After all, space is known as the final frontier, a fertile environment for creative minds looking to run wild. And the result? Intergalactic journeys, otherworldly weaponry, bug-eyed aliens, tiny green Martians and super-sized space ship.

Now, director Scott Derrickson takes his turn, in The Day the Earth Stood Still, a modern reprise of the 1951 classic black-and-white sci-fi flick of the same name.

Starring Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly, the films tells the story of Klaatu, an alien from outer space who has come to Earth to warn mankind about the damage they are doing to the planet, and how its survival and ability to sustain life are being threatened.

Reeves is Klaatu. And though we've seen him in these sort of strange roles before -- Neo in the Matrix series, for instance -- it will be interesting to see how he handles being non-human.

In celebration of the film's India release, here, a trip down the Milky Way's memory lane, as we look back at how Hollywood's tackled space and aliens before.

Text: Matthew Schneeberger

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