Campy space adventures

Each new stop feels like another opportunity to unveil a costume, robot or creature. It is an especially generous pick for viewers who want the galaxy to keep changing colour and changing its mind.

For your group: Breathless plotting and broad villainy; following every rule is unlikely to improve the evening.

The spaceship's very earthly interiors and small-vehicle chases give the room things to inspect in almost every scene. Its enormous dramatic confidence makes the scale mismatch funnier.

For your group: Loud performances and visible continuity problems are the attraction, not polished space combat.

Recruiting an eccentric team gives this adventure a firm spine. Choose it when friends want camp flavour and imaginative models while still having a reasonably coherent mission to follow.

For your group: The craft is often genuinely good; this is a pulpy adventure rather than an across-the-board failure.

Magical seeds recruiting interplanetary rescuers give the space quest a fairy-tale flavour. It works well for viewers who like ornate costumes, improbable alliances and rules explained with absolute confidence.

For your group: A busy mixture of fantasy and science fiction, with plenty of mythology to absorb.

The working-haulier setup makes the future feel like a grubby roadside stop. Dennis Hopper, strange cargo and eccentric pirates provide a different social world from another galactic palace.

For your group: Adult humour and grotesque details; the imaginative design deserves attention on its own terms.

The bounty hunter and younger guide create a useful argumentative pair as the rescue crosses mutant territory. Pick it for comic-book landscapes and a familiar adventure rhythm.

For your group: Pulp peril and exploitation elements; the original 3D presentation is not reproduced by a standard stream.

A child travelling with space outlaws gives the recycled spectacle a small emotional anchor. This fits a quieter second slot when the group wants a straightforward rescue adventure.

For your group: Limited scope and reused effects footage; set expectations below a sprawling interplanetary epic.

Halloween lets the visiting aliens misread an entire town, which gives the invasion an accessible comic engine. A lighter alternative for viewers more interested in rubber-faced visitors than galactic war.

For your group: Broad family-oriented humour and misunderstandings, with little interest in scary alien horror.

A worn-out crew turns space exploration into a maintenance job that has lasted far too long. This is a good change of rhythm after a film full of heroic speeches and galactic royalty.

For your group: Deliberate deadpan satire with a homemade visual style and stretches of quiet, absurd conversation.