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The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies 1 (Rough Guide Reference) (Paperback)

by John Scalzi (Author) "Before there were science fiction movies, there was science fiction literature - a genre that filmmakers could draw upon (or outright steal from)..." (more)
Key Phrases: few science fiction films, other science fiction films, first science fiction film, Star Wars, Star Trek, Blade Runner (more...)

4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Product Description
Synopsis

The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies is a comprehensive guide to the 'final frontier' of film. It explores our fascination with space exploration, time travel, fantastical worlds and alternative futures. This guide explains how everything from the philosophy of Plato to classic Victorian tales and cult comic books have helped to create one of cinema's most engaging genres. Discover the classics from Mexico, Russia and Japan, not forgetting the Anime science fiction tradition, along with everything else you need to know from Metropolis to Star Wars, via Blade Runner, 2001 and Alien. The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies is your essential guide to a galaxy of film unbounded by time or space.

About the Author
John Scalzi is a science fiction novelist and non-fiction writer as well as the author of The Rough Guide to the Universe.

Product Details

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Rough Guides (October 17, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1843535203
ISBN-13: 978-1843535201
Product Dimensions: 7 x 7 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #383,959 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Before there were science fiction movies, there was science fiction literature - a genre that filmmakers could draw upon (or outright steal from). Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
few science fiction films, other science fiction films, first science fiction film, film around the world, science fiction cinema, science fiction elements, science fiction themes, monster films, science fiction literature

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Star Wars, Star Trek, Blade Runner, George Lucas, The Matrix, Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg, Mad Max, Space Odyssey, Flash Gordon, Planet of the Apes, New York, James Cameron, Men In Black, Back To The Future, Fritz Lang, Destination Moon, Stanley Kubrick, Days Later, King Kong, United States, David Cronenberg, Los Angeles, The Lost World, The Motion Picture

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

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4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
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4.0 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent if imperfect reference book, September 2, 2006

By	mrliteral - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

To someone unfamiliar with the genre, science fiction movies can appear to be a collection of awful movies that rely on little more than cheesy special effects. To some extent, it's true: to paraphrase Sturgeon's Law (he was a sci-fi writer), 90% of science fiction is garbage, but 90% of everything is garbage. There are plenty of lousy science fiction movies out there, but there are also some real gems.

The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies is a decent, though not perfect, reference book about these movies. It starts with a brief history of science fiction literature and then gives a history of sci-fi at the cinema, from the early silent days through the serials of the 1930s to the "golden age" of the 1950s to the darker works of the 1970s to the special effects driven movies of modern times. Essentially, however, the history of sci-fi films can be divided into two periods: Before Star Wars and After Star Wars.

The Guide also provides what the author, John Scalzi considers to be the key 50 movies. As he admits up front, you may disagree with his choices as I certainly did, but many of his choices are solid ones: choices such as Blade Runner, Star Wars, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey have to rate on the list of anyone familiar with the genre.

There are also sections on the faces of science fiction, the locations of science fiction and science fiction movies produced around the world, as well as a couple other sections. While not comprehensive, the book doesn't really neglect anything truly significant either. For a reference book, however, we do get a lot of opinion, and for a book that seems to be well put together, there are lots of typographical errors. This is not a great book, but it is good enough (maybe a low four stars) and for an introduction to these movies, it is more than adequate.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid, Not Stellar, July 10, 2006

By	Rodney Meek (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an interesting guide to...well, sci-fi movies. (It also features a minor digression at the end that covers well-known SF TV shows and other resources.) Chapters deal with the author's personal choices for the 50 classic SF movies, the 50 iconic robots/ships/villains/actors, SF films from countries outside the U.S., and so forth.

Entries are, for the most part, short and to the point, only growing somewhat longer when it is necessary to upbraid George Lucas for his myriad sins, and rightly so. The author is also not afraid to proffer his opinion on which movies have withstood the test of time and which now seem tragically dated or flat-out embarrassing.

On the downside, I found the numerous typos (particularly in people's names) and layout errors to be extremely annoying. For instance, in the entry for the recent "28 Days Later", the actress Naomie Harris (currently appearing in the latest "Pirates Of The Caribbean" movie) ends up being credited as one of the composers, just because the typesetter lazily goofed up and pushed her name out of place. Yes, it's a "rough" guide, but I didn't expect it to be quite THAT rough.

I'd give this an extra half-star if it were possible, but since it isn't, I'll have to round down on this one.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well written book with a little TO much truth about Sci-Fi, January 15, 2006

By	Jon V. (Southern CA) - See all my reviews

I got the chance to look at this book extensively at my local barnes and noble. It does a very well written summary of most of the luminaries of the Sci-Fi genre. There are alot of funny inside jokes that only fans of these films will get. But, it also introduces Sci-Fi to those who aren't familiar with it.

Need a book to explain your obsession with Sci-Fi to your significant other? Heres the book. Complete with funny notes and misc. bits and pieces that will help them catch up to the culture. Who knows? After reading it they might know more than you.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Other Books
This is not a bad little tome.

Scalzi takes a pretty even-handed look at the movies, giving a literature background to start with, an introduction to films, and then... Read more

Published 22 months ago by Blue Tyson

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth owning, but get his other books first.
I really like John Scalzi's work.

If you haven't read Old Man's War, you are missing a treat.

This is not a bad guide, and Mr. Read more

Published on June 14, 2007 by Victor R. Casados

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good source, but not as good as it might have been
I picked this one up because (1) I'm a fan of Scalzi's fiction and (2) I'm a fan of science fiction films from way back. Read more

Published on June 8, 2007 by Michael K. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, light reading
This was a generally fun book. It is not designed to be read cover to cover, but picked at. It's lighthearted and I think it is pretty fair to the movies it covers. Read more

Published on November 10, 2006 by Dwayne A. Day

4.0 out of 5 stars Rough? Maybe, but good one...
As long time SF fan, even I discovered some data in this book that I did not know (or forgot).
And was glad of mentioning other countries tradition in SF, not only USA's... Read more

Published on June 28, 2006 by S. Hajdin

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