Here's one for you guys: The form of the modern science-fiction motion picture traces its roots to Fritz Lang's
Metropolis. Though not technically the first SF movie made (Melies'
A Trip To The Moon is the first, I believe),
Metropolis gave moviegoers:
- An allegorically-based storyline;
- Styles based on a current artistic movement (in this case, Expressionism);
- Massive futuristic cityscapes;
- futuristic vehicles and fashions;
- Cutting-edge special effects;
- The humanoid robot, simultaneously attractive and menacing;
- The futuristic laboratory, as depicted by incomprehensible control panels, flashing lights, moving objects, and anything else that had a wildly kinetic look;
- The "Mad scientist" (actually a mistake: The original movie was so badly sliced up before reaching the Americas, that the motivations of the character Rotgang were lost on the cutting room floor, leaving him apparently posturing like a maniac to viewers); and
- Full orchestral score (recently re-discovered... its Germanic styles inspired the original Buck Rodgers serials to run German opera in the background);
- (Edit, added 2/9) Technology Run Amok, the idea that technology, out of our control, can rise up and destroy us.
To date, every "big budget" science fiction movie, and most of the small ones, owes its heritage to this movie.