The 5 Most Scientifically Plausible Sci-Fi Movies

http://www.newsarama.com/film/081116-top-5-plausible-sci-fi.html

The 5 Most Scientifically Plausible Sci-Fi Movies
By Benjamin Radford, Special to Newsarama
06 November 2008

Great science fiction isn't just about gooey aliens and gee-whiz technologies like teleporters. Unlike, say, the ever-popular fantasy genre, sci-fi is often grounded in the human condition and based on plausible—if speculative—science. Of course, some science fiction films are more plausible than others: Would the Galactic Empire really have enough manpower to build (and then rebuild) the Death Star in the Star Wars films? While legions of sci-fi nerds debate that question, here’s are flicks that stand out:

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

It's no accident that the classic sci-fi film 2001 was rooted in good science, having sprung from the mind of the late, great Arthur C. Clarke. Clarke's background in science informed and inspired the setting in 2001, describing geosynchronous satellites, artificial intelligence, and commercial space travel. Clarke lived long enough to see the satellites he envisioned actually put into orbit, and in the deserts of New Mexico, a "spaceport" is planned that will allow paying passengers to see our pale blue dot from near space.

2. The Truman Show (1998)

It's hard for many young people to remember, but there was a time before the 24-hour news feed and the reality TV craze. The Truman Show, starring Jim Carrey as the unwitting star of a voyeuristic television show watched by billions around the planet, foretold the coming of America's weekly entertainment. Not only was close, continuous surveillance plausible, it already exists in current hits like Big Brother and Survivor.

3. Gattaca (1997)

In the not-too-distant future world of Gattaca, children's genes are pre-selected by their upper-class parents for the best traits; those babies whose genes are imperfect are treated as second-class citizens. Today DNA analysis is common, and several companies offer genetic testing for as little as a few hundred dollars. Genetic profiling? Health insurance companies potentially denying claims based on genetic predisposition to a disease? For many, this fear is not science fiction but science fact.

4. Iron Man (2008)

Marvel Comics hero Tony Stark is a genius inventor whose suit of armor—basically a souped-up mechanical exoskeleton run by computers—is probably more scientifically plausible than most superheroes. Though Iron Man's nifty gadgets, including his handy laser repulsors and jet boots, remain science fiction, in many cases the underlying scientific principles are sound. Practical problems, such as the suit's cost and weight, would make a real Iron Man unlikely.

5. Jurassic Park (1993)

Part of what made Michael Crichton an enormously popular writer was his ability to extrapolate current science technology. Science fiction has always been about "What if?", and few modern authors blended science fact with science fiction so successfully. Though scientists are a long way off from cloning dinosaurs—they haven't gone much past Dolly the cloned sheep—the scientific fundamentals are there. By the end of the century, real cloned dinos might just be chasing down tourists!

Benjamin Radford is a writer, columnist for LiveScience, and film critic. He has written and directed two short films, one of which will be released in 2009.

Remembering Michael Crichton

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/11/michael-crichto.html

Remembering Michael Crichton
Nov 5, 2008
by Gary Susman

Categories: Books, Film, In Memoriam, Television

There's a line between our awe of science and technology, with all the possibilities they offer us, and our fear of same, that the sense of control they offer is a lethal illusion. Few authors made that line their own as skillfully -- and as profitably -- as Michael Crichton. The author/screenwriter/director, who died Tuesday at age 66, had a knack for finding and exploring hot-button issues in his techno-thrillers -- sexual harassment (Disclosure), epidemiology (The Andromeda Strain), airline safety (Airframe), the importation of Japanese business culture to the U.S. (Rising Sun), nanotechnology (Prey), global warming (State of Fear), and of course, genetic engineering (Jurassic Park, The Lost World, and Next). But he did so in a savvy, populist way by using these complex issues as McGuffins for flashy, genre-plotted novels and movies. This was true ever since he abandoned his medical career for fiction, starting with his first book, A Case of Need (1968), a mystery novel that was really a way of addressing the issue of abortion, just a few years before Roe vs. Wade. Crichton considered himself an a storyteller, not an educator or polemicist ("What I do is entertain people," he told EW in 1994, comparing himself to Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson, masters of narrative only later inducted into the literary canon), but he still wanted you to learn something, and he was adept at sneaking the spinach in there with the cotton candy.

Crichton's frequent message, that the mixture of science and arrogance will get us into trouble, is as old as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but Crichton managed to play both sides of the street. His tales are frequently about puzzle-solving, with his characters forced to use their ingenuity to get out of messes that ingenuity got them into. His attention to detail and verisimilitude made applied science look dangerous but tremendously cool -- think of the androids in Westworld, the virtual reality simulation in the big-screen version of Disclosure, the tornado chasers in Twister, the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park (awe-inspiring at first, and then terrifying), and even the 19th-century cleverness involved in pulling off The Great Train Robbery.

Crichton's critics often complained that his lavish attention to cool toys, gleaming surfaces, and scientific detail came at the expense of fully fleshed characters. It's often forgotten that, in addition to his wildly successful literary endeavors, Crichton had a long career as a Hollywood director as well (Westworld, Coma, The Great Train Robbery, Looker), and indeed, his later novels often read like he's already been casting the movie in his head. Which is why his greatest creation, actually, may be TV's ER. (Sorry, Jurassic Park fans.) It started out as a film script he wrote when he was still making the transition from doctor to writer. It collected dust for a quarter century before being adapted into a TV series that's now in its 15th season. Like other Crichton subjects, ER itself has mutated in ways its creator probably did not anticipate. And like most Crichton works, it's about the limits of technology, where humanity is forced to kick in once applied science (in this case, medicine) has done all it can. It's about great storytelling, sure, but it's also about trying to solve ethical dilemmas that are bound to occur when human potential runs up against human nature, or just plain Nature itself.