Science Fiction Films - Movie Review Example

Science Fiction Films 2009 By definition, sci-fi films are based on science fictions, like those based on life in the outer space, that are not always approved by science. There have been such films since the formative years of silent cinema, such as Georges Melies' A Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la Lune) which describes a spacecraft’s voyage to the moon). However, since such films are often imaginary and hypothetical in nature, these are considered to be nonsense as these are based on pseudo-science, full of quasi-scientific fancy than conclusions derived from scientific theory (Science Fiction). Yet, there are many sci-fi films that are beyond the trivialities of imaginary science. A close examination reveals that there are many science fiction films whose primary responsibility is to make social, political or philosophical comments on the future of human beings and human civilization and as such fall under the genre of utopia or dystopia that has produced many important works in literature (like The Brave New World by Aldus Huxley or 1984 by George Orwell). Early Sci-Fi films, like film adaptation of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein or Robert Louis Stevenson’s short novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Jules Vernes’s novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea were science fiction films aimed to predict and comment on human civilization and future of humanity. (Science Fiction). Many science fiction films deal with occult, mysticism and other supernatural elements considered to belong in religious fantasies and hence appear not to be taken seriously by science. For example, the movie Forgotten Planet apparently appears like a Sci-Fi film carrying the message that technological perfection does not guarantee the loss of primordial and perilous desires urges. The Star Wars series uses a skill known as the "Force". There also a bulk of early Sci-Fi films startling audiences with its trick photography, like the Metropolis (by Fritz Lang made in 1927) or big budget science fiction films of the1930’s like King Kong (1933), a black and white monster film about a huge gorilla captured from a distant primeval island and brought to civilization much against his will . Countless low-budget B-grade science fiction films derived from comic strips have created the idea that science fiction is childish and nonsense, as "that crazy Buck Rogers stuff" (Anthony "Buck" Rogers is a character of two novels and is popular from the comic strips of newspapers and then in cheap Sci-Fi films ). With growing popular interest in space travel and new technologies there were many successful big budget films with stirring special effects, like, Destination Moon, Forbidden Planet, It Came From Outer Space, etc. (Science Fiction). But the real breakthrough in the genre of Sc-Fi films must have happened after Staneley Kubrick’s 1968 Sci-Fi film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. From the opening sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Kubrick introduces to us the kind of philosophy his Sci-Fi film is about. With Richard Strauss’ musical piece, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, the sun rising above a falcate Earth, based on Friederick Nietzsche's intense philosophical work, Thus Spoke Zarathustra that imitates the Biblical style, it presents ideas opposing traditional moral values of Christianity and Judaism (including the well-known saying "God is dead”). It is a dense discourse on morality, with an imaginary Zarathustra, an ancient Iranian prophet and the founder of Zoroastrianism (Lampert, 1989). Nietzsche extends his ideas that the spirit of man is Dionysian (Dionysus was the god of festivities of joyous action) and Apollonian (Apollo was the god of peace and rest, of art and scholarly thought). In the film, the music is related to the first access of man's consciousness into the universe, and with the final entry of that consciousness to a new height, symbolized by the Star Child. The shot starts with the camera panning up from the blotchy surface of the Moon in the front position, the viewpoint is from behind with the Sun rising over the enormous space. The image shows the Earth, Moon, and Sun in a upright -symmetrical position to reveal later that single massive rock buried on the Moon, perhaps at the moment of this 'magical' union. '2001: A Space Odyssey' is made of 4 episodes – The Dawn of Man, The Lunar Journey, early 2000, Jupiter Mission, 18 months later 2001 and Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite. The idea of primitive man as shown here can be found in is A Clockwork Orange, a erratically violent, drippy, frightening and brash film adaptation of Anthony Burgess' eponymous futuristic novel. 2001's depicts primordial man developing the urge to kill, symbolized with the form of the monolith, the protagonist ape-man named Moon-Watcher, who kills another ape-man is narrated as master of the world and thinking "he was not quite sure what to do next. But he would think of something (Clarke, 2001, p 34.) – a clear picture of early man as a being of action and of a Dionysian spirit (MacGregor, How One). There have, since, then many other, thought provoking Sci-Fi films that have tried to settle man with the unknown that presume a bind between real and the mystic l-world and supernatural, between science and fantasy, horror Horror films are movies that strive to elicit responses of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of the supernatural.... Fantasy films are films with fantasy fiction themes, usually involving Magic , supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds.... represented by such films as Frankenstein, Alien and the Star Wars -- Star Wars is an epic film space opera Media franchise initially conceived by George Lucas. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, but later had the subtitle Episode IV: A New Hope added to distinguish it from its sequels and prequels....  films merging science fiction film (such as spaceships, androids and ray guns) with the mystical – age reason for which film critics at times use terms like "Sci Fi/Horror" or " Science fantasy is a mixed genre of story which contains some science fiction and some fantasy elements.... to show such films' fusion status. The visual style of Sci-Fi film can be set apart by a conflict executed when unfamiliar images become familiar as in A Clockwork Orange when the repetitions of the Korova Milk bar the futuristic drug den, make the strange decor appear more recognizable or, as in Dr. Stangelove, the warped humans making the known images appear more unknown. Scot Bukatman, a cultural theorist studying the interaction between new technology and human bodily experience, considers that science fiction film permits modern culture to perceive the artistic expression of a magnitude that is incomparable and which surpasses al estimates and measures. During the beginning of the 2000s, the Sci-Fi of the superhero typeprospered as did earthbound SF as in the Matrix trilogy. Science-fiction also started acting as a tool for political observations, like Minority Report by Stephen Spielberg The year 2005 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,The Devil's Rejects, Saw II, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, ''The Ring Two, ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, ''xXx: State of the Union, ''Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous... (Science Fiction Films, absoluteastronomy.com), a futuristic film, depicting the year 2054 when murder has been washed out from the city of Washington D.C. Though the three psychic, known as Pre-Cogs, the Justice Department’s Pre-Crime section is now adept to foresee the forthcoming a murder and unerringly prevent doing it from the possible killers then punish for their “would be” crime. The leader of the force considers the system to be perfect, until he himself becomes a victim of the system. The Pre-Cogs predicted that within thirty six hours the chief will murder a man he has never seen before. Anderton runs to solve the mystery that will play out over the next day. Minority Report was loosely derived from a shier story by Philip K. Dick, paradoxically, one of the most recent commodities in Hollywood, as the author’s strong detest for the filmmaking community. He publicly censured a “destruction” of his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, Dick’s fans were very disappointed by the film’s approach of happy ending, Dick dying before the film was released. Minority Report is made like a film-noir thriller from the 1940’s, the director requesting of his cinematographer Janusz Kaminski to help him make “the ugliest, dirtiest movie I have ever made”.  Besides lighting designed to make as much contrast as possible, Kaminski bleached the film’s colors making the picture coarse and the shadows profusely gloomy, giving Minority Report a cold and grainy feel perfectly matching the neo-noir story (Minority Report). While science is a major factor of this genre of film, many take liberties with what thought as factor scientific knowledge, like spacecraft control in outer space, the sound track filled with improper noises and changes in flight path like an aircraft, The film makers presuming that the audience is inexperienced with the details of .space travel and give attention to making acoustical ambiance and the more known details of flying. Similar examples of disregarding science on the side of art is seen when movies show ecological effects--- entire planets are wiped off in massive explosions within seconds, whereas a such a real event would have perhaps taken hours. A star rises over the horizon of a comet increasing the temperature suddenly many hundreds of degrees, causing the total surface to turn into a kiln whereas in reality the temperature is likely to increase more slowly. The role of the scientist has also changed very much in the science fiction films, with the changing public opinion of science and new technology. Starting with Dr Frankenstein, the eccentric scientist, became s stereotype, a cliché , posing a terrible threat to society and even civilization—a "mad scientist", like Peter Sellers acting in Dr. Strangelove becoming an emblem to this type. In the monster movies of the 1950s, the scientist played a gallant role as the only one providing a technological solution for some imminent catastrophe. The uncertainty in administration of that started in the 1960s in the U.S., the bright yet defiant scientist became a usual theme of Sci-Fi films, often making true prophecies (Science Fiction Films, absoluteastronomy.com). Yet one can never say that all Sci-Fi films are nonsense. If there are trashes like space opera of Star Wars and B-grade Flash Gordon types, there are epic philosophical ideas of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris too—known by their power to unearth time and space with imagination and boldness. Let us for example, consider the Sci-Fi film, Blade Runner. It was not an important or marketable success. Critics at the time just send it home as style over content. Yet, together with its remarkable description of a neon-lit LA, basically a hodgepodge of Western and Eastern cultures, Ridley Scott’s film is strengthened by a sense of gloom, fear and craving and a dry humor. Similarly in Alien (1979) the plot sounds simple s: the crew of a spaceship are haunted by an unyielding monster. Yet this movie had been much analyzed by film researchers for its depiction of femininity (on the film’s sexual imagery and acting. And, certainly, the film is extremely scary. Andrei Tarkovsky’s existential Sci-Fi drama Solaris is often depicted as the Russian 2001 – but it’s more than that. It’s a spellbinding, minimalist work of art, albeit having many as many attacker as fans (100greatest SF movies). Solaris starts with a long conversation between the psychologist Kelvin and the cosmonaut Burton at the country home of Kelvin's father. This home will be seen again near the end of a film in a changed context. Burton tells him about a Soviet space station around the planet Solaris, and of deaths and mysteries aboard. Finally Kelvin arrives at the station and finds one crew member dead and two more deeply troubled by the shape of events on the station. The planet, entirely covered by a sea, and when investigation starts, the planet seemingly replies by itself. Within a day, Kelvin is presented with one of the guests that the planet can make - a duplicate of his late wife Khari exact in every aspect but bereft of her memories. She has intelligent, self-conscious, and she questions Kelvin, to know more about herself, feeling dejected eventually realizing she cannot be who she looks like. Who do we love? A person or our idea of that person? Tarkovsky here explored the idea of Virtual reality. Although other persons undoubtedly exist in physical space freely our entire relationship with them is maintained in our minds. It is not the reality of touch we feel, but our consciousness of the touch. The second Khari is "real" somewhat as the first, albeit different. The relationship between Kelvin and the new Khari is the nature of reality on the space station. The last sequence of the film, invites us to rethink the opening sequence, and to play with the idea that there may be more people invited in the film than we first thought. "The arc of discovery is on the part of the audience, not the characters," writes the critic N. Medlicott. That they may be ensnared in consciousness cheating them about reality is only true, since the film contends that we all are (Ebert, 2003). Thus, as seen from this new genre of sci-fi films, it is definitely not nonsense and unscientific. While most commercial sci-fi films seem absurd with all the technological magnificence, films like Solaris transcend the apparent illogical claim to reach a philosophical and humane height that is perhaps not possible with realistic films. Works cited Science Fiction Film , http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Science_fiction_film Lampert, Laurence. 1989. Nietzsche's Teaching: An Interpretation of Thus Spoke Zarathustra. New Haven: Yale University Press MacGregor, Donald, 2001, How One Film-Reviews With a Hammer, retrieved from http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0013.html Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey, New York: The New American Library, Inc., 1968, p 34 Minority Report,2002, http://www.ambidextrouspics.com/html/minority_report.html 100greatest SF movies http://totalscifionline.com/features/3809-the-100-greatest-sci-fi-movies Ebert, 2 Roger 003, Solaris, http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030119/REVIEWS08/301190301/1023 Read More

