Themes on Thursday: Is there any Intergalactic Creature who Can Save us from this Parallel, Apocalyptic Cyborg?

Hey Guys,

On Thursday’s I will be looking into the different themes and genres of films. I will be looking into what classes a film under the certain genres and what themes tend to run through them.

There will be a lot of films being watched that I or you have probably never heard of, but that’s the experience of film.

This week’s focus has mainly been directed towards Sci-Fi. So why should today be any different? We are going to travel into the world of Science Fiction and discover great wonders.

So for a start let me explain that Science Fiction films are any film that is set in the future or has some reference to other worlds. Content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, parallel universes, aliens, and paranormal abilities can feature in these films.

There are a lot of Genres and themes that appear in Science Fiction films. So how would you know if you’re watching a Sci-Fi? Let’s list a small amount of traits and themes.

·         Is the film set in the future?

·         Is the film set on a different planet?

·         Is the film set in space?

·         Does the film contain a creature/monster?

·         In the film, Is there a scientific research that goes wrong?

·         Does the main character have super powers?

·         Is there an alien attack?

·         Is there some sort of epidemic?

·         Do any of the characters time travel?

·         Is there an alternate/parallel universe?

·         Are there any robots/cyborgs/clone etc.?

·         Can the characters live under water?

·         Are there any flying objects? (E.G Space ships)

Now some of these you would have already guessed, as did I, but others are quite a surprise. Did you know any comic hero movie is classed as a Sci-Fi film? Now that you know that, you will think over it and recognise some of the themes that run through. For example the Iron Man (2008 – present) films, Tony Stark uses Science and Computers to build his Ironwear.

Science Fiction films used to just primly be ‘about science’ it has evolved and transformed into something greater with many different sub-genres. Here are just a few of the subgenres with an explanation.

First of all any Apocalyptic, holocaust, or post-apocalyptic story which focuses on the end of the world, or the world just after "the end." Society is wiped out and must rebuild; humanity is destroyed; humanity must cope with an aftermath.

Cyberpunk stories are set in a high-tech, mechanical and advanced universe of computers, hackers, and hybrids. "Cyberspace” films fall into this subgenre. Humans may spend time "living" in a virtual environment.

First contact looks into the primary meeting between humans and aliens. These can range from horrific tales of invasions through to stories of gentle visitors bearing technology and peace. The meeting may occur on Earth, in space, or on another planet. "alien invasion" films fall into this sub-genre.

Military science fiction looks at futuristic combat locations such as space, against opponents such as aliens or machines, with advanced weaponry. This may include genetically modified warriors.

Near-future science fiction takes place in present day or in the next few years. Elements of the setting should be familiar, and the technology may be current or in development.

Space operas are similar to Western "horse operas," often contains good guys fighting with bad guys in space or on distant planets. Star Wars is a classic example.

Time travel is where characters travel to the past or future. It could also be where they are visited by other time travellers. Topics range from seeing what the past was like, to paradox of killing somebody who effected your future, through to "tampering" causing a massive ‘butterfly effect’ altering the entire future/world. "alternate universes" where each change in the timestream spins off a new universe can be classed in this sub-genre.

So hopefully you can understand more about how the Science Fiction works and you can understand why a certain character is doing one of the listed things above. Hopefully it makes you understand the film that little bit more.

For those of you interested in finding out more about current Science Fiction films, here is an Internet Movie Database link listing all the most popular Sci-Fi films at present: http://www.imdb.com/genre/sci_fi

If you have any views on what has been discussed or have any films, themes, or genres you would like me to look into then comment below.

Stay safe,

Matt

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Movies For Monday: Space, The Final Frontier

Hey Guys,

This is the part of the week where I will be looking into films and reviewing certain aspects or even a whole film. I will be viewing my opinions whilst also asking what you feel about it.

The films I look into may be new releases, or films that I have just watched on DVD.

You may not believe this, maybe you’ll be slightly shocked, but at times I can be slightly geeky! I know a little about certain things and have a fondness for old classics.

So when I watched Star Trek (2009) directed by J.J. Abrams last night, I felt my geeky side come out, as it probably will in this blog.

At first, when watching the opening scene, I was getting slightly annoyed as I thought they were about to kill off a captain that was very important without giving him two looks. I was wrong to think this as the film itself is based around him and his voyage with Enterprise.

The film tells of the story of the Romulans and how they believe Mr Spok to have destroyed their home planet, they start to destroy other planets to get back at the Federation for not saving their planet.

Now I have to say, may include spoilers, that the thought into the time, space continuum was really clever. Basically due to the fact that when future Romulans and the future Spok (Spok Prime) being transported back to the present day, it altered the course of people’s lives and made things change. 

(I told you this might get slightly geeky)

Whilst watching this film it brought back some memories of sitting down to watch Star Trek with my father. I saw almost every captain, almost every commander and knew the basic plot lines.

I was rather impressed by this film, and apart from a few minor CGI moments that were a little too much, the rest was perfect. The story line was clean and came through and they seemed to keep some of the old Star Trek charm in there.

I thought that Simon Pegg as Scotty did a fantastic job, his Scottish accent and his personality was great. To be honest, the whole film was tremendously well casted and all the actors portrayed the original characters as well as possible.

Overall the movie was rather impressive and it thrilled my geeky side to no end. It is worth watching and I don’t know why I have not seen it earlier. Also I was extremely glad to see that at the end of the film, they had the original Star Trek Opening Titles, obviously edited and re-mastered for a newer audience, but just the fact they included it made my geeky side happy.

One small little treat for you guys. J.J. Abrams is in the process of making an Untitled Star Trek Sequel, which will be coming out next year.  We all know how well Abrams is at keeping secrets, so I’m guessing we won’t know much detail until the trailer hits, but I’m guessing from what he has created with the first one it should be good.

If you have any films or film topics you would like me to look into the comment below. If you have any views on what has been discussed this week, also let me know.

Stay safe,

Matt

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