Sci-Fi/Fantasy Films

» Jennifer W. Miner - prestige

I agree - Prestige is an awesome, exciting, twisty movie with some of the best sci-fi elements of any movie out recently. I had a great time!
With The Illusionist (also twisty) out just a couple months prior to The Prestige, and this book "The Secret Life of Houdini" (he was really a spy!) flying off the bookshelves, what do you think of the public demand for magic? The best sci-fi (think Asimov and Heinlein) always reflects back on the state of the world in which the sci-fi was written. Is this attraction to twisty, sci-fi-like magical concepts related? And, what does it say about the current state of the world?
Jen

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» Sluke - prestige

In response to prestige posted by JenniferMiner:

You know that is a great point. I've seen a lot of magic shops open up here in Denver, ads for magicians and kits and the like. Clearly there is a big upswing in all of this right now.

Magic has always been seen as a cop out in a lot of movies and literature, viewed as fantasy and a way out of hard explanations.

While I loved both movies, and I hope to read the book, I don't see this as a big marker of things to come. I think this is a result of big things coming from the Harry Potter & LOTR area. People got so jazzed up by those fantastic worlds that they want things like that everywhere, and now they want things like that in an adult world.

I could easily see a lot of children's to young adult (and even college crowds) being into more magic based movies, and that is a key target group for producers.

Now what it says about the state of the world is pretty clear, the world is a terribly sad place. Here in Denver, a drunk driver ran down a family of four, and that is plastered all over the news. Who doesn't want a world where a wave of a wand can erase troubles?

With the war, post 9/11 and all the other issues America faces, escapists movies will continue to be popular. Books showing fantastic worlds will continue to sell. We want to see these places that are more beautiful and magical then anything we have now.

Moviegoers are stingy now; they want their money to pay for two hours of pure escape. Can we blame them?

So, yes I think the world is so dark and sad that magic and sci-fi will continue to offer those perfect escapes. However these things tend to swing back quickly, and I think we are just about at the end of the magical movie era.

But, I hope I'm wrong, I really do. Because a world where people are interested in magical movies, books and just magic in general, is a much more pleasant one to live in. Maybe if our world was filled with awe and wonder again, and not sadness and violence, we can bring a little magic to all our lives.

Here's hoping.

-- posted by Sluke

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