How has *insert sci fi film* affected the genre?

[Lazarus]

I've just been set my coursework task for my Media Studies course, and it's a comparitive essay between two media texts of any form. I've decided to look at an older sci-fi film and consider how it has affected the genre in later films, focusing on one in particular. However, although I'm a lover of sci-fi, I didn't really start watching films critically until after 2000. Naturally, I've seen some from before that date, but not enough to really build up a picture of which films are significant and why. I know, for example, that Blade Runner is important, but not how it's important.

Consequently, choosing the older and newer films is difficult, so does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

[The Grim Squeaker]

Well, Star Wars should be easy, (The "Space fantasy"/adventure genre, and all the Lucasfilm movies inspired by it) as would 2001 (Realistic sound in space, Panoramic focus, impressionistic ending, camera styling, etc').

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Comparing Forbidden Planet or The Day the Earth Stood Still with Star Wars would work very well if you're doing something like looking at two different periods of the genre.

[Lazarus]

I thought about SW but some other coursework has already been done on it so I'm gonna try and look at something else. 2001 is a possibility certainly, but the fact is I can't even bring myself to watch it because it's so badly edited for a major release by todays standards. We watched 10 minutes in class on Friday, and nothing happened. We then watched a further 5 minutes from another part of the film, where nothing also happened. I'm aware the film is significant in the genre, but I think I'll be more successful and motivated if I choose films I don't cringe at the thought of having to watch.

I hadn't really considered going back to before SW, then using SW as the later example so that's definitely a possibility. I expect the effect would probably be more clear at a time when the genre was developing...

[Themightytom]

Forbidden planet is pretty engaging as a classic. Also most of its on youtube :-p

It introduces us to Robbie the Robot, who is duiplicated all over the genre.

I read a review somewhere that credited Star trek's Pilot episode The cage" as being on of the first in the genre to deliver plot exposition on the assumption taht the viewer was a participant. Frequently before that they ahd some idiot character who knew nothing and their entire purpose was to ask the questions the audience would ask, whereas with star trek, the provided Exposition with The captains log and through dialogue.

I think Star wars was the first one to make futuristic tech look used and worn.

Definitely think the author made that crap up but you could use racism as a comparative theme and identify Scifi movies that treat minorities well, vs ones that don't.

Battlestar Galactica comes with an obvious comparison, the first one was considered "Dark, and was a vehicle for the mormon faith, the second remake has undertones of 911 concerns, it is definitive for the "Refugees fleeing through space" theme.

The original Godzilla evoked japans trauma from hiroshima, the more modern one sooort of did the same with the 9/11 bombing.

The Rocketeer vs King of the Rocketmen

You could compare Alien to Alien vs predator Requiem. One from the late 70's representing a subtle artistic play on the nameless terrors of our subconcious, vs the not so subtle heir to the franchise which throws gore in our face. you could do the same thing with the original superman vs the newer interpretation.

You could even compare Flash Gordon to Sky captain and the world o tomorrow. They were both retro feel movies based on radio serial serials but both were handled pretty differently.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

The original Godzilla evoked japans trauma from hiroshima, the more modern one sooort of did the same with the 9/11 bombing.

That'd be kind of impossible, since the American Godzilla was made in 1998.

[Rye]

I know I'll get lots of boos for it, but really, the Matrix would be a good one. It's got lots of brainless bits in it that are entertaining enough to watch a few times and analyse relative to cinematography, mise-en-scene, genre etc etc, and has been extremely successful in popularising spectacular, Hong Kong-stylised action in sci fi, Alien was great at combining sci fi and horror (plus gigeresque gothic sets, etc). Those are probably the two I'd choose.

[Themightytom]

The original Godzilla evoked japans trauma from hiroshima, the more modern one sooort of did the same with the 9/11 bombing.

That'd be kind of impossible, since the American Godzilla was made in 1998.

Yeah don't cite me as a source. I was just talking to someone about how Cloverleaf supposedly evoked American fears of 911 the same way Godzilla did the same for the japanese and Hiroshima, but since i ahen't see Cloverleaf I didn't want to recommend it.

[Themightytom]

...And by cloverleaf I of course mean cloverfield...

[JediToren]

The Time Machine (1960) with The Terminator or Back to the Future. The Time Machine is an excellent example of time travel movies before The Terminator, where the future could just as easily have been an alien planet or a lost continent. Terminator and BTTF were really the first time travel films to take advantage of the concept and explore things like paradoxes, predestination, and alternate histories and that sort of thing. Most time travel films since then have done the same thing.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers compared to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Invasion of the Body Snatchers saw aliens and space as inherently hostile, while Close Encounters saw the opposite. It's often overlooked because Star Wars came out the same year, but Close Encounters was at least as important as Star Wars in influencing the future of the genre.

TRON and The Matrix or the Thirteenth Floor would be a good idea. TRON is probably the first film to look at computers as a virtual world. William Gibson didn't come up with the concept of cyberspace until a few years later.

[Darth Wong]

Personally, I think you should focus on a very well-recognized theme in sci-fi which was arguably spawned by a certain sci-fi film or era of films. For example, while 1984 and Brave New World presented dystopic visions of the future, the original Planet of the Apes presented a much harder nuclear-age view of the future: the belief that humanity was doomed to destroy itself. And this theme, memorably crystallized in the immortal "Damn you all to Hell" scene by the fallen Statue of Liberty, was repeated in many other films. How many post-apocalyptic movies are there now?