2001's depicts primordial man developing the urge to kill, symbolized with the form of the monolith, the protagonist ape-man named Moon-Watcher, who kills another ape-man is narrated as master of the world and thinking "he was not quite sure what to do next. But he would think of something (Clarke, 2001, p 34.) – a clear picture of early man as a being of action and of a Dionysian spirit (MacGregor, How One). There have, since, then many other, thought provoking Sci-Fi films that have tried to settle man with the unknown that presume a bind between real and the mystic l-world and supernatural, between science and fantasy, horror Horror films are movies that strive to elicit responses of fear, horror and terror from viewers.

Their plots frequently involve themes of the supernatural.. Fantasy films are films with fantasy fiction themes, usually involving Magic , supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds.. represented by such films as Frankenstein, Alien and the Star Wars -- Star Wars is an epic film space opera Media franchise initially conceived by George Lucas. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, but later had the subtitle Episode IV: A New Hope added to distinguish it from its sequels and prequels..  films merging science fiction film (such as spaceships, androids and ray guns) with the mystical – age reason for which film critics at times use terms like "Sci Fi/Horror" or " Science fantasy is a mixed genre of story which contains some science fiction and some fantasy elements.. to show such films' fusion status.

The visual style of Sci-Fi film can be set apart by a conflict executed when unfamiliar images become familiar as in A Clockwork Orange when the repetitions of the Korova Milk bar the futuristic drug den, make the strange decor appear more recognizable or, as in Dr. Stangelove, the warped humans making the known images appear more unknown. Scot Bukatman, a cultural theorist studying the interaction between new technology and human bodily experience, considers that science fiction film permits modern culture to perceive the artistic expression of a magnitude that is incomparable and which surpasses al estimates and measures.

During the beginning of the 2000s, the Sci-Fi of the superhero typeprospered as did earthbound SF as in the Matrix trilogy. Science-fiction also started acting as a tool for political observations, like Minority Report by Stephen Spielberg The year 2005 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,The Devil's Rejects, Saw II, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, ''The Ring Two, ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, ''xXx: State of the Union, ''Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous.

(Science Fiction Films, absoluteastronomy.com), a futuristic film, depicting the year 2054 when murder has been washed out from the city of Washington D.C. Though the three psychic, known as Pre-Cogs, the Justice Department’s Pre-Crime section is now adept to foresee the forthcoming a murder and unerringly prevent doing it from the possible killers then punish for their “would be” crime. The leader of the force considers the system to be perfect, until he himself becomes a victim of the system.

The Pre-Cogs predicted that within thirty six hours the chief will murder a man he has never seen before. Anderton runs to solve the mystery that will play out over the next day. Minority Report was loosely derived from a shier story by Philip K. Dick, paradoxically, one of the most recent commodities in Hollywood, as the author’s strong detest for the filmmaking community. He publicly censured a “destruction” of his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, Dick’s fans were very disappointed by the film’s approach of happy ending, Dick dying before the film was released.

Minority Report is made like a film-noir thriller from the 1940’s, the director requesting of his cinematographer Janusz Kaminski to help him make “the ugliest, dirtiest movie I have ever made”.

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