinx banner. Movielinx is an exploration and discussion of our personal connections with film. This month, we're picking our favorite films for binge watching. We'll suggest a theme and the four movies we think would be most enjoyable to watch back-to-back while being related to this theme.

Science fiction has always been one of my favorite genres, and while many different films can claim to have elements rooted in the genre, nothing is as exciting to me to watch, as space-faring adventures.  Something about exploring new worlds, interacting with alien species, and seeing new and incredible technology in action is vastly appealing and gets my heart racing.  The ability to see things that don’t exist right before your eyes has been capturing audiences for years, and when you’re planning out a movie marathon, it’s not a bad theme to focus on.  Let’s take a look at some of the best space adventures you could watch all at once!

Star Wars - Take Your Pick

You want space adventure and fun times in sci-fi?  You need to look no further than the beloved Star Wars saga.  The modern world of space movies (or space operas) owes a lot to the Star Wars films, having helped to shape the genre as it exists now and developing the filmmaking tools necessary to take audiences to believeable galaxies far, far away.  

The Star Wars films are an absolute must to include in your space-faring movie marathon.  Which one, you might ask?  Frankly, any of them.  My thoughts on Star Wars fandom has been quite clear as of late; it doesn’t matter which of the Star Wars films you like most, just enjoy them. If the Prequels tickle your fancy more, go with it!  Don’t let judgy fanboys prevent you from having fun.  Pick your favorite episode (mine would be Empire Strikes Back) kick off your binge on the right foot. 

Serenity

Let’s keep the good times rolling with Joss Whedon’s Serenity, the continuation of the television adventures of the good crew in Firefly.  While this film may not have the same epic scale or story you’ll find in Star Wars, what it has is a ridiculous amount of heart.  While the far out society and technology may be entertaining, what really hooks you in, are the characters.  It’s hard NOT to fall in love with the crew of Serenity and feel their elation and sadness as it comes around.  

Even for those who weren’t familiar with the television series it stems from will find themselves instantly attached to these characters.  It’s a trademark of Joss Whedon’s brand of filmmaking, and one of the reasons he worked so well as The Avengers director.  The film is also a ridiculous amount of fun.  Some would argue this is also the film’s biggest fault, in that it went for fun adventure over a more meaningful journey and message.  I would counter that it has some stronger themes, just not the time or budget to pull them off to it’s fullest potential.  

Regardless, it’s an entertaining film with lovable characters on a far reaching journey that’ll have you itching for more and scrambling to watch the full series (which is sadly short).  A great addition to your marathon night.  

The Fifth Element

This is one of my favorite science fiction films for a multitude of reasons.  For one, it incorporates the world ending-epicness and threat level, while bringing in a very human and down-to-Earth approach to telling the story.  It’s a hilarious film, filled with characters that you enjoy watching and plenty of action to keep you glued to your seat.  

By far, though, one of the reasons I continue to come back to this film and enjoy it nearly two decades later, is the how it treats the futuristic elements.  It does a great job of presenting the technology in such a way that it feels like a natural progression of how our society would develop things.  It felt “used” without taking a bunch of time to explain how everything works.  The film expected audiences to merely accept what they were seeing as fact, thus allowing the story to move things forward, without bogging it down in technical jargon. 

No matter how many times I watch this film, it’s always a fun ride and a treat to sit through.  It’s got a story that manages to hold up, along with great characters and fun action scenes.  Sure, it’s cheesy and schlockey at times, but in general it’s a great adventure film that has you traveling and seeing things you never would have imagined.  

Starship Troopers

Aside from the title, general setting, and alien attackers, this film shares very little in common with the book it’s supposed to be based on.  Regardless of that, it still manages to be a pretty spectacular film.  Sure, it’s campy, but it’s designed to be that way in order to help make it’s satirical point.  It’s a movie with a message (something it’s direct-to-DVD sequels seemed to forget), and it manages to deliver that message in a very entertaining way! 

This film is definitely different than the others I’ve listed.  It’s hyper-violent at times, pushes itself hard into the “B” movie category, and visually hasn’t held up as well.  Despite all that, I feel it belongs in this binge-watching session because it’s a great tribute to classic sci-fi adventures while poking fun at the faults inherent in these kinds of movies.  Not to mention it’s just plain fun to watch! 

There are a few other “substitues” you could throw in for your binge watching session including: 

Aliens
The Last Starfighter
Stargate
Titan AE
The Chronicles of Riddick

Regardless of what you go with, if you’re considering having a movie marathon with your friends, the space adventure flicks is a great genre to go with, and I don’t think you could go wrong by including the movies listed above.  Which space movies would you add to your marathon?  Let us know in the comments below, and don't forget to check out last week's binge watching suggestions for fighting the oppression! 

-Jordan