Sci-Fi Alien Encounters: Humans Technologically Advanced

Didn't Psychlos have to breathe "Breathe Gas" which was toxic to humans?
With that criteria in place I think @screenersam's answer of The Man Who Fell to Earth is the best answer so far along with @Tiran's The Day the Earth Stood Still. I don't recall if the Will Smith version of the movie explains why he looks human but if memory serves correctly the original never explains why an apparent human is the representative sent to Earth.

Some other ones to consider would be The Brother From Another Planet from the 80's and the Peter Cushing's Doctor Who movies from the 60s.

Thinking out loud... maybe the 1980 Flash Gordon movie? "B" movies eligible? If so there is stuff like Teenagers from Outer Space and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (or was it "vs The Martians"... wait, was that a different movie? Hhhm....). Then there's B movies from the 80s like I Come in Peace with Dolph Lundgren.

In This Island Earth, were the white-haired aliens revealed to be anything other than humans with large foreheads? Yikes, I can't remember the details of that one, I may have to watch it again.
 
Phantom from Space?
Man from Planet X?

I have a memory of a humanoid alien in white who has landed. he's in a lab and trying to communicate by knocking. I think he suffocates. might have been a MST3K one. old 50s black-n-white
edit; that was Phantom from Space. poor thing dies at the end.
 
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I didn't know they made a Will Smith version?
No, no they did not. I was in a lack of caffeine induced state during the holidays and inadvertently mixed up "actors who have appeared in forgettable mediocre movies to the point where they are interchangeable with other actors and nobody would likely notice". It was the Reeves version I was thinking of. And I'm back on my regular fix of Wawa coffee again.
 
Phantom from Space?
Man from Planet X?
I'm not sure if either would qualify under @Tom's criteria. I don't know if I've seen Phantom from Space but the alien from Man from Planet X was humanoid but not passable as a human and, *if* I'm remembering correctly, needed his suit to survive on Earth.

I was going to nominate the 3 human looking vampire aliens from Lifeforce but, without watching it again, I can't remember if they took that form upon arrival of the astronauts finding them and it wasn't their true form or if appearing as a human was their true form.
 
I'm not sure if either would qualify under @Tom's criteria. I don't know if I've seen Phantom from Space but the alien from Man from Planet X was humanoid but not passable as a human and, *if* I'm remembering correctly, needed his suit to survive on Earth.

I was going to nominate the 3 human looking vampire aliens from Lifeforce but, without watching it again, I can't remember if they took that form upon arrival of the astronauts finding them and it wasn't their true form or if appearing as a human was their true form.
IIRC they found large batlike bodies in the mothership, so presumably the human form was just a vehicle.

Phantom is shown at the very end, looks humanoid enough.
phantom.PNG


sorry quality not better
linque to youtube. entity shown around the one hour seven minute mark.
 
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It still appears that the answer is "zero films". Tom was very specific in that the "aliens" must be genetically identical to humans - not 'humanoid' or similar enough. Superman is not human in his biology, neither is the Man Who Fell or the Brother from another planet. All have notable and obvious differences depicted in the films. Same with the invisible and radioactive Phantom from Space - that's not something human genetics could tolerate.

Above and beyond all of that, the appearance of being human is NOT the same as being genetically human, so any film that features a human looking alien would need to explicitly make that claim, otherwise it would be logical to assume that the alien only appears human by chance (Krypton) or disguise (David Bowie). That's why The Day the Earth Stood Still also does not qualify - especially since the alien demonstrates a non-human ability further frustrating any claim to humanity.

The films Phenomenon, Powder and Lucy do not meet two basic criteria - the people no longer are baseline humans, and they are from earth, so they don't qualify as alien.
 
The films Phenomenon, Powder and Lucy do not meet two basic criteria - the people no longer are baseline humans, and they are from earth, so they don't qualify as alien.
Fantastic! Yes!
I'm thinking some sort of "technomage" human-alien visitor.
The only technomages I know of were in the Babylon 5/Excalibur TV shows. They happened in Earth Future and won't apply.
The interactions and abilities of the humans/technomages is the type of interactions I'm looking for tho.
Technomages may have a bit of similarity to wizards in fantasy.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Its that interaction I'm looking for.
A Wakanda social study that reveals the Wakandan is really an alien-human visitor.
 
The films Phenomenon, Powder and Lucy do not meet two basic criteria - the people no longer are baseline humans, and they are from earth, so they don't qualify as alien.
Yes, I did say they don't qualify...
I have three movies with parts of what I'm looking for.
Phenomenon (1996) with John Travolta where he had extraordinary mental powers due to a physical change in his brain.
Powder (1995) where Sean Patrick Flannery was born with areas of his mind unlocked that gave him special powers.
Lucy (2014) with Scarlett Johansson accessing 100% of her brain's potential from an accidental experimental drug overdose.
None actually qualify as a hit but the concept of a human becoming more than what we are now happens and each explores how 'normals' deal with the changed person.
What I am looking for is a similar concept but involving a human alien visitor causing the change in that person or a group of people.
 
So, you're asking me to believe that you are the authority on every film ever made?
I have a bachelor's degree in film - what do you consider an "expert"?

But my main objections are that a) there are only so many SF films, and b) the combination of aliens who are 100% human and contemporary is such an absurd combination that no one would make such a film - or has.

Here's an index of SF film lists:
Lists of science fiction films - Wikipedia

Here's one of just ET films:
List of films featuring extraterrestrials - Wikipedia

I have read through these lists in the past. If you hover the cursor over the link you can read a brief description.
 
