SFMZ's Top Sci-Fi Movie Planets
Compiled by SFMZ Webmaster
Sci-fi films featuring alien worlds is a common and popular vehicle for their imaginary tale, though only a few truly explore their fictional universe to any extensive degree. From Dune to Pandora, some sci-fi movie planets capture the movie-goer's hearts with various aspects such as environment, indigenous species, social structure, and more (often inspired or adapted from literature).
What is the best sci-fi movie planet, planetoid, moon of the lot? We gathered a list of sci-fi rondures of wonder featured on this page for site visitors to decide by voting for what's the number one fictional movie planet. This poll was closed once it reached 1,000 votes, below are the final results.
 Solaris (1972 & 2002)
The planet, called Solaris, is covered with a so-called "ocean" that is really a single organism covering the entire surface. The ocean shows signs of a vast but strange intelligence, which can create physical phenomena in a way that science has difficulty explaining. The alien mind of Solaris is so inconceivably different from human consciousness that all attempts at communication are doomed.
 Naboo (from Star Wars I, II, III, and VI)
Naboo is a fictitious planet in the fictional Star Wars universe with a mostly green terrain and which is the homeworld of two societies: the Gungans who dwell in underwater cities and the humans who live in colonies on the surface. The main city and capital of Naboo is Theed. The planet Naboo is described as having a porous, plasma-rich interior without a molten core, a rare phenomenon among the planets in the Star Wars universe.
 Vulcan (from Star Trek)
A dry, hostile planet in the 40 Eridani A system that is the homeworld of the Vulcan people, who are also known as Vulcanians. In the episode "Return to Tomorrow", Spock theorized that the Vulcans might be the descendants of a colony from Sargon's planet. On April 5, 2063, Vulcans and Humans made official first contact following the successful test of Earth's first warp-powered starship, as depicted in Star Trek: First Contact.
 Altair IV (from Forbidden Planet)
During the early 23rd century, the United Planets Cruiser C-57D has been sent to the planet Altair IV, 16 light-years from Earth, to investigate the fate of a colony expedition sent 20 years earlier. Dr. Edward Morbius explains that he has been studying the Krell, the natives of Altair IV who, despite being far more advanced than humanity, had all mysteriously died in a single night 200,000 years before, just as they had achieved their greatest triumph.
 Tatooine (from Star Wars I - IV, VI)
Tatooine is a desert planet in a binary star system. It once had large oceans and a world-spanning jungle, but this biosphere was destroyed when the myopic Rakata razed the planet, drying up its riverbeds and boiling away its oceans. Tatooine has two suns, as it is in a binary star system. Tatooine's G-type and K-type twin suns heat its surface, making water and shade hard to come by.
 Future Earth (from Blade Runner)
Blade Runner became one of the most accurate predictions of a future city of any film to the extent that in the documentary made in 2000, a flight over Los Angeles was so like the film, some casual viewers even thought it was an excerpt from the movie itself. Amusingly, another very distinctive spacecraft also found its way into this part of the cityscape - the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo's ship from the Star Wars movie, which was converted to a building.
 LV-426 Planetoid (from Alien and Aliens)
In Alien, Dan O'Bannon had written a script entitled Memory comprising what would become the film's opening scenes: a crew of astronauts awaken to find that their voyage has been interrupted because they are receiving a signal from a mysterious planetoid. Art Director Les Dilley created miniatures of the planetoid's surface based on H.R. Giger's designs to sculpt a desert landscape surface.
 Coruscant (from Star Wars I - III, VI)
Coruscant, an ecumenopolis, was renamed Imperial Center during the reign of the Galactic Empire. The adjective form of the planet name is Coruscanti. Coruscant was the capital of the Old Republic, the Galactic Empire, the New Republic, the Yuuzhan Vong Empire and the Galactic Alliance at various times. Coruscant is the actual center of the galaxy, given that its hyperspace coordinates are (0,0,0).
 Pandora Moon (from Avatar)
The Pandoran biosphere teems with a diverse variety of bioluminescent species ranging from hexapodal animals to exotic fauna and flora. The Pandoran ecology forms a vast neural network spanning the entire planetary surface into which the Na'vi and other creatures can connect. Cameron utilized a team of expert advisors in order to make the various examples of fauna and flora as scientifically feasible as possible.
