Fantastic Planets, Forbidden Zones, and Lost Continents: The 100 Greatest Science-Fiction Films

by Douglas Brode

Overview

Whether you judge by box office receipts, industry awards, or critical accolades, science fiction films are the most popular movies now being produced and distributed around the world. Nor is this phenomenon new. Sci-fi filmmakers and audiences have been exploring fantastic planets, forbidden zones, and lost continents ever since George Méliès’ 1902 film A Trip to the Moon. In this highly entertaining and knowledgeable book, film historian and pop culture expert Douglas Brode picks the one hundred greatest sci-fi films of all time.

Brode’s list ranges from today’s blockbusters to forgotten gems, with surprises for even the most informed fans and scholars. He presents the movies in chronological order, which effectively makes this book a concise history of the sci-fi film genre. A striking (and in many cases rare) photograph accompanies each entry, for which Brode provides a numerical rating, key credits and cast members, brief plot summary, background on the film’s creation, elements of the moviemaking process, analysis of the major theme(s), and trivia. He also includes fun outtakes, including his top ten lists of Fifties sci-fi movies, cult sci-fi, least necessary movie remakes, and “so bad they’re great” classics—as well as the ten worst sci-fi movies (“those highly ambitious films that promised much and delivered nil”). So climb aboard spaceship Brode and journey to strange new worlds from Metropolis (1927) to Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292739192
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	10/20/2015
Pages:	440
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Douglas Brode is a screenwriter, playwright, novelist, graphic novelist, film historian, and multi-award-winning journalist who has written nearly forty books on movies and the mass media.

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• The List: The 100 Greatest Sci-Fi Films
• A Trip to the Moon/Le voyage dans la lune (1902)
• Metropolis (1927)
• Woman in the Moon/Frau im Mond (1929)
• Just Imagine (1930)
• Frankenstein (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
• Island of Lost Souls (1932)
• Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) and The Black Cat (1934)
• The Invisible Man (1933)
• Things to Come (1936)
• Flash Gordon (1936), Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars (1938), and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)
• Dr. Cyclops (1940)
• Destination Moon (1950) and Conquest of Space (1955)
• The Thing from Another World (1951)
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
• Invaders from Mars (1953)
• The War of the Worlds (1953)
• The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and Them! (1954)
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and Mysterious Island (1961)
• Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
• This Island Earth (1955)
• 1984 (1956)
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
• Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
• Forbidden Planet (1956)
• Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)
• The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
• The Blob (1958)
• The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959), On the Beach (1959), and The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
• The Time Machine (1960)
• Village of the Damned (1960) and The Day of the Triffids (1963)
• The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)
• The Birds (1963)
• The Last Man on Earth (1964)
• Alphaville/Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (1965)
• The Satan Bug (1965)
• Seconds (1966)
• Fantastic Voyage (1966)
• Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
• Five Million Years to Earth/Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
• Barbarella (1968)
• Planet of the Apes (1968)
• Night of the Living Dead (1968)
• Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
• THX 1138 (1971)
• Solaris/Solyaris (1972)
• Fantastic Planet/La planète sauvage (1973)
• Westworld (1973) and Futureworld (1976)
• Sleeper (1973)
• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
• Time After Time (1979)
• Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986)
• Escape from New York (1981)
• Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
• Heavy Metal (1981)
• The Thing (1982)
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
• Blade Runner (1982)
• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind/Kaze no tani no Naushika (1984)
• The Terminator (1984)
• Back to the Future (1985)
• Cocoon (1985)
• The Fly (1986)
• Predator (1987)
• RoboCop (1987)
• The Abyss (1989)
• Total Recall (1990)
• Jurassic Park (1993)
• Stargate (1994)
• Strange Days (1995)
• Twelve Monkeys (1995)
• Open Your Eyes/Abre los ojos (1997)
• The Fifth Element (1997)
• Men in Black (1997)
• The Truman Show (1998)
• The Matrix (1999)
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
• Space Cowboys (2000)
• A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) and Minority Report (2002)
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
• V for Vendetta (2005)
• Children of Men (2006)
• Transformers (2007)
• WALL-E (2008)
• Avatar (2009)
• Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek into Darkness (2013)
• District 9 (2009)
• Inception (2010)
• TRON: Legacy (2010)
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
• Cloud Atlas (2012)
• The Avengers (2012)
• Man of Steel (2013)
• Gravity (2013)
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
• Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
• Appendices
• General Index
• Film Index

What People are Saying About This

author of Contemporary Irish Cinema: From The James MacKillop

"Reading the short entries is addictive, like sampling canapés at a buffet table. The chronological order allows the reader to enter anywhere, or even to read the book backwards, favoring recent, more familiar items over older more obscure ones."

James MacKillop

"Reading the short entries is addictive, like sampling canapés at a buffet table. The chronological order allows the reader to enter anywhere, or even to read the book backwards, favoring recent, more familiar items over older more obscure ones."

Cynthia J. Miller

"An excellent work whose innovative format, often-unexpected choices of films, and accessible writing style make it ideally suited to nonspecialist scholars, undergraduates, and general readers. The author’s choice of which films to discuss sets it apart from virtually every other history-of-sci-fi-film book likely to appear on even well-stocked personal (or library) shelves. I strongly recommend it."

Editorial Reviews

10/01/2015
Brode (Rod Serling and the Twilight Zone: The 50th Anniversary Tribute) offers what he considers the 100 greatest sf films of all time. The author admits that sf crosses into other genres, but his guideline is "fantasy+technology=sci-fi." Films are presented in chronological order, which provides a historical framework (there is also a ranked list) beginning with A Trip to the Moon/Le Voyage Dans La Lune (1902) and ending with Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Entries include credits, cast, most memorable line, and background, a plot synopsis, and trivia. Classics such as Star Wars (1977), Alien (1979), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and Planet of the Apes (1968) are all here. Moving further along, Twelve Monkeys (1995), The Matrix (1999), and one of this reviewer's favorites, Inception (2010) are considered. Humorous sf is displayed in Sleeper (1973), Men in Black (1997), and The Truman Show (1998). Lesser-known films such as Just Imagine (1930) and Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) are also explored. Offbeat title Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) pops up, and surprisingly, Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963) is discussed. Ten appendixes supply extra international, cult, and dystopian titles. Keep this book close to the DVDs to help with browsing and advising. VERDICT This easy-to-use, affordable guide is handy for sf fans and for developing your DVD collection.—Barbara Kundanis, Longmont P.L., CO

Library Journal

"Brode's done an admirable job in this well-written and engaging book. For neofans, it's an excellent starting place. For older fans, it's interesting to see old favourites in context against newer movies. Fantastic Planets is a welcome addition to any SF or film buff's bookshelf."

Fortean Times

"It contains a ton of information that sci-fi fans will love having collected into one volume . . . The central benefit of Brode’s book [is] discovering new films that one is already highly likely to enjoy. Not only does it collect all that film ephemera into one place for easy reference, it also serves as a springboard for the kinds of conversations that energize film fans."

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