Science Fiction Movies
The average movie goer in the United States might not realize that the science fiction movies that we enjoy today began with popular novels and that they presented us with moral warnings and glimpses toward the technology of the future. It is a fascinating history of how books and movies created classics that still inspire movie makers and writers, which entertain and enlighten us today. Science fiction movies project the human adventure of life onto screen.
For example, in the short film classic A Trip to the Moon in 1902 by a French filmmaker was inspired by two classics from print. The movie’s premise was a compilation of warnings about the dangers of space travel from Jules Verne’s now classic From the Earth to the Moon, and H. G. Wells masterpiece book First Men in the Moon. This was played out in real life because the last manned space flight of Apollo 13 was thought to be a doomed flight. Other books from the past would inspire the future horror genre of slasher type science fiction movies. Mary Shelly’s classic Frankenstein was written in 1818, but came to life on screen in 1931 warning us about the dangers of messing around with the sanctity of human life. Another movie in 1930 looked toward technological advances in society such as test tube babies of the future. In recent years the issues of abortion and stem cell research are debated. Later in 1953 the H.G. Wells War of the Worlds would frighten audiences on radio and in the movie theatre, and would open up questions and debate of the United States knowledge of alien visits, and the right of the public to know. Also, in the 1960s the Japanese made the science fiction movies of the Godzilla genre which silently implied that nuclear war and nations aggressions toward each other could end the world. Ironically it can be said that in general art and real life future experiences are prophetic and intertwined. So make sure to take in a science fiction movie today because you might just be looking into the future.