 Arrakis (from Dune)
Arrakis, "the dancer", originally a star-name for Mu Draconis) later Rakis (known colloquially throughout as Dune), is a desert planet home to the Fremen (Zensunni wanderers) and later, the Imperial Capital under Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides. Arrakis is the third planet orbiting the star Canopus, and it in turn is orbited by two moons, one of which has the image of the desert kangaroo-rat, Muad'Dib, on it; the other possesses the image of a human fist.
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Dagobah (from Star Wars V, and VI)
Dagobah, in the Sluis sector, is a world of murky swamps, steaming bayous, and petrified gnarltree forests. The ubiquitous white spiders that roam the swamps are actually newly sprouted seedlings of the gnarltrees that will take root and grow. In the Star Wars storyline, after the Great Jedi Purge and his subsequent failure to defeat Darth Sidious and save the Republic, a devastated Jedi Master Yoda went into voluntary exile on Dagobah. |
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Endor (from Star Wars VI)
The second moon of Endor, also referred to as the forest moon of Endor, is a forested moon covered by giant trees. The moon and its inhabitants play a pivotal role in the Galactic Civil War in Return of the Jedi. Along with the Ewoks, the moon is depicted in post-Jedi works as the home of deadly giant Goraxes, tall and timid Yuzzums, evil yet dim-witted Duloks, rodent-like Teeks, the vicious condor dragon and a settlement of off-planet reptilian marauders. |
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Future Earth (from The Fifth Element)
The sci-fi fictional world of The Fifth Element seems to reach for the skies. It appears that cities are built on top of older city structures to a point that dipping below the altitudes of the operational dwellings and commerce reveal abandoned complexes. It makes you wonder how this dilapidated infrastructure or base foundation could safely support the living city sitting on top of it. Flying cars and apartment automation has become the norm for the citizens of this future Earth. |
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Future Earth (from Star Trek)
In the Star Trek universe, Earth was one of the founding members of the United Federation of Planets. Several major federal organizations are found on Earth, such as the Federation Council which meets in San Francisco. The Starfleet Headquarters is located in San Francisco. Major events on Earth included first contact with the Vulcans and barely averted attacks by the Borg. Earth is a near-paradise where poverty and war have been eradicated and environmental damage has been reversed. |
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Genesis / Regula I (from Star Trek II, III)
While its popularly known as the planet Genesis, it was actually a planetoid called Regula I that was turned into a vibrant world with the Genesis Device. Kirk takes command of the Enterprise after the ship receives a distress call from Regula I. The Genesis Device is a torpedo that reorganizes matter to create habitable worlds for colonization from a lifeless planet. |
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Geonosis (from Star Wars II)
Geonosis is the home planet of the Geonosians, one of the founding worlds as well as one of first homeworlds of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The Stalgasin Hive, the largest of the Geonosian hives, was ruled by Poggle the Lesser. The planet's architecture mostly consists of domes and buildings built into caverns and rock spires, giving the surface's landscape a similarity to termite mounds. |
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Hades Moon (from Pitch Black)
The main characters who crash on Hades come to learn that this world has a native species of ravenous creatures called "Bioraptors" or "Demons" that slaughtered the geological station's scientists. They survive only in darkness; and can emerge only once every sixty years for a one-month eclipse. Hades is a dry, dead desert, it orbits around three suns keeping the surface in perpetual daylight. |
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Hoth (from Star Wars V)
Hoth is the sixth planet of a remote system of the same name. It is a world blanketed by snow and ice. Many meteorites from a nearby asteroid belt pelt the planet's surface, making temporary craters in the planet's ever-moving snow drifts. Hoth has only one climatic zone and has three moons, all uninhabited, . Its native creatures include the wampa and the tauntaun. The action on Hoth features prominently in the opening of Star Wars V. |
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Kamino (from Star Wars II)
Kamino is an ocean planet similar to Mon Calamari and Manaan. It was here that the Army of the Republic was generated. It is inhabited by a race of tall, elegant, long-necked creatures, called Kaminoans, who keep to themselves and are known for their cloning technology. The name "Kamino" is a play on amino or amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins; hence the cloning industry. |
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Kashyyyk (from Star Wars III)
Kashyyyk is the tropical, forested home world of the Wookiees. Star Wars creator George Lucas state the original home planet of the Wookies was to have been the moon of Endor. However, Lucas decided that since the Wookie Chewbacca was clearly proficient with advanced technology, it would be confusing to show the Wookiees with a primitive, "stone age" culture on Endor. |
