History of science fiction films
The history of science fiction films parallels that of the
Silent film
Science fiction films |
---|
By decade |
Science fiction literature would continue to influence early films. Jules Verne's classic
Meanwhile, in Europe, the
1930s and 1940s
Movies during the 1930s were largely influenced by the advent of sound and dialogue, and by the effects of the Great Depression that began in 1929.[6] Audiences began to pursue films with more escapist themes, leading to a decline in serious speculative films. After the failure of the big-budget 1930 American film Just Imagine, studios were reluctant to finance the expensive futuristic sets necessary for this type of film. Although the 1936 British film Things to Come, written by H. G. Wells, projected the world 100 years into the future and forecasted the advent of World War II, it too was a box-office flop, and films with serious speculation and visual spectacle of the future would largely disappear until the 1950s.
Instead, the decade saw the rise of
Other elements of science fiction were carried into the burgeoning horror genre, driven by the massive success of the Universal Studios'
Sequels to successful horror films continued into
Post-War and 1950s
Two events at the end of World War II significantly influenced the science fiction genre. The development of the
One of the earlier and most important films of the era was the widely publicized Destination Moon, released in 1950. It follows a nuclear-powered rocketship carrying four men to the moon, against a background of competition against the Soviets. With a script co-written by Robert A. Heinlein and astronomical sets by renowned space artist Chesley Bonestell, the film was a commercial and artistic success, and it brought about more studio financing of science fiction films. The producer of Destination Moon was notably George Pal who also helped create When Worlds Collide, The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and the pseudo-documentary of crewed space exploration Conquest of Space. Although Conquest of Space was a commercial failure that set back Pal's career, the other four each won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, which demonstrated the increased technical excellence and critical recognition of the genre.[11]
Another important UFO film,
This trend was not limited to the United States; perhaps the most successful monster movies were the
The financial success of these films relied on studios drawing in large teenage audiences, taking advantage of popular techniques such as
However, in the second half of the decade, the steady success of the genre led to some studios attempting serious films with large budgets, including the coldly realistic depiction of a post-nuclear war world, On the Beach, and Forbidden Planet, a science fiction re-imagining of Shakespeare's The Tempest. The second film would influence the genre for years to come; it included the first all-electronic music score, introduced the character Robby the Robot, and served as the inspiration for Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek.
The success of science fiction films also saw the genre grow internationally. In Britain, there was a period of notable production, with
1960s
After the rush of science fiction films in the 1950s, there were relatively few in the
Galaxy Science Fiction editor Frederik Pohl wrote in 1962 that the last good science fiction film most readers would be able to name was Forbidden Planet. He explained that the studio system produced "very big" or "very little" films. Large films were often remakes of other large films, few of which were science fiction, and B movies used non-genre writers instead of being based on existing quality science fiction.[19] In 1968, he said after 2001 that "the science fiction movie we've all been waiting for still hasn't come along", and that Things to Come was the most recent serious large-budget film with good actors and a science fiction screenwriter.[20] However, in the second half of the 1960s a number of exceptional films appeared, transforming science fiction cinema. 1966 saw two significant films released: first Fahrenheit 451 was a social commentary on freedom of speech and government restrictions and then Fantastic Voyage where the science fiction film "boldly went where no man had gone before" when Raquel Welch ventured inside a human body. Finally in 1968 the extremely camp Barbarella paid homage to the sillier side of earlier science fiction.
In the late 1960s, the Indian director
Possibly the most significant Science Fiction film of the 1960s was
This movie was groundbreaking in the quality of its visual effects, in its realistic portrayal of space travel, and in the epic and transcendent scope of its story. Science fiction movies that followed this film would enjoy increasingly larger budgets and ever improving special effects. Clarke has told of screening earlier science-fiction films for Kubrick, and Kubrick pronouncing them all awful, without exception, even Things to Come. 2001 was the first science fiction art film and had a philosophical scope that earlier films had not attempted. Many critics called it an incomprehensible mess when it first appeared. Today, it is widely lauded by critics as one of the greatest films of all time.
In 1963, India based Tamil movie named KALAI ARASI is the first movie based on aliens in India which is directed by A.Kasilingam.It is released on 19 April 1963.Though the idea is good but it became a failure at box office.Today it is widely lauded by critics as one of the greatest innovative movies in the Tamil film industry.
