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ianbanks's review
4.0
Ms Kaveny’s history of SF films covers the time from when they became commercially viable (in the wake of Star Wars) to when they became ubiquitous in the cinematic landscape. She picks and chooses some interesting films that have some similar themes - identity, transformation, the idea of being out of place in the world and making a place in it - and talks about how they explore the ideas that define them. She makes some fascinating points about films that I thought I already knew plenty about - as well as films I know very little about - and devotes the last third of the book to a fairly rigorous examination of the Alien franchise as it existed by 2005. There is a brief discussion of Star Wars that briefly demolishes any idea of consistency of theme or metaphor in that series, while the other big series of the same timeframe - Trek - barely rates a mention except in the chapter on Galaxy Quest, possibly because it doesn’t fit the brief of the book. It’s interesting and engaging and doesn’t talk down to the reader despite dealing with a lot of heavy concepts. Importantly, it doesn’t lose sight of the fact that these films are also highly entertaining for a lot of people who have no interest in looking deeper than being mildly entertained.
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