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Klendathu (from Starship Troopers)
Klendathu is the homeworld of the extraterrestrial race known as the Bugs, in the fictional universe of Starship Troopers. The movie presents Klendathu as a desert world. In the film, Klendathu is shown as dark blue with two moons around it, with no structures visible. The "Netnews" reporter's quote from the film sums it up: It's an ugly planet; a Bug planet. A planet hostile to life as we know it. |
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Krypton
(from Superman I, Returns)
Kryptonians made use of their advanced science to create a world where scientific inventions and research influenced much of daily life. Robots and computers were used for many tasks on Krypton, even for determining what career paths young boys and girls would take as they grew up. Scientific and technological research were highly valued on Krypton, with the ruling body of Krypton named the "Science Council". |
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Mars (from Total Recall)
In 2084, Douglas Quaid dreams of exploring the human colonies of Mars. Quaid arrives at the Mars colony and after a series of action scenes, discovers a giant alien artifact device that has been recently uncovered. They make their way to the site and enter the control room of the machine. The device is revealed to be a sort of terraforming machine and generates massive amounts of oxygen. |
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Metaluna (from This Island Earth)
After a mind-bending journey, characters, Meacham and Adams, arrive to find the planet Metaluna under bombardment and falling to an enemy called the Zagons. Their leader, The Monitor, reveals that the Metalunans intend to relocate to Earth. The Monitor insists that Meacham and Adams be subjected to a Transference Chamber in order to subjugate their free will. Exeter decides to help them escape, thus revolting against his own kind, before they enter the brain-reprogramming facility. |
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Mongo (from Flash Gordon)
Mongo is similar to Earth but has a gravitational density that is only slightly less. It is a relatively young world with towering mountains not yet worn smooth by time and many areas of volcanic activity. Its vegetation is still limited to isolated areas of botanical giants. Biologically it is still in the era of reptilian giants. Man evolved fast into diverse races, many of which possess amazingly advanced technology while others still live in primitive and unexplored regions. |
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Mustafar (from Star Wars III)
The planet is covered by hundreds of volcanic caldera, most of which are in a state of constant eruption. The volcanic activity is caused by gravitational stresses on the planet created by the two gas giants that affect its orbit. Despite its hellish conditions, Mustafar has developed native lifeforms. A sentient race known as Mustafarians developed in the cooler hollows of the planet. |
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Qo'noS (from Star Trek)
Qo'noS is the homeworld of the Klingons and the capital world of the Klingon Empire, and houses the Klingon High Council and other important institutions. In 2293, the nearby moon Praxis, a key energy-production facility for the Klingon Empire, exploded after an accident involving over-mining which sent out a subspace shock wave, causing severe damage to the planet's ozone layer. |
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Risa (from Star Trek)
Risa, also known as the "pleasure planet", was an M-class planet located in a binary star system, with two moons. It was the homeworld of the Risians and a member of the Federation. Risa was located about ninety light years from Earth. Originally a dismal, rain-soaked, and geologically unstable jungle planet plagued by violent earthquakes, the native Risans transformed their world with a technologically sophisticated weather control network. |
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Romulus (from Star Trek)
Romulus and Remus are the two Romulan homeworlds. Although both planets orbit their central star (as depicted in Star Trek Nemesis), Romulus and Remus are often referred to as twin planets. Romulus had no sentient species until a revolutionary Vulcan movement colonized it. These revolutionaries, over time, became the Romulans. A sapient species called the Remans developed on Remus and was conquered by the Romulans. |
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Yavin IV (from Star Wars IV)
Yavin IV is one of the many moons of the gas planet Yavin in the Star Wars universe. It was home to the Rebel Alliance's main military base in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The Rebels established their base in the ancient Massassi ruins found in the lush jungles of Yavin IV following the abandonment of their previous base on the planet Dantooine. The Galactic Empire sought to use the Death Star to crush the Rebellion. |
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Excerpts from: IMDB.com, Wikipedia.org, Memory-Alpha.org (Star Trek), BRMovie.com (Blade Runner), flashgordon.wikia.com |
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