Sci-fi films have been a genre that has pushed the bounds of science over the years. Allowing audiences to immerse themselves in the strange world of science. Because of this, tropes have become popular in the genre. From questioning if there is life outside our universe to peeking at a dark future, we might be heading to. Sci-fi’s most popular troupes have helped define the genre as a whole. Today, we will explore some of the films that have helped define these sci-fi tropes.
Time Travel
Whether into science or not, anyone has wondered what it would be like to travel back in time. Wondering what effects they might have on the future or how it could be possible to begin with. This sci-fi trope is the most popular one in the genre, ranging from being used in horror, animation, and comedy films. This allows the audience to wonder what they would do if they were given a chance to travel back in time or in the future.
Back to the Future Trilogy
One of the most popular sci-fi movies uses the time travel troupe. The Back to the Future trilogy follows teen Marty McFly and crazed scientist Dr. Emmett Brown. Each film follows Marty and Doc in their time-traveling DeLorean. The stakes in each film are raised by having McFly travel from past, future, and present. Going back and forth to maintain as well as change the future.
The Butterfly Effect
A different look at time travel that doesn’t involve a particular machine or drug. College student Evan Treborn has been plagued with blackouts since his childhood. Placing him from one point in time to the next, unaware of what has happened. He soon learns that these blackouts are voids of time he needs to fill later in life. He uses the time to undo unfortunate past events. However, the consequences are worse than expected. Now Evan must do what he can to prevent these tragedies and save the girl he loves, Kayleigh.
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
A more comedic look at the use of time travel in sci-fi films, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a stoner comedy from the late 1980s. It follows the two title characters as they struggle to prepare a history report that they must pass. When a guy named Rufus comes from the future to help them pass their class, the group travels through history, gathering up historical figures to give a knockout report.
Aliens
Wanting to know if there is life on other planets or even different galaxies is an ongoing question. Sci-fi films have been a great outlet for exploring these questions. While a specific look of an alien has become common in the sci-fi genre, many films take that idea and make it unique, straying from the typical small green men in a UFO and giving aliens new designs and capabilities.
The Thing
One of the most iconic John Carpenter movies, The Thing, is a unique look at an alien. The film follows a group of scientists based at a U.S. remote research facility in Antarctica. They soon find themselves hunted by an alien creature that can take the shape of any of its victims. While the result of the alien taking over results in some freaky monster, there is no set look to the alien. Allowing it to have many horrifying forms and many different terrifying looks.
Cloverfield
Combining found footage and aliens, Cloverfield is an underestimated alien movie. When a group of friends in New York City are having a going-away party, they are interrupted by an alien-like creature. Now, the group must fight their way out of the city to survive. Cloverfield offers up a unique alien that is monstrous, spider-like, and bigger than the Big Apple. Differentiating from the tiny green men, one would associate with an alien creature.
E.T the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. was vastly different from other alien movies of the time but still just as iconic. It has been one of the last few decades’ most beloved alien sci-fi movies. When 10-year-old Elliot discovers the gentle alien, he brings him home, where he and his brother and sister care for E.T. A close friendship blossoms between them, but when E.T. falls ill, their friendship is threatened when government agencies begin to get involved. E.T. is a tremendous alien sci-fi movie and film with the critical message of not judging those who are not like us.
Dystopia
Wondering what the future might hold for us is an exciting but horrifying concept. Dystopia sci-fi has been an outlet for exploring that concept. Whether it’s a warning for the current society or a question of what today’s technologies will evolve into in the future. Dystopia sci-fi allows filmmakers to give the audience a mostly dark look at what the future might hold for us if we don’t make changes now.
Blade Runner
In 2019, which was the future at the time of Blade Runner’s 1982 release, a special police force called Blade Runners must hunt replicants. Replicants are robots who look and act like humans and were initially made to aid society. But they became outlawed when the superhuman Nexus 6 replicants started an off-earth colony. Former Blade Runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to hunt four replicants who have returned to Earth. But his view changes when he encounters Rachel, a replicant who doesn’t know she is one. Blade Runner is a look at what it means to be human, asking the question. If a robot can think and feel like a human, can it be considered a person?
Children of Men
In the year 2027, a mysterious illness swept the world, making all women infertile for the last 18 years. As the world goes into panic and humans going extinct is inevitable, Britain soon becomes the only civilized country. However, it soon became a police state as many tried to immigrate there as refugees. When bureaucrat Theo Faron is approached by his ex-wife Julian to escort a pregnant immigrant, Kee, he reluctantly agrees.
While he and Kee travel to get to her destination, he soon learns more about what’s going on in the outside world. Wondering if the destination they are heading to even exists and if their lives are at state. The extinction of humans has been explored in many dystopian films. However, its setup, which is that women can’t produce more children, is unique. Making it a more slow-paced yet horrifying look at the end of human civilization.
Idiocracy
A more comedic look at a dystopian society, Idiocracy sees the fall of human civilization with the fall of intelligence. Corporal Joe Bauers is selected to do a year-long human hibernation project. However, he is left in a hibernation state for 500 years when the project is shut down and sealed up. When he is woken up, Joe soon discovers he is now the most intelligent man alive compared to the rest of society. Now, he is tasked with solving the populations dwindling plant population, or he will be executed. Taking a more comedic look at the downfall of civilization, Idiocracy still has the underlying theme of horror in a dystopian film.
Final Thoughts on Sci-Fi Tropes
While some might hear the word trope and think it is something that will make a movie cliche. Tropes help define genres and the many different types of movies that can come from them. Sci-fi tropes have defined the genre, allowing it to have many kinds of movies. Whether they are made in a comedic, dramatic, or horrifying light, these tropes help sci-fi films thrive. It will also help future moviemakers when it comes to writing the next big sci-fi hit.
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