SUB-GENRES OF SCI-FI

TIME TRAVEL• TIME TRAVEL IS A POPULAR SUB-GENRE

OF SCI-FI AND HAS BEEN USED IN MANY FILMS SUCH AS BACK TO THE FUTURE, DONNIE DARKO, LOOPER AND 12 MONKEYS. TIME TRAVEL STORIES DATE BACK TO THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES. THE MOST FAMOUS NOVEL IS H. G. WELLS’ 1895 NOVEL CALLED THE TIME MACHINE, WHICH INVOLVES A VEHICLE WHICH ALLOWS AN OPERATOR TO TRAVEL THROUGH TIME. TIME TRAVEL IS STILL A VERY POPULAR SUBJECT IN MODERN SCIENCE MOVIES, PRINT AND TELEVISION.

ALTERNATIVE HISTORY• ALTERNATIVE HISTORY SCI-FI STORIES ARE

BASED ON MAJOR HISTORICAL EVENTS WHICH MAY HAVE TURNED OUT DIFFERENTLY. THESE STORIES MAY ALSO INVOLVE SCI-FI TO CHANGE THE PAST OR IT MAY BE SET IN A DIFFERENT TIME PERIOD FROM OUR OWN. SOME CLASSICS IN THIS SUB-GENRE INCLUDE BRING THE JUBILEE (WHICH IS ABOUT THE SOUTH WINNING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR) AND THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE (WHICH IS ABOUT GERMANY AND JAPAN WINNING THE SECOND WORLD WAR).

SUPERHUMAN• SUPERHUMAN SCI-FI MOVIES

INVOLVE HUMANS WHO HAVE ABILITIES BEYOND THE NORM. THIS COULD BE BECAUSE OF NATURAL CAUSES OR DUE TO THE RESULTS OF SCIENTIFIC ADVANCES. THESE STORIES USUALLY FOCUS ON HOW THE HUMAN FEELS ALIENATED BY SOCIETY AND IT FOCUSES ON SOCIETY’S REACTIONS TO THESE SUPERHUMANS. SOME VERY WELL-KNOWN SUPERHUMAN SCI-FI MOVIES INCLUDE CHRONICLE, THE AVENGERS, SPIDER-MAN AND X-MEN.

APOCALYPTIC • APOCALYPTIC FICTION NORMALLY

INVOLVES THE END OF CIVILIZATION THROUGH MANY DIFFERENT DISASTERS SUCH AS WAR, PANDEMIC (INFECTIOUS DISEASES THAT SPREAD THROUGH HUMAN POPULATIONS), ASTRONOMIC IMPACT, ECOLOGICAL DISASTER OR ANOTHER GENERAL DISASTER THAT COULD AFFECT THE WORLD. THERE ARE MANY APOCALYPTIC SCI-FI MOVIES SUCH AS MAD MAX, THE MATRIX, TERMINATOR AND EQUILIBRIUM.

SPACE OPERA• SPACE OPERA IS AN ADVENTUROUS

SCIENCE FICTION FILM WHICH IS USUALLY SET IN OUTER SPACE OR ON OTHER PLANETS. THE CONFLICT IS HEROIC AND IS USUALLY LARGE SCALE. MODERN SPACE OPERAS MAY ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE A SENSE OF WONDER OF THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION. SOME FAMOUS SPACE OPERA INCLUDES THE MASSIVE FRANCHISE, STAR WARS AND OTHER FILMS SUCH AS BATTLESTAR GALACTICA AND BATTLEFIELD EARTH.