With movies getting stupid expensive at the box office I’ve skipped quite a few of them. Some of them had bad reviews. Others the trailers were less than interesting. However there are a few I recommend you go back and watch.

Sunshine – The sun is dying. Earth’s greatest minds have put together a solution but it fails. There are only enough resources to try it once more. So in a last ditch effort they send out a team to reignite the sun.

This could have gone all kinds of stupid but instead, the portrait of the people whose every decision might end the world was really captivating.

Moon – Sam Bell is two weeks away from leaving mining operations monitoring station on the moon when he gets in an accident. The AI on the station saves him, but some one is knocking on the door.

It looked too depressing and sad to watch at first but instead it’s surprisingly twisted and you find yourself cheering for Bell to get home.

Planet 51 – 1950’s esq Planet 51 is the setting for an alien invasions of humans! Chuck comes to plant a flag and call it good but instead disrupts teenage Lem’s life.

It’s a comedy but sticks to two tried and true plots and does it well. Not only does it have a go with Small town boy must save an alien who is non-hostile, but you also get 21st century man disrupts 1950’s small town life. The mix is endearing and really funny.

Battle for Terra – Mala is a rebellious teenager who just likes inventing things even though new inventions have to be approved by a council. When humans invade they take her father. While trying to get captured so she can go with him she finds an injured human. With her planet under attack she goes to save her father.

Serious cartoons are a genre of American film making (and television) that is lacking, which is why Battle for Terra is refreshing. Battle is not only beautifully animated but also contains a deep story line of loss and consequences. I highly recommend this one. This is not just another humans take over the natives movie.

Pandorum – Man has sent an Ark into space. Crew members wake from deep sleep for a shift change but their mind is fragmented. They are unsure of their mission and of who they are.

More of a psychological thriller than anything, Pandorum is a look into what can go wrong on an Ark ship. Part monster movie and part salvation movie it really is more intelligent than I thought it would be.

Gamer – What if the pieces were death row convicts that can be played in a war game? Kable is three games a way from freedom and the most popular game piece in the Live MMO Slayer.

This goes farther than it’s bad to make convicts fight to the death for freedom. Castle is the richest man in the world and he’s created a Live Sims MMO where the icons are real humans controlled by gamers. You can pay to play or be paid to be controlled. Slayers is his second game in conjunction with the US prison system. During an interview the system is hacked reveling not everyone is on board with the idea. The movie takes a man just wants to go home and lead a normal life to the extreme making Gamer a movie with more depth than you think it would have.

I was pleasantly surprised by all these movies. I hope you enjoy them too.