What scenes from films/TV made you think "Yeah! This is why I love Sci-fi"

[ABMAC]

>I ask again, can anyone elaborate as to how STAR WARS is science-fiction? It's a space fantasy, not Sci-Fi (Some even say it's a space western, which I never got myself...) Robots and flying ships do not make Sci-Fi.

We had this discussion a while back. (Boy; did we EVER!) A lot of folks don't really care about the distinctions, they just wanna see something cool. So if you're more scholarly about it try to bear with the rest of us. (Sometimes answers tell more about the answerer than they do the topic.) For me, the distinction is simple: spaceships= sci-fi. Wizard guy in a pointy hat= fantasy.

Supernatural elements = fantasy, no matter what other trappings are employed.

And yeah, there are a whole schload of distinctions and differentails you can apply; but I generally choose not to. My enjoyment isn't genre based.

Some of the distinctions are too basic to ignore. Enjoy your fantasy, but don't pretend it's science.

>To an extent I can understand SW being in a Sci-Fi list, but superheroes? Where do you do you draw the line? I'm just waiting for SPIDERMAN, HULK, and FANTASTIC 4 to make this list...

Hmmmm.... radiation and spaceships... sounds like sci-fi to me! Seriously; superheroes are kind've a distant cousin to sci-fi, but well defined as a genre enough to be considered something different. Superheroes use the trappings of sci-fi but stretch the concepts 'til they're unrecognizable. (The original Superman comics even had little fact panels explaining how the charcater wasn't entirely unrealistic.)

In the original Superman stories, his extraterrestrial origin gave him superhuman strength that allowed him to "leap over tall buildings" and perform other extraordinary feats. Jumping later evolved into levitation, which is pure fantasy.

>And, since superheroes are in the list, maybe we should add that caped canine UNDERDOG to... He's on the same level with the Caped Crusader isn't he?

Come on now! Batman is REAL; Underdog is a cartoon! *sheesh!* I think for cataloguing things, toon trumps anything else.

Although better suited to the less specific "superhero" genre, some Batman stories could also be categorized as science fiction, but only the ones that don't include characters with supernatural powers like Ra's al Ghul.

"Toon" isn't a genre, it's a style. Underdog's genre was a combination of superhero and comedy. The Jetsons' scientific speculation intentionally veered into the laughably improbable, but it was still a solid science fiction cartoon.

[Bo8a_Fett]

As Alan Moore and some sci-fi has told us (Jon Pertwee in "The Daemons") magic is just science that is too far advanced for us to understand.....

[ABMAC]

As Alan Moore and some sci-fi has told us (Jon Pertwee in "The Daemons") magic is just science that is too far advanced for us to understand.....

Semantic nonsense. If your quote is accurate, it's a failed attempt to create a corollary of Clarke's third law of prediction, which states that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. It doesn't mean that the scientifically impossible is possible, just that technology can be mistaken for magic by anyone who doesn't understand the scientific principles behind it.

Writers think that it sounds more intelligent to call their work science fiction than to admit that it's fantasy, so they use flawed logic to justify the name change. There's a big difference between true fictional magic and fictional technology that appears to be magic.

Science beyond our understanding isn't true magic. Supernatural elements, by definition, ignore the natural laws of physical science. Fictional magic which is truly meant to be supernatural can't be explained by fictional advanced science.

[highquality]

"Serenity"

When Mal tricks the Reavers into following him to create a diversion from the Alliance.

"Chronicles of Riddick"

The race ahead of the sun on the prison planet.
The invasion of Helion Prime by the Necromongers was pretty cool too.

"Heroes"

The alternate future scarred Peter pretty cool. It was the first time we saw him use all of his powers at once. The whole scene was pretty badass. Seems like it's what X-Men would be like if it were a live action TV Show. I really like Bob's daughter too, the electricty girl. Her character is just perfect. She's nuts because she's been kept in isolation all of her life and still has the mentality of a little girl. But, she'd fry you up like Colonel Sander's chicken.

[apes3978]

THEM although being a B-movie monster flick is a what if film (what if testing nuclear bombs causes mutations).

Perhaps, but you do have to admit that it is taken to the ridiculously extreme... Really, it's along the same lines as the B-movie series of GODZILLA films. Those films are good for what they are, just entertainment. There's nothing wrong with that either, but essentially they're monster films that just used nuclear devices as a vehicle for creating the main star of the films: oversized monsters.

As for Superman...essentially he IS AN ALIEN living on earth...Are not aliens part of the sci-fi canon?

In this case, I'd have to say no, they're not. Whether SUPERMAN is an alien or not has no bearing on this paricular subject. I don't think he was ever intended to be any type of sci-fi character (nor do I believe any of the other superheroes were either.) SUPERMAN is escapist entertainment, it doesn't "say" anything that I'm aware of. ET was an alien, and while I consider that more of a fantasy film as well, it'd be more of a sci-fi film because it deals with "what if" and how people would react to this creature. There's at least a bit of the "science" of sci-fi in that film in that they want to catch him and test him as a research "lab rat"... And, of course, the "fiction" comes from the alien part of the film.

