5 of the Best ‘Space’ Movie Scenes of All Time

Astronomy has always been and will always be a fascinating subject for so many; discoveries are made every few days and grainy images and artistic illustrations are often the closest we get to experiencing what actually exists out there in the deepest darkest corners of space. Our imaginations are driven wild by stories that we hear of planets with methane lakes or solar systems with two stars and giant gas clouds the size of a few hundred million light years. Without access to technology that allows us visualise these realities, we turn to the movie screen for help exploring our own imaginations.

We’ve compiled a list of the top 5 movie scenes that we feel capture us and inspire us to explore deeper into our Universe. Don’t worry, no spoilers here!

5. Apollo 13: Launch Scene

This scene was developed by Rob Legato, a visual effects creator that was inspired by raw footage of the Apollo 13 launch. This scene delves into the psychological of what makes for an awe inspiring scene; Rob goes into more detail in his TED talk.

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4. Wall-e: Define Dancing

While realism wasn’t at the heart of this movie, this scene had to make it to one of the all time greats simply because of its sheer beauty!

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3. From the Earth to the Moon: The First American Space Walk

Hollywood’s take on the first US space walk performed by Ed White in 1965. Avoid the video jumping by clicking on the cog icon at the bottom right and changing the quality to 480p or 260p.

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2. Star Wars – A New Hope: Binary Sunset

George Lucas was ahead of his time when he directed this scene from the 1977 Star Wars film – A New Hope. In August 2012, NASA scientists published a report detailing a twin star system that was capable of hosting planets. Meaning that scenes like this are possible.

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1. Melancholia: Planetrise

And finally, our favourite scene from Lars von Trier’s Melancholia. Earlier this year the Kepler space telescope discovered twin planets that would likely experience such an epic phenomena called ‘planetrise’.