Moonraker space station ('Moonraker,' 1979)
NEXT: A waylaid wanderer
The Resolute ('Lost In Space,' 2018)
According to IGN, the 2018 reboot of 'Lost in Space' was a remake of the 1965 show following the Robinson family's adventures in outer space. Whilst the ship in the original was named the Jupiter 2, Netflix's reboot ditched the name but kept the familiar saucer design. While the Resolute looks cool, there definitely are some issues with this ship. There's the not-so-small matter that a single alien robot could cause a lot of damage, which makes us wonder how the ship was expected to make the jump from Earth to Alpha Centauri if it was so delicate. Also, the Resolute seems to have a lot of problems picking up small transport ships on the surface, unless the ships are able to communicate directly with a strong enough signal. What about away missions? Otherwise, though, the ship is comfortable and large and even open to families, which is more than can be said for some of the other ships in this group.
NEXT: A whimsical mystrery
E.T. spaceship ('E.T.,' 1982)
If only we knew more about this cute little spaceship. The movie shows that it's capable of bringing alien botanists to Earth, in search of learning more about our planet's organisms. But we only catch glimpses of this extraterrestrial technology as it touches down on Earth and flies away again. Its whimsical shape is supposed to look like a hot air balloon from the pages of a Dr. Seuss book, according to artist Ralph McQuarrie, quoted in Mental Floss.
NEXT: An intimidating mothership
District 9 alien ship ('District 9,' 2009)
The story of "District 9" unfortunately doesn't tell us much about its mothership, but in terms of sheer terror factor, seeing this behemoth hovering over Johannesburg is one of the most memorable parts of the film. Perhaps its most interesting feature is it can be activated remotely. But the ship certainly isn't a perfect design, because its inhabitants were basically starving to death at the beginning of the film. Hopefully there's a Mothership 2.0 being developed for this alien species.
NEXT: A reliable journier
The Hermes ('The Martian,' 2015)
While most of the action in "The Martian" takes place, naturally, on Mars, the Hermes appears like a pretty capable interplanetary starship. First of all, it's surprisingly hackable; the crew is able to get into the mainframe to redirect its path at a crucial point in the film. Second, it's super-reliable. The Hermes was only supposed to take one Mars-Earth trip at a time, but in this film it actually takes on two. And finally, it's resilient; the crew literally uses a bomb aboard the ship to slow down its speed at Mars. There's a wicked explosion, but the ship appears (incredibly) to suffer no permanent devastating damage.
Additional Resources
Keep up to date with the latest, Star Wars and Star Trek news or read our ranking of Doctor Who's villains
Bibliography
- USNC Infinity - Halopedia
- Doctor Who: The Happiness Patrol - Television Heaven
- https://galactica.fandom.com/wiki/Battlestar_Galactica_(2004_series)
- Ben Kenigsberg, "Elysium (2013)" Review, Roger Ebert.com
- Enterprise-D, www.Star Trek.com
- Craig Tomashoff, "Firefly at Fifteen" Hollywood Reporter 2017
- "The Science of Paul Andersons Event Horizon", The Cosmic Chemist
- Anjelique Jackson, "Independence Day at 25", Variety 2021
- "For Fresh Eyes Only: Moonraker", Talk Film Society
- Eric Burgess, "The Making of Moonraker", New Scientist, 21 Jun 1979
- Witney Seibold, "How Netflix's Lost in Space Compares to the other Lost in Spaces", IGN 2018
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