The seven ages of sci-fi (part one)

As you might be aware, the latest issue of Total Film is celebrating the upcoming reimagining of The Day the Earth Stood Still, including an exclusive interview with Keanu Reeves. It’s only available for one more week (at the time of writing), so we think you ought to go to a newsagent now. If you haven't already, that is.

To tie-in, over the next seven days we’re looking back over the seven ages of cinema sci-fi.

See also:

Part Two - Nuclear paranoia (1951 - 1962)

Part Three - The Red Menace (1953 - 1964)

Part Four - Inner Visions (1968 - 1984)

Part One - Futureworlds

The novel might not be drooled over as much as Bradbury’s work, but it inspired this 1976 effort and sticks in the mind so well Bryan Singer wanted to remake it - and James McTeigue will.

Michael Anderson’s adap kept the central theme of paradise with a catch (you reach 30, you get killed), with the still-fresh Vietnam War a big subtext for a country dealing with another still-fresh theme - government deception.

Also see...

• Things to Come (1936) An impassioned call for mankind's development, bursting with startlingly accurate predictions.
• THX 1138 (1971) A pre-Star Wars George Lucas takes a cold, hard stare into a utopian, yet emotionless world.
• A Boy And His Dog (1975) A brutal, bruising vision of a society ruined by war and the loner (Don Johnson) who scavenges across its surface.
• Mad Max (1979) Revenge and guerilla warfare in a ragged, rundown future.
• RoboCop (1987) Packed with Paul Verhoeven's trademark violence and bristling with smart satire.
• Gattaca (1998) When Andrew Niccol penned what is still his best film, cloning and genetic research was, as it is now, provoking huge debate.

Check back tomorrow for more sci-fi