'The Force' is with space-film fans

What is it about space that captivates the human mind? Its boundless size? The stars and other celestial bodies? The utter peace one feels when gazing upon the placid night sky? Whatever the reason, space has a way of affecting us in a manner that few other topics can. Would Galileo have accepted being denounced by the Pope for just anything? Millions of people across the world look to horoscopes for advice on running their lives - just see page 13 of this magazine.

In the last 30 years, perhaps no topic has been more successful on the silver screen than space. Two of the most lucrative movie franchises ("Star Wars" and "Star Trek") take place in outer space. Ever since Neil Armstrong floated down from the ladder leading out of the Apollo 11 lunar module, the world's fascination with interstellar activities has grown exponentially.

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures The Captain and Data explore space in "Star Trek: Generations."

With the exception of the "Flash Gordon" series and a few other films, the movie that first spurred the outer-space trend in film was Stanley Kubrick's opus, "2001: A Space Odyssey." Based on Arthur C. Clar's novel, the film tells a story about the relationship between an alien obelisk and the history of man. The two stories, one about the transformation from ape to man and the second story about space, are primarily visual. The few existing lines of dialogue are between a computer named HAL and an astronaut named Dave.

The movie revolutionized the way films are made. By making a visual masterpiece rather than a schlocky sci-fi movie (such as any space movie made in the '50s or '60s), Kubrick paved the way for a whole new genre: the space movie.

The space genre arrived on the scene just after America's first real film genre - the Western - had started its decline from the public's favor. But the space movies were not much different from those they were trying to replace. George Lucas, creator of the "Star Wars" movies, has said that he based the stories of the trilogy on films made by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa - whose own films were based on Westerns.

"Star Wars" is basically a cross between a Western and a medieval knight story. There is a princess, a Merlin-esque wizard named Obi-Wan, a few dashing heroes and, of course, the ultimate black knight, Darth Vader. The guns and space battles are modified Western shootouts. And what would a Western be without a happy ending?

The extremely popular "Star Trek" series of the '60s jumped back on the sci-fi bandwagon with the first "Star Trek" movie, after "Star Wars" broke every box office record. Since then seven more films and three other "Trek" series have followed, along with god-only-knows how many Trekkies. If they are not proof of the total fascination that engulfs the mind when talking about space, I don't know what is.

Action movies about space were not the only offerings on the subject. Two of the most popular movies in the last 20 years involved creatures from other places in space coming to visit us on Earth. Need a hint? Steven Spielberg directed both of them.

The perennial Thanksgiving heartwarmer, "E.T.," is the second-highest-grossing film in American history. Very few people of 15 years or older have not seen this movie. Spielberg does his best Frank Capra imitation for the film that made Speak 'N' Spell, Reese's Pieces and Drew Barrymore famous.

"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" was a movie after the spirit of "2001." It addressed the question "Are we alone?" and it does this seriously, as opposed to the ludicrous manner in which the topic was addressed by such classics as "Plan 9 From Outer Space." The five notes at the end of the movie are among the most famous musical pieces ever. More recently, "Contact" followed "2001"'s lead in addressing this same issue.

What movie trailers are more exciting to watch than space trailers? Perhaps one of the most famous trailers in motion picture history is the one for "Alien" that concluded with the phrase "In space, no one can hear you scream." Space made "Alien" a great movie, even though the plot had been done numerous times before "Alien" took the done-to-death monster movie and put it on a space ship, creating a whole new story. Even Abbott and Costello brought their act to space in "Abbott and Costello Go to Mars."

They (who are they, anyway?) say that imitation is a form of flattery. Well, space movies are not exactly feeling unloved. Mel Brooks' "Spaceballs" is a hilarious send-up of the genre. "The Simpsons" hase had no fewer than 10 episodes that are concerned, in whole or in part, with space films.

The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) even lists some space-based porno films, including "Sex Trek," "2069: A Sex Odyssey" or the most striking title, "Flesh Gordon."

From true stories ("The Right Stuff") to the ultimate fantasy ("The Fifth Element") the space genre has been a consistent part of the motion picture scene for the last 30 years, and it shows no signs of letting up. Two asteroid motion pictures are coming to a theater near you within the next five months. So sit back, relax and pop in a good space movie. And remember the force will be with you, always.

02-19-98