not scifi? SHOULD BE

[RobertScorpio]

There are movies out there that, because of the laws of gravity, should be considered SCIFI, even if the movie isn't a scifi movie...

Like SPEED. That famous bus jump...the only way that could have happened is if the bus was outfitted with Federation anti-gravity devices. Being that this had to be, Speed must no longer be related to as an action adventure movie...but pure scifi...

Can you think of other movies that should probably be listed as Scifi though they are not???

Rob

 

[The Comedian]

The Handmaid's Tale - and to hell with what Margaret Atwood thinks. :P

 

[auntiehill]

Most James Bond films should qualify for SciFi/Fantasy. The action/adventure is so joyously over-the-top that it really crosses the line into fantasy. I think that's why they have continued to be so popular.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Most James Bond films should qualify for SciFi/Fantasy. The action/adventure is so joyously over-the-top that it really crosses the line into fantasy. I think that's why they have continued to be so popular.

Good one...Moonraker is just about as crazy as Die Another Day (oye..what a bad movie)

Rob

 

[Christopher]

I question the assertion that fanciful content makes something scifi. It's almost impossible to find any film or television show that doesn't contain something unrealistic -- cars blowing up, cars surviving extreme leaps and remaining functional, thunder simultaneous with lightning, people smashing through glass and not suffering life-threatening blood loss, people getting chairs broken over their heads and not being critically injured, people getting knocked out with a single karate chop to the shoulder or upper back, people dying instantly when shot, CPR either working within moments or being completely abandoned when it doesn't work within moments (neither of which is realistic), outdoors scenes where one person can clearly hear the speech of another who's facing the opposite direction... heck, just generally stories set in worlds where most everyone's good-looking, everyone speaks smoothly with minimal stammering or repetition, and everyone hears everyone else the first time without needing to ask them to repeat. (Aaron Sorkin's shows are an exception to the last one.)

Not to mention series where the protagonists have exciting, dangerous adventures every week of their lives and don't go mad or burn out from the stress. Or military shows where the same crew or team serves together for the better part of a decade rather than going through normal rotation and reassignment. Or cop shows where gunplay is a routine thing rather than a rare occurrence for any given officer or detective.

Science fiction doesn't mean "stuff that's unbelievable." It means fiction where hypothetical new inventions, advances, discoveries, or other changes in the world are significant to the story. What you're talking about, RobertScorpio, is just poetic license.

 

[C.E. Evans]

If bending the laws of gravity/physics now and then qualifies something as science-fiction, then most martial arts movies (and maybe quite a few porn movies) should be considered sci-fi as well...

 

[diankra]

Science fiction doesn't mean "stuff that's unbelievable." It means fiction where hypothetical new inventions, advances, discoveries, or other changes in the world are significant to the story. What you're talking about, RobertScorpio, is just poetic license.

Or, as someone once said about Star Wars, there's science fiction, and science fantasy - the latter uses spaceships and the other tropes of science fiction, but there's no more attempt to root its reality in any remotely credible science than there is in a fantasy series about magicians and warriors.

 

[Rackon]

I question the assertion that fanciful content makes something scifi. It's almost impossible to find any film or television show that doesn't contain something unrealistic -- cars blowing up, cars surviving extreme leaps and remaining functional, thunder simultaneous with lightning, people smashing through glass and not suffering life-threatening blood loss, people getting chairs broken over their heads and not being critically injured, people getting knocked out with a single karate chop to the shoulder or upper back, people dying instantly when shot, CPR either working within moments or being completely abandoned when it doesn't work within moments (neither of which is realistic), outdoors scenes where one person can clearly hear the speech of another who's facing the opposite direction... heck, just generally stories set in worlds where most everyone's good-looking, everyone speaks smoothly with minimal stammering or repetition, and everyone hears everyone else the first time without needing to ask them to repeat. (Aaron Sorkin's shows are an exception to the last one.)

Not to mention series where the protagonists have exciting, dangerous adventures every week of their lives and don't go mad or burn out from the stress. Or military shows where the same crew or team serves together for the better part of a decade rather than going through normal rotation and reassignment. Or cop shows where gunplay is a routine thing rather than a rare occurrence for any given officer or detective.

Science fiction doesn't mean "stuff that's unbelievable." It means fiction where hypothetical new inventions, advances, discoveries, or other changes in the world are significant to the story. What you're talking about, RobertScorpio, is just poetic license.

