The genre of what is called science fiction has been around since The Epic of Gilgamesh (earliest Sumerian text versions BCE ca. 2150-2000). The last 4000 years has evolved science fiction and combined it with all categories of genres comprising action, comedy, horror, drama, and adventure in many different ways. From chest bursting aliens, to robot assassins sent back in time science fiction has successfully captured the imagination of nearly everyone that has been introduced to it. The movies Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Independence Day are both examples of films created with the idea of advanced life existing outside the boarders of our own world. The foundation for each film in view of how extraterrestrial life will affect human affairs, however are very different.
While observing these two movies, excluding the idea of first contact with another intelligent life form from space, these films are not that similar. But there are a couple noticeable resemblances. The first of which is that they both employ a government cover-up. Independence Day’s version of a cover-up played on the real-life superstitions many people have of the secret military installation known only as Area 51, in the film not even the president of the United States was aware of the base or the existence of an alien space ship in the United States possession. Close Encounters of the Third Kind does the cover-up a little differently. After the government isolated the whereabouts of the aliens in Idaho, they had to frighten away the human populace in the area. In the plot, the government let out news that a train carrying canisters of anthrax had crashed, releasing dangerous nerve gas in the area. This proved effective at relocating most of the civil...
... middle of paper ...
...s?" and " Welcome Make Yourselves at Home". Of course, when those people were vaporized, the people’s response rapidly turned to horror and mass panic.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a blockbuster film from the 1970’s that utilized drama as a good technique to spread the idea that creatures from beyond our planet could have the healthier qualities of humanity, resembling kindness, compassion, and the pursuit for understanding the universe. However, this plot doesn’t make a thrilling 1990's summer blockbuster. The word of the 1990’s was action, and Independence Day demonstrates that nothing gave quite the movie-going action as planet annihilating, life annihilating aliens. More than likely, differences, however measured, between these films are actually a reflection of the changes in the values of our civilization in the 20 years from the 1970’s to the 1990’s.
has a knack for being able to portray an erratic man who in one instant is
Literature and film have always held a strange relationship with the idea of technological progress. On one hand, with the advent of the printing press and the refinements of motion picture technology that are continuing to this day, both literature and film owe a great deal of their success to the technological advancements that bring them to widespread audiences. Yet certain films and works of literature have also never shied away from portraying the dangers that a lust for such progress can bring with it. The modern output of science-fiction novels and films found its genesis in speculative ponderings on the effect such progress could hold for the every day population, and just as often as not those speculations were damning. Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and Fritz Lang's silent film Metropolis are two such works that hold great importance in the overall canon of science-fiction in that they are both seen as the first of their kind. It is often said that Mary Shelley, with her authorship of Frankenstein, gave birth to the science-fiction novel, breathing it into life as Frankenstein does his monster, and Lang's Metropolis is certainly a candidate for the first genuine science-fiction film (though a case can be made for Georges Méliès' 1902 film Le Voyage Dans la Lune, his film was barely fifteen minutes long whereas Lang's film, with its near three-hour original length and its blending of both ideas and stunning visuals, is much closer to what we now consider a modern science-fiction film). Yet though both works are separated by the medium with which they're presented, not to mention a period of over two-hundred years between their respective releases, they present a shared warning about the dangers that man's need fo...
