The Sci-Fi Movie Guide

From the trashy to the epic, from the classics to today's blockbusters, this cinefile’s guidebook reviews nearly 1,000 of the biggest, baddest, and brightest from every age and genre of cinematic science fiction!



Once upon a time, science fiction was only in the future. It was the stuff of drive-ins and cheap double-bills. Then, with the ever-increasing rush of new, society-altering technologies, science fiction pushed its way to the present, and it busted out of the genre ghetto of science fiction and barged its way into the mainstream. What used to be mere fantasy (trips to the moon? Wristwatch radios? Supercomputers capable of learning?) are now everyday reality.



Whether nostalgic for the future or fast-forwarding to the present, The Sci-Fi Movie Guide: The Universe of Film from Alien to Zardoz covers the broad and widening range of science-fiction movies. You’ll find more than just Star Wars, Star Trek, and Transformers, with reviews on many overlooked and under-appreciated gems and genres, such as ...

Monsters! Pacific Rim, Godzilla, The Thing, Creature from the Black Lagoon
Superheroes: Thor, Iron Man, X-Men, The Amazing Spider-man, Superman
Dystopias: THX 1138, 1984, The Hunger Games
Avant-garde masterpieces: Solaris, 2001, Brazil, The Man Who Fell to Earth
Time travel: 12 Monkeys, The Time Machine, Time Bandits, Back to the Future
Post-apocalyptic action: The Road Warrior, I Am Legend, Terminator Salvation
Comedy: Dark Star, Mars Attacks!, Dr. Strangelove, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension, Mystery Science Theater 3000
Aliens! The Day the Earth Stood Still, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Contact, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Signs
Mad scientists! Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Shoot-em-ups: Aliens, Universal Soldier, Starship Troopers
What the...?: Battlefield Earth, Prayer of the Rollerboys, Repo: The Genetic Opera, Tank Girl, The 10th Victim
Animation: WALL-E, Akira, Ghost in the Shell
Small budgets, big ideas: Donnie Darko, Primer, Sound of My Voice, Computer Chess
Neglected greats: Things to Come, Children of Men
Epics: Metropolis, Blade Runner, Cloud Atlas
and many, many more movies in many, many more categories!!


In addition to the nearly one thousand science fiction film reviews, this guide includes fascinating and fun Top-10 lists and sidebars that are designed to lead fans to similar titles they might not have known about. The Sci-Fi Movie Guide: The Universe of Film from Alien to Zardoz will help ensure that you will never again have to worry about what to watch next. Useful both as a handy resource or a fun romp through the film world of science fiction. It also includes a helpful bibliography and an extensive index, adding to its usefulness.