Disney+ is well and truly here, folks, and if you’ve been looking for another reason to pick up a subscription over the Christmas break, allow me to give you a little hand with that.
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The Disney film universe spreads pretty far these days, encompassing a huge number of styles, characters and genres, but we’re gonna focus on one of the latter for now. Here are 9 of the best nerdy sci-fi reasons to jump on the service.
The Mandalorian
If you don’t know what The Mandalorian is, where the hell have you been? If the name doesn’t ring any bells, I’m sure Baby Yoda does, given he’s been just about everywhere recently.
The brand new Star Wars series is set after the events of Return of the Jedi and follows a bounty hunter as he goes about a particularly noteworthy job. All episodes will be available to stream on Disney+ on the 27th of December.
Speaking of the Star Wars universe…
Every single Star Wars movie
Yep, you can watch every dang Star Wars movie on Disney+, which is especially helpful if you wanna catch up on the hype of Baby Yoda but also need to apply some greater context to the new show. It’s even great if you just wanna refresher before you dive in. Or if you have like 10+ hours to kill. What I’m trying to say is it’s always a good time to watch Star Wars.
If you aren’t across the most iconic sci-fi franchise of all time, it’s set “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” and covers a number of different stories generally revolving around The Galactic Empire, The Force, The Rebellion, and kickass lightsaber fights.
Big Hero 6
As far as animated sci-fi flicks go, Big Hero 6 is among the best.
It tells the story of 14-year-old high school graduate, Hiro Hamada, and his inflatable healthcare robot, Baymax, who work together to take on an evil villain. It was also the first Disney animated film to feature Marvel Comics characters, so there’s a fun fact for you.
Avatar
James Cameron’s 2009 epic is also available to stream on Disney+, so if you still haven’t seen it, it’s a great time to add it to your summer watch list.
Set on the distant world of Pandora, Avatar is kinda like a futuristic Pocahontas, with marine Jake Sully falling in love with a blue alien while trying to sneakily infiltrate the planet’s sacred tribes.
And if you have seen Avatar, it’s a great time give it another whirl, because its sequel is slated for release in 2021, with more to follow. All aboard the hype train.
The Black Hole
My dad showed me this movie when I was a kid and I became weirdly obsessed with it. In fact, I reckon I can trace it back as one of the main reasons I find space so fascinating.
After discovering a ship just outside of a black hole, the USS Palomino decides to investigate and as you can probably guess, things do not go to plan. The Black Hole was released in 1979, so don’t expect any wild CGI, but you’ll certainly get some classic sci-fi gear regardless.
The Marvel Movies
It would be pretty unfair to go past any of the Marvel flicks, particularly given they make up some of the biggest blockbuster hits of the last decade.
All of the greats are here, including the superhero origin films and, of course, The Avengers series. There’s nothing quite like seeing all of the best Marvel characters converge on the silver screen, so if you haven’t indulged yet, do yourself a favour and get on that.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Sometimes you just can’t go past the classics, even if they are from 1954. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea might be old as hell, but it’s fun to see how far cinema has come since then.
It tells the story of a naturalist named Professor Aronnax, his assistant, Conseil, and a whaler, Ned Land, as they attempt to unravel the mystery of the narwhal, which is a, uh, [checks notes] giant whale with a big horn.
Even the trailer is a wild ride into the past. Look at that giant squid!
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Remember that time in the 80s when Rick Moranis was in so many movies? I mean, I don’t remember a lot of it first-hand because I was an actual toddler at the time, but I remember that man’s face being in just about everything. One of those movies was Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
It does pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. Moranis is a scientist desperately trying to get his invention – a shrink ray – to work, and wouldn’t you bloody know it, he does. Only it shrank his kids, who have to survive being about the size of an ant. Tough break!
Flubber
And it wouldn’t be a family-friendly sci-fi list without Flubber, would it? God, I miss Robin Williams so much.
Flubber was a small green sentient blob accidentally birthed by Professor Philip Brainard (Williams) while trying to create a new source of energy.