Science fiction

From ArticleWorld

Science fiction has something of an unfair reputation, with many thinking it is only enjoyed by geeks and nerds. This is far from the truth and many of the people with this opinion would admit to enjoying many of the films which fit this description because they are unaware of how much it incorporates.

For a film, or book, game or comic, to be classed as science fiction it needs only to involve a storyline featuring a spaceship or an alien, or to be set in the future. Often these films can involve all three, being set in the future, onboard a spaceship and encountering aliens along the way, but equally likely is a film set in modern times, on Earth but with an unexpected alien invasion. Sci-fi films can contain large elements of other genres and sci-fi comedies are a fairly common example of this.

Children’s films

Science fiction is a genre largely enjoyed by adults, but it works extremely well when aimed at children. One of the most successful and best loved films of all time is E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’’ released in 1982, which is clearly an example of a science fiction film. The entire plot of the film concerns an alien who is trying to get back to his family who accidentally left him behind on Earth. A more recent example is 1999s The Iron Giant, an animated story about a robot who came crashing down to Earth from space. These films are ideal for a young audience as they have not yet exchanged their imagination for cynicism and so get really involved in the stories.

Earth invasion

One of the most used themes in science fiction is that of an invasion of Earth by alien species. This has been dealt with a lot recently and is proving to be popular, perhaps because of the advancements in space exploration which could be making the public believe alien life forms really could exist and so such an invasion could actually be possible.

A recent film to tackle this subject was War of the Worlds which followed a similar type of plot to the earlier Independence Day. However, these two films invoked feelings of fear, terror and dread in the audience and this is not always how it is done. The highly successful Men in Black films made light of the eradication of the aliens from our planet and it was most definitely made as a science fiction comedy.