Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction Blu-ray Movie Review

Watch this (and also the skies).

Reviewed by Randy Miller III July 17, 2020

James Cameron's AMC documentary series Story of Science Fiction is, without question, pretty much essential viewing for casual fans of the genre. Over the course of six 40-minute episodes, it carves out a wide (but not especially deep) path that briefly touches upon dozens of sci-fi's most indelible and forward-thinking productions. The series as a whole moves in a mostly non-linear fashion with each installment focusing on a theme that doubles as its title: "Alien Life", "Space Exploration", "Monsters", "Dark Futures", "Intelligent Machines", and "Time Travel". Featuring a countless string of well-placed movie clips, it also serves up an embarrassingly long list of top talent that speaks about their roles, contributions, and even a few philosophical ruminations. But don't worry, lots of stuff blows up too.

No shortage of well-known movies and TV shows are featured here: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Matrix, Independence Day, The Twilight Zone, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Fifth Element, E.T., the Star Wars saga and, of course, many of Cameron's most popular genre efforts including Aliens, Terminator 2, and Avatar. We also dip into somewhat less well-known territory like The Thing from Another World, Stanislav Lem‘s Solaris, and Childhood’s End, as well as a healthy dose of obscure 1950's low-budget productions. Not surprisingly, a number of key cast and crew members from these and other featured films are also on board: George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, screenwriter Eric Heisserer (Arrival), special effects wizard Doug Trumbull, Guillermo del Toro, Ridley Scott, Will Smith, Sigourney Weaver, Paul Verhoeven and Ed Neumeier, Christopher Nolan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and dozens more.

A few outsiders are featured too and, for the most part, offer valuable insight and observations. These include Lisa Yaszek (Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech), Screencrush's Matt Singer, Wired contributor Annalee Newitz, and several noted sci-fi authors...not to mention a number of long-passed genre pioneers, often represented through vintage interviews, still photos, audio clips, and of course, the work that made them famous. Cameron serves as something of a host throughout: though he never addresses the camera directly and rarely narrates, he is usually seen in conversation with some of the series' biggest names including Spielberg, Scott, del Toro, and Lucas.

If all of this sounds more like a commercial for other things and people, that's an unavoidable side effect; after all, Story of Science Fiction is a celebration of the genre as a whole and can't help but feel promotional by just existing. But at least it's a commercial made with good intentions, even with a few notable absences from certain directors -- John Carpenter, Lily and Lana Wachowski, Alex Proyas, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Terry Gilliam, just to name a few -- whose work is often at least mentioned. Still, there are a few mild to moderate drawbacks in its overall presentation, aside from those missing faces. Some of its themes are very loosely linked and this gives certain episodes a "samey" quality that makes Story of Science Fiction more digestible in small doses. It also bleeps out swear words (which is probably how the show played on AMC, but why retain that for home video?) while laughably retaining every bit of blood, gore, and mayhem. Remember, kids: blowing someone's head off is OK, as long as you watch that language young man.

All told, this is very emjoyable stuff and, though Story of Science Fiction can't help but feel like a really long bonus feature for one of Cameron's existing projects (sparse as they are), it's more than strong enough to stand on its own two feet. RLJ Entertainment's welcome Blu-ray package serves up this six-episode series as a compact two-disc set that also includes a few extended interviews with some of its bigger names. The A/V presentation is also solid, although it's sadly hampered by a few questionable creative decisions that will be covered in more detail below.

James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in 1.78:1 format (after a very brief 1.85:1 intro), Story of Science Fiction is one of those documentaries that, sadly, has opted for an unyielding visual aesthetic that jettisons the OAR of its source material right out of the airlock. Everything is cropped here: 1.33:1 TV shows, behind-the-scenes footage, films originally framed at a tight 2.39:1, and loads of stuff in-between. It's a disappointing creative decision but, stray framing issues aside, this doesn't seem to negatively effect image quality in a deal-breaking way. As evidenced by my cross-section of screenshots, the sources used for these movie clips varies greatly but, for the most part, are similar to the best-available home video release at the time of this series' production in 2018. There are exceptions: some clips are obviously taken from earlier masters while other segments (which likely have not seen a proper home video release) are projected or even shot kinescope style, but even the least impressive material is perfectly watchable and brief enough not to be intrusive. Yet that nagging aspect ratio issue, while obviously not a flaw of this Blu-ray, remains an easily avoidable problem.

Interview footage, on the other hand, is extremely crisp and looks very polished, with careful lighting and a tightly-controlled color scheme that suits the themes perfectly. Image detail and textures are exceptional, while the restless camera often creates interesting and varied compositions that ensure these dozens of interviews are anything but flat and lifeless. (The juxtaposition of these segments with the vast array of film clips can nonetheless be a little jarring at first, but your eyes will make the adjustment.) The Blu-ray itself is well-authored with no flagrant compression issues, heavy noise reduction, or other obvious drawbacks, as least within the boundaries of its wide and varied collection of source material. I also appreciate RLJ's decision to split the six-episode series onto two discs -- a lesser studio might have crammed Story of Science Fiction onto a single Blu- ray, but thankfully that didn't happen here.

James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

In contrast, the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix is almost disappointingly straightforward. Don't get me wrong: the majority of this series is comprised of talking head interviews and those parts sound fine, with crystal clear dialogue and an ever-so-slight echo that matches the cavernous room it's recorded in, and the show has a whole has little to no background music. Yet those rear channels are immediately missed once it cuts to movie clips, as many of them are cherry-picked for iconic imagery: Close Encounters' "five tones", Independence Day's exploding White House, The Matrix's bullet-time footage, Avatar's jungle warfare, and dozens of others. The two-channel presentation isn't a deal-breaking buzzkill but it creates a lot less impact during these moments, whether you've heard them a hundred times or they're new to your ears. Again, I can't fault the Blu-ray here -- after all, it's simply preserving the creative team's original decisions, and in that case it's pretty much perfect. But it's also impossible not to consider this a somewhat lacking audio presentation, although one that's still pretty impressive even with a few missing channels.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during all six episodes; the font size is extremely small but everything is perfectly legible and they do not suffer from any obvious sync issues.

James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc release arrives in a standard dual-hubbed keepcase with a matching slipcover and no inserts of any kind. Its lone bonus feature looks minimal on paper but stills add to the overall value of this package.

• Extended Interviews - These six unused clips feature Cameron speaking with some of the series' bigger names including Guillermo del Toro (4:04), George Lucas (3:29), Christopher Nolan (4:39), Arnold Schwarzenegger (3:09), Ridley Scott (4:18), and Steven Spielberg (2:38), who speak briefly about topics including monsters and nightmarish imagery, UFO sightings, anti-authoritarianism, lucid dreaming, artificial intelligence, Apple's 1984 commercial, sci-fi's literary roots, Stanley Kubrick, and more. All are presented in 1080p with lossless DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio (but no subtitles) and are worth watching -- too bad they're not even longer.

James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Stylishly shot and full of A-list names, James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction serves as a lightly entertaining chronicle of the genre's most defining moments. Each 40-minute episode tackles a different subject with a nice balance of well-placed clips and talking head interviews with key contributors, although the most die-hard fans of its subject matter may not learn anything new. It's a better fit for more casual viewers, at least those with a working knowledge of sci-fi's most prominent faces and landmarks. Although I can't blame Cameron's fan base for being frustrated with his lack of output since 2009's Avatar (especially with the knowledge that the next decade will bring four more sequels while we're stuck with True Lies and The Abyss on DVD) this is at least a passable detour. RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray features great picture quality, a few light but appreciated extras, and comes Highly Recommended.