I love that every theme has its own take and mythology depending on the creator.
It's such a great series and they talk about so many things worth giving them a look, like movies, books and series.
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verohmarin29 August 2019
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adamwarlock29 May 2018I found some of this interesting, some of it a set up for Cameron's Avatar sequels. They concentrate on movies & TV shows from the last 40 years and very little on the literature that bore science-fiction as a genre. This is the tip of the iceberg and showing older movies with effects that the younger generation can't take cause it "looks bad" are out except for some quick clips. Some nice philosophical discussions with directors, writers and actors.
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The trailers for this made it seem like we'd be watching James Cameron chatting with legendary directors of Sci-Fi films. It looked like we'd get to hear the fascinating topics and ideas brought up by these brilliantly creative minds, and the stories they told about their careers and their famous works. I was excited to be a fly on the wall observing these amazing conversations. We do get that, but it's only about 1/6 of the show.
The rest is other random people talking about their thoughts on Sci-Fi topics. Sure we get some big names like Will Smith and Sigourney Weaver, but most are people I've never heard of. Some are people in the film industry like VFX artists or illustrators, but the majority are just intellectuals or writers or hosts from web sites, publications or radio shows that I guess deal with Sci-Fi. One guy even has the title "Grand Master of Science Fiction", whatever that means. While I don't want to devalue their thoughts, that's not really what I came for. If you're going to be presenting mostly people I've never heard of, at least tell me that in your marketing. Otherwise, I'm going to feel pretty mislead (as I do now).
The show is pretty interesting and worth watching, but it's not nearly as amazing as I was expecting it to be. They had enough good material to make around 2 or 3 good episodes, but they added a bunch of padding to be able to stretch it to 6. I'm guessing it was some TV exec who made that decision. -
kirbylee70-599-5261794 August 2020The definition of science fiction is "A literary or cinematic genre in which fantasy, typically based on speculative scientific discoveries or developments, environmental changes, space travel, or life on other planets, forms part of the plot or background." Since its inception the genre has expanded in numerous ways, including robots, fantasy films with ogres and orcs, mind warping psychological stories and time travel to name a few items.
Alongside the western one of the most prolific genres of film has been the science fiction movie. You can trace it as far back as Thomas Edison's silent version of FRANKENSTEIN or the George Melie's 1902 film A TRIP TO THE MOON. The genre inspired writers before film like Jules Verne whose books were the foundation of so many great movies. Who better to examine the genre than James Cameron?
The director of such sci fi hits as THE TERMINATOR, T2: JUDGEMENT DAY, THE ABYSS, ALIENS and AVATAR Cameron now take a look at the genre speaking with notables in the field. Directors like George Lucas who brought us STAR WARS, Christopher Nolan who made INCEPTION and Stephen Spielberg who made E.T. talk about what influenced them and drew them to the genre. Stars like Keanu Reeves, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Christopher Lloyd talk about their love of the genre and how being in films were their big moments.
Broken down into six episodes the series focused on different sub-genres involved in science fiction. Each one focuses on that sub-genre with the stars, writers and directors who have made their mark in each. The first up is "Alien Life". Everything is covered here from the harmless alien found in E.T. to the dangerous types in the ALIEN films and all things in between. What is it that might be out there and why are we fascinated by it all? Should we be hopeful for another form of life in the universe of fearful?
Next up is "Space Exploration". Here we get glimpses of everything from films in the 50s and 60s that offered a hopeful look at space exploration to the swashbuckling heroics of the Skywalker family. It seems the largest focus on this genre took place in the 60s when JFK took us into space and ending with the walk on the moon. How did movies look at these events? And what did they foresee in the future when it came to space?
The third episode is "Monsters". This is so open to interpretation. From the earliest films like FRANKENSTEIN where man attempted to create life to THE FLY, there have been plenty of nightmarish images found in science fiction. Some tipped into the horror genre but at their roots they were science fiction all the way.
