Top 5 Aliens

Visitors’ from another planet.

By Geeky Gem

A little while ago I told you about my top 5 zombies, not long after this I was sat around trying to think of something else I could bring you lovely people. Then it came to me, other than zombies I have a thing for Aliens and creatures from other planets. This lead to a quick brain storm with Beefnuts, yes I got help on this one OK, now can we move on good. Anyway he gave me some ideas and along with what I had, I came up with a list of top 5 Aliens, and here it is.

 

 

 

Tars Tarkas from John Carter

 

 

Tars Tarkas is a character in Edgar Rice Burrough’s Barsoom series of novels. A great warrior and leader among his people, the brutal and mirthless Tharks, he possesses a sense of compassion and empathy uncharacteristic of his race. He becomes firm friends with John Carter.

 

The Xenomorph from Alien

 

 

Did you really think I would leave this one out? I love this alien, it’s scary looking, deadly and gets better with each new version. Most of you will know that the Xenomorph is the Alien, Unlike many other recurring enemy extraterrestrial races in science fiction, the Aliens are not an intelligent civilization, but predatory creatures with no higher goals than the propagation of their species and the destruction of life that could pose a threat. This includes the human race and the next alien on the list.

 

 

Predator from Predator

 

 

Another of my favorite aliens, these hunters from deep space are just fantastic. I know I should spend the movie cheering on the human, but for some reason I like the Predator better. They are characterized by its trophy hunting of other dangerous species for sport. The Predators are depicted as large, sapient and sentient humanoid creatures that possess advanced technology, such as active camouflage and energy weapons, and are capable of interstellar travel.

 

The Ymir from 20 Million Miles to Earth

 

 

As we here at All Geek have mentioned many a time we love Ray Harryhausen, so it would be a crime not to included his fantastic alien on this list.  Now as always this alien was bought to Earth in the form of an egg, after scientists bring it back from Venus. Now as you can imagine the egg hatches and from it comes the Ymir a reptilian like creature. And he is not happy; the Ymir begins to grow at a prodigious rate due to the abundance of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere. The Ymir eats sulfur so passes up anything else. The Ymir only attacks when provoked, and is perhaps the most sympathetic creature on this list. This leads to our last alien.

 

Chewbacca from Star Wars

 

 

 

Oh Chewie, were do we start with good old faithful Chewie. Chewie is the best friend of Han Solo and has been with him for a number of years when we first meet him in Star Wars. Chewbacca’s creation as a “gentle, hairy, non-English-speaking co-pilot” was inspired by George Lucas seeing his own dog sitting up on the passenger seat of Lucas’ car. Chewbacca is a Wookie and he became Han Solos’ first mate and companion after Solo, then an Imperial Captain, refused an order to kill him while Chewbacca was a slave of the Empire. Solo was dismissed from the Imperial Navy for disobedience and became a smuggler. Chewbacca owed a life debt to Han and would serve Han Solo for the rest of his life. There is no better friend than this wonderful Wookie.

 

 

Again we have come to the end of another interesting list, I hope you have enjoyed this trip to outer space and back again in this look at aliens.

 

Take Flight With Dragons

By Geeky Gem

 I am going to start by saying I love Dragons. I think they are one of the most interesting mythical creatures out there. I like the fact they can fly, breath fire and in some cases be tamed in order to be ridden. They fascinate me, so here I want to share with you my top five movies that include a Dragon. Now the dragons on this list are either the main character or just happened to be in the movie.

 Pete’s Dragon

 

Pete’s Dragon I believe was the first film I ever saw with a Dragon in it, I loved this movie and often watched it with my Grampy, so it holds a special place in my heart. The story is about an orphan boy called Pete who has a very special, very secret friend called Elliot who happens to be a Dragon. The story is sweet and is really about Pete and Elliot, the trouble they get in to and how they get out of it.

 

Dragonheart

 

Dragonheart has to be up here in the Dragon list as Draco is played by Sean Connery who has an awesome voice for such a fantastical creature. The cast is very rich in the movie with Denis Quiad and David Thewlis fitting the bill. There was just something about this one that I thought was brilliant. I think it is down to the fact that they basically go around conning villages into helping with their Dragon problem, which to me is funny.

 

Reign of Fire

Slightly more grown up movie here, with Dragons burning the place up. Basically a brood of fire-breathing dragons emerges from the earth and begins setting fire to everything, establishing dominance over the planet. Which is really good. Another all star cast in this one with Christian Bale and Gerard Butler. Although this movie is only a 12, the Dragon’s in this one are, unlike the other two I have mentioned, not friendly, and are in fact scary and want the death of all the humans. It adds a grown up edge to Dragon’s, not all of them can talk and want to be your friend.

 

The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad

 

Now this movie doesn’t have a Dragon at the heart of the story, but we here at All Geek like Ray Harryhausen so much I had to include this Dragon on the list. I love these movies, OK the the effects are dated and they don’t age well (umm speak for yourself Gem!! (Hmsbeefnuts)), but for the time in which they were released they were fantastic. I mean look at this fantastic beast, it’s amazing. In case you want to know what the film is about, a princess is shrunken by an evil wizard, Sinbad must undertake a quest to an island of monsters to cure her and prevent a war.

 

How to Train Your Dragon

 

I know, I’ve gone back to a kid’s movie, but I couldn’t leave this off the list seen as I watch it about once a month. Yes that’s right folks, I know it word for word, I cant help it, it is brilliant and for all the right reasons, Dragon riding, beautiful scenes and backdrops. All paired up with fantastic music and a wonderful story. A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.

 

There we have it, five of my all time favourite movies with Dragons in them. If you haven’t seen any of theses then why not give them a go? There are so many I missed out like Dragonslayer and Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 2, both of which have fantastic Dragons in. Not to mention B-movie fair Dragon Wars. Any way, keep your eyes to the skies, you never know when these brilliant beasts may return.