Best Movies About Asteroids, Ranked
Space rocks have a way of making filmmakers (and the rest of us) very dramatic. From white-knuckle disaster epics to melancholy art films and heart-punch anime, asteroid stories cut straight to all our favorite big-screen feelings: awe, dread, hope, and “wait, did they really train drillers to be astronauts?”
For this countdown, we cast a wide net across asteroid, comet, and meteor movies—the whole chaotic family of Earth-crossing troublemakers. Some titles aim for scientific plausibility, others go full popcorn; a few even find surprising tenderness in the shadow of extinction. Buckle up as we count down.
20. ‘Asteroid vs Earth’ (2014)
This low-budget romp delivers exactly what the title promises: humanity’s last-ditch scheme to nudge the planet itself and dodge an incoming rock. It’s big ideas on a tiny wallet, with plenty of technobabble and green-screen heroics.
If you can vibe with late-night cable energy, there’s goofy fun here. The charm is in its shamelessness—wild concepts, rushed pacing, and a handful of earnest performances trying to outrun the apocalypse.
19. ‘Meteor Apocalypse’ (2010)
An end-of-days road movie wrapped in a disaster blanket, this one follows a father crossing a collapsing America after fragments contaminate the water supply. It leans hard on desperation and dusty highway vistas.
Sure, the effects wobble, but the smaller scale gives it a scrappy pulse. It’s more about survival beats and human grit than sky-splitting spectacle, and that keeps it moving.
18. ‘The Day the Sky Exploded’ (1958)
Often cited as the first Italian sci-fi feature, this black-and-white curio imagines a swarm of rogue asteroids barreling toward Earth. Control rooms buzz, radio networks crackle, and humanity braces.
The miniature work and stock footage have quaint charm, and the film’s end-of-the-world montages feel eerily earnest. It’s a time capsule of Cold War anxieties redirected toward the heavens.
17. ‘The Green Slime’ (1968)
Astronauts blow up an asteroid… and accidentally bring home a gooey nightmare. Suddenly it’s a monster-on-a-space-station thriller, complete with rubbery creatures and retro sets.
Campy? Absolutely—and that’s the fun. The movie morphs from asteroid mission to creature feature with glorious ‘60s pulp flair, all guitar riffs and fluorescent ooze.
16. ‘Asteroid’ (1997)
This TV movie goes all-in on the “multiple impacts across the heartland” template. Sirens wail, small towns scramble, and emergency managers juggle impossible choices.
The production plays like a disaster anthology stitched into a single crisis, and that makes it a comforting throwback. It’s earnest, straightforward, and brimming with pager-era heroism.
15. ‘Meteor’ (1979)
A shattered asteroid sends deadly fragments earthward, forcing uneasy U.S.–Soviet cooperation on orbital laser platforms. Control rooms, star charts, and side-eye diplomacy abound.
It’s a big, glossy late-’70s disaster picture—more command-center melodrama than field-level carnage. The international angle and old-school model work give it a pleasing, analog heft.
14. ‘A Fire in the Sky’ (1978)
Another made-for-TV nail-biter, this one targets Phoenix as a comet bears down. Scientists clash with skeptical officials while evacuation plans teeter.
The tension comes from the clock: warnings that no one wants to hear, and logistics that can’t keep up. It’s surprisingly grounded, focusing on tough calls more than flashy destruction.
13. ‘Deep Impact’ (1998)
The sober sibling to ‘Armageddon’, this tale follows a dual-track response—politics and bunkers on Earth, astronauts in space—when a comet is on course to hit. It aims for plausibility over pyrotechnics.
The intimacy lands: family farewells, moral tradeoffs, and a finale that blends sacrifice with communal resolve. It’s the rare disaster film where quiet moments linger longer than the wave.
12. ‘Asteroid Hunters’ (2020)
An IMAX documentary that swaps panic for practicality, this brisk feature tours planetary defense: surveys, simulations, and the people racing to find threats in time.
It’s science-forward and surprisingly cinematic—massive screens, crisp visuals, and a clear, hopeful message. If you love the real-world “how we’d actually do it,” this scratches the itch.
