The cool alignment is when they're in alignment all pointed straight at the earth, so you can't really see them all spaced out like this one.

It's a known fiction plot because while the planets do come somewhat close to lining up somewhat often (depending on how loose you want to define somewhat close, and if they also have to be all on one side of the sun), they never actually do. The planets have never actually all lined up perfectly and aren't likely to do so any time in the next 13 trillion years. A moot point since our sun will be burned out a thousand times over by then and the whole system will have fallen apart.

But only in the same sense that they always are! You just can’t see it because of your mortal limitations.