Science-fiction is one of the biggest genres in Hollywood, producing some of the highest-grossing movies of all time. Strange as it may sound, given its current popularity, sci-fi was all but dead 30 years ago, in motion-picture terms at least.
It was Cyrano de Bergerac who got the ball rolling. In 1650 he wrote A Voyage to the Moon, which describes the voyage of a group of people to Earth’s satellite by rocket ship. Centuries later, De Bergerac’s contemplation of things weird and wonderful was expanded upon by the likes of Jules Verne with his Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and HG Wells with The Time Machine.
Verne and Wells were followed by Hugo Gernsbeck, widely regarded as the father of modern sci-fi. His Amazing Stories of the 1920s were perhaps the most successful ‘pulp” science fiction yet.
Enter the 1930s and the transfer to celluloid. In 1936 Universal Pictures committed the cartoon drawings of Alex Raymond to film and a hero of our time was born — Flash Gordon had arrived! Buster Crabbe was cast as Gordon and there followed five years of Flash films. Flash, and Crabbe, changed gear and, in true sci-fi manner, morphed into Buck Rogers.
By the time the 1950s dawned, sci-fi had made leaps and bounds forward. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) introduced the world of robotics. The 2m-tall Gort — a menacing metallic robot that took orders from Michael Rennie’s Klaatu — was the first of a kind. Then came Robby the Robot in the 1956 Forbidden Planet.
The 1960s saw sci-fi become reality with the first moon landing. Curiously, the Sixties also saw movie-going interest in the genre bottom-out. There was no real market for a good sci-fi tale and hence no money from the studios to further the cause.
The small screen made slightly better headway. The decade saw the birth of a sci-fi legend — Star Trek.
In Hollywood, ground was broken with the release in 1968 of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, with special effects that were way ahead of their time. But even though it sought to revive the sagging interest in futuristic adventures, this adaptation of Arthur C Clarke’s book failed at the box office. This was the era of Vietnam, of free love and Butch and Sundance.
As the Seventies dawned the future of sci-fi looked grim. TV series such as Logan’s Run featured thin plot lines and even thinner effects. But, in the best of Hollywood traditions, a hero appeared in the form of little-known writer/director George Lucas.
Lucas had been looking for funding for a sci-fi adventure that went back to plot basics in the style of the best Hollywood swashbuckling epic — the triumph of good against evil. Eventually, 20th Century Fox took a gamble and gave him the backing he needed. The rest, as they say, is history and in 1977 Star Wars was released.
But more than revive sci-fi, Star Wars revolutionised cinema. Lucas formed the Lucasfilm Limited group of companies, among which was effects company Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). ILM became the Messiah of Hollywood and was roped in to provide technical assistance for other directors on other projects.
The ILM team was hailed for its genius. Its work was so effective you couldn’t see the join, or strings, or wires or any other prop used traditionally to help create movie effects.
Over the years that followed, ILM was involved in creating effects for blockbusters such as Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind and ET and the Lucas/Spielberg collaboration Raiders of the Lost Ark. The subsequent Star Wars sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi put the trilogy of films among the highest grossing ever. It was ILM that recreated dinosaurs in Jurassic Park which looked so real you could see their breath condense on windows and pupils refract in harsh light.
But it wasn’t just looks that Lucas revolutionised. It was sound too. He formed Skywalker Sound to overhaul the way we hear a movie and, in the process, developed the THX digital benchmark, which is being installed in cinemas across the globe.
Lucas and his companies have helped to put the science back into science-fiction. In fact, today, there is just as much, if not more, science than fiction. For a start, the digital revolution has overtaken everything. Lucasfilm’s and ILM’s pioneering work with computerising the special effects process has lead to new standards and norms being established in Hollywood. Lucas was the first to film an entire feature — 2002’s Star Wars Episode II — Attack of the Clones — using digital cameras.
ILM has also been responsible for some of the most technologically advanced visual effects in cinema history. It was responsible for the fast action of The Bourne Supremacy, the amazing imagery of Pirates of the Caribbean and the breathtaking sea battles of Master and Commander: Far Side of the World. Coming soon are more visual wonders in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (released worldwide on May 19 this year), and War of the Worlds.
Take a look at the movies being shown at this year’s Sasol SciFest, all of which pay tribute to the scientific advances being made in the movie industry and in the realms they explore. Most, if not all of them, can trace their success back to the day Star Wars was released, and more than one can claim a direct link to the genius of Lucas and the things he made possible with his extraordinary imagination and vision. Truly, the Force is with him.
