Recognizing that we won’t be able to go to the theaters for a while, we are providing these science fiction recommendations for your viewing choices in your home.
“Inception” (2010)
Dreams fascinate us. From ancient times, dreams have been seen as vehicles for recognizing deeper fears, predicting the future as well as a means for providing divine messages. Today, therapists use the power of dreams to bring understanding and healing, especially when suppression or repression is present. However, for this film to suggest that shared dreaming is possible, and was developed because our military wanted to have a way to train soldiers, is pure science fiction. But it is excellent science fiction.
Written and directed by Christopher Nolan (“Memento”), “Inception” focuses on the deep pain of Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio). As a specialist in shared dreaming, Cobb has discovered that he can enter the minds of corporate leaders and steal their secrets. But what we soon discover is that his dreams are haunted by the malevolent Mal (Marion Cotillard). The reasons are complex and hinge on a powerful lesson about the capacity of guilt to disrupt our inner-selves, as well as the necessity of forgiveness.
“Contact” (1997)
The deepest longing of any person is for contact with a higher power. This truth could be no more effectively portrayed than in the film based on Carl Sagan’s book and now put on the screen, “Contact.”
Though most believe that “science has no methods to answer the ultimate questions,” there are others for whom the scientific quest has become a consuming passion. One such person is Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster).
Having lost her mother at birth and her father at age 9, Ellie is a person consumed with contacting the “life” from outer space. An unusually gifted scientist, Ellie graduates from high school early, earns a Ph.D. and moves quickly to the top of her profession. However, she declines the honor of a Harvard professorship in order to dedicate her life to making contact with life from other planets.
“Independence Day” (1996)
Deep within the soul of every person are universal fears that haunt our lives. Such fears dwell within the recurring images of our dreams, nightmares and artistic creations. Although all great art and literature revel in these shadowy archetypes, the film created by Dean Devlin, “Independence Day,” is a masterpiece of such explorations.
Taken not as a literal story about aliens, but rather as an allegorical exploration of our deepest fears, the film is a powerful opportunity for us to confront those fears. Those fears can be expressed in the following questions: Are we alone in the universe, or is there someone more powerful than we are? If there is someone out there, is that someone good or bad? And is there coming a day in which we must stand face to face with that power, and will we survive the encounter or be annihilated?
The fear of death, either as an individual or as a race, is a primal fear. It exemplifies itself here in the symbol of an apocalyptic invasion of an overwhelmingly powerful alien force. A ship one-fourth the size of the moon appears as people rise to begin a normal day. Using impressive special effects, the film allows us to visually and emotionally be overwhelmed with the size and power of the threat.
“Ex Machina” (2014)
Presenting perhaps the most thought-provoking film to date on artificial intelligence, Alex Garland has created a masterpiece as both the writer and director of “Ex Machina.”
Choosing this story for his debut as a director, the pacing and simplicity of the story allow us to look deeply into the eyes of the computing machines that are increasingly capturing the days of our lives.
Asking the question of whether these artificially created intelligences might also capture our hearts is the theme of several recent films, including “Her,” in which Joaquin Phoenix’s heart is captured. But Garland takes this idea to the next level when he designs a robot with not only an alluring though disembodied voice, but also one that includes a body replicating every search engine desire logged in his main character’s computing history. When he faces the ultimate representation of the woman of his dreams, it matters little whether she is a robot. From the face to the body to the facial expressions, it is more than he can do to keep his heart from falling.
“Passengers” (2016)
Science fiction has often explored what would happen if you really were the “last man and woman” on Earth. Like Adam and Eve of biblical fame, we wonder if they would fall in love or simply fall in some personal or spiritual way? Would they create a paradise, or would they create a hell? These questions are once more explored in Morten Tyldum’s film “Passengers.”
Written by Jon Spaihts, who also co-wrote “Doctor Strange,” the setting is sometime in the future when a private company has created starships that can take courageous adventurers to distant planets to homestead a new world. The problem is that to do so takes so long even going half the speed of light that they have to put crew and passengers into a 120-year hibernation.
But on this journey with the Starship Avalon, something goes wrong and Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) wakes up after only 30 years in transit. This puts him in an unenviable situation of having to spend his life alone on a magnificent starship that puts any cruise ship to shame. He tries everything to remedy his situation for more than a year and is unsuccessful. But one day he notices the sleeping Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence).
“District 9” (2009)
The message of Neill Blomkamp’s “District 9” is obvious. He sets the film in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, where the decision is made to create an apartheid separation of a race of aliens who helplessly arrive on a spaceship. This decision develops over two decades into creating a slum area of poverty, crime and prejudice. This presents a cinematic opportunity to explore what such a decision does, not only to those so separated but also to those who impose such a division.
As a Johannesburg native, Blomkamp writes and directs an insightful tale. Assisted by first-time screenwriter Terri Tatchell, Blomkamp uses a quasi-documentary format that allows the audience to walk with Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley) as he is given responsibility to move the aliens to a new encampment far away from the city. It does not go well.
Science Fiction Series We Recommend
» “Star Wars” (1977-2018)
» “Men in Black” (1997-2019)
» “Jurassic Park” (1993-2021 projected)
» “Hunger Games” (2012-2015)
» “Divergent” (2014-2016)
— Cinema in Focus is a social and spiritual movie commentary. Hal Conklin is a former mayor of Santa Barbara and Denny Wayman is the retired pastor of Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara and lead superintendent of Free Methodist Church in Southern California. For more reviews, visit www.cinemainfocus.com, or follow them on Twitter: @CinemaInFocus. The opinions expressed are their own.