Peacock may be focusing on horror movies this month, but there are also some great sci-fi movies that have rejoined Peacock’s streaming library. And all three of the best sci-fi movies on Peacock in October have a direct connection to Steven Spielberg.
This should not be too surprising as Spielberg has directed or executive produced numerous films for Universal Pictures, particularly during his most productive years in the 1980s. Say what you want about Spielberg’s recent films, but his mastery of the medium was clearly felt in all three of our picks this month, even when he wasn’t sitting in the director’s chair. So, for your next movie night, these are three sci-fi movies on Peacock you need to watch in October.
The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Spielberg had kept his aliens more mysterious in his previous science-fiction films, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, he took along and went in the other direction ET extra-terrestrial, one of his most successful films as a director. In the film’s opening moments, ET is accidentally abandoned on Earth by his people. Luckily, ET soon befriends a young boy named Elliot (Henry Thomas), as well as his siblings, Gertie (Drew Barrymore) and Michael (Robert McNaughton).
While the children initially keep ET’s presence a secret, government agents are actively trying to find him. But the longer ET stays on Earth, the sicker it becomes. And because Elliot has become so closely associated with ET, his health is also rapidly declining.
Watch ET extra-terrestrial On peacock.
Back to the Future (1985)
Although Spielberg did not direct back to the future, his influence was clearly felt as an executive producer on the film in support of director Robert Zemeckis and his co-writer, Bob Gale. The film stars Michael J. Fox plays Marty McFly, a teenager who witnesses the first successful time travel experiment. Moments later, terrorists murder Marty’s friend, Emmett “Doc” Brown (Christopher Lloyd), and Marty is forced to use Doc’s DeLorean to escape into the past.
The problem is that Marty’s trip was apparently a one-way trip, and he needs young Doc Brown’s help to figure out a way to get home. However, Marty’s more immediate issue is that he has accidentally caused his mother, Lorraine (Lea Thompson), to fall in love with his father, George (Crispin Glover). If Marty doesn’t fix that mistake, he’ll have no future to go back to.
Watch back to the future On peacock.
Cowboys and Aliens (2011)
Spielberg also made executive producer Cowboys and Aliens, which was based on a little-known comic book that was created only to be made into a movie. Jon Favreau directed the film shortly after it was finished. iron Man 2, and they chose then-James Bond actor, Daniel Craig, to star in the film as Jake Lonergan, an outlaw of the Old West who awakens without his memories. The only things Jake has are the clothes on his body and a strange alien device attached to his arm.
Jake might not remember who he was, but his old rival, Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford, not in one of his best films) sure does, and he slips some bullets into Jake before the aliens begin their invasion. Ready to pour. Faced with this greater threat, Jake and Dolarhyde team up with Ella Swenson (Olivia Wilde) to unite the townspeople of Absolution and the surrounding native tribes against a common enemy.
Watch Cowboys and Aliens On peacock.