Science Fiction in the Movies: "The Satan Bug" to "The Matrix"

I made a list of relatively memorable science fiction movies from the mid-sixties to the present, for another post. (June 30, 2009)

Yesterday, I started writing about space aliens and killer robots: and added to the list. I went back, today, and fleshed it out with brief descriptions of these exemplars of science fiction / speculative fiction in the movies.

See if you can spot a common element:

• "The Satan Bug" (1965)
  • Germ warfare kills lots of people
  • "...very well made. It is more germaine [!] now than when it was made 42 years ago.
    (IMDB.com synopsis)
  • Looks like "germane" is the new "relevant"
• "2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
  • A big black artifact and
    • Ape-men
    • Spaceships
  • Insane computer kills crewmates
  • One of my favorite films
  • Not much of a plot
    • But the sets were well-thought-out
      • Up to that time, a rarity in science fiction films
• "Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
  • Massive supercomputer is built
  • Takes over the world
  • Somewhat plausible, given a willing suspension of disbelief
• "The Omega Man" (1971)
  • Germ warfare
  • Charlton Heston
  • Zombies
• "Westworld" (1974)
  • Killer robots
    • A whole resort full of killer robots
  • Moderately well-thought-out, in my opinion
  • No zombies
• "Zardoz" (1974)
  • Far future with humanity split into
    • Brutals
    • Immortals
  • H. G. Wells' Eloi and Moorlocks, anyone?
  • Nitzche quotes
• "A Boy & His Dog" (1975)
  • "A post-apocalyptic tale based on a novella by Harlan Ellison. A boy communicates telepathically with his dog as they scavenge for food and sex..."
    (IMDB plot summary)
  • What, when they have each other?
• "Logan's Run" (1976)
  • A nice, neat, orderly society
    • Where life is groovy
      • Until you hit 30
      • Then you die
    • Well, you can't have everything
  • Then a crazed cop kills the master computer
• "Star Wars" (1977)
  • Princess
  • Comedy-relief robots
  • Blasters
  • Spaceships
  • Light sabers
  • Evil emperor
  • Farm kid
  • Wizard
• "The Swarm" (1978)
  • Killer bees kill lots of people
  • And make a nuclear reactor 'go critical'
  • Billed, at the time, as
    • A serious warning about the dangers of nuclear energy
    • And who says movies aren't educational?
• "Quintet" (1979)
  • "During a future ice age, dying humanity occupies its remaining time by playing a board game called 'Quintet.' For one small group, this obsession is not enough; they play the game with living pieces ... and only the winner survives."
    (IMDB plot summary)
  • I'm not making this up!
• "Mad Max" (1979)
  • Set in a "dystopic future Australia"
  • Cop
  • Biker gang
  • Vendetta
  • No zombies
    • The way those bikers looked, who needs zombies?
• "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" (1981)
  • Set in a "dystopic future Australia"
  • Cynical drifter
  • Small community
  • Bandits
  • Still no zombies
• "The Terminator" (1984)
  • Evil computer mastermind
  • Determined killer cyborg
  • Threat of nuclear apocalypse
• "Night Shadows (1984)
  • Toxic waste turns small town citizens into mutant flesh-eating zombies
  • A movie with a message
• "Steel Dawn" (1987)
  • Yet another post-apocalyptic world
    • Warrior
    • Desert
    • Settlers
    • Gang
• "Hell Comes to Frogtown" (1987)
  • A nuclear/biological war killed all the men
    • Except this dude named Hell
    • Who's held captive by women
  • And there are these giant mutant frogs
  • Really: I'm not making this up!
• "The Matrix" (1999)
  • Humanity makes an artificial intelligence
  • That takes over the world

With a few exceptions, like Star Wars, the settings aren't all that pleasant. And Star Wars is set "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."

Looking for a bright future in science fiction movies? Try the Star Trek franchise, or go back before, say, 1955.

Like "Things to Come" (1936). It's post-apocalyptic - for a while. Then wise scientists build an Art Deco utopia where everybody wears really uncomfortable-looking clothes. I'm not on the same page as the underlying philosophies of that film, and admit that it's not all that realistic. But: "Hell Comes to Frogtown" is?!

I don't think I'll live to see an end to this currently-fashionable notion: that to be taken seriously, you've got to show the future as just simply awful.

It's like that period in country music, where I got the impression that a song's popularity could be measured by the suicide rate of its fans.