Sci-Fi Movies hold the magical power to take us to far-off lands of the imagination that appear every bit as real as everyday life. The greater the elements of fantasy, the more viewers are entranced by these fictional worlds. Losing ourselves in these imaginative lands is a universal childhood pastime, and its novelty never wears off.
No matter how old we get, it’s always a jolly good time to watch movies set in futuristic and fantastic lands. We love the spectacle of it, the lore, and once the movie is over and the credits roll in, we find ourselves fantasizing a life for ourselves in those fictional lands. Some of them are fraught with adventure and peril, while others put together everything beautiful about real life. So, let’s check out 11 planets from movies that would be better to live on than Earth.
11 Risa — Star Trek Universe
Imagine a planet that is completely filled with sights resembling the best tropical vacation destinations on Earth. That is an apt description of the fictional planet Risa from the Star Trek franchise. Originally a near-inhospitable planet plagued with earthquakes, it was transformed by its native species using a hi-tech weather control system to constantly remain in a balmy, tropical climate all year round. Risa is a member of the Federation, and is known by its members as the Pleasure Planet — the Star Trek equivalent of Bali or Maldives, except that it’s an entire planet filled with pleasant beaches and tropical foods.
10 Helion Prime — Riddick franchise
Riddick was an underrated sci-fi franchise that sadly didn't get nearly the same level of development as more popular franchises like Star Wars. Within just three movies, however, the film series showcased an enticing cinematic universe that was populated with galaxy-wide empires and mysterious, super-powered beings. Helion Prime is a major planet in the Riddick universe, a bastion of knowledge, culture, and religious diversity. The best part about living in Helion Prime would be the ample energy supply: it has an elaborate system of solar relay grids to power the planet, and even exports the energy to other planets in the Helion system.
9 Knowhere — Guardians of the Galaxy
Anyone who has watched Guardians of the Galaxy has wished to move to the fictional planet Knowhere at some point. Located at the edge of all spacetime, Knowhere is the severed head of an unknown celestial being that serves as an observatory of the very end of the universe, and a haven for all manners of intergalactic crooks. In the MCU, this planet is a veritable melting pot for all kinds of beings who convene here to conduct shady deals and escape the scrutiny of the wider universe. It is essentially the sci-fi planet equivalent of Shipwreck Cove from Pirates of the Caribbean, and offers novelties rarely found elsewhere in the MCU.
8 Naboo — Star Wars
The home of Queen Padme Amidala, Naboo is a planet occupied by a thriving civilization that values peace and coexistence. Its settlements are designed with a beautiful, classical style of architecture that integrates seamlessly with its lush ecosystem. Aesthetically, Naboo is a great example of the retrofuturism style, although the "retro" part of it harkens back centuries to the Byzantine and Baroque styles of architecture. A visitor to this fictional Star Wars planet would find many things to stay busy, from visiting the beautiful cities to enjoying its sprawling natural locations, filled with rivers and gorgeous waterfalls.
7 Asgard — Thor
A civilization supported by magical technology, filled with gods and endless supply of exotic liquors — a life on the MCU version of the mythological Asgard appears quite appealing. The planet offers a variety of fitness activities, from hikes up its rocky hills to friendly joust with its jovial warriors. Best of all, Asgard would never leave you wanting for buddies to party with — based on the (early) Thor movies, its inhabitants love a good excuse to drink and be merry. As an added bonus, traveling to and from Asgard would be a breeze as well, as the Bifrost Bridge will instantly transport you to any planet in the solar system.
6 Cybertron — Transformers
A die-hard fan of futuristic sci-fi aesthetics would definitely enjoy a stay at Cybertron, the home of the sentient robots from Transformers. However, they might need to figure out an alternative food source since Cybertron is an all-metal planet, full of metallic mountains and plains. Similar to Knowhere, Cybertron is actually the body of an ancient god called Primus, an ancient being who created Transformers. The unrelenting metallic horizons of Cybertron could be a fun sight for an Earth-dweller, and living amongst sentient robots who can seamlessly transform into any model of automobile designed on Earth would be a welcome change for the motorhead as well.
5 Krypton — Superman
A fan of comic books and superhero movies needs but a single reason to put Krypton on their fantasy bucket list — it’s the home of Superman! With every new live-action portrayal of the iconic superhero, we’ve seen a different version of the planet. In its heyday, Krypton was a planet inhabited by a prosperous civilization that was advanced enough to formulate escape plans in case of a planetary annihilation. The planet also boasted a geography full of enchanting crystal mountains.
4 Magrathea — Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Magrathea is possibly one of the most nutty takes on an alien civilization, ever. The inhabitants of Magrathea specialize in a unique luxury business in the intergalactic industry: they build planets, bespoke ones that are designed according to the zany whims of their clients, and outfitted with every luxury imaginable. In the 2005 movie Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a Magrathean actually claims to have been a part of the team that ‘built’ Earth, and shares that he won an award for designing Norway. A visit to this planet would prove to be a mind-bending trip, and moving there permanently would probably require one to learn a trade in the planet-building business!
3 Ba’ku — Star Trek Universe
A placid planet located in Sector 441 of the Star Trek universe, Ba’ku is inhabited by a tiny populace of humanoid creatures. Ba’ku isn’t known for its technologically advanced society; its inhabitants are a simple folk who are content to live among the very basic technology, and are content to live off the land. It sounds like a perfect place to live for someone enamored with the idea of going off-grid. However, the unique thing about Ba’ku, one that has brought it to the attention of dangerous scavengers, is its planetary rings that give off a kind of metaphasic radiation that grants health and everlasting life to the planet’s residents.
2 Coruscant — Star Wars Universe
Coruscant is the very embodiment of the futuristic sci-fi planet, the capital of the Republic and the center of the entire Star Wars universe. This planet is an ecumenopolis, meaning that the entire planet comprises one single city. Alien-looking skyscrapers, dense metropolitan skylines, and an undying barrage of neon lights beeping from every corner of the planet — that’s the average day at Coruscant. As the center of political power of the Star Wars universe, Coruscant is also the location of the Galactic Senate, the Jedi Temple, the Jedi Archives, and many other important institutions.
1 Pandora — Avatar
While it was universally lauded for elevating the standards of visual effects in cinema, Avatar also caused a sense of gloom and dissatisfaction in thousands of spectators when the movie was released in 2009. The phenomenon eventually gained an informal name of its own, per The Guardian: "Post-Avatar depression syndrome." The movie experience was apparently so gratifying for some people that they came out of it with a palpable sense of dissatisfaction and disengagement with real life. That was the magic of Pandora, the fictional setting of Avatar which teased a way of living that was so good, people became depressed because it wasn’t real.