And, while you're saying SUPERMAN is an alien and therefore falls in the sci-fi catagory, that's fine if you really believe that. At least you back up your reason as to why, and that's cool... But, and I know that you didn't say it, I'd like to hear people's reason(s) as to how BATMAN fits in to all of this...

You could say that Alien Nation is just a reflection on racist and discrimination issues and is therefore not sci-fi.

ALIEN-NATION defines quite a bit of what I personally consider sci-fi... It has a lot to say about the human condition and does so very well I think... It is very much a "what if" story, especially the TV series. "What if" hundreds of thousands of aliens suddenly became inhabitants of Earth? How would they be treated? What would they think of us? Would their kind ultimately end up being a threat to humanity from some unknown danger they might possess (be it a virus or perhaps an invasion of their over-seers who want to take them back).

STAR TREK has a major character, Mr. Spock, who has a continuial running dialog on the same subjects that A-N touched on... Spock is always claiming the superiority of the non-emotional Vulcan race over the hyper-sensitive, over-reacting humans. STAR TREK itself dealt with a lot of the same issues: Racism, discrimination, the ugliness of war, etc.

I could go on but this was meant to be a fun thread to bring memories back of iconical moments......

Yes, and it IS a good thread... I just can't see how some of the things being mentioned fit into the catagory.

[Bo8a_Fett]

Ok I admit that Science Fiction is Works of fiction that use scientific discoveries, wild theories or advanced technology — either actual or imaginary — as part of their plot. But does not that mean that nuclear mutation does not fit into the criteria even as a hastily tacked on reason....the best superman stories center on his alienation and extraterrestrial roots (always been a Batman person myself BUT even I do not consider Batman sci-fi)...on the reverse side of the coin we could say Star trek isn't sci-fi because it is just Hornblower in space or a wagontrain to the stars, it is just the location that has changed and the stories could be set anywhere and the Enterprise and space setting is not essential to the plot (this could be said of a lot of sci-fi)...

[ABMAC]

Ok I admit that Science Fiction is Works of fiction that use scientific discoveries, wild theories or advanced technology — either actual or imaginary — as part of their plot. But does not that mean that nuclear mutation does not fit into the criteria even as a hastily tacked on reason

Mutation due to radiation isn't the issue, it's the form the mutations take. Godzilla and the giant ants in Them would collapse from their own weight.

....the best superman stories center on his alienation and extraterrestrial roots (always been a Batman person myself BUT even I do not consider Batman sci-fi)

Even an extraterrestrial origin can't explain elements that are scientifically impossible. Those impossible elements prevent Superman from being solid science fiction.

...on the reverse side of the coin we could say Star trek isn't sci-fi because it is just Hornblower in space or a wagontrain to the stars, it is just the location that has changed and the stories could be set anywhere and the Enterprise and space setting is not essential to the plot (this could be said of a lot of sci-fi)...

Science fiction stories often revolve around advanced technology, exotic locations, or alien beings, but it isn't necessary. All stories are basically about people. The settings are there to support the story and provide interest. Science fiction provides that interest by extrapolating plausible alternate realities or possible futures from current reality.

[Bo8a_Fett]

I see my revised list of sci-fi (sorry non sci-fi) movies has now been moved to another thread..........ho hum

[monkey tennis]

Sci Fi movies that I love:
Logan's Run
The Thing
Robocob
Terminator
Alien
Aliens
Blade Runner.

I know that these are Sci Fi movies because I wear my Sci Fi glasses when I watch them.

[Bo8a_Fett]

My shaved monkey servent tells me what films are sci-fi....he gets confused by westerns though and has to have 3 or 4 banana shakes to calm himself or he starts to throw poop around the house.

[Hornet of Doom]

I'd seen it before, but last time I watched Blade Runner Rutger Hauer's speech at the end hit me as the epitome of what Sci-fi is all about - presenting social/philosophical problems in a way that makes them easy to identify. That made me glad to be a fan.

And, less seriously, any time giant robots appear in what is otherwise a fairly realistic movie I grin like an idiot.

[Bo8a_Fett]

The new 5 disc/4 version with workprint uber super ultimate collectors edition is out next week or so (in a replica...replicant??...version of Deckers briefcase) with loads of goodies. It's been threatened for years which is why I held off getting it on dvd.

[AJJ]

The Borg Cube flying into shot and being hit by Photon Torpedos in First Contact.
Data running down the damaged corridor about to jump in to space to save Picard in Nemesis.
Serenity coming out the nebula followed by all the Reaver ships and the battle that follows as Wash flies the ship though the battle.