What is happening to Science Fiction?

[tabuno]

What is sci fi? Science + Fiction. Charley = Science (biomedical) + Fiction (inceasing brain power dramatically by science). What makes for a memorable sci fi movie? Action? Or drama?

Brainstorm is memorable for a number of reasons - adventure (not action). The last movie of Natalie Wood. A fantastic Disney-esque movie ride through virtual reality (sci fi). The moral, ethical insight into afterlife (occult). Relational life and death, man and woman theme (people and love).

[tabuno]

A saw Gattaca again on television last night and it made to appreciate drama and science fiction without the obvious action as the primary driving force behind the movie. I believe that Gattaca is a good excellent of science fiction without action as its motivating force. The problem with science fiction has been that profitable science fiction has required to a great extent in most cases that action be a significant component of any science fiction movie, however, it is not a necessary requirement for a good science fiction movie based on its quality, at least to pure science fiction fans.

Gattaca is based on a not-too distant future where genetic-engineering can create almost "perfect" people (a growing ethical issues today) and about an "in-valid" desire to go into space which is threatened with a murder where he works. This sci-fi, murder-mystery, drama is a great example of solid script writing and acting, an off-colored cinematography to create a well-balanced, hopeful expression of individuality and over-coming one's physical handicaps as well as sacrifice and humanity.

[tabuno]

Just by accident, I rented "Stranded" (2002) from Blockbuster and found it to be a sci fi drama without the action-thriller motif. This movie is a great example of non-thrills science fiction that is more about survival than eerie, strange monsters and over the top special effects and explosive and gore. This independent feel, Blair Witch Project, documentary style, cerebral effort with a literary voice over is smart, intelligent sci fi at its best.

[Ilker81x]

So by that rationale, would you say that "At First Sight" is a science fiction movie? They use science to help a blind man see with a radical new operation, but it's fictional because last time I checked we can't really do that just yet. So would you call that a sci-fi movie? No. Yes, they have a sci-fi concept, but the stories are NOT sci-fi. A drama with a sci-fi spin is not necessarily a dramatic sci-fi. Or how about "WarGames?" Long before we had the internet, before we'd ever heard of cyberspace, this boy hacks into a military computer, actually TALKS to it, and makes us think we're at war. Would you call that a sci-fi movie? No. It has a sci-fi concept that is very much a reality today, but back then we couldn't really conceive of that. Most of us were still playing with Commodore 64's at the time, if we were even alive.
Same with "Charly," which was a great book too ("Flowers for Algernon" is one of three books I make it a point to read once a year), but it was not a sci-fi. It had sci-fi concepts, but overall it was a contemporary drama.
Sure we may differ in opinion on this, but bottom line is "Charly" will most likely not be in the sci-fi section but in the drama section at the video rental, and I think that's where it belongs.
Incidentally tabuno, good choices on "Gattaca" and "Stranded." I am not disputing that it is possible to have a good dramatic non-action sci-fi, and they are often the movies that are remembered more. But chances are it will not sell as quickly or as much as Hollywood would want, thus they go with what they know will get them some quick bucks...action.