Sir Ridley: "Sci-Fi is Dead"

By Will Reynolds / June 25, 2011

Sir Ridley Scott isn't a very optimistic man when it comes to modern sci-fi films. Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, the director told The Times that science-fiction, as a cinematic genre, is dead:

"There€™s nothing original. We€™ve seen it all before. Been there. Done it," he said. Asked to pick out examples, Scott replied: "All of them. Yes, all of them."

"There is an overreliance on special effects as well as weak storylines," he said in regards to contemporary sci-fi films.

Scott was attending a special screening one of his own sci-fi films, Blade Runner. That movie, along with Alien, is more than enough to cement Scott's place in the pantheon of sci-fi directorial legends, so his voice certainly carries weight - but is he right? Though I completely agree with him when he calls 2001: A Space Odyssey "the best of the best", there's still a lot to be said in favour of modern sci-fi. Children of Men is a wonderful movie, the first Matrix is fried gold, and recent entries such as Solaris, The Fountain and Sunshine are all ambitious if flawed attempts. What do you think? Is Sir Ridders just getting grumpy in his old age or is sci-fi dead and buried? source - times online