'So Star trek in all its filmed forms in not science fiction. Thanks for clearing that up'
'I've always seen as there being two sub-genres: "science-fiction" and "sci-fi." Star Trek has pretty much always been the latter save TMP and a select few episodes.'
Most of Star Trek had a damn good deal more SF than this action movie, and I would hope that you would respect that to some extent. I'm a Trekkie becuase Trek is fun yet intelligent sci fi; just look at most episodes of the original series (which were often written by real SF writers), TNG, DS9... Exploring matriarchal societies, looking at cloning, superior life forms, imagining humanity's future and possibility, living another man's life in two seconds, social parallels ('Let this be your last Battlefield' et al.)
Many of the movies as I explained above actually have a lot of sci-fi (ironically TMP is just slow, not cerebral. It has little sci-fi, it just appears that it does because it's slow).
'When Dax is dealing with her past lives that is more of a fantasy type of story element than science fiction. '
No, that's exploring the tantalising idea of being a symbiotic life form, of having a quality of existence different from our own. It may be fantastical, but not fantasy (which concentrates on Homerian esque epics of good vs. evil, conflcit, spirituality, hope, destiny etc.)
I hope for the next reboot we get some real SF stories
I hope so too.
You have a really odd definition of what "Science fiction" is, in fact you seem to be conflating "sci-fi" with "that which entertains me personally."
It's pretty simple: any story which which makes heavy use of exotic/futuristic/speculative technology as a major setting and plot element, or any story that extrapolates on scientific development in a fictional context, could be called "science fiction." TMP is a real SF story because it involves starships, FTL travel, alien intelligence, space probes evolving into super-intelligent machine gods, and other elements consistent with "science" and "fiction." Blade Runner is a SF story; Minority report is a SF story; hell, Terminator is accurately described as a SF story since it includes elements of time travel, cybernetics, AI, and so on as major players.
There's nothing to be said, really, except that some science fiction stories are less scientific (Terminator, Blade Runner, Predator, Aliens, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, Armageddon) while others are less fictional (Strange Days, Space Camp, The Final Countdown, The Philadelphia Experiment, Deep Impact, anything involving Area 51). That you happen to dislike science fiction stories with a heavy action/adventure content doesn't have anything to do with the genre; no doubt you would find a number of Ben Bova novels utterly insufferable.
I have to disagree, and support the original poster.
I think that this is on point:
.....They often portray the dangerous and sinister nature of knowledge ('there are some things Man is not meant to know') (i.e., the classic
Frankenstein (1931),
The Island of Lost Souls (1933), and David Cronenberg's
The Fly (1986) - an updating of the 1958 version directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Vincent Price), and vital issues about the nature of mankind and our place in the whole scheme of things, including the threatening, existential loss of personal individuality (i.e.,
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)). Plots of space-related conspiracies (
Capricorn One (1978)), supercomputers threatening impregnation (
Demon Seed (1977)), the results of germ-warfare (
The Omega Man (1971)) and laboratory-bred viruses or plagues (
28 Days Later (2002)), black-hole exploration (
Event Horizon (1997)), and futuristic genetic engineering and cloning (
Gattaca (1997) and Michael Bay's
The Island (2005)) show the tremendous range that science-fiction can delve into.
Strange and extraordinary microscopic organisms or giant, mutant monsters ('things or creatures from space') may be unleashed, either created by misguided mad scientists or by nuclear havoc (i.e.,
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)). Sci-fi tales have a prophetic nature (they often attempt to figure out or depict the future) and are often set in a speculative future time. They may provide a grim outlook, portraying a dystopic view of the world that appears grim, decayed and un-nerving (i.e.,
Metropolis (1927) with its underground slave population and view of the effects of industrialization, the portrayal of 'Big Brother' society in
1984 (1956 and
1984), nuclear annihilation in a post-apocalyptic world in
On the Beach (1959), Douglas Trumbull's vision of eco-disaster in
Silent Running (1972), Michael Crichton's
Westworld (1973) with androids malfunctioning,
Soylent Green (1973) with its famous quote: "Soylent Green IS PEOPLE!", 'perfect' suburbanite wives in
The Stepford Wives (1975),and the popular gladiatorial sport of the year 2018 in
Rollerball (1975)). Commonly, sci-fi films express society's anxiety about technology and how to forecast and control the impact of technological and environmental change on contemporary society.
http://www.filmsite.org/sci-fifilms.html
) epic conflict which has no idea to its name. The idealism? I'm not keen on Roddeberry-esque idealism but it is often explored and discussed in other Treks. In TNG it is discussed and practised (Prime Directive etc.) and in DS9 it's challenged and probed (It's easy to be a saint in paradise). STXI gives no thought to the matter beyond the bare minimum of complying with canon. I would have liked to see more of the intelligent radicalism of the original for a new age, e.g. with a Muslim commader and a gay helmsman (have we already have that!
) but I guess I'm asking too much.
) to be Star Trek or science fiction.
