On Monday I shared with you some of my favorite “shrinking movies” in honor of one side of Ant-Man’s powers, his ability to shrink down to the size of an ant. Today I’ve pulled together my top 5 favorite insect themed movies to honor the other side of his powers, his ability to communicate telepathically with insects of all kinds. These movies would be an excellent lead in to STEAM programs on Entomology, such as creating Lego bugs, messing around with Hexbugs, or creating programs on Scratch with a bug theme.
Have I missed a favorite movie of yours? Share in the comments!
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The Fly (1986): One of Jeff Goldblum’s iconic roles, science goes wrong when a fly gets into a teleportation device.
Arachnophobia (1990): Jeff Daniels and John Goodman battle it out as spiders try to take control. An excellent horror movie that doesn’t take it to massive extremes.
Spiderman (2002): Boy goes on class fieldtrip. Boy gets bit by spider. Boy gets superpowers. Great powers come with great responsibility. I know there’s the reboot with Andrew Garfield, and a second reboot withTom Holland scheduled for 2017 (don’t start me on how they needed to go with THIS Spiderman instead), but William DaFoe as the Green Goblin was perfect.
A Bug’s Life (1998): Pixar does it’s wonderful job of taking Aesop’s tale of The Ant and the Grasshopper and doing a modern spin, evening throwing in a Seven Samari reference. And I’m a sucker for Kevin Spacey. He and Parkey Posey got me to buy the DVD of Superman Returns. #guiltyconfession
THEM! (1954): A brilliant cult classic, some of the earliest atomic tests have turned common ants into giant monsters that threaten to take over the world. Completely insane and perfect for late night.
SPECIAL MENTION: TOHO STUDIOS
Toho Studios deserves special mention in and of itself because it created some of the classic bug-based movies of all times. Aside from giving us the original Godzilla, and the 2014 remake, Toho Studios also created Rodan (1956 with kaiju Rodan as well as ancient dragonflies), Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000 with alien mutated dragonflies), Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973 with beetle-god Megalon), Monster Island’s Decisive Battle: Godzilla’s Son (1967, released in the US as Son of Godzilla, featuring evil praying mantises). They are also a driving fource behind many of the manga/anime that you see in theaters and on TV in the US.