Alternate Americas : Science Fiction Film and American Culture

Science fiction films have been among the most important and successful products of American cinema over the past fifty years. And in a unique way, developments in this genre also reflect important developments in American society as a whole, so that a history of science fiction film also serves as something of a cultural history of America over the past half century. In order to allow all of the technical, cultural, and cinematic material inherent in this genre to be understood, M. Keith Booker has selected fifteen of the most successful and innovative science fiction films of all time and examined each of them at length to see where they came from and what they meant for the future of cinema and America at large. From Invasion of the Body Snatchers to Star Wars, from Blade Runner to The Matrix, these landmark films have expressed our fears and dreams, our abilities and our deficiencies, and in this deep-seeking investigation we can all find something of ourselves that we recognize, as well as something that we've never recognized before.