Has Science Fiction Died?

[koshkagoddess]

For the past couple of decades the quality of science fiction movies has noticeably declined into fx porn with little in the way of the soul searching that has been a cornerstone of traditional sci-fi.

Granted, District 9 has shown some promise but it so far seems to be part of the small margin of intelligent sci-fi (The Matrix is another).

So, peeps, what are your thoughts on this?

[~kev~]

I think the overall "quality" of sci-fi movies has declined in the past decade. The one exception are the Marvel comic movies. While companies like sony had creative control over the movie production, the quality was not that good. But once Marvel took control back, and started making their own productions, things got a lot better.

One example of this was Iron Man - that movie was one of the best I have seen in a long, long time. And hopefully Iron Man 2 will be just as good.

Even though I have not seen it, I heard that the latest Star Trek movie was pretty good.

But it has been a long time since I have seen epic productions like Star Wars - and the first 3 were made in the late 70s and early 80s.

[koshkagoddess]

The only thing about Star Wars is that it can be argued that it is not true science fiction so much as an action/fantasy style series that relies mostly on a mystical quest as the main plot. As opposed to science fiction which is more about ethics and morality and may not have much in the way of action since the most of the conflicts are internal.

[KualoJo]

District 9 was outstanding, I thought the last Star Trek film was fantastic (barring one really irritating plot hole), Iron Man, Cloverfield, Sunshine... all good.

I don't agree with you that all science fiction requires ethics and morality, and not much in the way of action. Perhaps you could say that there is a subset of the science fiction genre which requires that, but science fiction is more than that.

I'd say Star Wars is still very much sci-fi... sure there are elements of fantasy, but as a whole it's very much a plausible sci-fi movie. And there's numerous internal conflicts, they just spill out into action, but I think this happens in a very sizable number of sci-fi movies.

[koshkagoddess]

Traditionally, sci-fi has not been about chase and fight scenes. These are elements of action movies, a different genre. What is being labeled as science fiction is often times not true sci-fi but an action flick or a fantasy set in a futuristic world. Pure saturday morning matinee entertainment, fluffy fun that has little to say about anything outside of how popular fx porn is with the masses.

[midnightshow22]

No decline, it's just you've seen it all by now. How many times are they going to remake the same story over and over again. War of the Worlds ---> The day the earth stood still, Pocahontas ---> Avatar, Event Horizon ---> Pandorum. The older you get the less happy you will be. D:

[lostinlove]

i agree with midnight quality wise movies are good but they lack in story

[koshkagoddess]

I don't see a lot in the way of quality in movies. For the past 20-30 years more emphasis has been on action. Too much if you ask me. There is a reason why Star Trek was so good on tv and so sucky as movies (with the notable exceptions of The Wrath of Khan and Voyage Home). The result is the narrative suffers turning a science fiction flick into an action movie.

[sahara1]

If what you say is true, why have so many religious sf stories come to be considered classics? I'll only mention Blish's A Case of Conscience, Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz, and Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet.

Yes, religion is the opiate of the masses. But you just try to take an opiate away from someone who is addicted, and watch what happens. All science can offer is comfort and long life -- in a universe that will eventually suffer heat death and the end of everything. Religion offers love and eternal bliss. Which would you choose, if you were not educated enough to tell the true offer from the false?

Religion belongs in sf because it is part of human nature, and everything human is fair game for sf writers.

[koshkagoddess]

*scratches head* Where did that come from?