Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Alien Nation

Play trailer Poster for Alien Nation R Released Oct 7, 1988 1h 30m Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
52% Tomatometer 33 Reviews 44% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
In Los Angeles circa 1991, humans live alongside extraterrestrial humanoid beings whose spaceship crash landed three years earlier. This coexistence is not always harmonious, as exemplified by segregated slums and the uneasy partnership of police detective Matthew Sykes (James Caan) with new humanoid partner Sam Francisco (Mandy Patinkin). However, the pair begin to overcome their differences as they investigate a slum drug ring led by the slippery William Harcourt (Terence Stamp).
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

Alien Nation

Alien Nation

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Alien Nation takes the interesting premise of extraterrestrials living among us and doesn't do enough with it, emphasizing a police procedural plotline over the more intriguing sci-fi elements.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More (33)
Jay Carr Boston Globe Instead of exploring the differences and strangeness of the aliens, and giving them the kind of interesting particularity that "Blade Runner" did, Alien Nation can't domesticate and demystify its aliens quickly enough. May 12, 2018 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times This plot contains the elements of a good idea, but it does so little with it, and is so cheerfully willing to recycle an absolutely standard story, that the idea is finally just frustrating. Rated: 2/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Adrian Martin Film Critic: Adrian Martin It quickly becomes a formulaic buddy cop action-thriller with a suspiciously reactionary message about what constitutes bad alien behaviour. Rated: 2.5/5 Jul 30, 2025 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) Alien Nation is the height of nonsense, but its not offensive, it moves quickly and it has Terence Stamp. [Full review in Spanish] Jul 5, 2022 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Were it not for the thinly-veiled social commentary, little of this would be original. Rated: 5/10 Mar 24, 2021 Full Review Walter Chaw Film Freak Central "... a sometimes-brilliant metaphor for the experience of Asian immigrants in the United States." Nov 5, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More (309)
MaryAnn M. It’s was fun they should remake it Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/28/25 Full Review David H. This is a fantastic action fantasy with strong acting. It’s not Shakespeare but it’s not trying to be. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/02/25 Full Review Andrew A. The aliens get wasted on spoiled milk...pretty cool Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/09/25 Full Review AB L interesting ideas but it becomes silly and formulaic. Also the whole idea of the story being a metaphor about race relations is so obvious it borders on offensive. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/31/23 Full Review cees t Ok buddy cop movie if you don't mind the plot holes. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member What should have been a cool sci-fi alien invasion movie turned out to just be a boring 80s cop movie. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Alien Nation

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
They Live 87% 80% They Live Watchlist TRAILER for They Live The Fly II 32% 24% The Fly II Watchlist Cyborg 22% 31% Cyborg Watchlist TRAILER for Cyborg The Hidden 76% 73% The Hidden Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis In Los Angeles circa 1991, humans live alongside extraterrestrial humanoid beings whose spaceship crash landed three years earlier. This coexistence is not always harmonious, as exemplified by segregated slums and the uneasy partnership of police detective Matthew Sykes (James Caan) with new humanoid partner Sam Francisco (Mandy Patinkin). However, the pair begin to overcome their differences as they investigate a slum drug ring led by the slippery William Harcourt (Terence Stamp).
Director
Graham Baker
Producer
Gale Anne Hurd, Richard Kobritz
Screenwriter
Rockne S. O'Bannon
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Twentieth Century Fox
Rating
R
Genre
Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 7, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 20, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$24.7M
Runtime
1h 30m
Sound Mix
Surround
Most Popular at Home Now