The Best Space Movies and TV Shows on The Criterion Channel
Finding a good Space movie and TV show to watch can be hard, so we've ranked the best ones and included where to watch them. Check out our list of the best Space movies and TV shows of all time streaming on The Criterion Channel.
1. Solaris
What it's about: A psychologist is sent to a space station orbiting a planet called Solaris to investigate the death of a doctor and the mental problems of cosmonauts on the station. He soon discovers that the water on the planet is a type of brain which brings out repressed memories and obsessions.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
2. Fantastic Planet
What it's about: On the planet Ygam, the Draags, extremely technologically and spiritually advanced blue humanoids, consider the tiny Oms, human beings descendants of Terra's inhabitants, as ignorant animals. Those who live in slavery are treated as simple pets and used to entertain Draag children; those who live hidden in the hostile wilderness of the planet are periodically hunted and ruthlessly slaughtered as if they were vermin.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
3. Local Hero
What it's about: An American oil company sends a man to Scotland to buy up an entire village where they want to build a refinery. But things don't go as expected.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (The Criterion Channel & Hoopla) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
4. For All Mankind
What it's about: A testament to NASA's Apollo program of the 1960s and '70s. Composed of actual NASA footage of the missions and astronaut interviews, the documentary offers the viewpoint of the individuals who braved the remarkable journey to the moon and back.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).
5. A Brief History of Time
What it's about: The story of the extraordinary life of eminent scientist, Steven Hawking. As he goes through school, and despite being diagnosed with ALS, Hawking develops revolutionary theories about time, black holes, and the origin of the universe.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
6. Save the Green Planet!
What it's about: A traumatized young man abducts Korean leaders, believing they're toxic reptilian aliens - a fifth column launching a takeover of beloved Earth. Stumped law enforcement geniuses half-seriously hire a disgraced, disheveled private detective with a long-ago history of super-crime solving. The alienated South Korean youngster Lee Byeong-gu builds an isolated basement command post/torture chamber/film studio to force the awful truth out of the slimy, uncooperative politicians and businesspeople, then alert the public. Byeong-gu is helped by his devoted girlfriend, who buys his theories, but wonders if his horrible childhood has colored his thinking.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (The Criterion Channel & Kanopy).
7. Until the End of the World
What it's about: Until The End of the World is an odyssey for the modern age. As with Homer's Odyssey, the purpose of the journey is to restore sight -- a spiritual reconciliation between an obsessed father and a deserted son. Dr. Farber, in trying to find a cure for his wife's blindness, has created a device that allows the user to send images directly to the brain, enabling the blind to see.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (The Criterion Channel).
8. The Lovers
What it's about: A shallow, provincial wife finds her relationship with her preoccupied husband strained by romantic notions of love, leading her further towards Paris and the country wilderness.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (The Criterion Channel).
9. Barbarella
What it's about: In the far future, a highly sexual woman is tasked with finding and stopping the evil Durand-Durand. Along the way she encounters various unusual people.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).
10. The Blob
What it's about: A drive-in favorite, this sci-fi classic follows teenagers Steve and his best girl, Jane, as they try to protect their hometown from a gelatinous alien life form that engulfs everything it touches. The first to discover the substance and live to tell about it, Steve and Jane witness the blob destroying an elderly man, then it growing to a terrifying size. But no one else has seen the goo, and policeman Dave refuses to believe the kids without proof.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Plex & Crackle), stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).
11. Destroy All Monsters
What it's about: At the turn of the century, all of the Earth's monsters have been rounded up and kept safely on Monsterland. Chaos erupts when a race of she-aliens known as the Kilaaks unleash the monsters across the world.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Vudu).
12. 20 Million Miles to Earth
What it's about: When the first manned flight to Venus returns to Earth, the rocket crash-lands in the Mediterranean near a small Italian fishing village. The locals manage to save one of the astronauts Colonel Calder, the mission commander. A young boy also recovers what turns out to be a specimen of an alien creature. Growing at a fantastic rate, it manages to escape and eventually threatens the city of Rome.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
13. The Entertainer
What it's about: Archie Rice, an old-time British vaudeville performer sinking into final defeat, schemes to stay in show business.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & The Criterion Channel).
14. Veronika Voss
What it's about: In Munich 1955, German film star Veronika Voss becomes a drug addict at the mercy of corrupt Dr. Marianne Katz, who keeps her supplied with morphine. After meeting sports writer Robert Krohn, Veronika begins to dream of a return to stardom. As the couple's relationship escalates in intensity, Veronika begins seriously planning her return to the screen -- only to realize how debilitated she has become through her drug habit.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (The Criterion Channel).
15. First Man into Space
What it's about: The first pilot to leave Earth's atmosphere lands, then vanishes; but something with a craving for blood prowls the countryside...
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, HBO MAX, The Criterion Channel & 1 other) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).
16. The Atomic Submarine
What it's about: Ships disappear on route across the Arctic Sea, and a special submarine is sent to investigate.
Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Shout Factory TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).