Well stated...if not totally inclusive. That workd for much of SF.

Where does that leave dystopian future dramas such as Children Of Men, The Road, or even films like Donnie Darko or Pi? Fantasy? Macabre? Where does A Handmaid's Tale fall? AS "speculative film" a la speculative fiction?

 

[Christopher]

^I assume you're responding just to my last paragraph, since for the most part, this thread isn't even about SF, just about the original poster's misuse of the term "scifi" to mean anything unrealistic in mainstream fiction. Which is unviable since essentially all mainstream fiction contains unrealistic elements.

Science fiction encompasses any hypothetical transformation in the world; social science and political science can count as much as physics or biology. If it postulates a "What if?" question and explores the answer, that's SF -- though it's true that the label "speculative fiction" is more inclusive than "science fiction," since it embraces fantasy, alternate history, maybe even some types of horror.

 

[Davros]

Most James Bond films should qualify for SciFi/Fantasy. The action/adventure is so joyously over-the-top that it really crosses the line into fantasy. I think that's why they have continued to be so popular.

Good one...Moonraker is just about as crazy as Die Another Day (oye..what a bad movie)

Rob

Even the original Casino Royal is better than Moonraker.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

One movie that I don't think is often listed under science fiction but should be is Deja Vu with Denzel Washington.

 

[Starbreaker]

^I assume you're responding just to my last paragraph, since for the most part, this thread isn't even about SF, just about the original poster's misuse of the term "scifi" to mean anything unrealistic in mainstream fiction. Which is unviable since essentially all mainstream fiction contains unrealistic elements.

I'm pretty sure this thread was supposed to be humorous. I don't think anyone was looking for dissertations on "scifi."

 

[RobertScorpio]

One movie that I don't think is often listed under science fiction but should be is Deja Vu with Denzel Washington.

Hey..I havent seen this movie yet..is it worth the time??

Rob

 

[Starbreaker]

One movie that I don't think is often listed under science fiction but should be is Deja Vu with Denzel Washington.

Hey..I havent seen this movie yet..is it worth the time??

Rob

It's decent. I don't remember it being anything spetacular.

 

[Mistral]

^I assume you're responding just to my last paragraph, since for the most part, this thread isn't even about SF, just about the original poster's misuse of the term "scifi" to mean anything unrealistic in mainstream fiction. Which is unviable since essentially all mainstream fiction contains unrealistic elements.

I'm pretty sure this thread was supposed to be humorous. I don't think anyone was looking for dissertations on "scifi."

Christopher only speaks in serious dissertations.

 

[JustKate]

Christopher does make a good point, though. I mean, this is a scifi board, so I don't think it's out of line to assume that when somebody says "scifi," he means something along the lines of, you know, "scifi," not merely "improbable."

 

[trekkiedane]

Like SPEED. That famous bus jump...the only way that could have happened is if the bus was outfitted with Federation anti-gravity devices. Being that this had to be, Speed must no longer be related to as an action adventure movie...but pure scifi...

Indeed, if the bus was outfitted with Federation anti-gravity devices... As nothing like that was mentioned but it 'just happened' against the laws of physics it makes SPEED fantasy, not SciFi!

/.../ people smashing through glass and not suffering life-threatening blood loss /.../

HEY! I've done that! -sure, my T-shirt got a minor cut from it but that was all that happened when I tumbled through a 7 mm thick sheet of glass.

 

[bigdaddy]

Hmmm... LOST should be sci-fi but for some reason people on here seem to disagree....

 

[23skidoo]

Most James Bond films should qualify for SciFi/Fantasy. The action/adventure is so joyously over-the-top that it really crosses the line into fantasy. I think that's why they have continued to be so popular.

Bond films have generally always been considered "crossovers" into SF/F. I remember Starlog giving coverage to For Your Eyes Only (arguably the least-fantasylike of the Roger Moore Bonds), and the Bond films have had sci-fi plotlines ever since Dr. No. You can count the number of non-SF Bonds on the fingers of one hand, in fact.

One recent TV show that deserved to be classified as SF was Alias, though for some reason the tag never held on. The Saturn Awards for SF seem to have a weird take on what is science fiction, regularly nominating shows like CSI...

Alex

 

[RobertScorpio]

Hmmm... LOST should be sci-fi but for some reason people on here seem to disagree....

LOST is scifi. The first couple sesaons it was a tossup. But with time-travel happening all over the place? It is scifi...

Rob