[Havok]

How many post-apocalyptic movies are there now?

Waterworld. The Matrix 1,2 and 3. The Terminator 1,2 & 3. 12 Mokeys. The Road Warrior, Mad Max and the One with Teena Turner. Escape from New York/L.A. Judge Dredd.

I'm sure there are more, but these are the movies I could name off the top of my head and that I'm pretty sure weren't made before 1980, (Not sure on The Road Warrior) and mostly made in the 90's. I'm not sure what amount of time actually counts as an "era: for movies.

[Sam Or I]

Bladerunner is another given. Thinking of the future in a cyber punk way.

[Sam Or I]

How many post-apocalyptic movies are there now?

Waterworld. The Matrix 1,2 and 3. The Terminator 1,2 & 3. 12 Mokeys. The Road Warrior, Mad Max and the One with Teena Turner. Escape from New York/L.A. Judge Dredd.

I'm sure there are more, but these are the movies I could name off the top of my head and that I'm pretty sure weren't made before 1980, (Not sure on The Road Warrior) and mostly made in the 90's. I'm not sure what amount of time actually counts as an "era: for movies.

Mad Max was made in 1979. Mad Max in 1981.

[Sam Or I]

Edit the Road Warrior was in 1981

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Bladerunner is another given. Thinking of the future in a cyber punk way.

Future Noir, to be more accurate. Blade Runner honestly has very little to do with cyber punk.

[Havok]

Bladerunner is another given. Thinking of the future in a cyber punk way.

Future Noir, to be more accurate. Blade Runner honestly has very little to do with cyber punk.

It certainly isn't post-apocalyptic either.

[Coyote]

Post-apocalypse is closely related to 'post-distopian', at least IMO. Not necessarily a war or disaster, but just a general decline where tech may have skyrocketed but social decay is still obvious. Blade Runner seemed to fit that mould. There seems to be a message in a lot of contemporary science fiction to lean towards the inevitiability of decline-and-fall, of portions of society if not of civilisation as a whole.

Now, all this is just my opinion, but it seems to me that way back in the Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon era, the future, or sci-fi tech, was almost always portrayed as clean, polished, shiny, and flawless. As has been noted previously in the thread, Star Wars made things gritty, rusted and used. Alien followed that. Star Trek, however, maintained the stainless steel & polished glass perfection and over time people felt it was increasingly out of step with modern realities.

Star Trek once reflected that ideal future, and tried to ride that wave of optimism continually. But even before 9/11 there was a sense that this utopian dream was out of step and counter to reality, and it seemed to me at least that it alienated itself from its own audience. Later you can see how they tried to "dirty it up" with DS9, which drew in a lot of fans and praise but was rejected by others who though it was "counter to the original dream" without realising that the original dream had fewer subscribers (those that remained did, however, seem to be more hard core and firmly entrenched). By the time you get to Enterprise, it had morphed into something wholly unrelated to the original concept.

Just writing about how Star Trek itself changed would be enough to fill one paper.

[Lazarus]

oBSG v nbSG is a great idea, but I may be told to pick texts that aren't from the same series or what not. We've been asked to bring in texts to analyse in class, so I'll take the premieres of both in tomorrow and see what Mr A thinks...

For example, while 1984 and Brave New World presented dystopic visions of the future, the original Planet of the Apes presented a much harder nuclear-age view of the future

Funnily enough I'm in the second draft of my English Literature comparitive piece where I'm looking at 1984 and Brave New World. There's a huge amount to say so I'm having trouble cutting bits out to fit into the 2500 word limit! Using a prominent sci-fi theme is a good idea though.

[pieman3141]

Would The Matrix (first movie) count? It was the first mainstream movie to incorporate epistemology and an action-movie... Lots of people started wondering about existence and stuff. Not being a huge film sci-fi fan, I can't think of much else. Vanilla Sky, perhaps? You can enjoy the nice soundtrack at least, if you hate Tom Cruise.

[Coyote]

Silly Wabbit, everyone know "Matrix" is just "TRON for Goths!"

[Sidewinder]

I know, for example, that Blade Runner is important, but not how it's important.

Blade Runner's depiction of a dystopic urban landscape, heavily polluted and littered, populated with miserable people who're doing the best they can to survive in such a hostile environment, was a great influence on a lot of later works, especially Japanese works-- see Bubblegum Crisis and Silent Möbius.

The Terminator's influence, specifically the idea of covering a robot with organic flesh to disguise it, can also be seen in works such as Snatcher. The endoskeleton's design has been ripped off by countless other works, including Warhammer 40,000.

[Sidewinder]

Ghost in the Shell should probably be mentioned for raising questions that are often repeated in other works, e.g., "Are humans only the sum of their experiences, i.e., memories?" It also explored the implications of widespread use of cybernetic implants, e.g., the danger that a hacker can take control of another cyborg's body.

[Havok]

Coyote
You forgot the "T" in even"T" in your sig man.

[Darth Wong]

I know, for example, that Blade Runner is important, but not how it's important.

Blade Runner's depiction of a dystopic urban landscape, heavily polluted and littered, populated with miserable people who're doing the best they can to survive in such a hostile environment, was a great influence on a lot of later works, especially Japanese works-- see Bubblegum Crisis and Silent Möbius.

Blade Runner was somewhat unique in that its visual imprint became a fashion trend in general society, not just a sci-fi cliche. Countless music videos have emulated its visual motif, for example. The smoke, the grime, the garish clothing, the multi-coloured lights washing over everything, all of it.