Science Fiction, often abbreviated to Sci Fi, is a genre of movie and television that has grown in popularity over the years.It’s a very broad genre of fiction that mostly includes themes of science and technology but has, more recently, come to include drama, mystery, horror and comedy.But like any genre of fiction there are several sub genres which means there is something for everything to enjoy.Hard Science Fiction: which places particular emphasis on scientific accuracy, Soft Science Fiction: de-emphasises the importance of the technological aspect focusing, instead, on the human characters, Social Science Fiction – is less concerned with the science and technology aspects concentrating more on sociological speculation about human society.Over the years Science fiction film has brought extra-terrestrial creatures, alien worlds, time travel along with advanced technology such as robots and spacecraft to the big screen.Sci Fi has also been responsible for producing some of cinema’s most memorable moments including: ‘May the force be with you’, from Star Wars, the alien bursting out of John Hurt’s chest in Alien and ‘E.T go home’ from E.T.
The Science Fiction movie began as a silent picture in the early 1900s and was shot in black and white.
George Melies’ Le Voyage dans la Lune in 1902 was one of the early successes as he used trick photography to show a spacecrafts’ trip to the moon.
By the 1930s sci-fi was now on a bigger budget with Just Imagine, the first feature length movie in this genre by a US studio, and looked at the technological advances that had been made, which included a trip to Mars.
Following the success of Just Imagine came King Kong, Lost Horizon and Things to Come.
However the interest in sci-fi was short lived and died out after 1936 and no more movies were made in this genre until the 1950s.
The 1950s came and interest once again grew for science fiction on the big screen some of the most popular including Destination Moon, which dealt with the technological aspects and problems of space travel; Forbidden Planet which was set in the early 2200s and followed the team that was sent to planet Altair IV and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Throughout the sixties a string of iconic movies were made that have been a great influence on the genre including Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barbarella, which looked at the sillier side of sci-fi, and Planet of the Apes.
Within the last decade sci-fi has become a real box office draw producing numerous blockbuster movies.
Hits include: The Matrix trilogy, which looked at the theme of the computer-human interface, Independence Day and Men in Black which concentrated on alien invasion and Armageddon and Deep Impact which were disaster movies.
2008 looks like it is going to be another successful year for science fiction at the cinema.
Already I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, has topped the box office in America and here in the UK.
Alien vs. Predator: Requiem sees two franchises come together for a second time and J.J Abrams’ Cloverfield project are due in cinemas within the next few weeks.
2008 will see the re-make treatment for The Day the Earth Stood Still, which will star Keanu Reeves and Logan’s Run.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw.