I have to make a confession - I am a sci-fi fan.
When done properly, sci-fi need not be the antithesis of the coolness personified by Iron Maiden. It is a form of art which can be greatly enhanced by the addition of ass-kicking rock!
But I digress. Science Fiction, as I knew it, is dead. No, I'm not talking about the cancellation of the latest bastardization of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek franchise (hey, Berman - why don't you piss on his grave while you're at it!) Enterprise should've been cancelled after the 1st season. It was a bad idea for a series to being with.
What has really signified the death of sci-fi, though, is the lack of anything innovative. Look at the latest creations: Star Trek Enterprise (groan), the three new Star Wars (great FX, but not high on plot like the first three), and a few Star Trek movies with worn-out plots.
Sci-fi isn't about flashy special effects, it's about a human story which takes place in a futuristic setting. Compare the first three Star Wars films with the three modern ones. Yes, the FX are mundane and there are no CGI-generated battles. Lucas knew that he couldn't do those things back then, so he concentrated on making the human interactions the most important part of the epics. Look at the results! On a tiny budget (even for 1977 movies), he created a timeless masterpiece.
On those same lines, look at E.T. Spielberg's only real special effect was making title character mobile, and he created an instant classic which is watched and rewatched by kids even today.
Battlestar Gallactica, 2001 A Space Odyssey, and many others round out the list. The Terminator series, which were released in 1984, 1991, and 2003, was probably the best all-around science fiction film series (not stand-alone movie). They had everything needed: a little bit of futuristic technology, a lot of humanity, and an understandable plot. The 1970s and early 1980s was the era of the Sci Fi movie.
The Star Trek films caught the tail end of this wave (except the first one, which sucked donkey balls). From ST II, The Search for Spock to ST VI, The Undiscovered Country (which I see as the best sci-fi film of all time), the theatres were filled with fans and non-fans alike to see these wonderful films.
If the 70s were the time of the sci-fi film, then the mid 1990s were the era of the sci-fi TV show. Star Trek: The Next Generation, after two rocky seasons, began concentrating less on aliens and FX and more on dealing with today’s issues in a futuristic setting.
In 1994 J. Michael Straczynski’s Babylon 5 series raised the bar for all other Sci-Fi. The plots for each episode were beautiful, and they melded together to form a large ‘story arc’ for the entire series, using age-old concepts like love, violence, loss, corruption, and greed to draw viewers in (while today, 10 years later, producers use sex, flashy effects, and more sex). I highly recommend this series to anyone and everyone, even if you don’t like sci-fi. It’s that damn good.
Other honourable mentions for this period include Sliders, the last three seasons of Deep Space 9, Space: Above and Beyond (a little-known series that could have done so much better had it not been syndicated), Lexx, and Red Dwarf (friggen hilarious series!!!)
Of the recent sci-fi movies made the past decade or so which were original (i.e. the ideas not taken from a TV series or video game), the only ones worth mentioning are Independence Day (a bit too heavy on the effects, but excellently told story), The Fifth Element, and Armageddon.
So what does this mean? It means, in my opinion, that the mass market doesn’t appreciate art. Sci-fi, like any other genre of film, is an art. The producers know that in order to sell tickets or commercial ads, they need sex, pointless violence, and lots of flashy special effects. Art is suffering because of the desire for these things (not just sci-fi art, but all other genres of film, music, novel, etc) I don’t want to call it the ‘uncultured American factor’, but that’s basically what it is. Even metal is being effected by this trend. Look at how Metallica became corporate whores. Thankfully, Iron Maiden doesn’t let this kind of shit get to them, which is why I like them so much (aside from having kickass music). As Bruce said at Waldrock: Maiden is about freedom to think for yourself and listen to the music in your heart and in your mind. (btw - thanks for sending me that clip, LC!)
Look at what we've had lately - Earth Final Conflict, Star Trek Voyager, Enterprise, a bastardization of The Time Machine, and a soon-to-be released UFIA of War of the Worlds. We're doomed.
And on that note, I’ve run out of things to say.
Duke.
When done properly, sci-fi need not be the antithesis of the coolness personified by Iron Maiden. It is a form of art which can be greatly enhanced by the addition of ass-kicking rock!
But I digress. Science Fiction, as I knew it, is dead. No, I'm not talking about the cancellation of the latest bastardization of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek franchise (hey, Berman - why don't you piss on his grave while you're at it!) Enterprise should've been cancelled after the 1st season. It was a bad idea for a series to being with.
What has really signified the death of sci-fi, though, is the lack of anything innovative. Look at the latest creations: Star Trek Enterprise (groan), the three new Star Wars (great FX, but not high on plot like the first three), and a few Star Trek movies with worn-out plots.
Sci-fi isn't about flashy special effects, it's about a human story which takes place in a futuristic setting. Compare the first three Star Wars films with the three modern ones. Yes, the FX are mundane and there are no CGI-generated battles. Lucas knew that he couldn't do those things back then, so he concentrated on making the human interactions the most important part of the epics. Look at the results! On a tiny budget (even for 1977 movies), he created a timeless masterpiece.
On those same lines, look at E.T. Spielberg's only real special effect was making title character mobile, and he created an instant classic which is watched and rewatched by kids even today.
Battlestar Gallactica, 2001 A Space Odyssey, and many others round out the list. The Terminator series, which were released in 1984, 1991, and 2003, was probably the best all-around science fiction film series (not stand-alone movie). They had everything needed: a little bit of futuristic technology, a lot of humanity, and an understandable plot. The 1970s and early 1980s was the era of the Sci Fi movie.
The Star Trek films caught the tail end of this wave (except the first one, which sucked donkey balls). From ST II, The Search for Spock to ST VI, The Undiscovered Country (which I see as the best sci-fi film of all time), the theatres were filled with fans and non-fans alike to see these wonderful films.
If the 70s were the time of the sci-fi film, then the mid 1990s were the era of the sci-fi TV show. Star Trek: The Next Generation, after two rocky seasons, began concentrating less on aliens and FX and more on dealing with today’s issues in a futuristic setting.
In 1994 J. Michael Straczynski’s Babylon 5 series raised the bar for all other Sci-Fi. The plots for each episode were beautiful, and they melded together to form a large ‘story arc’ for the entire series, using age-old concepts like love, violence, loss, corruption, and greed to draw viewers in (while today, 10 years later, producers use sex, flashy effects, and more sex). I highly recommend this series to anyone and everyone, even if you don’t like sci-fi. It’s that damn good.
Other honourable mentions for this period include Sliders, the last three seasons of Deep Space 9, Space: Above and Beyond (a little-known series that could have done so much better had it not been syndicated), Lexx, and Red Dwarf (friggen hilarious series!!!)
Of the recent sci-fi movies made the past decade or so which were original (i.e. the ideas not taken from a TV series or video game), the only ones worth mentioning are Independence Day (a bit too heavy on the effects, but excellently told story), The Fifth Element, and Armageddon.
So what does this mean? It means, in my opinion, that the mass market doesn’t appreciate art. Sci-fi, like any other genre of film, is an art. The producers know that in order to sell tickets or commercial ads, they need sex, pointless violence, and lots of flashy special effects. Art is suffering because of the desire for these things (not just sci-fi art, but all other genres of film, music, novel, etc) I don’t want to call it the ‘uncultured American factor’, but that’s basically what it is. Even metal is being effected by this trend. Look at how Metallica became corporate whores. Thankfully, Iron Maiden doesn’t let this kind of shit get to them, which is why I like them so much (aside from having kickass music). As Bruce said at Waldrock: Maiden is about freedom to think for yourself and listen to the music in your heart and in your mind. (btw - thanks for sending me that clip, LC!)
Look at what we've had lately - Earth Final Conflict, Star Trek Voyager, Enterprise, a bastardization of The Time Machine, and a soon-to-be released UFIA of War of the Worlds. We're doomed.
And on that note, I’ve run out of things to say.
Duke.
--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--]. But going back to Duke's post I agree that modern sci fi has dropped a good story in exchange of flashy FX. However, I like that, our technology has caught up with our imagination, someone needs to bring back the balance of a good story with good FX.... like Jurasic Park [!--emo&