Skyline

"Don't look up."

2010 1h 33m EN

😐

5.1

MID

★5.1TMDB · 1,864

Science FictionActionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, people are drawn outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth. Now the band of survivors must fight for their lives as the world unravels around them.

“Don't look up.”

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Cast

Eric Balfour
Jarrod
Scottie Thompson
Elaine
David Zayas
Oliver
Donald Faison
Terry
Brittany Daniel
Candice
Crystal Reed
Denise
Neil Hopkins
Ray
J. Paul Boehmer
Colin

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Colin Strause
Writers: Liam O'Donnell, Joshua Cordes
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 6.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 16 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Skyline Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Colin Strause, shot by Michael Watson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Matthew Margeson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Nicholas Wayman-Harris shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Eric Balfour and Scottie Thompson and David Zayas carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Don't look up.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Colin Strause directs. Michael Watson behind the camera. Matthew Margeson scores. Nicholas Wayman-Harris cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 6.4× over at the box office.
2Released 16 years ago.
3Part of the "Skyline Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Colin Strause, shot by Michael Watson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Matthew Margeson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Nicholas Wayman-Harris shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Eric Balfour and Scottie Thompson and David Zayas carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Don't look up.".
9IMDB entry: tt1564585 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 24 themes, including "missile", "transformation", "light", "giant monster".
11Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Michael Watson
Original score: Matthew Margeson
Editing: Nicholas Wayman-Harris
Production design: Drew Dalton
Costume design: Bobbie Mannix
Makeup / hair: Shyama Gero
VFX supervisor: Greg Strause
Sound: John Sisti
Stunt coordinator: Mark Norby
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Status: Released
Budget: $10,500,000
Box office: $66,984,887
Return: 638% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Skyline (2010)

Part of

Skyline Collection

Strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, drawing people outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth.

Also by

Colin Strause

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2018-03-09
★ 3/10
The ending could maybe have been engaging if it made sense, but even putting the best possible spin on Skyline, it still repeatedly commits the cardinal sin of the entertainment industry: Being boring. Final rating:★½: - Boring/disappointing. Avoid where possible.
Wuchak2019-05-05
★ 6/10
Aliens attack Earth and seek to SUCK YOUR BRAINS OUT A couple (Eric Balfour & Scottie Thompson) visits some friends in Los Angeles when aliens attack the city and they hold up in a posh apartment complex. The other protagonists are played by Brittany Daniel, Donald Faison, Crystal Reed and David Zayas. "Skyline" (2010) combines elements of other Alien invasion flicks like “Independence Day” (1996), “Battle: Los Angeles” (2011), “Cloverfield” (2008) and “War of the Worlds” (1953/2005) with an ending reminiscent of the same in “Night Skies” (2007). The people-snatching aspect recalls “The Forgotten” (2004). The director brothers are visual effects designers who were working on the blockbuster “Battle: Los Angeles” while making this indie, which only cost about $10 million. Sony Pictures sued, but the case was later dropped. It must’ve scared the directors because they haven’t returned to directing since (as of this writing) even though “Skyline” made $21 million domestically and $78 million worldwide, which led to the sequel “Beyond Skyline” (2017) by other filmmakers. Being made by effects experts, it’s not surprising that the F/X in “Skyline” are top-of-the-line. Some of the aliens or crafts look like they were modeled after sea creatures, like octopi and jelly fish. There are also probing tentacles, as seen in “War of the Worlds.” Meanwhile the main vessels and some of the aliens are similar to those in “Independence Day.” Unfortunately, there’s not enough human interest and the story is too one-dimensional to be overly gripping, for me anyway. Still, this is a grave, tense account of what a malevolent alien invasion might be like. It lacks the lighter side of “Independence Day” and other eye-rolling aspects (e.g. the pro-American angle), but “ID” had more human interest and a plot with a much larger scope. This one amounts to: Aliens attack earth and snatch victims, the end. Yet it’s well done for what it is. The film runs 1 hour, 32 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles with shots of New York City, London and Hong Kong at the end. GRADE: B-
misubisu2023-06-30
★ 8/10
The story does unfold slowly, but it was far from boring (in my opinion). I'm not sure why they started off with backstory and explaining why the two main characters were at the apartment block. It didn't help the story. I thought the story was well presented and from a Sci-Fi perspective was plausible. The production values were very high with excellent special effects. The feel of the movie was very real and you felt what the characters would be feeling... so I guess this means the acting was believable. At no time did I need to suspend my disbelief. To me, that is the mark of a good Sci-Fi movie.