The History of The Science Fiction Genre

Silent Film• The science fiction genre has been around for a while. It was around

during the “Silent Film” era.• They were usually very short films that lasted about two minutes long.• They mainly had a technological theme, and were generally included

humour.• The science fiction film era lasted till about the 1930’s when dialogue and

sound was introduced. Until then many silent films with the science fiction element were made.

• The first science fiction film from the silent film era was A Trip To The Moon. This film was the first silent film to involve elements of science fiction.

1930’s – 1940’s

• Science fiction films from the 1930’s were the first to involve dialogue.

• Many of the films that were made weren’t seen as being very good such as the film Things To Come, due to this there were very little science fiction films made during the 1930’s – 40’s.

• Instead many science fiction horror films were made due to the success of films such as Frankenstein.

1950’s• Many science fiction films were made during this time period.• Many of the science fiction films of the 50’s began to use the

elements of aliens and UFO’s, due to the sudden fascination with the subject.

• The Day The Earth Stood Still is one of the most famous science fiction films from the 50’s and one of the first to use the themes of aliens.

• These films had large success in the 50’s directed mainly at a teenage audience.

1960’s• Due to the success of science fiction films in the 1950’s there were very

few in the 60’s, though these films helped to change science fiction cinema.

• The film 2001: A Space Odyssey influenced many later science fiction films.• Also the 1968 film Planet of The Apes was incredibly popular, which lead

to the films four sequels being made. • The 1960’s science fiction era is considered to have transformed the

science fiction genre.

1970’s• The science fiction genre made many films in the 1970’s in comparison to

the amount made in the 1960’s.• The film Star Wars was made in the 1970’s and created a hugely popular

franchise including two sequels and three prequels.• The film Alien was made also and had three sequels, this film also had

elements of the horror genre.• The 1970’s had the theme of horror included much in their science fiction

films.

1980’s• The film of the 1970’s Star Wars had great success which lead to two

sequels of the franchise being made in the 1980’s.• It also lead to the Star Trek franchise expanding into film.• The sequel to the 1970’s film Alien was released becoming the second film

in the series.• Stephen Spielberg's film E.T. The Extra Terrestrial is one of the most

successful science fiction films of the 1980’s. • During the 1980’s computer graphics and animation was widely being

used for science fiction films.

1990’s-2000’s• Many science fiction films from the 1990’s involved some sort of internet

theme. • CGI became more common for science fiction films during the 1990’s.• Jurassic Park featured advances in computer technology, and the film also

featured CGI.• Computers became important to the science fiction genre, and many of

the films were made with computer animation involved.• By the 2000’s the science fiction genre began to become less popular

though many science fiction films were made.