By: Keaton Marcus

PREFACE:

I have seen plenty of these “genre analysis” posts lately, so it should come off as obvious that I would want to try it out with my absolute favorite bunch of films under the name “science-fiction.” What defines this word? What different types of films lie under it? Any interesting subgenres? What are my personal recommendations in exploring this genre to a higher extent? Remember, I have not seen every single movie imaginable, so this is essentially solely my opinion on the matter.

SCIENCE-FICTION DEFINED:

fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes, frequently portraying space or time travel and life on other planets.

Basically, this is a wholly fantastical genre and to qualify under it, a film cannot include real events or people, which eliminates stuff such as First Man or Apollo 13. It makes predictions about what the future holds for humanity, whether that means other extraterrestrial territories or life, dystopian or utopian societies, or anything simply outside our reach at the moment. It’s the ravaged and overpopulated apocalyptic world of Blade Runner and its sequel, 2049. A man lost on Mars forced to survive with his own smarts while waiting for rescue in The Martian. A father-son story mixed in with a journey across the stars to find a man’s ideation of God in Ad Astra, making for both emotionally investing and spellbindingly awe-inspiring results. Anything that qualifies as fictional and that deals with otherwordly technology or planets can be considered a part of “science-fiction.”

NOTABLE DIRECTORS:

Note: this is only a condensed list. There are many more.

Denis Villeneuve - Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, Dune (upcoming)
Andrei Tarkovsky - Stalker, Solaris
James Cameron - Terminator, T2: Judgement Day, Avatar
Ridley Scott - Alien, Aliens, Prometheus, Alien Covenant, Blade Runner, The Martian
Christopher Nolan - Interstellar, TENET, Inception
Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity, Children of Men
Alex Garland - Ex Machina, Annihilation
Rian Johnson - Looper, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GENRE:

SPACE TRAVEL:
Likely the most primary characteristic of a science-fiction film that comes to mind when hearing the word is traveling beyond Earth. A journey among the stars to find the unimaginable. Whether it is finding a new place for humanity to reside, looking for extraterrestrial life, or simply landing on a new planet, all of these factors into it.
TIME TRAVEL/TELEPORTATION:
What if you could go any place or time in whatever random moment one desires to? This is a common question asked by several films of the genre, and an interesting one at that. There have also been many attempts at creating a world of time loops, reliving the same day every day. It’s infinitely full of creativity to grab upon, and its concept has fueled many filmmakers’ visions.
IMAGINATION OF THE FUTURE:
Predicting what is to come is additionally a major aspect of the genre. Generally, these tell stories of dark, grim futuristic environments that although have some advancements in technology, are ultimately stuck in the dark age due to some national or global issue such as overpopulation or climate change. These are often referred to as “dystopian”, stories of imperfect worlds.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE:
Robots could live among us (STFU NOT A MEME) in the future. Our only conception of true artificial intelligence, meaning beings that can act as human as possible, is through cinema at the moment. Can it be the story of a robot rebellion? A test to see whether you can tell the difference between a piece of AI and a human being? The question of the possibility to fall in love with one of these? The possibilities run on forever, and between all the stabs at giving us a definitive answer, we shall have to see for ourselves.
Other characteristics that I only more or less covered are alien lifeforms, interplanetary warfare, alternative histories, and more. These are only the four main ones.

EXAMPLES - TO THE STARS

Ad Astra - James Gray
Interstellar - Christopher Nolan
Solaris - Andrei Tarkovsky
2001: A Space Odyssey - Stanley Kubrick
Alien (Franchise)

EXAMPLES - INFINITIVE TRAVEL/RELIVING DAYS

TENET
Edge of Tomorrow
Looper
Terminator (Franchise)
Source Code

EXAMPLES - A DARK NEW WORLD

Blade Runner + Blade Runner 2049
Mad Max (Franchise)
Akira
Planet of the Apes (20011-2017 trilogy)
Stalker

EXAMPLES - ROBOT TRANSCENDATION

Ex Machina
Her
The Matrix
Terminator (Franchise)
Moon

EXAMPLES - MELANCHOLIC LONELINESS

Melancholia
Annihilation
Under the Skin
Arrival
Ad Astra

MY TOP TEN:

Blade Runner 2049 - Denis Villeneuve
Arrival - Denis Villeneuve
Melancholia - Lars von Trier
Her - Spike Jonze
Ex Machina - Alex Garland
Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky
2001: A Space Odyssey - Stanley Kubrick
Ad Astra - James Gray
Mad Max: Fury Road - George Miller
Children of Men - Alfonso Cuaron