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Outer Limits: The Filmgoers' Guide to the Great Science-Fiction Films
Howard Hughes' new Filmgoers' Guide to science-fiction films goes deep into the landmark movies of this most popular cinema genre, from Metropolis to Avatar and covers over 300 more.
Hughes surveys examples of the genre made before 1926 and outlines the various 'types' of science-fiction film, such as 'visions of the future', screen depictions of space travel (both factual and fictional), adventures in outer space, scientific experiments gone awry and alien invasions of Earth. He goes on to discuss twenty-seven key science-fiction films, including 'making of' details, cast, sources, prequels, sequels, remakes and critical and box office fortunes. These core chapters also cover many remakes or reworking's of classic sci-fi films for successive generations - for example Planet of the Apes or The Time Machine - as technology and filmmaking techniques develop and evolve. Several threads run through the book, including time travel, or alien invasion, with discussions of how these have been dealt with by different generations of filmmakers.
Featuring a wealth of posters, this intelligent, informative, enjoyable companion to over 300 science-fiction films demonstrates how comprehensively science fiction cinema rewards its millions of fans.
Hughes surveys examples of the genre made before 1926 and outlines the various 'types' of science-fiction film, such as 'visions of the future', screen depictions of space travel (both factual and fictional), adventures in outer space, scientific experiments gone awry and alien invasions of Earth. He goes on to discuss twenty-seven key science-fiction films, including 'making of' details, cast, sources, prequels, sequels, remakes and critical and box office fortunes. These core chapters also cover many remakes or reworking's of classic sci-fi films for successive generations - for example Planet of the Apes or The Time Machine - as technology and filmmaking techniques develop and evolve. Several threads run through the book, including time travel, or alien invasion, with discussions of how these have been dealt with by different generations of filmmakers.
Featuring a wealth of posters, this intelligent, informative, enjoyable companion to over 300 science-fiction films demonstrates how comprehensively science fiction cinema rewards its millions of fans.
- GenresScience Fiction
320 pages, Hardcover
First published April 15, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 6 reviews
August 14, 2014
READ IN ENGLISH
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!
When I requested this book I think what I was looking for was a book that could give me some background information on sci-fi movies. What I got was more than a little background. I might even say a bit too much.
I like watching movies, and I think I've seen an average amount of sci-fi, so I hadn't expected to feel so dumb while reading this. All these movies/actors I hadn't even heard of! (I've to admit that films from the '50s are not my speciality and I haven't seen a great deal of them).
There is a lot of detail, and a lot of films are mentioned (there plots are spoiled, so if you don't want that, you should pass this book). But, really, there's a massive amount of films in it (also the less successful movie adaptations like The Hitchhiker's Gide to the Galaxy).
The first chapter is Metropolis, the last one Avatar, and in between they travel through a century of sci-fi films. There were moments where I didn't really understood the classification of the chapters. There's a chapter on erotic sci-fi, that's clear. But, there are also two chapters on time travel, but they are far apart, and I didn't really see why some movies wound up in the first and others in the second chapter. The chapter on Independence Day also comments on MIB (and a lot of other films) but is the only combining factor in this Will Smith?
Overall, it was a bit of a struggle to finish this for me, but I think there's a group of people that will really like it. But you'll have to know a lot on sci-fi already or be really interested in it to fully like it.
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!
When I requested this book I think what I was looking for was a book that could give me some background information on sci-fi movies. What I got was more than a little background. I might even say a bit too much.
I like watching movies, and I think I've seen an average amount of sci-fi, so I hadn't expected to feel so dumb while reading this. All these movies/actors I hadn't even heard of! (I've to admit that films from the '50s are not my speciality and I haven't seen a great deal of them).
There is a lot of detail, and a lot of films are mentioned (there plots are spoiled, so if you don't want that, you should pass this book). But, really, there's a massive amount of films in it (also the less successful movie adaptations like The Hitchhiker's Gide to the Galaxy).
The first chapter is Metropolis, the last one Avatar, and in between they travel through a century of sci-fi films. There were moments where I didn't really understood the classification of the chapters. There's a chapter on erotic sci-fi, that's clear. But, there are also two chapters on time travel, but they are far apart, and I didn't really see why some movies wound up in the first and others in the second chapter. The chapter on Independence Day also comments on MIB (and a lot of other films) but is the only combining factor in this Will Smith?
Overall, it was a bit of a struggle to finish this for me, but I think there's a group of people that will really like it. But you'll have to know a lot on sci-fi already or be really interested in it to fully like it.
March 2, 2021
Kattava historiikki parhaista scifielokuvista kautta historian. Koottu teemoittain niin että joka teemalle on nostettu yksi esimerkkielokuva, jonka kautta esitellään aina kymmenkunta muutakin. Valtaosa oli tuttuakin tutumpia, mutta mukana myös kymmeniä obskuureja aasialaisia ja muita historian hämäriin jääneitä teoksia.
April 25, 2015
I received this book free through Goodreads' First Reads program.
Outer Limits: The Filmgoers' Guide to the Great Science-Fiction Films takes what I found to be a fairly useful approach to a guide to films in identifying a series of "great" science-fiction films. One of these films is used as the focus of each chapter, with usually 1-3 pages devoted specifically to that film, its place in the history of science-fiction films, etc. The rest of the chapter goes over related films, devoting anywhere from a portion of a sentence to a page or more to many other important (and not-so-important) films which share similar stories or make up a sub-genre of science-fiction.
