The universe is ancient and enormous, with galaxy upon galaxy of planets out there, some of which might be able to support lifeforms like (or unlike) ours.
This idea has captivated filmmakers since French director Georges Méliès’ 1902 silent wonder, A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans La Lune), inspired by the stories of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. Since then, we’ve seen science fiction films as rich in infinite variety as the long-dead stars still twinkling in our skies.
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Teenage fisticuffs left one of ‘Space Oddity’ singer David Bowie’s eyes permanently dilated – an uncanny look that Walkabout director Nicolas Roeg harnessed, casting the mercurial star as an extraterrestrial in human disguise. Writer Paul Mayersberg’s loose adaptation of Walter Tevis’ novel sees Bowie’s space-farer ‘Thomas Jerome Newton’ crash land in New Mexico, beginning a fraught relationship with Candy Clark’s hotel receptionist, Mary-Lou. Wide-eyed with wonder at first, Newton soon turns his vastly superior knowledge to his advantage in this sci-fi parable that’s as much about our broken world – corporate greed, environmental collapse – as it is about first contact.
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The Man Who Fell to Earth
Science fiction • 1976
Science fiction • 1976
Body Melt
Way out on the gross end of the vast sci-fi spectrum, experimental rocker-turned-filmmaker Philip Brophy’s body horror, co-written with fellow → ↑ → band member Rod Bishop, is gruesomely good. Involving nefarious scientists secretly experimenting on suburban Melbournians via seemingly innocuous vitamins, their dastardly deeds lead to all sorts of sick-making mutations, a metric tonne of oozing chaos and a bizarre murder trail that’s played for outrageous comedy. Be warned: If a pregnant woman being murdered by her rampaging placenta does not elicit a wicked cackle, then this nutty Australian entry to the outré B-movie canon might not be for you.
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Body Melt
horror • 1993
horror • 1993
Gravity
For all its high concepts, sometimes sci-fi can be very down to earth, literally, as in Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón’s seven Oscar-winning film. Co-written with his son, Jonás, and opening the 70th Venice Film Festival, it stars Speed queen Sandra Bullock as Ryan Stone, an astronaut forced to fight for her survival alongside George Clooney’s commander Matt Kowalski when the Hubble Space Telescope is shattered by a hail of debris from a downed Russian satellite. A filmic simulation of the very real threat posed by the Kessler effect – the dangerous collision of way too much space junk cluttering our atmosphere – this one leans way more science than fiction.
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Gravity
drama • Science fiction • 2013
drama • Science fiction • 2013
Gundala
Marvel and DC do not have the market cornered on interconnecting cinematic universes featuring the battling heroes and supervillains of comic books. Indonesian publisher Bumilangit has its own exponentially growing franchise, with Satan’s Slaves director Joko Anwar adapting Harya ‘Hasmi’ Suraminata’s dystopian hit set in a shattered, near-future Jakarta that’s wracked with violent crime. Charged by lightning, not unlike a certain Avenger, Sancaka (Abimana Aryasaty) is inspired by the socialist uprising of his murdered father to adopt a costume and the codename Gundala, fighting back against the city’s corrupt overlords.
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Gundala
action • adventure • 2019
action • adventure • 2019
The Fifth Element
There’s a rich current of ‘everyday guy saves the world’ in science fiction’s rapid river of scenarios. Bruce Willis shows up in a ton of them, including as a time-travelling prisoner in Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys, and gung-ho oil driller in Michael Bay’s Armageddon. Then there’s taxi driver Korben Dallas, in French auteur Luc Besson’s English-language space opera. Flooded with fantastic imagery by comic book artists Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud and Jean-Claude Mézières, it pairs Korben with Milla Jovovich’s Leeloo, the discombobulated living embodiment of world-saving technology who drops into his cab. Can they prevent the Earth from being engulfed by a fiery meteor?
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The Fifth Element
Science fiction • adventure • 1997
Science fiction • adventure • 1997
Barbarella
Sci-fi cinema also offers a rich vein of horny, bordering on porny, flights of fancy, of which Jane Fonda is the once and future queen. Cast by then-husband Roger Vadim as Barbarella, the spangly-suited enforcer of Earth’s president (Claude Dauphin), she’s dispatched to retrieve dangerous scientist Durand-Durand (Milo O’Shea) – yes, it’s where the band got their name, minus two Ds – to prevent him from activating his doomsday weapon. Not a euphemism, but there is an awful lot of sex, some instances of which are more plot-driven than others, in this saucy interstellar adventure that’s also drawn from comic books written and illustrated by French author Jean-Claude Forest.
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Barbarella
Science fiction • 1968
Science fiction • 1968
Midnight Special
When science fiction embraces inscrutable mystery wholeheartedly, magic happens. Director Jeff Nichols’ ethereal reckoning with alternate realities pairs him with regular collaborator Michael Shannon as Roy, a father on the run with his son, Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), and best mate, Lucas (Joel Edgerton). Tailed by the FBI, Adam Driver’s NSA agent and Sam Shepard’s cult leader, they’re trying to reach Alton’s mother (Kirsten Dunst). The kid possesses incredible powers and might be the key to a whole new world of understanding. That’s if he can survive long enough in this Berlinale Golden Bear-nominated reverie that melted minds when it debuted in 2016.
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Midnight Special
Science fiction • thriller • 2016
Science fiction • thriller • 2016
Arrowhead
Speaking of obelisks, they’re a whole thing in sci-fi, also popping up as an alien artefact in Australian filmmaker Jesse O’Brien’s microbudget, Star Wars-inspired, award-winning debut feature, expanding on his short. So-named for the spaceship at its centre, with an AI operating system voiced by Mad as Hell’s Shaun Micallef also at SBS On Demand in Sean Micallef's Origin Odyssey), it’s centred on Underbelly actor Dan Mor’s escaped political prisoner, Kye Cortland. On a mission to free his father, another prisoner of war, it’s also a Jekyll & Hyde story of sorts, involving a wild physical transformation that’s a key component of countless science fiction gems.
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Arrowhead
