When it changed

[supergee]

40 years ago a film buff took all he could remember of Buck Rogers, Seven Samurai, World War II movies (both sides), and the Masterplots guide to The Hero with 1000 Faces, and made a movie with lotsa battles, unprecedented special effects, and magnificent scenery that the actors sometimes blocked our view of. That’s when sf became sci-fi.

ETA: It was also the year that Terry Brooks cut the interesting parts out of Lord of the Rings and created not only a bestseller but a template for the infinite replication of fantasy product. Anus mirabilis, or something.

Comments

[weofodthignen]

I did love Star Wars. I gather he's messed it up since. Up until then, all new movies were horrible. (I'm not sure when that started, but I suspect it was the 70s.) After that, there started to again be movies that were worth seeing.

[firecat]

I remember being so excited seeing the Terry Brooks book (in an airport bookshop!) and so mad and disappointed about 10 minutes later.