During the silent era, novel adaptations abounded. Following Shelley’s Frankenstein, there was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World, and Vern’s 2000 Leagues Under the Sea, among others. They were aptly made for the time and served as references for later remakes. Evidentially the most noteworthy movie of the era, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis came to Germany with impressive special effects and direction and later spread throughout Europe and to North America.

The invention of sound in films lent sci-fi a new sense through which it could bring us new wonders. Things to Come, H.G. Wells’ adaptation of his own 1933 essay, The Shape of Thing

Throughout the 80s and 90s, many movies with futuristic backdrops or phenomena attributes to science, such as Alien and Robocop, were made and weren’t recognized as anything more than horror and action films. One movie trilogy to successfully blend action and science fiction, both in large doses, was The Matrix, which was based in a thought-provoking future—or present—world.

In 1950, Robert Heinlein’s Destination Moon brought a new technical standard to sci-fi filmmaking. This purely science-based adventure film likely helped both science and science fiction by entertaining and inspiring thought at once. Unfortunately for the genre, this was a gem in a trash-heap; for cinema, the 1950’s were a time of shameless monster movies with non-sensical plots, poor acting, and special effects that were none-too-special. It Came From Outer Space, Invaders From Mars, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and other even less noteworthy films polluted mainstream science fiction.

From 1902’s A Trip to the Moon to 2003’s Terminator 3, these quasi-science fiction movies may hav

Some topics in this essay:
Trip Moon, Space Odyssey, Destination Moon, Star Wars, Alien Robocop, HG Wells’, Dr Cyclops, Earth Stood, Body Snatchers, Mighty Ducks, science fiction, special effects, true science fiction, sci-fi filmmaking, world war, destination moon, true science, novel adaptations, monster movies, trip moon, science fantasy,