Abraxas (Jesse Ventura) and Secundus (Sven-Ole Thorsen), are intergalactic police officers, or Finders, from a planet called Sargacia. Their race is physically similar to humans but with an expanded lifespan; Abraxas has been a Finder for almost 10,000 years. Each Finder is equipped with an Answer Box, which serves as a communicator and scanner. It can also detect any object from a distance based on the object's vibration. When testing for the Anti-Life Equation, the subject being scanned will disintegrate if they do not contain the equation.

The group arrives at Dr. Holden's camp site. They only find a man who claims to also be looking for Dr. Holden. A video diary belonging to Dr. Holden is then shown. It's shown in the video that Dr. Holden located a mysterious skull inside the cave. An epilogue is shown where Susan claims that the skull they found shows that it's 70% human. That the alien is human kind's ancestor. Dr. Holden and Julie Evans are both officially listed as "Missing In Action".

Telly and Ash capture and threaten an agent (Lee Tergesen), who reluctantly reveals that he and other agents are merely helping ″them″ in order to protect humankind. Without warning, the roof of the house blows off and the agent, along with the roof, is sucked into the sky—presumably taken by "them"—and Telly and Ash flee. Eventually, Telly visits Dr. Munce again and he reveals that the disappearances are the work of "them", and that the government monitors their trials, all too aware that they have no power to stop "them" from doing whatever they want.

John Smith is an alien from the planet Lorien. He was sent to Earth as a child with eight others to escape the invading Mogadorians, who destroyed Lorien. Here, John is protected by a Guardian, Henri, and has developed powers, including enhanced strength, speed and agility, as well as seven other powers he will develop later in life, known as legacies. He is protected by a Loric charm which protects him from all Mogadorian harm as long as he is hurt out of order; he can only be hurt after the first three loriens are killed in order.

He goes back to Lucinda's mobile home, finding the children and the strangers waiting in a dry river bed covered with similar black stones. A space ship descends from the sky, and the strangers beckon the children to depart with them. After John is denied entry, he embraces his son one last time before allowing him to leave and the ship departs with the children. Many similar space ships leave the Earth. John and his family embrace as the flare wave ignites the Earth, killing all life on the surface. Caleb and Abby are deposited on an Earth-like planet, and they walk towards a large tree in the middle of a field while the other space ships land nearby.

After scientists have accidentally spilled a deadly chemical into the ocean, a group of aliens offer to help humans eliminate the chemical. Agent Pillbox (John Ritter), while preparing for a meeting with the aliens, is shot and killed in a forest by an unseen assassin.
The aliens have asked only a glass of water in return. However, the Russians, along with a rogue element in the CIA, would like to get to the aliens first because they have offered instead to provide a gun big enough to destroy a planet.


Due to his failure to save the President, Shep's superior officer (Roy Dotrice) suggests that he is "stressed out" and should take a vacation. Annoyed, Shep accidentally smashes his control systems and is forced to crash land on Earth, where he realizes he will have to stay until his spaceship repairs itself. Shep has little knowledge of Earth's customs, and his temper and sense of justice cause problems with everyone he meets, especially a mime artist he tries to help in various comical fashions, such as freeing him from his 'invisible box'.

He must marry her before he can try to mate. After their wedding in Las Vegas, Susan finds herself wildly satisfied by Harold, even though men from his planet have no genitals and he has been equipped for his Earth visit with a penis that makes a loud whirring sound whenever he gets an erection.

The storyline revolves around colonel Valentin Lebedev, who is in charge of the military operation, his daughter Yulia, who develops a romantic relationship with the alien Hekon, and her former boyfriend Artyom who is the main antagonist.
Hekon is a representative of a technologically-advanced humanoid race who arrives to Earth incognito for research purposes.


A few possible matches?
Gotta watch them (or watch them again) and see?
 
One more to add to the list, and, oddly, it's another Dolph Lundgren movie... 1987's Masters of the Universe. Yeah, the main character won't count since he transforms between Prince Adam and He-Man but there are other "human" characters like Man-At-Arms who show up on Earth. It can be argued that this one doesn't count because they arrived via a "portal" as opposed to some type of direct travel to Earth to which I counter it was never said that it's a "magic" portal, just a portal. And it can be argued that it's not "technology" but magic to which I counter a character like Man-At-Arms is based on advanced tech, not magic.
 
One more to add to the list, and, oddly, it's another Dolph Lundgren movie... 1987's Masters of the Universe. Yeah, the main character won't count since he transforms between Prince Adam and He-Man but there are other "human" characters like Man-At-Arms who show up on Earth. It can be argued that this one doesn't count because they arrived via a "portal" as opposed to some type of direct travel to Earth to which I counter it was never said that it's a "magic" portal, just a portal. And it can be argued that it's not "technology" but magic to which I counter a character like Man-At-Arms is based on advanced tech, not magic.
MIght as well throw Narnia in there to.
 
1987's Masters of the Universe
Y'know, I think that qualifies?
Been awhile since I watched it but it seems to have all the elements I am looking for if memory serves?

Narnia? Been awhile for that one too?
Were they actually aliens tho?

In Masters, they did travel here from another planet (I think)
 
Y'know, I think that qualifies?
Been awhile since I watched it but it seems to have all the elements I am looking for if memory serves?

Narnia? Been awhile for that one too?
Were they actually aliens tho?

In Masters, they did travel here from another planet (I think)
Many fantasy stories take place on alternate planets or realms, like Narnia or He-verse. That doesn't mean they are SF. Neither does the existence of technology - like the mechanical owl in Greek mythology, or the choo choo in Polar Express.
 
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