British Science Fiction Cinema

ISBN-13: 9780415168670 / Angielski / Twarda / 1999 / 240 str.

I. Q. Hunter

Opis

Bound by modest budget constraints and dwarfed by Hollywood's output, British sci-fi cinema has enjoyed a checkered past, overlooked by critics. Yet the sci-fi genre has produced some of the best British films, from the pre-war classic Things to Come to Alien - made in Britain by a British director. This text redresses the balance, exploring the diverse strangeness of British sci-fi from literary adaptations like 1984 and A Clockwork Orange to the pulp fantasies and creature features far removed from the acceptable face of British cinema. Through case studies of key films like The Day the Earth Caught Fire, contributors explore the unique themes and concerns of British sci-fi from the post-war boom years to more recent productions like Hardware, and examine the use of different sources, from TV adaptations like Dr Who and the Daleks, to the horror/sci-fi crossovers produced by the Hammer studio and John Wyndhams cult novels Day of the Triffids and Village of the Damned. How did budget restrictions encourage the use of the invasion narrative in '50s films?

Recenzje

'While the general approach is academic, the sheer nature of the films under scrutiny means that things don't get too serious, so non-students can also appreciate what the book has to offer too.' - Film Review

'British Science Fiction Cinema British Crime Cinema The two books may be aimed more at students than buffs, but anyone who picks them up will find plenty of food for thought.' - Independent

'The twelve essays in this book, all written with an obvious affection for their subject, show why this mode of popular culture is worthy of sustained scholarly consideration - not least because of its potential for radical social comment.' - The Time Literary Supplement

Spis treści

Introduction: the strange world of the British science fiction film 1 Things to Come and science fiction in the 1930s 2 ‘We’re the Martians now’: British sf invasion fantasies of the 1950s and 1960s 3 Apocalypse then!: the ultimate monstrosity and strange things on the coast...an interview with Nigel Kneale 4 Alien women: the politics of sexual difference in British sf pulp cinema 5 ‘A stiff upper lip and a trembling lower one’: John Wyndham on screen 6 Trashing London: the British colossal creature film and fantasies of mass destruction 7 The Day the Earth Caught Fire 8 Adapting telefantasy: the Doctor Who and the Daleks films 9 ‘A bit of the old ultra-violence’: A Clockwork Orange 10 The British post-Alien intrusion film 11 Dream girls and mechanic panic: dystopia and its others in Brazil and Nineteen Eighty-Four 12 ‘No flesh shall be spared’: Richard Stanley’s Hardware

O autorze

I.Q. Hunter is Senior Lecturer in Media Studies at De Montfort University, Leicester.