Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*

As always there are spoilers ahead!
Blade Runner was not a huge hit in 1982 but it did gain a fair few fans on its initial release. One of those fans was a teenager from Cheshire by the name of Paul Franklin who would go on to work on numerous big budget films and win two Oscars for his work as a Special Effects Supervisor on Interstellar and Inception.
I spoke to Paul about his first impressions of the film, what makes it special and how it influences Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises.  
Apologies for the abrupt ending to this episode. It is late, I've been quite busy and I have other work I really must tend to. Details of the next episode at the bottom of the show notes. 
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Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:47 Paul's first impressions
07:11 Influences on Blade Runner
14:01 Syd Mead's design
17:52 A future without Blade Runner
21:28 PK Dick & Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
23:36 The plight of the androids
27:18 Deckard as replicant
32:01 Influence of Blade Runner on Paul's work
40:45 Vangelis
41:58 ET vs Blade Runner
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we will be discussing the rather striking and uncomfortable 1966 Japanese film The Face of Another. The film is available on Criterion Channel in the US and Canada and on YouTube.  You can check the Just Watch website to see where the film is available in your region.

As always there are spoilers ahead!
You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.
If you would like to be a patron of the podcast and help an indie podcaster out, you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
An extra huge thank you to my wonderful guests as this episode had to be re-recorded due to a major problem with the audio file the first time.
You can find the synopsis of the film on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Voyage#Plot
In 1966 20th Century Fox chose a steady pair of hands in Richard Fleischer (the son of animation superstar Max Fleischer) to helm what at the time was both the tiniest and the biggest science fiction adventure. Tiny because of the nano science storyline and biggest because of it being the most expensive science fiction film ever made (at that time) costing over five million dollars.  
I talk to two top tier guests about the film.
Jay Telotte is Professor Emeritus of film and media studies at Georgia Tech. He has written/edited numerous books and articles about science fiction film including his upcoming books Before Trek: Building American Science Fiction Television.
Lisa Yaszek is Regents' Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech and has written/edited multiple books on science fiction including her upcoming book Mothership Rising: Afrofuturism in the Radium Age.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:40 Big budget scifi
05:45 Richard Fleischer
09:10 The history of Nanotech sci-fi
16:41 Sci-fi and scale in cinema
19:42 Richard Feynman and small science
22:55 1950s influences
25:53 James Bond and Spy-fi
27:05 Psychedelic scifi
31:22 Harper Goff, Disney and design
33:36 1960s crew dynamics
42:48 Asimov's novelisation
44:24 Secularism vs religion
46:52 Legacy
52:57 Recommendations
 
Recommendations:
The Diamond Lens by Fitz-James O'Brien (which can be found here)
Surface Tension by James Blish
Microcosmic God by Theodore Sturgeon
 
Dr Cyclops (1940)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
 
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode I will be speaking with Oscar winning Special Effects Supervisor Paul Franklin to discuss his favourite sci-fi film Blade Runner (1982). Paul has worked on an array of blockbusters including The Batman Begins trilogy, Venom (2018), Inception (2010) and Interstellar (2014).

Show notes 
As always there are spoilers ahead!
You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.
If you would like to be a patron of the podcast and feel like nobility funding the podcasting arts, I would like to encourage such sentiments! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
If you are interested in the plot of the film you can read an overview on the wikipedia page here. 
In 1953 writer Ray Bradbury released his magnum opus Fahrenheit 451. It quickly became a widely acclaimed cautionary tale about the dangers of censorship, authoritarianism and the effects of mass media on human ideas and connection. 
One of the most prominent science fiction books it is easy to understand why François Truffaut, one of the French New Wave's most prominent directors, became utterly focused on making the story into a film. 
The process had its challenges with producers, funding and a casting changes causing delays. The film was finally wrapped up and released in 1966 to both positive and negative reviews. It is an interesting watch if not a gripping one and my two expert guests unravel the ins and outs of how it came to be. 
Ian Scott is a Professor of American Film and History at The University of Manchester. He has written extensively about politics and film in Hollywood including the book American Politics in Hollywood Film.
Phil Nichols is a visiting lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton and a researcher with a special interest in Ray Bradbury. He is Senior Consultant to the Ray Bradbury Centre at Indiana University and editor of The New Ray Bradbury Review. He is also the man behind the Bradbury 100 podcast and the Science Fiction 101 podcas
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:32 Fahrenheit 451: a sci-fi heavyweight
04:36 Truffaut and the book
11:03 Suburban scifi in the mid century
13:33 Politics of the story
15:07 Truffaut's perspective
20:01 Julie Christie's double role
26:50 Searching for Montag
34:29 Burning with her books
39:12 Bernard Herrmann's score
40:40 The 2018 remake
49:56 Bradbury's stage play
51:37 Recommendations
 
