A visitor to Earth transforming into a human being with an uncanny resemblance to Jeff Bridges like the title character does in the 1984 John Carpenter flick? Certainly tough to beat. Unless, of course, the same guest decided to return as The Dude.
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While these three-eyed, claw-worshipping critters are not primary—or even close to being secondary—characters in the Toy Story trilogy, our Pizza Planet pals have developed an almost Boba Fett-like cult following all their own. Sorry, Buzz.
She's athletic, loyal, fiercely independent and makes her way around Pandora wearing next to nothing. Yeah, Avatar's Na'vi princess is pretty perfect. Then again, it probably doesn't hurt knowing Zoe Saldana is the one behind this motion-capture cutie.
Princess Leia may have thought of him as nothing more than a big, walking carpet, but of all the creatures that comprise the Star Wars universe, Han Solo's Wookie sidekick stands, literally and figurately, head and shoulders above the rest. No wonder this gentle giant received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1997 MTV Movie Awards.
Whether it's the 1953 classic War of the Worlds, Tim Burton's Mars Attacks! or, yes, even Marvin the Martian of Looney Tunes fame, the folks over on the Red Planet really seem to have it in for us. But despite being a continuous threat, our next-door neighbors somehow always manage to make it entertaining to say the least.
So, just what makes this nameless, faceless microorganism-turned-creature in 1982's The Thing ridiculously terrifying? Aside from being, well, nameless and faceless, it's the ability to morph into the life forms of those it chooses to knock off. As if having to deal with the bone-chlling temps of the Antarctic wasn't bad enough, now you're also stuck with having to figure out which of your fellow researchers isn't who they appear to be. Good times.
Trekkies—excuse us, Trekkers—will undoubtedly agree that it's the half-human half-Vulcan who will forever serve as the poster child for the famous sci-fi franchise. In fact, so beloved is the pointy-eared fella, it didn't come as much of a surprise that after he died in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, along came the Search for Spock sequel soon after. Something tells us Kirk would never have received the same sort of treatment.
He's been with us since he was a baby and grew up to fight for truth, justice and the American way. But lest we forget, the guy is absolutely not one of us. (As if you really needed reminding.) Sure, there's other out-of-this-world superheroes that could have made the cut here. But c'mon, it's the freakin' Man of Steel we're talking about.
While plenty of Xenomorphs have unleashed their fury in the Alien flicks, this one arguably deserves to be singled out for a very significant reason—at the heart of all the so-called evil she exudes is a desire to merely protect her babies. Also, if it weren't for Sigourney Weaver's Aliens costar, we would never have gotten Ripley's memorable line, "Get away from her, you bitch!" OK, so make that two reasons.
Let's face it. How can you have a list like this and not have the most endearing alien to ever be put on celluloid top it? Not since Old Yeller (spoiler alert!) died had grown men felt so comfortable to not only weep in a theater when Elliott's extraterrestrial friend says "I'll be right here," but actually admit to doing so after watching Steven Spielberg's 1982 classic.
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