The sci-fi genre has always been about the future, but there are a few great movies which apply sci-fi concepts to historical periods. These can create interesting alternative histories, as well as some of the most unexpected spectacles that the genre has to offer.
Sci-fi delves into the past less than any other genre, simply because sci-fi is built on speculation and advanced technologies. Inserting either of these ideas into real-world history seems sorely out of place when it isn’t executed with care. Only a few historical sci-fi movies have the intelligence to avoid looking like cheap “what-if” pulp fiction.
65stars Adam Driver as an astronaut who crash lands on an alien planet and has to find his way home. In aPlanet of the Apes-style twist, the planet in question is Earth, with the key difference being that the story takes place 65 million years ago, on the day that the dinosaurs are about to be wiped out by an asteroid.
65offers a lot more than raucous video-game fun.
65has plenty of schlocky B-movie charm, but Driver’s performance brings enough intensity to sustain some genuinely gripping moments. Although the concept of fighting dinosaurs with laser rifles is immediately eye-catching,65offers a lot more than raucous video-game fun.
Apollo 10 1/2isn’t necessarily an autobiographic movie, but it might as well be, since it draws so heavily from Richard Linklater’s childhood experiences growing up in the suburbs of Houston. It spends just as much time listing old TV shows and music from the 1960s as it does exploring its sci-fi premise.
Apollo 10 1/2uses sci-fi to illustrate the boundless reach of childhood imagination, and the way that memories can all get smeared together until they no longer make sense. One could argue thatApollo 10 1/2shouldn’t really count as sci-fi at all, since Stanley’s trip to the moon is heavily implied to be a dream.
Preyhas been hailed as thebest movie in thePredatorfranchisesince the original, partly because it takes things back to basics.Preymanages to make its fearsome alien monster seem just as shocking as it once was, although the 18th century Great Plains setting is a touch of brilliance.
The success ofPreypaved the way forPredator: Killer of Killers,which applies the same basic idea to three different time periods in an anthology format. This offers another opportunity to see people from different historical cultures squaring up to a predator.
Yorgos Lanthimos' moviesstand out with their unsettling atmospheres and stilted dialogue. Lanthimos has deployed his idiosyncratic style for dark comedy and haunting psychological horror, and withPoor Thingshe adds sci-fi to his list of accomplishments.
Poor Thingsis based on the book by Alasdair Gray, which is a twisted kind ofFrankensteinfable.Lanthimos' adaptation keeps the period setting and the grotesque body horror of many otherFrankensteinstoriesdating back to Mary Shelley’s original novel, but he adds plenty of his own touches.
It can be hard to keep track of all theGodzillamovies since the franchise started in the 1950s, butGodzilla Minus Onehas been praised as one of the very best. This could be because it recaptures what made the concept so powerful in the first place, with Godzilla being used to create an allegory about Japan’s collective post-war trauma.
Godzilla Minus Onetakes place in the immediate aftermath of World War II, as Japan is struggling to rebuild both financially and psychologically. While the visual effects have been lauded by critics,Godzilla Minus Oneworks well because it tells an interesting story, both on a broader societal level and with its three-dimensional characters.
The MCU is one of the most ambitious franchises in the history of cinema, because it tries to establish an entire alternate reality that seems just as lived-in and believable as our own.Captain America: The First Avengerwas a key step in this process, since it uses elements of real-world history to add weight to Captain America’s backstory.
The First Avengeris an interesting amalgam of truth and fiction.The worldbuilding relies on drawing parallels between Captain America’s story and the real history of wartime propaganda.It’s also interesting to see the way thatThe First Avengeruses the Nazi war machine as a shortcut to understanding the true evil of its villain.
A lot oftime travel movieseither journey into the future or hop around within the same basic timeframe, partly because this is the easiest way to avoid all the tricky sci-fi paradoxes that crop up with backwards time travel.Back to the Futureembraces the chaos of these paradoxes, as Marty McFly travels back to the 1950s and starts meddling in his own creation.
EachBack to the Futuremovie takes place in a different era. The second movie stands out by heading into the future, but otherwise, the franchise is happy to poke fun at the past.Back to the Future’s loving recreation of the 1950s sets up plenty of great jokes, as does its Western outing inPart III.
The Iron Giantis based on the popular children’s book by Ted Hughes, although Brad Bird makes plenty of changes to the story. Hughes' story came from the idea of a gun who doesn’t want to be a gun, and this encapsulates the way that the giant’s innocent, naive demeanor makes him such a lovable hero.
The Iron Giantechoes the public’s fascination with alien invasion stories during the Cold War, but it isn’t nearly as bleak as something likeThe Body Snatchers, for instance. Instead,The Iron Giantis a delightful tale about how friendship and curiosity can be more powerful than paranoia and skepticism.
Many of Christopher Nolan’s movies are famous for their unique sci-fi concepts, butThe Prestigedoesn’t even reveal itself to be a sci-fi movie at all until late in the game. What starts out as a relatively grounded drama about two feuding magicians in Victorian London evolves into something much weirder and darker.
The sci-fi twist inThe Prestigecomes from the different ways that Angier and Borden execute their “Transported Man” tricks, in which they seem to teleport across the stage. Theending ofThe Prestigereveals their methods, and the differences highlight the true values of each man.
Guillermo del Toro once again proved his credentials as the master of the modern monster movie withThe Shape of Water,which blends some familiar elements with the basic framework of a quirky romance. Somehow, del Toro balances these conflicting ideas and genres expertly.
The Shape of Waterwas a worthy Best Picture winner.
The Shape of Waterwas a worthy Best Picture winner, with great performances, a charming score and a deeply moving narrative.The story takes place at the height of Cold War paranoia in the United States. This turns out to be the perfect setting for a cinematic love story like no other.