Most of the "great" films which anchor each chapter are relatively popular and well-known choices, which could be helpful for people looking for a place to start in broadening their horizons in science-fiction films. The book tends to progress in a roughly chronological order, with the first chapter covering the years up to the 1950s, followed by 5 chapters anchored by films from the 1950s. However, each of these chapters can reach back to previous years or forward to the present day to find films which share something in common with the chapter's focus. When the chapters follow a chronological order, this often leads to the film for which the chapter is named coming later in the chapter. While some chapters take a broad approach (such as giant monster movies or time-travel films), others take a more focused approach (Godzilla, Planet of the Apes, and Star Trek each get their own chapter). Occasionally, related TV shows and mini-series are brought up (especially with Star Trek, though I noticed that Star Trek: Enterprise was not mentioned).
A distinctly European angle comes along from time to time, which can be distracting for readers in the U.S., such as not mentioning the U.S. title of Mad Max 2 (the U.S. title is The Road Warrior) until near the end of the discussion of the film (though in almost all other cases alternative titles are mentioned immediately after the title of the film). For the most part, though, this only becomes an issue when actually trying to find the films in question, especially if the U.S. is the only place (or one of a relatively small number of places) a particular title was used.
One thing that makes this book slightly more impressive in these days of instant internet access to everything is that it's not necessarily easy to queue all of these films up on your internet movie platform of choice.
Overall, whether I agree with some of the opinions expressed by the author or not, I found this book to be a great source of films to expand my horizons in science-fiction film, and a great source of nostalgia remembering the films I enjoyed as a child and teenager, growing up with parents who exposed me to Star Wars, Star Trek, 2001, Alien, Terminator, Predator, and many more.
Outer Limits: The Filmgoers' Guide to the Great Science-Fiction Films takes what I found to be a fairly useful approach to a guide to films in identifying a series of "great" science-fiction films. One of these films is used as the focus of each chapter, with usually 1-3 pages devoted specifically to that film, its place in the history of science-fiction films, etc. The rest of the chapter goes over related films, devoting anywhere from a portion of a sentence to a page or more to many other important (and not-so-important) films which share similar stories or make up a sub-genre of science-fiction.
Most of the "great" films which anchor each chapter are relatively popular and well-known choices, which could be helpful for people looking for a place to start in broadening their horizons in science-fiction films. The book tends to progress in a roughly chronological order, with the first chapter covering the years up to the 1950s, followed by 5 chapters anchored by films from the 1950s. However, each of these chapters can reach back to previous years or forward to the present day to find films which share something in common with the chapter's focus. When the chapters follow a chronological order, this often leads to the film for which the chapter is named coming later in the chapter. While some chapters take a broad approach (such as giant monster movies or time-travel films), others take a more focused approach (Godzilla, Planet of the Apes, and Star Trek each get their own chapter). Occasionally, related TV shows and mini-series are brought up (especially with Star Trek, though I noticed that Star Trek: Enterprise was not mentioned).
A distinctly European angle comes along from time to time, which can be distracting for readers in the U.S., such as not mentioning the U.S. title of Mad Max 2 (the U.S. title is The Road Warrior) until near the end of the discussion of the film (though in almost all other cases alternative titles are mentioned immediately after the title of the film). For the most part, though, this only becomes an issue when actually trying to find the films in question, especially if the U.S. is the only place (or one of a relatively small number of places) a particular title was used.
One thing that makes this book slightly more impressive in these days of instant internet access to everything is that it's not necessarily easy to queue all of these films up on your internet movie platform of choice.
Overall, whether I agree with some of the opinions expressed by the author or not, I found this book to be a great source of films to expand my horizons in science-fiction film, and a great source of nostalgia remembering the films I enjoyed as a child and teenager, growing up with parents who exposed me to Star Wars, Star Trek, 2001, Alien, Terminator, Predator, and many more.
September 13, 2014
I was very excited when I one a copy of this book from Goodreads. I got the book in the mail and was still excited. I started reading the book and was still excited. I got a few pages in and was extremely disappointed. I was hoping for either an in-depth look at science fiction and how it has shaped cinema, society, and technology or a detailed look at the movies themselves (either how they were made, or what they were about and how they were meant to be interpreted). What I got was a book that was trying to give an in-depth look at these movies while grouping them into categories "based" on sci-fi movie "type". All it managed to do, however, was list off a bunch of movie titles of movies that were similar, with a few occasional sentences thrown in that almost hint at some sort of meaning without ever actually coming out and saying anything. I felt like I should have taken a course or two in "doublespeak/saying nothing at all" and "attempting to stay awake though utter boredom" in order to read this book. If it was an actually book of lists it might be better, but unfortunately it's not.
November 4, 2014
If you want to go in depth into the greatest Science fiction movies of all times - this is your book! The book has so much detail about each movie and goes into great detail about where all the elements of the movie came from - this is a great background and explanation of the movies!
The con's - the author tried to make the book out as being written by an alien, but the lack of follow really took the wind out of that sail. Also, the book tends to be a little like a very long term paper.
*I got this book through GoodRead's Giveaways - an excellent source of interesting books!
The con's - the author tried to make the book out as being written by an alien, but the lack of follow really took the wind out of that sail. Also, the book tends to be a little like a very long term paper.
*I got this book through GoodRead's Giveaways - an excellent source of interesting books!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 6 reviews