Your Unpopular TV/Film opinions.

[Segata]

War of the Worlds is Sci fi. Robot Monster is not. There is a difference between the tall tales and pulpy horror and fantasy and genuine sci fi. Star Wars is fantasy. Anyone who says different is just flat wrong because they cannot look past the space setting. Replace Death Star with Fortress. X-wings with dragons. Light sabers with swords. You still have basically the same story in a different backdrop.

[Exhuminator]

Star Wars is fantasy. Anyone who says different is just flat wrong because they cannot look past the space setting.

Okay big guy.

[marurun]

I think the Death Star falls under speculative fiction. As were many other parts of Star Wars:

https://www.wired.com/2012/05/star-wars ... t-gadgets/

It's a sci-fi franchise overall.

Well, technically, I suppose, speculative fiction is the broad umbrella under which you find science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Speculative fiction is indeed the widest and most generic classification for such works since it includes all of them.

Some purists consider even Star Trek to be science fantasy and not "true" science fiction, because of all the appearances of beings with supernatural powers that are unexplained (up to and including Q). So I think the only conclusion we can draw is that the field of speculative fiction is indeed both broad and fluid.

(Just because the Death Star is technology doesn't mean it isn't science fantasy. It's not explained at all how it works, so for all we know it's actually magic that just looks like technology.)

But really, arguing whether a cross-over work like Star Wars, that hews rather closely to the classic pulp tradition, is science fiction or science fantasy or fantasy is ultimately pointless. It's all still speculative fiction, it all still appeals to many of the same audiences, and it's still pretty awesome (if we ignore those prequel messes).

[dsheinem]

It is only a Wikipedia piece, but here's a good take on the "science of Star Wars" which, for me, makes it sort of an outlier but more closely tied to SciFi than Fantasy (really, it is nicely smack in the middle).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_and_Star_Wars

see also: http://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars- ... d-counting

It is certainly not hard sci-fi or high fantasy, but it serves as a nice bridge between these genres and that accessibility is part of its longevity...

[Segata]

"Star Wars really isn't a science-fiction film, it's a fantasy film and a space opera."-George Lucas.
http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/mo ... ce-quotes/
Boom. Straight from the horses mouth himself.

We are done here.

[marurun]

There is a difference between the tall tales and pulpy horror and fantasy and genuine sci fi.

That depends completely who you ask. There is no singular authority on that. There aren't stark and strict definitions. Only general, broad guidelines. And lots of messy crossing of lines. The SFWA doesn't bother to distinguish between them with the Nebula awards, nor does the WSFS with the Hugo awards.

[marurun]

"Star Wars really isn't a science-fiction film, it's a fantasy film and a space opera."-George Lucas.
http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/mo ... ce-quotes/
Boom. Straight from the horses mouth himself.

We are done here.

Ah, so George Lucas is the one who decides what's what. I see. So, if I write something, I can decide whether it is science fiction or fantasy or horror regardless of the content? Good to know!

[Exhuminator]

"Star Wars really isn't a science-fiction film, it's a fantasy film and a space opera."

Not a science fiction film, but it's got holograms, robots, droids, lasers, hovercrafts, spaceships of all sizes and shapes, aliens, cyborgs, hacking, circuit board modding, and plenty of other science fiction tropes. The films contain science fiction, even if that's not the crux of the experience.

[BogusMeatFactory]

I love how someone wants to change a genre of a movie from science fiction to science fantasy because it doesn't have science in it......

[marurun]

I love how someone wants to change a genre of a movie from science fiction to science fantasy because it doesn't have science in it......

I don't mind calling it science fantasy. It certainly isn't hard sci fi. But saying that it isn't sci fi at all is largely unjustified. It's trying to be pedantic about a term that is not well-defined enough to tolerate much pedantry. Too much genre bleed in speculative fiction to deal in the realm of "this is NOT."