The main topic is the visit to the Mars, where Mark Watney and the rest of the crew went. Unfortunately, the storm rose making the visit tougher, and Mark was left over by the crew. Both in the movie and the book, the team had assumed that the storm killed Mark, but he had not died. Science phenomenon is also featured in the two, where the movie focused on Mark's science used to overcome his problems in space like the burning of hydrogen to get water was shown; the movie explains the book only that it focused so much on the process rather than the results. Which justify that the scientific knowledge is used in both the book and the movie? Both the movie and the book are all about the survival and gives in details every single step and action that Watney performed for his
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
Have you ever had one of those days that were so bad that you desperately needed a night at the ice cream or candy store? The 1970’s was that really bad day, while the night of self- indulgence was the 1980’s. Americans love to escape from our daily stress, and of all the products that allow us to do so, none is more popular than the movies. Movies are key cultural artifacts that offer a view of American culture and social history. They not only offer a snapshot of hair styles and fashions of the times but they also provide a host of insights into Americans’ ever-changing ideals. Like any cultural artifact, the movies can be approached in a number of ways. Cultural historians have treated movies as a document that records the look and mood of the time that promotes a particular political or moral value or highlights individual or social anxieties and tensions. These cultural documents present a particular image of gender, ethnicity, romance, and violence. Out of the political and economic unrest of the 1970’s that saw the mood and esteem of the country, as reflected in the artistry and messages in the movies, sink to a new low, came a new sense of pride in who we are, not seen since the post-World War II economic boom of the 1950’s. Of this need to change, Oscar Award winner Paul Newman stated,
In this paper I will offer a structural analysis of the films of Simpson and Bruckheimer. In addition to their spectacle and typically well-crafted action sequences, Simpson/Bruckheimer pictures seem to possess an unconscious understanding of the zeitgeist and other cultural trends. It is this almost innate ability to select scripts that tap into some traditional American values (patriotism, individualism, and the obsession with the “new”) that helps to make their movies blockbusters.
Both films use the setting of a secret base, in ID it had the 'SETI'
Genre of Science Fiction Illustrated in Beginning of film Independence Day Films normally have a certain type of genre. A genre is formed when certain elements from a type of film or book become essential to that type of film or book. There are different type of genre likes Horror, Romance and Comedy. The film, which I am studying, is called 'Independence Day'. The genre for this film is science fiction.
In 1968, Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey spookily visualized a new millennium in a compulsive manner strongly motivated by technology and violence. Before the accomplishment of that millenary, Kubrick’s film defined an epic space trip that begins with the prehistoric encounter of primitive weapons that would change and drive human story through
Neill, Alex. “Empathy and (Film) Fiction.” Philosophy of film and motion pictures : an anthology. Ed. Noel Carrol and Jinhee Choi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. 247-259. Print.
For many people nowadays science fiction or Sci-Fi as the media miscall it means movies. It means Star Wars and E.T. For others it signifies television shows or radio series, constantly broadcast in people’s homes perpetuating this common misconception. What many do not realize however is that science fiction as a genre of literature is an ancient art, one which is in mass q...
An examination of 2001’s appeal over the last three decades provides insight into the changing perceptions of a single cultural document over time. Young Baby Boomers were initially attracted to the film for very different reasons than those of audiences in the 1990s. Because 2001 is unlike many other films in that it invites its viewers to apply their own subjective interpretations, it serves particularly well as a signpost for contemporary social attitudes and trends. By examining the different ways that 2001 has been interpreted by its audience over that time, it reveals a great deal about evolving cultural attitudes toward issues such as technology, spirituality, and the commercialization of American society.
The culture and philosophy of Ridley Scott (pp. 231-243. United States: Lexington Books, Inc. Pramaggiore, M., & Wallis, T. (2005). Film: A critical introduction to the film.
The advancement of technology also accounts for responses to sci-fi changing. Sci-fi stories have always needed a scientific premise. Very early sci-fi films did not look realistic and were often not taken seriously. These days, the film technology we have is amazing - just look at how realistic the apes were in Planet of the Apes! Added to that, the progress that mankind has made in the past few decades is incredible, so much so that a sci-fi films can present its audience with a fantastic idea such as time travel and make it appear possible. This the audience takes seriously. sci-fi is no longer just a fun
“Entertainment has to come hand in hand with a little bit of medicine, some people go to the movies to be reminded that everything’s okay. I don’t make those kinds of movies. That, to me, is a lie. Everything’s not okay.” - David Fincher. David Fincher is the director that I am choosing to homage for a number of reasons. I personally find his movies to be some of the deepest, most well made, and beautiful films in recent memory. However it is Fincher’s take on story telling and filmmaking in general that causes me to admire his films so much. This quote exemplifies that, and is something that I whole-heartedly agree with. I am and have always been extremely opinionated and open about my views on the world and I believe that artists have a responsibility to do what they can with their art to help improve the culture that they are helping to create. In this paper I will try to outline exactly how Fincher creates the masterpieces that he does and what I can take from that and apply to my films.