Peacock does many things well, but its sci-fi section is sorely lacking. The science fiction films on Peacock are almost entirely comprised of knockoff blockbusters or embarrassingly bad B-movies. And instead of having a permanent library of Universal Pictures’ sci-fi hits like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial or Back to the Future, Peacock’s best science fiction movies tend to come and go inside of a month.
So for this month, when we say that these are the three sci-fi movies on Peacock that you need to watch in May, it’s because they probably won’t be around in June! Our first two picks fall into the realm of sci-fi action, while the third stands as a tribute to the late B-movie king Roger Corman.
Riddick (2013)
Richard B. Riddick is the kind of guy who lives life a quarter light-year at a time. But life comes at you fast in outer space. One minute, you’re the reluctant leader of a bunch of space fanatics, and the next you’re wounded and left for dead on a barren planet that’s overrun by monsters. Because The Chronicles of Riddick didn’t break out at the box office, Riddick was a reset for Vin Diesel’s title character that pretty much put him back where he was in the franchise’s first film, Pitch Black.
The key difference this time is that Riddick is a lot more sympathetic as he figures out how to survive. To get off of the planet, Riddick sends a distress call that will lure in bounty hunters who want to bring him in. That’s what he’s counting on, because even the universe’s toughest men and women tend to underestimate Riddick until it’s too late.
Watch Riddick on Peacock.
Dredd (2012)
Dredd has a noticeably smaller budget than the 1995 Judge Dredd movie starring action movie star Sylvester Stallone as the icon of British comic books. But what Dredd lacks in special effects, it more than makes up for with its action. This is a movie that plays like the Indonesian action film The Raid, but with Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) as the main character. Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) isn’t some rookie judge in the comics, but that change works well for the movie as it gives her an excuse to be with Dredd in this story as he serves as a training officer for her.
While attempting to arrest crime lord Madeline “Ma-Ma” Madrigal (Lena Headey), Dredd and Anderson are locked in an apartment building filled with Ma-Ma’s followers, who are more than willing to accept her bounty on their heads. The only way out is for the two judges to fight their way to the top.
Watch Dredd on Peacock.
Galaxy of Terror (1981)
Few would argue that Galaxy of Terror is a great movie, or even a good one. But this Roger Corman-produced, low-budget sci-fi flick is a bad movie that’s still enjoyable to watch. There are even some familiar faces in the cast, including Happy Days‘ Erin Moran, A Nightmare on Elm Street‘s Robert Englund, My Favorite Martian‘s Ray Walston, and indie horror icon Sid Haig. This is also one of the films that gave James Cameron his start as a special effects artist before he started directing movies on his own.
The plot is nonsensical and follows the crew of a starship called The Quest, which arrives at a distant world to rescue any survivors from a previous trip. Slowly, the crew realizes that the planet is bringing their greatest fears to life and murdering them one by one. Since Corman recently passed away, this is worth a look back at one of his most productive eras as a producer. It has almost everything we’ve come to expect from a Corman movie.
Watch Galaxy of Terror on Peacock.
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