 
Recommendations:
Never Let Me Go (2010)
The Wild Child (1970)
 
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we will be discussing Fantastic Voyage from 1966! The film is annoyingly a little tricky to find online but can be rented easily on mainstream platforms in some countries. You can check the Just Watch website to see where it is available in your region.

As always there are spoilers ahead!
You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.
If you would like to be a patron of the podcast and get that amazing feeling of wellbeing that comes from contributing to the research, planning and anxiety that does towards making a podcast I would love to encourage it! You can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
Seconds is a visually striking and thoroughly uncomfortable film. A 1960s film that examines dissatisfied suburban living, mid-life crisis and the yearning for youth and freedom. I think it's vastly underrated which is probably something both of my genuinely amazing guests agree with. (Apologies for not offering more of a counterpoint to this view!)
Mark Bould is a professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, Bristol. He has written/edited extensively about science fiction cinema.
Sherryl Vint is Professor of Science Fiction Media Studies at the University of California, Riverside. She has also written/edited extensively about science fiction.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:31 Frankenheimer's fantastic films
05:55 Science fiction in the 60s
07:55 The striking work of James Wong Howe
12:18 Saul (and Elaine) Bass credits
14:42 Mid Life Crisis in the 1960s
19:20 Dissatisfaction in the middle class
21:38 The Tennis Trophy
24:40 Rock Hudson and John Randolph
31:54 The Wine Stomp
37:02 Corporation as "The Monster" and PK Dick
38:48 Frankenstein and face surgery
41:44 The business model and Tech Bros
45:08 Legacy
50:39 Trivia tidbits
53:51 Recommendations
 
Recommendations:
Phase IV (1974)
Face of Another (1966)
Mark also mentions: Eyes Without a Face (1960) and Darkman (1990)
 
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we take a dive into the 1966 François Truffaut science fiction film Fahrenheit 451. The film is very annoyingly tough to get hold of on streaming platforms but can apparently be found on Fandango and you can search the Just Watch website to check where it might be available in your region. You can buy the DVD quite easily for not extortionate prices in many places. There do seem to be dodgy websites that also have the film but obviously I would never encourage you to search for such things.

As always there are spoilers ahead!
You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.
If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm
Apologies in advance for my butchering of Italian pronunciation during this episode.
Although we mentioned in the Planet of the Vampires episode the copycat nature of Italian cinema in the 1960s, The 10th Victim by Elio Petri does not fit that mould. The film has a definite style that may offer commentary on Italian film, comics and culture but looks to set a new mould for films coming out of Italy. Cultural change in Europe and America in the 1960s came in many different flavours and with different driving forces. My excellent guests help to unravel the cultural context of this stylish cult classic.
Stephen Gundle is a Professor of Film and Television at the University of Warwick. He has a special interest in Italian cultural history.
Leon Hunt is a retired Senior Lecturer of Screen Studies at Brunel University with a special interest in Italian Genre Cinema.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction.
01:17 Collectively written script
04:02 Italy in the 1960s
05:19 Marcello Mastroianni Commedia all'Italiana and global fame
09:33 Echoes of La Dolce Vita
15:02 Style over substance?
17:03 Gender roles
20:38 The violence of man
23:28 The gun bra, design and pop art
26:17 Comic book culture in Italy
32:46 Religion and belief systems
36:55 Changing Italian culture: American influence, economic growth and celebrity worship
45:52 Legacy
51:07 Recommendations for the listener
 
Recommendations:
Danger Diabolik (1968) directed by  Mario Bava
Modesty Blaise (1966) directed by Jospeh Losey
La Dolce Vita (1960) directed by Federico Fellini
 
NEXT EPISODE!
You have two weeks to find and watch Seconds (1966) by John Frankenheimer as we finally head into 1966! The film is available to rent or buy on Apple TV in the UK, and for free on Kanopy in the US. You can check the JustWatch website for details of where it's available in your region. (Waves frantically at new global listeners!)