Alternate Americas : Science Fiction Film and American Culture

Science fiction films have been among the most important and successful products of American cinema over the past fifty years.

Developments in this genre also reflect important developments in American society as a whole, so that a history of science fiction film also serves as a cultural history of America over the past half century.

M. Keith Booker has selected fifteen successful and innovative science fiction films, and examined each of them at length to see where they came from, and what they meant for the future of cinema and America at large.

From "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" to "Star Wars", from "Blade Runner" to "The Matrix", these landmark films have expressed society's fears and dreams, abilities and deficiencies.

The focus on a fairly small number of landmark films allows detailed attention to be paid to a few genuinely original movies, including: "Forbidden Planet", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Planet of the Apes", "Star Wars", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Alien", "E.

T. the Extra-Terrestrial", "Blade Runner", "The Terminator", "Robocop", "The Abyss", "Independence Day", and "The Matrix". This book is ideal for general readers interested in science fiction and film.