scifi tv
The best science fiction television from every decade.
Hollywood Halloween Hijinks - Count Dracula As An Extraterrestrial?
“Listen to them, the children of the night. What sweet music they make!” Count Dracula in "Dracula" - by Bram Stoker Loyal fans of the insidious exploits of the king of the vampires have been listening to haunting music played as a foreboding symphony from the bloodthirsty undead for decades. Ever since actor Bela Lugosi first put on the iconic cape in director Tod Browning’s 1931 landmark film, Dracula, movie audiences have lovingly embraced the coolest blood sucker of them all - Count Dracula. Before the Hollywood classic flick from Universal studios, readers immersed themselves in the bleak world of author Bram Stoker’s breakthrough novel, chronicling the wild adventures of the world’s most infamous vampire. Once Hollywood got a hold of Stoker's creation, the nefarious prince of darkness went through innumerable permutations, and Tinseltown is still morphing the world's favorite fang master.
By Will Stape8 years ago in Futurism
Best Sci-Fi Franchises
The best sci-fi franchises are often based on imagining what problems and solutions future technology will bring us, unlike fantasy, which is largely based on a magical reimagining of a medieval-type world. Where fantasy is conservative, instructing us to learn from the past, science fiction is progressive, asking us to look to the future for answers. This often makes the science fiction genre a challenging and liberal engagement with issues we currently face, issues we may one day face, and solutions that the future might hold. This makes the best sci-fi franchises all the more worth our careful consideration.
By James Lizowski8 years ago in Futurism
How Frank Herbert's 'Dune' Warned Of The Rise of Artificial Intelligence
“Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing.”Only I will remain. - Dune by Frank Herbert - 1965
By Will Stape8 years ago in Futurism
Sci-Fi's Obsession with Ancient Egypt
At first it sounds contradictory; isn’t science fiction all about what the future holds? But in looking back to a time before toothbrushes and iPads and breakfast cereal, you can get really philosophical without all the minutia that threatens to dominate life today. (Notice that I said you can, not that you have to - some of these films are just here to have fun.) If you love Ancient Egypt AND aliens and spaceships and futuristic weapons, now you can have both in one magical sandy pyramid-shaped package.
By Sarah Quinn8 years ago in Futurism
The Sci-Fi Museum Lover's Bucket List
If you’re a true fan of science fiction, whether campy or classic, space opera or speculative fiction, Star Trek or Jules Verne, you probably can’t get enough of the worlds your favorite characters inhabit, the clothes they wear, and the technology they wield. Lucky you, because some of the most exciting artifacts and memorabilia are exhibited in carefully curated museums around the world, and the momentum is building for even more. Check out this bucket list of already-existing sci-fi museums and exhibits, then get ready for two world-class museums coming to Hollywood, California and Washington D.C. in the years to come.
By Sarah Quinn8 years ago in Futurism
Netflix Is Bringing Back Sci-Fi TV
Sci-fi TV, like any category of entertainment, sees an ebb and flow in its popularity and supply. These days it is back in a big way, and not just on cable outlet SyFy— it's coming on strong in the streaming arena. Netflix changed the game in Hollywood in distribution, and now it's competing with the big production studios to offer up some of the best original content around. Shows such as Orange Is The New Black and Grace And Frankie are great drama/comedies, but Netflix isn't leaving out nor forgetting its genre loving fans or geek squads. Stranger Things is one of the hottest new TV shows in years. You won't find it on broadcast or cable. Jessica Jones, Sense8, Black Mirror and Stranger Things are all original and exclusive to Netflix, and cable outlets like SyFy are now encouraged to make more stimulating science fiction for fans.
By Will Stape8 years ago in Futurism
Greatest Artificial Intelligence Characters
The Sci-Fi and Pop Culture genres are often found on vastly different paths with many light years of distance between them, but once in a while they collide. When they intertwine, we usually end up with some of the greatest Artificial Intelligence characters in history has seen. Sometimes these characters are symbolized through a grim and pessimistic future, where machines are capable of feeling a wide range of emotions. They also have a survival instinct that leads them to try and take over the world. In other instances, they are lovable and friendly and able to connect with humans. Even though they are programmed not to feel any kind of emotions, most times we feel some sort of connection to them. Whatever the case might be, these great artificial intelligence characters were designed and programed to make you remember them.
By George Gott8 years ago in Futurism
'Star Trek' Booze: 50 Years Of Drinking With The Starship Enterprise
For the proud accomplishment of lasting half a century, a 50th anniversary is golden. It deserves a celebratory toast for any species in any part of the galaxy, and in the latest Trek film, fans get a fun tip of the glass after a fashion. Early on in Star Trek: Beyond, director Justin Lin’s action packed entry in Paramount Pictures feature film franchise, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and Bones (Karl Urban) share a rare quiet moment by drinking together in Enterprise’s officer’s lounge. The two friends and Starfleet officers take the time to down a little Saurian Brandy—an alien drink all too familiar to fans from way back in the day of the start of the original series.
By Will Stape8 years ago in Futurism
Confessions of a 'Star Trek' Writer
In 1996, director Jonathan Frakes (Cmdr. William Riker) helmed the movie celebrating Star Trek's 30th anniversary. Co-starring Alice Krige as the seductive Borg Queen and Alfre Woodard as the resourceful Lilly, First Contact was a big box office hit and a favorite with both audiences and critics. Although that particular film Starship Enterprise was commanded by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and had Data, an android science officer, instead of a Vulcan, the spirit of Star Trek was alive and well. Now, fans celebrate of 50 years of content that has not lost its relevance or, thanks to a new generation of Star Trek writers and creators, its style.
By Will Stape8 years ago in Futurism
Black Mirror Series Consistently Challenges
“The black mirror is one you’ll find on every wall, on every desk, in the palm of every hand: the cold, shiny screen of a TV, a monitor, a smartphone,” says series creator Brooker, but unlike Jason Reitman’s what-the-Internet-is-doing-to-us flop movie “Men, Women, and Children,” the Black Mirror series challenges the intellect and eschews stark portrayals of teenagers texting and not making eye contact (oh, the poignancy!) and concocts futuristic-scenarios that are only slightly far-fetched, poised on the outer rim of the technology we already have.
By Glenn Kenny8 years ago in Futurism
Top TARDIS Trivia Tidbits
Everybody knows the basics of the Time and Relative Dimensions in Space (TARDIS) vessels, right? They are a Type 40 class of chameleon time machines built by Time Lords from the planet Gallifrey. They’re much bigger on the inside. And one of them was stolen several hundred years ago by a man whose name is a secret… a man who calls himself only the Doctor. Together they’ve traveled from one side of the universe to the other, down the line from the Big Bang to the end of the time itself… and all the while, the Doctor’s TARDIS has been stuck in the form of an antiquated English policeman’s phone booth.
By Matt Cates8 years ago in Futurism
How Star Trek’s Most Sexually Charged Movie Scene Was Nearly Lost
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock continued the original feature film’s loose trilogy started by Nicholas Meyer with Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (1982), and while it’s not as critically praised, it’s a landmark in Trek canon for several compelling reasons. Much is made over Spock’s ‘resurrection’ - after Leonard Nimoy was lured back to Trek’s fold with directing his first major motion picture –– but there’s an underlying texture of sexuality which nearly overshadows Spock returning to life. Indeed, the racy moment was initially deemed so risqué or plain silly, that Paramount Pictures executives nearly kept the sexually charged scene on the cutting room floor.
By Will Stape8 years ago in Futurism