Fourth up is "Dark Futures". It seems that this genre spans both ends of the spectrum, from the hopeful utopias that some predict to the more dystopian futures where everyone bow beneath a central monarch. Should we look forward with hope or give up and accept what some feel is inevitable?
Fifth is "Intelligent Machines" and there is little doubt that the first thing that comes to mind is Cameron's own Terminator. This creation has been with us through numerous sequels and is part of pop culture now. But there have been others along the way from Robby the Robot to the almost human like creation in Spielberg's A.I. Will robots help or will they lead to our downfall?
The final episode is "Time Travel". Once more the genre shows how versatile it can be from the fun filled BACK TO THE FUTURE to the more serious films like THE TIME MACHINE and LOOPER. The question of traveling back in time affecting the future or traveling forward to learn what took place between segments of time is fascinating.
To attempt to do a series like this thinking you can cover every single movie or TV show involving the topics found in science fiction is daunting and most likely impossible. But Cameron does his best to convey the interest in the genre that affects us more than we might realize. In the end it's an entertaining series that also brings about something that shows like this always do. It inspires the viewer to remember the movies they saw in the past and think "hey, I should pull that out and watch that again". It brings back memories of treasures we may have forgotten. And in watching them again, older and through different eyes, maybe you'll find something you missed the first time around. -
Silentium_Tremendum1 August 2022My title says enough about the show.
But most important thing for creating scifi is idea. Without idea there will be no inspiration.
Same thing is with this show. If J. Cameron didnt have idea and inspiration for this, we wouldnt be able to watch this.
Also thanks to everyone who participated in this show and helped us who would like to make some scifi one day. -
MovieCriticOnline18 January 2021If you have Spielberg, Lucas, Ridley Scott etc for interviews and ask them questions, you let them finish, but no, James HAD to constantly interrupt, which was so annoying.
The series interviews a bunch of people, so the previews of him sitting down with other directors and interviewing them is misleading. You get very little of these iconic directors interview, especially with the interrupting it makes it even worse. Nicely shot and some interesting stories, but overall nothing new and again, Cameron needed to the them speak and finish. -
shiftyburn4 August 2018This really is your favourite directors talking about your favourite films with a little insight into the thinking of some of their decisions
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csample200817 June 2018If you take the root of the word fan & i want you to, then maybe you can follow where i i'm coming/going from/to with my review. today, especially when considering the things covered in the 1st few episodes you need to go deep with your grok of the genre. it's metaphor demonstrating the imaginings of universes where humanity is inserted & has to deal with his environment, foreign though it may look/feel there's a human dropped in there who only deal wit they use the situation with the tools his/her humanity has given them. if you are one of those that's wondered things like "why am i here?" or, "what is the/my purpose in life?" then you may have taken it to a more personal/deeper level. i never asked the questions & they used to confuse me but upon this kind of deep meditation/consideration i have come to a place of comfort/understanding re: sci-fi, which is & has become sci-actual. so, i took in all of the stuff presented up to ep. 6 so far. obviously i'm enjoying it. i was pondering symbology & how it is so useful if you can decode it, but also annoying because, what?, i have to learn another communication form? but things today of sci-actual is unearthing long lost worlds and hidden secrets where we need to use or comms skills to decode the symbology of ultimately,us. great venue to see us and finally, to spare us this mr. Cameron names thing easily understandably. re: unobtainium, and a terminator. clear as water, eh?
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marklloyd-2793426 October 2018Nothing new here but still very enjoyable, to many missing masterpieces
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Seems like all episodes so far inevitably boil down to self-aggrandizing directors and actors virtue signalling about why their movies are great for mostly politically correct reasons. For example, Aliens is great because of feminism; Star Wars because of diversity; etc... If you like watching award shows like the Oscars where the actors and directors talk about how great they are, and giving each other awards, then this is for you.
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77Lynne30 May 2018This should have been called "James Cameron's Story of James Cameron and Friends". This show has less to do with Scicentfic and it's history and more to do with a bunch of old white men patting each other on the back for a job well done on that cool movie they did once. Just because it has Cameron or Spielberg attached to it, it doesn't mean it's good and this show is BORING.