Time Travel Stories: Sci-Fi? or Fantasy?

[Naldo]

I've been thinking about the new movie a lot, as I'm sure we all have and there's just been this nagging thing in the back of my head regarding the whole "time travel" plot point.

Now I like a good time travel story just like the next guy (CotEoF for ex, or The Time Machine).

But it seems to me that too often these time travel stories tend to leave the realm of sci-fi and venture into fantasy. Part of the appeal of Star Trek for some people, I imagine, is that it showed what is possible; what could be in our future. IMO Time Travel as a plot point should be used excrutiatingly sparingly. It just seems to me that it's used far too often.

Now I'm nowhere near a canon nazi, I don't even think about multi-verses etc. for this upcoming film. I'm just looking forward to a Star Trek film.

I do hope, though, that for sequels or future projects that we (they) can leave the whole "time travel" thing in the past.

 

[Franklin]

Star Trek never showed what's possible, at least in science. It's been pseudo-science at best. Damn entertaining, but pseudo-science nonetheless.

 

[shapeshifter]

I like em too but yeah, the device is reaching its expiration date. I hold hope this one's going to be really special though, we'll see.

I hope the writers saw the need to bring closure to a recent TT arc that did not receive a proper finish and managed to, ever so discreetly, close it out here once and for all for anyone paying close enough attention.

 

[Michael]

Three!

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

But it seems to me that too often these time travel stories tend to leave the realm of sci-fi and venture into fantasy.

Time travel is no more or less likely or "fantasy" than FTL travel from star to star.

Star Trek was not really a show about space travel, not for very long. Conceptually it was an attempt to marry a series format based on continuing characters and amortized production elements with a range of storytelling conceits as broad as that utilized by sf/fantasy anthology shows like The Twilight Zone. So once writers introduced time travel into the mix there was no reason not to use it as frequently as the producers saw fit.

"Doctor Who" is sort of the flip-side of this approach - the Doctor's a time traveler, but that conceit usually functions mainly as a means to put him in exotic surroundings where he can fight aliens.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

FTL travel is just as much fantasy as time travel. And don't even get me started on parallel universes.

 

[M'Sharak]

And don't even get me started on parallel universes.

Perish the thought.

 

[ancient]

Eh, the only difference between SciFi like Trek and Fantasy is that Trek uses treknobabble to explain away all the magic technology. It's like they say, advanced science and magic are indistinguishable from eachother. Warp drive and transporters are magic in the disguise of something plausible. It's all a big "what if" strory either way.