Sci-Fi and Action...together forever?

[Mark]

I got to thinking the other day...that's always trouble...and I was wondering when I began thiking of Sci-Fi movies as "Action" movies rather than just "Sci-Fi Adventures" movies. I suppose it is a bit of a fine line in a lot of cases, or maybe it is something that has always been true but never entered into my head, until...

Total Recall

From the point at which I saw Total Recall onwards I have tended to look toward Sci-Fi movies as Action movies primarily. Is this something in which I am alone? Do others do this and, if so, what was the milestone movie that pushed it in that direction for you, as well?

 

[Dungannon]

To me, sci-fi has always meant one of two things, action (Star Wars, Alien, Tron) or comedy (Ice Pirates, Space Balls). Occasionally one will come along that tones down the action and focuses more on drama (The Black Hole, 2001: A Space Odyssey) but for the most part they fall into one of the first two categories for me.

 

[Umbran]

Hm. I'm sure Hollywood generaly thinks of Sci-fi as a subset of Action these days, but I'm not sure that I think of it that way.

As a kid, before I went to see Sci-fi movies a lot, I watched lots of Star Trek and Doctor Who and such. TV Sci-fi isn't always Action. So perhaps I'm slow to adopt the Hollywood mode of thinking? I dunno.

 

[Skade]

Sci-fi in movies generally means a chance to show off cool weapons, vehicles and space combat, so yeah, its become a subset of action. Sci-fi authors may still look forward and imagine what could be, either to warn us or to laud the possibilty, but when it is condensed to the screen its purpose to entertain with as much flash and bang as imaginary technology will allow.

 

[Chun-tzu]

You know, I'm not even sure I consider sci-fi to be a genre anymore. Yes, classic sci-fi is its own genre, but sci-fi movies easily encompass a very wide range of genres: action (Total Recall), adventure (Star Wars), horror (Aliens, Pitch Black), comedy (Galaxy Quest), drama (Solaris), porn (I can't think of any, but there must be some)... is there any genre that you can't mix with sci-fi?

What does sci-fi mean in Hollywood these days? I'd say it's nothing more than a license to break the rules of reality. It redefines the world that the story is set in, and when mixed with special effects, it gives Hollywood a chance to shine. Special effects are, after all, the biggest advantage that movies have over other media. If this is the case, then sci-fi is no longer any more a genre than "real world" is.

TRUE sci-fi, in my book, is what you see in your average episode of the Outer Limits. In each of those episodes (the latest incarnation, I never watched the original B&W series), the sci-fi twist serves a purpose for the story. Like when you use telepathy in a story about insecurities, or aliens in a story about unity and differences, or androids in a story about human nature. This is sci-fi in its truest form, I think.

 

[Mark]

TRUE sci-fi, in my book, is what you see in your average episode of the Outer Limits. In each of those episodes (the latest incarnation, I never watched the original B&W series), the sci-fi twist serves a purpose for the story. Like when you use telepathy in a story about insecurities, or aliens in a story about unity and differences, or androids in a story about human nature. This is sci-fi in its truest form, I think.

Asimov was said to build his stories around the twist.

 

[WizarDru]

Contact, Solaris, Lathe of Heaven, Frequency, A.I., Dark City, The 13th Floor, for a start. Hollywood does put out some non-action SF pictures...but they tend to get less notoreity.

More are in the offing, such as the upcoming "I, Robot", as well.

However, SciFi is easy to add as a spice to the mix. A murder mystery becomes different or potentially more interesting if you put some sci-fi gadgets into it. Quick: Is Eraser SF or Action? I think most folks would call it Action...but it could be coopted by SF, and has 'tacked on' SF elements.

However, to paraphras what Harlan Ellison once siad, "SF is hard, it only looks easy."

 

[Umbran]

is there any genre that you can't mix with sci-fi?.

Is there any genre you cannot mix with any other genre? You can have a comedy-western, or a horror-romance. Is anything really "pure"?

Most works are probably mixtures of what we call "genres", and always have been. For example, the original Asimov Robot novels aren't "pure". They are sci-fi, but they are also mysteries...

 

[Mallus]

Kinda hijacky...

Is there any genre you cannot mix with any other genre? You can have a comedy-western, or a horror-romance. Is anything really "pure"?

That's an excellent question. My first reaction is: yes, and that genre would would be pornography, particularly the hardcore sort. Graphic sexual content seems {so far} to overwhelm whatever other genre elements might exist within in film.

You actually watch this happening in the seminal {no pun intended} anime series that begins w/Legend of the Overfiend. While the first film contains scenes that qualify as hardcore porn, its has far too many scenes that don't {so in a way this movie does successfully blend porn as genre, along with occult horror, martial arts and coming-of-age story}. But as the series develops, the porn content quickly overshadows everything else, dropping the subversion in favor of simple perversion, which is a shame, and possbily inevitable...

It really is fascinating to me; genre and context. What happend when you mix genre tropes inside a single film? And what's the relative effect of different genre elements. Can you mix "serious drama" with ghosts? What about with spaceships? What about scenes of actual copulation? To what extent are restrictive, or at least bounded frameworks --genres-- neccessary to the viewing experience? Are we all just in the thrall of the Will To Categorize?

And in related unrelated news; Its only a matter of time before a "serious dramatic film work" contains scenes of non-simulated sex between actors. I read a John Waters quote where he predicted it being less than a decade away.

Wow, too much caffeine at lunch... I now return you to your discussion of SF and an entirely different kind of action...

 

[Ranger REG]

The problem is that action, drama, and comedy are elements not genres (historical, fantasy, science fiction, modern, western, romance, etc.). It allows one to decide what type entertainment elements are in a movie of a certain genre (or at least the majority of the media show).

But even the genres itself tend to crossover or blended in a media show (western/victorian steampunk, science fiction fantasy, etc.).

All in all, they're just labels to inform the audience so they can decide what kind of entertainment they are in the mood for.