Best 1950s sci-fi

It’s easy to laugh off the implausible plots and cheesy special effects of 1950s science fiction, but every genre has to start somewhere. The atomic age and the Cold War were the perfect mix to prey on paranoid fantasies, and Hollywood did its best to keep the customers satisfied.

For the most part, that meant low budgets, bad acting, and monsters that often were more cringe-worthy than frightening. But, without an original War of the Worlds or , what would Hollywood have to rip off in the current era of No Original Ideas.

Time put together its list of the Best 1950s Sci-Fi Movies.

Here goes:

The Thing from Another World (1951)

Red Planet Mars (1952)

The War of the Worlds (1953)

It Came from Outer Space (1953)

Them (1954)

Gojira (1954), Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1955)

Plan 9 from Outer Space (1956)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

Why were these the most memorable efforts of their era? Read about them, and take in a slideshow, at Time.

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