Overused Elements of Science-Fiction: Your Favorite/Most Hated Clichés

reply to post by superman2012

That IS a ridiculously overused way of setting up the story. I was talking last night about Seth Green in an early-mid 90s movie, playing the computer-geek hacker with "eyes on the cameras" in a heist-type action scene. This role is ALWAYS played by a usually weak, punky, alterna-guy who wears like, rave pants & always downloads or uploads
The important thing with SECONDS to spare.

And you have your explosives expert, your master at schmoozing, the kung-fu fighter (the latter 2 are popular roles for the females in the group), you have the theoretical philosopher, the obstinate leader who's pushed out in favor of the son on a quest.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Moon, YES.
The sound in space thing is something we've discussed. It bugs some people, Im really not that bothered by it.
The looming space ship could give way to smallish craft, but then what would hover ominously over a city?

Have you seen District 9?
www.rottentomatoes.com...

reply to post by Snsoc


About bipedalism, I've thought about the biological structure of possible alien populations, and am satisfied w/the findings of scientists that upright bipedalism is likely to help evolve the consciousness of a species. I think Ive read about somewhere, but today's cursory searchibg has not yielded any supportive links.
But i did find these!
Bizarre Alien Biology

And another vastly nonscientific take on the matter:
Hominid Panspermia Theory
"The Hominid Panspermia Theory also helps explain how there are so many bizarre life-forms throughout the universe without invoking near-deity races like the Q. One could argue that in the time that it took the seeded planets to evolve spacefaring hominid species, many other forms of life, intelligent and otherwise, evolved as well. The result is a near-universe that is largely populated by hominid alien species and a far-universe populated by inconceivably strange alien species. Furthermore, unintentional forward-contamination from the First Intelligent Species would have allowed unguided panspermia to trigger life in unexpected and unanticipated ways. Thus, many alien first contacts with Humanity were with hominid aliens."

Originally posted by NarcolepticBuddha

I like to see mind-blowing discoveries in my sci-fi. I like things that make me think. There's too much lazy sci-fi out there that's just about fighting and nothing else.

Well I agree Hollywood is getting pretty lazy but there's still some pretty thought provoking Sci-Fi being produced in the short film market -there are some examples listed on the thread below and I thought 'Sight', 'Delivery' and 'Project Kronos' were really good (if anyone knows of any please add ).


The Centrifuge Brain Project and other Sci-Fi Shorts


Cheers.

kkrattiger
Have you seen District 9?
www.rottentomatoes.com...

edit on 30-7-2013 by kkrattiger because: Sound not slund

I liked it, more so for the character studies in the scenarios of dealing with the Prawns.


For some reason, I was reminded of Wayne Barlowe, because I thought he could have been involved in the visual design of the "Prawns" of District 9. The most amazing visual "hard science fiction" there ever was, and likely ever will be, is Barlowe's book, Expedition. I loaned it to someone long ago, and never got it back (he who shall be cursed). You can see some of it here: waynebarlowe.wordpress.com...

He envisioned an entire alien biosphere, and the diverse life that would have evolved in such a strange ecosystem. It's the most full-realized alien environment ever.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Emperor SeaStrider is great. Ships on the horizon. Thanks for the link, as a painter myself I absolutely can relate to the way he expresses the thought process & reasoning behind the works done in succession.

Anything to do with zombies. It's been done to death, which is ironic.

I'd have a lot more to say about fantasy clichés, personally (the Tolkienian fantasy you see everywhere by hack writers. I'm also sick and tired of vampires....enough...please!

I'm still a huge fan of Blade Runner and I love dystopian future fiction, so I cannot agree with a couple other commenters here on that. I am tired of sub-genre fiction in general though. I would love to read more literary, thought-provoking Sci-Fi like Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, Frank Herbert and Isaac Asimov. In terms of movies and TV, I'm tired of killer robots, androids, space wars, wormholes or end-of-the-world scenario stories. I'm also tired of CGI aliens and starships. If they don't look real, the illusion is lost on me.

reply to post by Night Star


I agree about the names and mass of weak characters. Zorgan from the planet Zorg, likes newspapers(to eat!) hates HUMANS! But w a common enemy of ours he has put that tendency aside to help fight the good fight

Hmmm

reply to post by LoneCloudHopper2


The writer in the house perked up at your list of writers. Thanks for the post. Just out of curiousity, answer the O.P.but for fantasy, then? Would like to hear your rants/raves re:fantasy fiction

reply to post by woodwardjnr


I second this. Zombies are seriously getting old for me.

I'm surprised no one has yet posted "The Top 100 Things I'd Do
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord".

My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones.

My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.

My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.

Shooting is not too good for my enemies.

The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

...and so on.

reply to post by Saint Exupery


Having just watched Thor two nights ago, I see your list and have to agree.

a reply to: kkrattiger

One interesting idea would be an anti matter universe meeting with ours.
I read insane ammounts of science fiction, and that's still a novel concept. I've never seen that before. What if it was a first contact story about those two universes? If matter and antimatter explode on contact, how do you try to set up peaceful relations with the anti matter aliens? It would definitely be an interesting head twister

a reply to: kkrattiger

Probably the most annoying cliche I see is the whole "terraforming". If your making a planet not like earth, it's not called Terraforming! It's called Geoforming. Think about it. Terra=Earth. This is something they got dreadfully wrong in the latest superman movie

I hate how all characters are experts.

As an example. In one of the Star Trek movies....

The Captain suddenly (after hundreds of years of Star Ship development) suddenly has a brainwave that all Star Ships have an exhaust pipe. Yeah, OK.

He needs to alter a Torpedo so it homes in on the exhaust, yea Ok.

He leaves the Bridge during an attack, dumb.

He takes the bloody Doctor with him who seems to know a lot about torpedoes and so does the Captain!

Now tell me, how many Doctors in the Navy could reconfigure a missile?

It is just lazy script writing.

P

I am a Tolkien fan (only the Books). The movies IMHO are terrible with hardly any redeeming value. It's like what "Gidget" meant to the surfing people. It's embarassing and just plain crapola. I know the whole "Worlds" thing has been overdone but there seems to be a chance that this particular genre could evolve favorably. Peter Jackson should be put into stocks and left in the town square. However maybe someday someone could come along and adapt the Tolkien story: "Of Beren and Luthien" and do it right.

Time travel in SF is just rediculous and way overdone. Temporal causality and all that stuff is just a joke. I would like to see more SF that uses settings that are Earth originated in a far distant past. Stories taking place in Atlantis or Lemuria would be cool. The stories being told in an imaginary historical way.

Anybody ever read Lord Foul's Bane (just that one) the rest of that trilogy (Stephen Donaldson) is lacking IMHO. I love the way Thomas Covenant goes from the real world into the fantasy world.

a reply to: Baronofbrains

Anybody ever read Lord Foul's Bane (just that one) the rest of that trilogy (Stephen Donaldson) is lacking IMHO. I love the way Thomas Covenant goes from the real world into the fantasy world.

I liked the entire first series, but the second series sucked so bad as many of them do. It was one of the first Fantasy series with a psychological base. It was certainly new and exciting.

P