1970s
There was resurgence of interest in science fiction films with a "space adventure" theme in the 1970s. Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, both released in 1977, contained a mystical element reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The space discoveries of the 1970s created a growing sense of marvel about the universe that was reflected in these films.
However, the early 1970s also saw the continued theme of paranoia, with humanity under threat from ecological or technological adversaries of its own creation. Notable films of this period included Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange 1971 (man vs. brainwashing), THX 1138 1971 (man vs. the state), Silent Running 1972 (ecology), the sequels to Planet of the Apes (man vs. evolution), and Westworld 1973 (man vs. robot).
The
The slow-paced Solaris 1972 made by Andrei Tarkovsky (and remade as a much shorter film by Steven Soderbergh in 2002) matches and in some assessments exceeds 2001 in its visuals and philosophic scope, while other critics find it plodding and pretentious.
The science fiction comedy had what may have been its finest hours in the 1970s, with Woody Allen's Sleeper 1973 and Dan O'Bannon's Dark Star 1974.
After the huge box office successes in 1977 of
1980s
Following the huge success of Star Wars, science fiction became bankable again and each major studio rushed into production their available projects. As a direct result, the Star Trek Television series was reborn as a film franchise that continued through the 1980s and 1990s.
Thanks to the Star Wars 1977 and Star Trek 1979
The strongest contributors to the genre during the second half of the decade were James Cameron and Paul Verhoeven with The Terminator 1984 and RoboCop 1987 entries.
Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982 became one of the most successful films of the 1980s. An influential film release was Scanners (1981), a film that would be imitated several times over the next two decades.
From 1980, the distinction between science fiction, fantasy, and superhero films blurred, thanks in large part to the influence of Star Wars 1977. From 1980 on, every year saw at least one major science fiction or fantasy film, which critics disparaged and were ignored on Oscar night, except in the technical categories. Disney's 1982 film Tron had a unique visual style, being one of the first major studio films to use extensive computer graphics.
The 1980s and later saw the growth of animation as a medium for science fiction films. This was particularly successful in Japan where the anime industry produced Akira (1988) and Ghost in the Shell (1995). Serious animation has not yet proven commercially successful in the United States and Western-made animated science fiction films such as Light Years (1988), The Iron Giant (1999) and Titan A.E. (2000) did not draw a significant viewing audience. However, anime has gradually gained a cult following and, from the mid-1990s, its popularity has been steadily expanding worldwide.
1990s
The emergence of the World Wide Web and the cyberpunk genre during the 1990s spawned several Internet-themed films. Both The Lawnmower Man (1992) and Virtuosity (1995) dealt with threats to the network from a human-computer interface. Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and Total Recall (1990) had the memories of their main actors modified by a similar interface, and The Matrix (1999) created a machine-run virtual prison for humanity. The internet also provided a ready medium for film fandom, who could more directly support (or criticize) such media franchise film series as Star Trek and Star Wars.
Disaster film remained popular, with themes updated to reflect recent influences. Both Armageddon (1998) and Deep Impact (1998) used the threat of a massive impact with the earth. Independence Day (1996 in film) recycled the 1950s alien invasion films, with rapacious, all-consuming aliens. Advances in genetic science were also featured in the Jurassic Park (1993) and Gattaca (1997).
As the decade progressed, computers played an increasingly important role in both the addition of special effects and the production of films. Large
As in the 1980s, in every year of the 1990s one or more major science fiction or fantasy films were produced.
2000s
Oddly, in the 2000s (decade), SF films seemed to turn away from space travel, and fantasy predominated. Except for Star Trek and Star Wars films, the only films set off Earth that appeared in the first half of the 2000s (decade) were Serenity, Titan A.E., and the poorly received Mission to Mars and Red Planet. On the other hand, fantasy and superhero films abounded, as did earthbound SF such as The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.
