Top 10 Sci-Fi References In Simon Pegg’s Paul That You May Have Missed

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost star in this film about two British friends who travel to California to attend the famous San Diego Comic Con and then plan to go on a road trip to see various American alien sites. The two alien fanatics happen to run into a real-life alien (voiced by Seth Rogen) and agree to help him escape the Area 51 agent, played by Jason Bateman.

Paul is full of various references both referencing real-life events like the UFO crash landing in Roswell or the secret Men in Black, while also referencing science fiction films and shows.

10 Reese’s Pieces

Paul asks for Reese’s Pieces when they stop off for snacks as they run away from those trying to catch Paul. It’s a small line and Simon Pegg’s character brings up that he doesn’t want to forget the Reese’s Pieces for Paul. Reese’s Pieces are referenced throughout E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial as one of E.T.’s favorite snacks and it can’t be a coincidence that Paul asks for the same treat.

9 Mac And Me

Nick Frost’s character mentions that he has been dreaming of meeting an alien ever since he saw Mac and Me. It’s a funny deviation from the heavy E.T. references throughout the film when this far inferior knock-off is mentioned. Mac and Me came out six years after E.T. and essentially is the same film as E.T. and did significantly worse at the box office and in reviews.

8 Boring Conversation Anyway

Jason Bateman’s men in black type of agent becomes increasingly frustrated that he cannot catch up to Paul. He is constantly in contact with his superior, played by Sigourney Weaver, and she is upset that he hasn’t caught the alien yet.

Bateman gets annoyed at her berating him over the radio in his car and decides to shoot the radio. After shooting out the system, he remarks that it was a boring conversation anyway, referencing Han Solo’s line in the Star Wars franchise.

7 Star Trek Re-Enactment

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s characters start their post San Diego Comic Con adventure by traveling to the location where Captain Kirk fought Gorn in the series. The scene plays earlier at Comic Con where Simon Pegg buys a Gorn mask and Nick Frost picks up a tiny rock to hit him over the head. The camera does a smash zoom on Pegg’s face, just like in the fight scene, when the two see that there are other tourists watching them and they run away.

6 Sigourney Weaver

This is a reference that no one could have missed unless they weren’t aware of Sigourney Weaver’s iconic filmography and the easily recognizable characters she’s portrayed in both the horror and the sci-fi genres. That being said, most of the film she talks to Jason Bateman’s agent over the radio, and some will have immediately recognized her voice while others might have had to wait until her epic entrance.

5 Phone Home

There are multiple references to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial throughout this film, but this is one of the more obvious quotes from the iconic alien film. It’s a quick line from Sigourney Weaver’s character, but she asks Jason Bateman’s renegade agent if he thinks the alien “phoned home” and is seeking help after escaping. An instantly recognizable quote from E.T. is when the alien “phones home” to other aliens to come for it.

4 Star Wars Cantina Band

The group hides out in a bar as Kristen Wiig’s character decides to call her father on a payphone only none of them know that her father and the agents are right on their trail. When they walk into the bar a familiar song is being played by the band specifically it’s the recognizable cantina song from Star Wars that plays through the entire scene ending in a confrontation between all the characters.

3 Men In Black

Paul references the Men in Black throughout the film either referencing the film franchise starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones about a secret agency that takes care of any alien encounters on Earth. There are also real-life mythologies and theories about a secret government agency that has interacted with people involved in supposed alien sightings.

2 Roswell Vs Wyoming

The first scene of the film shows Paul crash landing in Wyoming around the same time as the Roswell UFO crash and alien photos were revealed in real life. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s characters have a mini argument at the beginning of the film about the Roswell crash and how it wouldn’t make sense for the government to cover it up by saying the crash happened in Roswell when it happened somewhere else because why even say there was a crash at all.

1 Paul Talking To Steven Spielberg

There’s a scene set in the 1980s where Paul is in Area 51 and has a conversation with Steven Spielberg about the E.T. film. They talk about Paul’s ability to heal and Spielberg says that would be good for his alien character to have.

Paul says that he’s influenced most aliens in pop culture since he crash-landed on Earth and this scene proves it even further.

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