“James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction” is a uniquely intimate look at science fiction’s roots, futuristic vision and our fascination with its ideas through interviews by James Cameron with A-list storytellers, stars and other whose careers have defined the field, including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Will Smith, and Sigourney Weaver.
Watching “James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction” is not something that is easily reviewable. It’s not like you’re watching a feature-length movie or even a documentary, although it feels more akin to a documentary than anything else, you almost feel like a fly on the wall as some of your favorite film directors and action stars talk about some of the biggest movies they’ve made but which deal specifically with science fiction. When you think of Spielberg, you automatically think of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “E.T.,” with Cameron you think of “The Terminator” and “Aliens,” with Lucas it’s “Star Wars,” with Scott it’s “Alien” and “Blade Runner,” and with Christopher Nolan, it’s “Interstellar” and the forthcoming “Tenet.”
Cameron hosts the show but he only interacts with the film directors, including Spielberg, Lucas, Scott, del Toro, and Nolan, and Schwarzenegger too as Cameron directed him in three of his movies. Each director talks about what it was that intrigued them to make specific pictures. Spielberg said the thought of being able to realistically create dinosaurs on-screen was enough for him to acquire the rights to “Jurassic Park” for $1.5 million but one thing I never knew was that Cameron had tried to acquire the rights around the same time Spielberg did and told him so, even Spielberg seemed quite surprised at the revelation and Cameron went on to say that had he made the film himself, it would have been R-rated and a lot darker and more violent, similar to his movie “Aliens.” Spielberg also went on to say that as a young boy, his father used to come into his room in the middle of the night and take him outside when they lived in Phoenix, Arizona, so they could watch meteor showers together, which gave him a love of the night sky and the possibility of aliens, which formed the basis for “Close Encounters.” He even stated that in many ways, “E.T.” was the unofficial sequel to “Close Encounters,” imagining if one of the aliens that came out of the ship at the end of the film to take Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfus) with them, accidentally got left behind.
Lucas talks about Star Wars basically being a western set in outer space while Nolan says he’s always been fascinated by the unknown, elements of which he has used in many of his films, especially “Interstellar.” Scott talks about being introduced to Swiss artist H. R. Giger’s work in the late ’70s, which he found quite disturbing and which had a profound effect on him, especially his painting Necronom IV, which was the inspiration for the creature in Scott’s 1979 sci-fi classic, “Alien.” The show also talks about some of sci-fi’s greatest authors, including Ray Bradbury, H.G. Wells, Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov, and talks a little about their life and their works.
Will Smith, Zoe Saldana, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Paul W. S. Anderson, and many others talk about their love and fascination for all things sci-fi, given that they have either starred in or directed some of the biggest science fiction films of all time. As I stated earlier, this is like sitting down with some old friends and just talking about your favorite movies. The best part of the show was being able to watch Cameron interact with Spielberg, Lucas, del Toro, Scott, and Nolan, each of them giants in the film industry and listen to their takes on movies and their careers in general. One can only imagine what kind of an idea all six directors could come up with together and, most importantly, who would direct it! Most of what transpires here is common knowledge so if you’re a film enthusiast, a lot of what you hear you will already know. For those not so versed in film culture, you’ll probably enjoy it a lot more.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD July 28th
