Total Recall (2012)
- Thread starter Liverslapper
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neal
wizard in black
Talking Backwards
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They aren't always mutually exclusive though. The large majority of science fiction films have enough explosions, chases and weapon play to be considered action as well. Most action films revolve around what would be possible in our current timeline, so most wouldn't be called science fiction (or fantasy). Predator was a sciece fiction action film. Replace the Predator with some random human and it's just an action movie. Total Recall is both a science fiction film and an action film, just like The Terminator series.
Lord Foul
I don't spank men
Part of the problem is that we identify anything that has aliens or laser blasters in it as Science Fiction, when in fact most of that is actually Fantasy. Alien malefactors and Orcs are interchangeable, as are ray guns and magic missiles. Alien was a horror movie, Aliens was a straight-up action flick. Both are awesome movies, but not science fiction. Star Wars is a pure swashbuckling sword&sorcery romp.
Blade Runner is an actual SciFi film (as well as Film Noir homage). It centers around the implications of a technology we don't currently have in the real world (artificially created people used as a servant class). It uses the story to explore how life would be different in this fictional world, but also to challenge our ideas about how life actually is in our world. I would put Total Recall in this category except that it glosses over the main questions of the story it is based on in favor of Arnold-tastic action sequences (and it is a goddamn fine futuristic fantasy action film). I'm going to plug one of my absolute favorite underrated/unknown SciFi films: Strange Days. Watch it.
Possibly I'm just being a snob though. As with bands, call a film whatever genre you like.
Blade Runner is an actual SciFi film (as well as Film Noir homage). It centers around the implications of a technology we don't currently have in the real world (artificially created people used as a servant class). It uses the story to explore how life would be different in this fictional world, but also to challenge our ideas about how life actually is in our world. I would put Total Recall in this category except that it glosses over the main questions of the story it is based on in favor of Arnold-tastic action sequences (and it is a goddamn fine futuristic fantasy action film). I'm going to plug one of my absolute favorite underrated/unknown SciFi films: Strange Days. Watch it.
Possibly I'm just being a snob though. As with bands, call a film whatever genre you like.
neal
wizard in black
LF comes in and sets everyone straight as usual...
is Strange Days the one where people go to the virtual reality/holodeck kinda club place to relive others' memories or something? pretty sure ive seen it but there were a lot of movies coming out in the mid 90s about the near future/millennium and fear of what technology would become/do to society.
is Strange Days the one where people go to the virtual reality/holodeck kinda club place to relive others' memories or something? pretty sure ive seen it but there were a lot of movies coming out in the mid 90s about the near future/millennium and fear of what technology would become/do to society.
El Stormo
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Not really. Movie genres are not really black and white like that. Alien was science fiction horror anyway, while Aliens was much more action than horror, but still had adventure and horror elements.
And if you want to get technical, both science fiction and fantasy are the same thing--but they are seperated in such a way so that people know if they are getting dragons or if they are getting space ships. Almost every "genre" is just a genric label and under it you'll find quite a few subgenres.
The main differences between science fiction and fantasy is that science fiction is based around the possibility of something that could work or be discovered based on what we already know about the laws of physics and the universe. Whereas we have not discovered any way that would make it theoretically possible to melt objects with our minds yet, or how to shoot lightning bolts out of our asses. So eventually something considered fantasy could be considered science fiction--in the movie label sense.
neal
wizard in black
all of these films under example are sci-fi flavored, but i think his point was at their core narrative structure they more follow the format of horror (Alien, Event Horizon) action (Aliens, arnold's Total Recall) standard sword hero archetype (star wars) and not the...more strict literary idea of science fiction as something more realistic and possible and currently just out of reach that could have major implications on our social and political systems....i dunno maybe we are being genre snobs
neal
wizard in black
yeh you have a point too jerkface. all those movies rule, whatever sillypants genre you queens give em.
Dead Winter
STAHP
You're obviously not a fan of science fiction. 
There's a reason it's the nerd genre. Because we're all sniveling, snickering geeks when it's not correctly labeled, haha.
There's a reason it's the nerd genre. Because we're all sniveling, snickering geeks when it's not correctly labeled, haha.
derek
Grey Eminence
neal
wizard in black
Talking Backwards
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neal
wizard in black
derek
Grey Eminence
El Stormo
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Well, genres do matter as a way of categorizing things and referencing to them. Sure, it doesn't really matter as in, "this movie is sci-fi and I don't like sci-fi so I'm not gonna watch it", but I've always considered genres an easy way to tell others what a film is about or what they can expect.
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