Science fiction has returned to being a tool for political commentary in recent times with films like A.I. Artificial Intelligence and Minority Report with the former questioning the increasing materialism of today's world and the latter questioning the political situations surrounding the world post 9/11.[23] Unique entries into the genre were also released around this time with the first science fiction romance Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
By the middle of the decade, the theater audience had begun to decline and this was reflected in the numbers attending the science fiction movie releases of this period. Sophisticated home theater systems came close to matching the cinema experience, and avoided the expense and inconvenience. Film studios had begun placing product advertisements prior to the start of films in theatres, seeking another means to enhance their bottom line, and alienating a segment of the theater-going audience. Making up for the losses in cinema revenue were sales and rentals of the high-quality DVD releases, many of which included previously cut scenes and extra material.[needs update]
2010s
Using
Decades-old franchises faced difficulties as original actors aged.
See also
- History of science fiction
- History of anime
- History of film
- History of horror films
- Lists of science fiction films
- List of science fiction television films
Notes
- ^ "Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip To The Moon) (1902)".
- ISBN 0-7190-5396-X.
- ^ "AMC Filmsite". SCIENCE FICTION FILMS.
- ^ "Total Sci-Fi Online". Time Tunnel: Metropolis. Archived from the original on 2010-01-01.
- ISBN 90-420-0153-4.
- ISBN 0-520-22128-1.
- ISBN 978-0385032346. p 51
- ISBN 0-8058-1174-5.
- ^ Hendershot, Cydny (1999). "Paranoia, the Bomb, and 1950s Science Fiction Films". Bowling Green State University Popular Press.
- ISBN 0-7486-1903-8.
- ^ "UCLA Film and Television Archive". George Pal. UCLA. Archived from the original on 2011-10-23. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
- ^ "The All Powers Project". The Red Scare: A Filmography. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
- ^ Jones, Stephen (1995). The Illustrated Dinosaur Movie Guide. Titan Books. p. 42.
- ^ Hood, Robert. "A Potted History of Godzilla". Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ^ "Gojira / Godzilla (1954) Synopsis". Archived from the original on 2007-12-24. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ISBN 0786704853.
- ^ Viera, Mark A. (August 2004). "Don't Step on It! Killer Bugs, Babes, and Beasts in 1950s Drive-In Cinema". Bright Lights Film Journal (45).
- ^ Hayes, Dade; Bing, Jonathan (2004-09-21). "Variety". Debunking the Jaws Myth. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- ^ Pohl, Frederik (October 1962). "The Business of Being Bad". Editorial. Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 4–7.
- ^ Pohl, Frederik (July 1968). "The Week That Was". Editorial. Galaxy Science Fiction. p. 4.
- ^ Newman J (2001-09-17). "Satyajit Ray Collection receives Packard grant and lecture endowment". UC Santa Cruz Currents online. Archived from the original on 2005-11-04. Retrieved 2006-04-29.
- ^ "The Unmade Ray". Satyajit Ray Society. Archived from the original on 2006-11-08. Retrieved 2006-11-04.
- ^ "The History of Sci-Fi Films". 10 July 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-4422-5007-9.
- ^ Gallagher, Nathan (8 November 2019). "Film studios shouldn't profit off dead stars | Nobody should be allowed to use CGI to resurrect deceased actors onscreen". The Queen's Journal. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
[A] big contribution to ILM's efforts was Knoll's discovery of a mold of Cushing's head that was cast for a 1984 comedy film. The visual effects artists took a scan of this to give them a fully accurate digital model of Cushing's head.
- ^ Perry, Spencer (December 5, 2019). "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Doesn't Use Any Carrie Fisher Footage From The Last Jedi". Comicbook. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
We only used footage from Force Awakens, there really wasn't anything from Last Jedi that was not used in that movie.
- ISBN 978-1-83860-973-3.
References
- John Baxter, Science Fiction in the Cinema, A S Barnes & Co, ISBN 0-498-07416-1.
- Welch Everman, Cult Science Fiction Films, Citadel Press, ISBN 0-8065-1602-X.
- Peter Guttmacher, Legendary Sci-Fi Movies, ISBN 1-56799-490-3.
- ISBN 0-87951-626-7.
- Gregg Rickman, The Science Fiction Film Reader, ISBN 0-87910-994-7.
- Vivian Sobchack, Screening Space: The American Science Fiction Film. New Brunswick: ISBN 0-8135-2492-X.