May/June 1999  (Vol. 14, Issue 3)

The Sci-Fi Files
(1997) 4 videocassettes, approx. 50 min. each. $59.98 (DVD: $34.98). WinStar Home Entertainment (avail. from most distributors). Color cover. ISBN: 1-57252-351-4.
Use the voiceover, Luke! Mark Hamill serves as narrator on this movie-clip rich survey of sci-fi in cinema. I watched the opening volume, "Children of Frankenstein," which traced--sometimes erratically--the lineage from Mary Shelley's classic 1818 novel about a scientist who usurped God's role in creating new life. Combining clips from a wide variety of sci-fi classics (Frankenstein, Sleeper, The Fly, The Time Machine, Robocop, Terminator 2, Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and more), together with interview segments with such sci-fi luminaries as William Gibson, Arthur C. Clarke, Brian Aldiss, and Marge Piercy, as well as filmmaker Terry Gilliam, this series--which aired on The Learning Channel--is, like its subject matter, fairly provocative as it explores the predictions of science fiction and the true scientific discoveries which eventually followed. The other episodes in the series are: "Spaceships and Aliens," "March of the Machines" and "Living in the Future." Sure to be a very popular series, especially as we head into the summer of 1999 and the probable domination of the latest Star Wars film at the box office. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)