3 things I miss from 80s and early 90s movies

[Kesa]

1: Movies that aren't afraid to be science fiction, and make that a proper part of the story, without a bunch of mumbo jumbo

2: Old fashioned action movies ala Commando and Rambo. Expendables was a nice throwback to that.

3: Movies that are genuinely funny. There's been funny movies lately, but most "comedies" just leave me cold. Where's stuff like Ghostbusters and Hot Shots?


So yeah. Thats a bit of me yearning for the past

I'm not sure what you meant in point 1 but i think i know. Sci Fi goes in cycles from conventional to Star Wars type Sci Fi. Old fashioned Sci fi was pushed aside by Star Wars and changed it forever so you get things like Men in Black passing for Sci Fi which it isn't. But i can think of a few examples of proper Sci Fi in the 2000's. Try i robot with Will Smith or maybe Astroboy.

I agree with point 2 completely.

As for point 3 what's wrong with Scary Movie? :roflmao:

[Kesa]

Star Wars is SF but Men in Black isn't? I could argue that Star Wars is nothing more than a Dam Busters in space/Western crossover. Here's a challenge for you, define the term science fiction =).

Star Wars is accepted as Sci Fi in popular culture even though technically it isn't. I consider it a Fantasy. But i think you were right in calling it a Space Western.  Actually i think the correct term for it is Space Opera. Star Trek was a Space Western too - "Band Wagon to the Stars"?

Define Sci Fi? Easy. Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with the impact of imagined innovations in science or technology, often in a futuristic setting.

P.S. SF actually means Speculative Future and is not Science Fiction. SF is the same as Sci Fi but minus the science.

[Kesa]

Ah, like "Hackers" then! :lol:

I don't care what anyone says. Hackers is cool. I think it's funny when he is impressed when she tells him her laptop has a 33 kbps modem!

[Kesa]

By your definition, why isn't Star Wars and SF scifi? If we had interstellar spacecraft (technology) we would likely have the impact and intrigue displayed by the empire and republic, of different worlds interacting as they do in SW.

I would define Space Operas (my favorite are by Alistair Reynolds) Space Westerns (SW) and SF (Star Trek) as all genres of scifi.

SciFi is just fiction with lot's-o-science.

Well no. Because Star Wars isn't a story about technology or science. It's about good vs evil. Just because it's in space doesn't mean it's automatically Sci Fi. But that just enforces what i was trying to say before about old school and new school Sci Fi. You are obviously new school

In my opinion old school Sci Fi uses technology/science as the foundation of the story whereas new school the technology/science aspect is not a part of the story it is just put in there for no obvious reason except that it looks good.

SF in my opinion is where they imagine a certain type of technology/science and visualise it in a future setting where it is prevailent in society. An example of SF would be Steampunk. A society where everything is run by steam. This is my favourite genre in SF. But i also like Clockpunk. An example of Steampunk is Wild Wild West with Will Smith. Other examples of SF include Metropolis and maybe Astroboy. I don't understand how Star Wars is SF or Sci Fi but people just called it that.

But i do agree that it can be hard to identify genres because they overlap so much...

[Kesa]

@ KThunder

If you want to watch a great Space Western you should watch Firefly. Serenity was good too

[Kesa]

Please elaborate on how SW isn't SF/Sci Fi, but WWW is =). In my opinion WWW is even less about technology or science than SW. The steampunk theme is just used as a gimmick, as much as the interstellar theme of SW.

Maybe, but i think maybe in Wild Wild West there is heavy emphasis on Steampunk and the story is driven by it whereas in Star Wars it's not.

[Kesa]

On a side-note, what's your opinion on China Miéville's steampunkish New Crobuzon novels? I absolutely love his stuff, even if it sometimes gets a bit longwinded.

I honestly couldn't tell you as i'm not a book reader. I'm a university student and my course requires lots of reading so i tend to avoid it outside of my studies. Besides reading is the boring thing ever! *yawn*

But i hope they make into a movie

Although i am a fan of Lemony's Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. I have so far only seen the movie but plan to read his books one day.

[Kesa]

Please elaborate on how SW isn't SF/Sci Fi, but WWW is =).

'Good' SF (if there even exists such a thing as 'good' and 'bad' literature) in my opinion isn't about the future or distant worlds but explores the world the author lives in by means of imagining something 'strange' and extrapolating his/her own world using this 'strange' thing.

Couldn't have put it better myself

[Kesa]

A personal favourite of mine is Event Horizon from the 1990's. I like the way they combine space and supernatural genres in the same movie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_Horizon_%28film%29