11. ‘Night of the Comet’ (1984)
A neon-soaked cult classic where a comet turns L.A. into a mall-punk ghost town. Two valley-girl survivors, zombies, and end-times shopping sprees? Yes, queen.
It’s a fizzy cocktail of apocalypse and attitude—funny, stylish, and slyly subversive. Beneath the bubblegum is a clever riff on who gets to rebuild the world.
10. ‘Greenland’ (2020)
A family scrambles for a government evacuation as a comet fractures and the fragments start punching holes in the map. The focus stays tight: dad, mom, kid, and the brutal gauntlet between them and safety.
Gérard Butler grounds the chaos in bruised humanity, and the film’s practical stakes—checkpoints, shelters, strangers who can help or harm—keep it tense without overcooking the CGI.
9. ‘The Blob’ (1988)
A meteorite cracks open and out slithers a flesh-eating nightmare. This remake turns the 1958 drive-in staple into a supremely gnarly, effects-showcase creature feature.
It’s not about orbital deflection; it’s about “don’t poke glowing rocks.” The practical effects are legendary, the set-pieces inventive, and the small-town paranoia delicious.
8. ‘When Worlds Collide’ (1951)
A runaway star and its planet threaten Earth, and the answer is audacious: build an ark and flee. Blueprints, ballots, and moral calculus take center stage.
The film’s earnest optimism—engineers as heroes, a rocket as hope—still thrills. Its miniature work and mythic scope helped define apocalyptic sci-fi before CG could paint the cosmos.
7. ‘Seeking a Friend for the End of the World’ (2012)
With an asteroid days away, two neighbors hit the road in search of closure, connection, and a decent final playlist. It’s tender, awkward, and quietly brave.
The movie earns its laughs and its lump-in-throat by treating the end like a magnifying glass for ordinary longing. Romance at doomsday speed shouldn’t work—here, it does.
6. ‘Armageddon’ (1998)
Oil drillers in space, animal crackers, and the most ‘90s needle-drops imaginable—this is the maximalist asteroid blockbuster. The plan is bonkers; the confidence is absolute.
Beneath the fireworks is a shameless ode to sacrifice and swagger. It’s noisy, messy, and wildly entertaining—a crowd-pleaser that practically defines “leave your brain at the door.”
5. ‘Love and Monsters’ (2020)
Humanity averts an asteroid… and accidentally mutates Earth’s fauna into kaiju-adjacent critters. Seven years later, a timid hero treks across monster country to find his ex.
It’s sweet, funny, and adventure-forward, with inventive creature design and a lovable dog stealing scenes. Apocalypse as coming-of-age is a delightful twist on the usual doom.
4. ‘Melancholia’ (2011)
A rogue planet looms while a fractured family wedding unfolds; dread and depression merge into cosmic poetry. It’s the end of the world as a state of mind.
The imagery is jaw-dropping, the mood hypnotic. Instead of sirens and countdowns, you get slow, inescapable inevitability—and a finale that’s as devastating as it is serene.
3. ‘Don’t Look Up’ (2021)
A kill-shot comet meets a fragmented media ecosystem, and the real disaster becomes willful denial. Scientists beg, algorithms trend, and opportunists swarm.
The satire cuts deep because it’s painfully recognizable. It’s broad, star-studded, and furious—using an impact story to skewer our talent for ignoring the obvious.
2. ‘Coherence’ (2013)
On the night a comet passes, a dinner party slips into a mind-bending maze of parallel possibilities. No explosions—just paranoia, sticky notes, and shifting identities.
It’s micro-budget sci-fi at its sharpest: intimate, unsettling, and endlessly discussable. The cosmic event is a trigger; the human fallout is the real jaw-dropper.
1. ‘Your Name.’ (2016)
A body-swap romance secretly becomes a comet tragedy, braided across time. Two teens chase a connection that might save a town—and each other—from the sky.
It’s achingly beautiful: luminous animation, soaring emotion, and a reveal that turns a sweet mystery into a race against fate. Few films capture both the wonder and terror of the heavens this vividly.
Share your own favorite asteroid (or comet) movies—and the ones we criminally skipped—in the comments!