On screen at Sasol SciFest
SciFest has put together a programme of movies to add variety to the festival, all of which celebrate the sci-fi genre and the role of technology and science in movie-making. The movies are being shown at the Monument: Olive Shreiner Hall. They are:
Alien vs Predator: The two prime evils of the sci-fi world battle it out for supremacy — the vicious and horrifying monster of the Alien series and the indefatigable and stealthy alien warrior of Predator fame. Who will emerge victorious in this clash of cinematic titans?
When: March 17 at 7.30pm (R10) and March 19 at 9.30pm (R10)
Blade: Trinity: Day-walking half-vampire Blade and his team of human vampire hunters join forces with the bloodhunters of the night to overcome and vanquish the lord of all vampires — Dracula — who has been resurrected by a group of vampire rebels.
When: March 17 at 5.30pm (R7,50) and March 21 at 7.30pm (R10)
The Bourne Supremacy: Enter the world of counter-intelligence and highly trained assassins in which Jason Bourne is struggling to come to terms with his true identity while being pursued by the people who trained him and their arch enemies. In a game of deadly cat-and-mouse Bourne must uncover the truth behind his haunted memories while piecing together the fragments of his past.
When: March 18 at 9.30pm (R10) and March 19 at 5.30pm (R7,50)
The Day After Tomorrow: The day Earth’s climate hits back. A climatological disaster ravages the world beyond recognition, plunging most of the northern hemisphere into instant ice age. The survivors try to piece together what has happened and find a way to go on.
When: March 16 at 11am (R7,50) and March 20 at 9.30pm (R10)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: A man tries to erase the memories of his girlfriend and their failed relationship after learning that she has undergone a medical procedure to have her memories of him removed from her mind. However, once into the procedure, he realises that there were good times and struggles to mentally overcome the procedure while he sleeps.
When: March 16 at 7.30pm (R10) and March 18 at 5.30pm (R7,50)
I, Robot: In a world where everyone trusts robots and accepts them into their daily lives and with three strict, unfaltering laws governing the way robots interact with humans, life seems almost perfect. Or does it? After a murder is apparently committed by one of a new generation of ‘perfect” robots, a sceptical detective suspects a calm before the storm and uncovers a real and frightening threat to the human race.
When: March 18 at 7.30pm (R10) and March 20 at 5.30pm (R7,50)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: An off-beat and egotistical oceanographer assembles a team of scientists and heads out in search of an elusive shark which killed his partner. Joining the team are a young pilot, the oceanographer’s ex-wife and a sex-starved journalist.
When: Thursday March 17 at 11am (R7,50) and 9.30pm (R10) and Monday March 21 at 11am (R7,50) and 5.30pm (R7,50)
Open Water: A young couple on an island holiday is accidentally left behind by a dive boat while diving on a remote coral reef. What follows is the story of their ordeal left stranded, far from land, adrift in shark-infested waters.
When: March 18 at 1.30pm (R7,50) and March 20 at 9.15am (R7,50)
Shark Tale: An underwater animation adventure which focuses on Lenny, the great white shark with a difference — he’s vegetarian — and how his ‘mob” boss father comes to terms with his son’s lack of killer instinct. Thrown into the mix is Oscar, a fish with big ideas and even bigger ambitions.
When: March 16 at 1.30pm (R7,50); March 19 at 1.30pm (R7,50) and March 21 at 9.15am (R7,50)
Thunderbirds: Jeff Tracy and his team of superheroes and supercraft make up International Rescue — dedicated to saving the lives of humankind and averting the worst of disasters, natural and man-made. No one knows who they are or where their secret base is, or do they?
When: March 16 at 9.15am (R7,50), March 17 at 1.30pm (R7,50) and March 20 at 5.30pm (R7,50)
Touching the Void: The chilling and true story of a perilous journey of two mountaineers who narrowly escape death on the heights of the Peruvian Andes in 1985. How both survived is nothing short of miraculous.
When: March 16 at 5.30pm (R7,50) and March 20 at 7.30pm (R10)
Yesterday: The heart-wrenching story of a woman’s courage, hope and compassion in the midst of the Aids epidemic in South Africa. When she is diagnosed with HIV/Aids, Yesterday decides to battle her disease to be there for her daughter’s first day of school.
When: March 17 at 9.15am (R7,50); March 19 at 7.30pm (R10) and March 21 at 1.30pm (R7,50)