If you’ve never seen the original Skyline movie released in 2010, drop what you’re doing and go and watch it. Not because it’s the best movie ever, but because it’s pretty good. Mostly though, it’s because it sets the tone for the greatest film in the trilogy which is Beyond Skyline. The sequel was released in 2014, and it simply is a must-see. The middle Skyline movie simply has all the things you want when you reach out for an alien takeover. Best of all, most countries have the Beyond Skyline movie streaming on Netflix. Now the platform includes the third and final film which is Skylines. Let’s cover a quick summary of each movie and let me tell you why the three films are worth your time.
Skyline 2010
Firstly, I think it’s best if we start with the original SKYLINE movie. Basically, this alien disaster film dives straight into the Skyline trilogy series when a bunch of people gather at a party in a block of units. The alien invasion doesn’t waste any time showing us what it’s capable of and blue lights immobilize anyone in its path and sucks them into spaceships. Survivors run around trying to escape and the group loses plenty of people along the way. Just when you think it can’t get any tenser, tentacles begin expunging brains right into their own alien ones.
By the end, pregnant women are being separated inside the alien ship and everyone else gets harvested and inserted into a new alien body. The beginning of understanding that blue light aliens are bad and red is good unfolds and there are outtakes of the cast getting around in the alien suits that just cap off a very exciting 98-minutes. Generic and familiar, sure, but Skyline is a great sci-fi disaster movie nonetheless.
Skyline movie rating
3 alien disaster movies out of 5
Beyond Skyline, The Movie From 2014
A new view of the same events in the first movie, a police detective helps his son get out of jail. Again the blue lights and alien invasion ramps up survivors on missions of escape. This time being abducted and transported onto an alien ship happens quickly and efficiently along with the added detail that the city suffered a nuclear decimation. New characters run into people we know from the first film as the detective tries to find his son.
One of the pregnant women from the first Skyline movie gives birth way ahead of schedule but dies. Mark, the detective, finds his son but is too late. A small group of survivors makes it off the ship when it crashes on the outskirts of Laos.
There is a drug cartel, rogue cops, and aliens plus the baby which is growing faster than normal due to its time on the ship. By the time they make it to a secret resistance group, the baby is about 3 years old. They start running tests on her and using her blood to save humans that were inserted into the alien soldiers. It turns out her blood regains their personalities and lets them not kill everyone in sight.
A takeover begins and results in the girl being named Rose and embarking on assault on the Mother ship alongside her brother, Trent.
By far the best of the three movies and also the funniest out-takes at the end.
I give the Beyond Skyline movie
3.5 Skyline trilogy’s in order out of 5
Skylines Full Movie Trailer
The Third and Final Alien Disaster Movie Film in the Trilogy
Skyline Movie 2020
Lastly, Skylines
The trilogy mixes things up with a bunch of different directors. The original had Gregg and Colin Strause at the helm. For the final two Skyline films, consistency reigns and Liam O’Donnell stayed on to finish the series. In the case of this science fiction trilogy, events are all in chronological order which is always nice. 2020’s installment features a nifty recap of what happened in the previous movie too, so if it’s been a while, you don’t need to rewatch.
Skyline 3 starts really slow in comparison to the previous films. There’s really no new information and what I would have really liked to see was some sort of scenes that showcased what life was like on a good day. Instead, we are led on a bit of a chase for the first quarter. Rose is hot property and when she’s finally captured, she’s enlisted in a mission to bring back a giant egg. It’s all very ho-hum until the final quarter when things finally amp up, we find out who’s in charge and get to see Rose at full power. There’s a lack of character depth which lessened the tension a little too. In the end, we are treated to some more bloopers but they’ll never be as good as the middle film with a bunch of people who look like kangaroos falling over.
I give Skylines
2.5 ho-hum sci-fi out of 5
And finally, what I loved about the three Skyline movie films together is the character consistency, pivotal cast carryovers, and at no time are there any heavy-handed flashbacks. You should watch all the movies, and if you don’t you can skate by only watching the installments you want but it certainly won’t be as good.
