Science Fiction Films - Essay Example

Whether the impact was positive or negative cannot be gauged by its box-office success since high grossing films are not always high-quality films, and vice versa. Either way, what can be anticipated in a heavily promoted science fiction film are its spectacular action scenes, distinctive special effects, alien creatures and advanced technological gadgets, among others. A lot of times the creators of sci-fi movies somehow get carried away with the gadgets, technology, and special effects that oftentimes they fail to see that the whole plot of their movie just crumbles to the ground.

In effect, there is not much substance that the viewer absorbs but a mere recollection of chaotic data once the viewer leaves the theater. Science Fiction Defined Before proceeding, it would help to define the word science fiction. What does Science fiction really mean? It is said that the term “science fiction” is an oxymoron because “Science is the study and theoretical explanation of natural phenomena in an orderly way, but fiction is something that is created or imaginary.” (Bromiley, n.d.) Thus, being contradictory terms, science can play an essential role in creating the fictional work of art by giving it more rationality, and making the facts more believable, and therefore more realistic.

In terms of film, science fiction films are often subjected to close scrutiny especially since movies in this genre are frequently popular, usually hyped-up, and are generally about contemporary topics of interest. Hence the movie 2012 was shown in November 2009 due to the popular topic then about the so called ‘End of the World’ prophecy on the Mayan calendar, the movie In Time was shown just recently linking man’s fixed lifespan to the population explosion and other related issues, and the film Source Code brings to fore the plausible reality of exploring and manipulating man’s mind for the government’s top secret operations.

A lot of the ideas in these films are imaginary, but the future is vast and anything is possible with technology so either field—science and media—can pick up gems of thought from these film accomplishments. Tips to Find a Good Sci-Fi Movie Now, despite the sci-fi genius among most of the creators of these movies, in most cases, science fiction films are not always commendable. There have been classic science fiction films which are frequently cited for being realistic, credible and praiseworthy and Jurassic Park is one film which has achieved such stature.

However, on the whole, there have been more misses than hits among the great sci-fi movies. Here are some principles to follow in checking if a sci-fi movie is great or not (What Makes for a Good Science Fiction Movie?, 2008): 1. The technology in the movie extrapolates from but does not violate known scientific principles. This of course is hard science fiction. 2. When known scientific principles are violated the movie explains why and how. 3. When known scientific principles are violated without explanation, the movie follows popular science fiction conventions.

These principles are not fixed but they can give an individual a yardstick by which to gauge the kind of film one is dealing with. The Misplaced