El-Kabong

So my friend started waving a copy of his new Spawn disc, preambling it with "So, you in the mood for some Sci-Fi?"

Well half way through the movie, I turned and said, "Dude, this aint science fiction. Horror? Yes. Action? Yes. But this is not sci-fi."

Well the argument/discussion went downhill from there, with him pointing to the freaky nano-bots and the unearthly explosion as the science fiction. I was like "Dude, if high tech gadgets beyond currently existing technology was the only defining factor for Sci-Fi, then every James Bond movie every made would be considered science fiction."

My argument that for a movie to be defined as a genre, that it has to have at least 51% of the theme, setting or characters of that genre. High Plains Drifter is a western with a fantasy twist at the end. Psycho is not a Gay/Lesbian/Crossdressing drama because Norman likes to play dress-up with momma's clothing - a twist we only find out in the last few moments of the film.

So what do you guys think? Discuss amongst yourself.

Jackskeleton

Spawn is sci fi.. or do you think it's a work of fiction to get killed, come back with hellish powers and fight clowns who turn into demons.

yeah, it's sci fi. sure no time travel, but it does have alternate Planes of existance.

marty888

Science fiction as opposed to science real ...

Pretty simple....

jaeufraser

I don't know. Would you consider Friday the 31th or Nightmare on Elm Street Scifi? They have just as much of these demonic elements, strange planes of existence, but I wouldn't call them scifi.

MrN

There's no actual science in the film - so its Fantasy. Just like 'Lord of the Rings'. It has elements of horror but the finished product isn't scary so there you have it.

Supermallet

Dictionary.com has two definitions for science fiction:

1. A literary or cinematic genre in which fantasy, typically based on speculative scientific discoveries or developments, environmental changes, space travel, or life on other planets, forms part of the plot or background.

2. n : literary fantasy involving the imagined impact of science on society


So, according to this, science fiction is a subset of fantasy. I would say Spawn falls under the more general category of fantasy than it does science fiction.

In fact, I'd say it specifically falls into the subgenre of "Films where John Leguizamo dresses up as a midget clown."

MrN

I think the dictionary defintion is using the word 'fantasy' at face value and not to represent a genre. Because you just might as well say all fiction = fantasy.

In terms of film genres, fantasy and sci-fi are distinct.

diacritic

Fantasy: usually good vs. evil; attempt to bring things back as they were in the old days. All about the importance and superiority of the human being, and is very communal. In other words, fantasy is very conservative

Sci-Fi= Anti-humanistic, and individualistic. It is about change, about bringing about rebellion and anarchy.

talemyn

Hmmm . . . I gotta go with the science/technology being a requirement of the Sc-fi genre. Fantasy, I would say requires the sword and sorcery type of focus. Spawn I would label as either Comic Book and/or Superhero fiction . . . that is, if I am allowed to create a new one. I think with the proliference of new comic book based movies, maybe a new genre is needed?

DRG

Why were you hanging out with Bonnie Hammer in first place???

Jericho

Well most places do seem to lump Sci-fi and Horror together in one section, like the local Best Buy. I don't really go into the extended definition some have for sci-fi though. It's been a while since I've seen Spawn so I'm not sure how well I remember everything, but I would probably say it is not sci-fi in my book

Gyno Rhino

Spawn is fantasy, not sci-fi. Star Wars is borderline fantasy/sci-fi. Star Trek is sci-fi. Any questions?