A guide to films that express social realism or escapism; and a guide to culturally important films that may reveal a character's thoughts, dreams, or motivations.
Image from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope from giphy.com at https://gph.is/2q0JD7y
Outer Space Films
2001: A Space OdysseyMankind finds a mysterious artifact buried on the moon and with the intelligent computer HAL 9000, sets off on a quest to Jupiter.
Call Number: MOVIE 2001
ISBN: B00005ASUM
Publication Date: 1968
Ad AstraAstronaut Roy McBride travels to the edges of the solar system in search of his father and in effort to unravel a mystery which threatens the survival of Earth.
Call Number: DVD MOVIE AD
ISBN: 0024543521334
Publication Date: 2019
AlienTerror begins when the crew of a spaceship investigates a transmission from a desolate planet and discover a life form that is perfectly evolved to annihilate mankind. Each crew member is slain until only Ripley is left.
Call Number: MOVIE ALIEN
ISBN: 0024543982517
Publication Date: 1979
Fantastic PlanetThis futuristic story takes place on Ygam, a faraway planet where blue giants rule, and oppressed humanoids rebel against their oppressors.
Call Number: ANIMATED FANTASTIC
ISBN: 9781681431666
Publication Date: 1973
The MartianAfter a bad storm blows across Mars Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead and left behind. Now stuck on a hostile planet he must find a way to signal to Earth and in the meantime, survive on limited supplies.
Call Number: MOVIE MARTIAN
ISBN: B017S3OP7A
Publication Date: 2015
MoonAstronaut Sam Bell is completing a three-year contract with Lunar Industries to mine Earth's primary source of energy, Helium-3. His declining health is causing headaches and hallucinations that lead to a near-fatal accident, rendering him unconscious. After recuperating, an unexpected discovery leads him to doubt his sanity, his identity, and the integrity of the company. Believing he is alone on his mission, his sole purpose is getting back home on his own.
Call Number: MOVIE MOON
ISBN: 9781435974746
Publication Date: 2009
Robinson Crusoe on MarsWhen his spaceship crash-lands on the barren wastelands of Mars, U.S. astronaut Commander "Kit" Draper must fight for survival, with a pet monkey his only companion until he meets "Friday," an alien.
Call Number: MOVIE ROBINSON
ISBN: 9781934121825
Publication Date: 1964
Star Wars Episode IV, A New HopeRelive the exhilarating action, spectacular battles and ultimate triumph of good over evil that makes Star Wars the greatest space fantasy adventure of all time-and the ultimate entertainment experience for every family. Continue the saga with Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo leading the rebel alliance to claim victory over the empire win freedom for the galaxy in Star Wars IV, A New Hope.
Call Number: MOVIE STAR
ISBN: B000FQJAIW
Publication Date: 1977
Image from Alien from giphy.com at http://gph.is/2pruLPv
Image from First Man from vfxvoice.com at http://vfxvoice.com/first-man-an-effects-odyssey/
Image from Interstellar from giphy.com at https://gph.is/1tFfBna
Image from Robinson Crusoe on Mars from slantmagazine.com at https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-criterion-collection-404-robinson-crusoe-on-mars/
Image from 2001: A Space Odyssey from giphy.com at https://gph.is/12IcqOW
Outer Space Films
Apollo 13A true story. Stranded 205,000 miles from Earth in a crippled spacecraft, astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert fight a desperate battle to survive. Meanwhile, at Mission Control, astronaut Ken Mattingly, flight director Gene Kranz and a heroic ground crew race against time, and the odds, to bring them home.
Call Number: MOVIE APOLLO
ISBN: 9780783225739
Publication Date: 1995
Europa ReportAn international crew of six astronauts, undertakes a privately funded mission to search for life on Jupiter's fourth largest moon, Europa. As the journey proceeds, unexpected catastrophic developments test the crew far beyond anything they expected.
Call Number: MOVIE EUROPA
ISBN: B00E0KWBAI
Publication Date: 2013
First ManThe riveting story behind the first manned mission to the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the decade leading to the historic Apollo 11 flight. A visceral and intimate account told from Armstrong's perspective, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the film explores the triumphs and the cost, on Armstrong, his family, his colleagues and the nation itself; of one of the most dangerous missions in history.
Call Number: MOVIE FIRST
ISBN: B07HSK3HKD
Publication Date: 2019
First Man Into SpaceIn this interstellar cautionary tale, brash U.S. Navy test pilot Dan Prescott, hungry for fame, rockets himself beyond Earth's atmosphere, only to become encrusted with cosmic dust and return a blood-drinking monster.
Call Number: MOVIE FIRST
ISBN: B00W3OGKTQ
Publication Date: 1959
For All MankindA chronicle on mankind's journey to the moon, using no narration, only the voices of the astronauts and mission control. Music by Brian Eno. Special edition features include: Audio commentary featuring Reinert and Apollo 17 commander Eugene A. Cernan and a collection of excerpted on-screen interviews with fifteen of the Apollo astronauts.
Call Number: 523.3 FOR
ISBN: 9781604651492
Publication Date: 1989
GravityDr. Ryan Stone is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky. On a seemingly routine spacewalk, the shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left, and the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.
Call Number: MOVIE GRAVITY
ISBN: B00H83EUQW
Publication Date: 2013
InterstellarWith our time on Earth coming to an end, a team of explorers undertakes the most important mission in human history: traveling beyond this galaxy to discover whether mankind has a future among the stars.
Call Number: MOVIE INTERSTELLAR
ISBN: B01MF78RLG
Publication Date: 2014
SolarisAdapted from a Stanislaw Lem novel. Ground control has been receiving strange transmissions from the three remaining residents of theSolaris space station. When cosmonaut and psychologist Kris Kelvin is sent to investigate, he experiences the strange phenomena that afflict the Solaris crew, sending him on a voyage into the darkest recesses of his own consciousness.
Call Number: MOVIE SOLARIS
ISBN: B004NWPY20
Publication Date: 1971
Image from The Martian from gfycat.com at https://gfycat.com/firmquickaustralianfreshwatercrocodile