Star Wars is here http://isitsciencefiction.com/is/star-wars with, right now, a -4 level in Science Fiction. You can vote, but you can also comment and explain your vote.

You can tell science fiction from fantasy by looking at the book cover*. If it has trees, it is fantasy; if it has rivets, it is science fiction.

* or movie poster, I suppose.

Star Wars is science fiction. Wicked bad Saturday morning cartoon science fiction–but still science fiction.

Star Trek may frequently have laughable science (I think the old show had reasonable science, but in a way because they tried less hard to make it sound ‘sciency’, they just made some advanced technology and told the actors to pretend it is all normal stuff). Star Wars also has pretty laughable science (again more so the recent movies).

Star Wars then tells a fantasy story (young prince finds his hidden destiny and storms the castle) with the science fiction toolbox.

Star Trek discovers alien civilizations each week which oddly reflect various aspects of the current world, and then tells stories about them. Not really a fantasy story.

I happen to think Star Wars is more fantasy then SciFi, or at the very least equal parts. I also happen to like them both (well not the recent Star Wars movies, but I loved the first 3 enough to be a bit forgiving).

“Sorry but is sort of thing drives me nuts. “I don’t like science fiction.” “You like Star Wars” “Oh, that’s not Science Fiction””

Well maybe what they like about Star Wars is the story line, in which case The Princess Bride is a better pick for their next movie rental then the (I wish) upcoming movie adaption of Old Man’s War (hey, it has lots of action scenes!).

Or maybe they just don’t think they like SciFi because most of the SciFi they have been exposed to puts a poorly constructed world front and center along with unrealistic reactions from the inhabitants of the world (like they find the tech that had to have existed their whole fictional life new, novel, and confusing).

It is also possible that they actually don’t like SciFi (or most of it). My wife doesn’t like gangster movies. I’m not fond of horror movies. So I figure some poor souls out there actually don’t enjoy SciFi.

I’ll admit I never cared for Star Wars. I don’t worry about justifying it because I view it as old fashioned Space Opera. If you don’t know what that is, think of it like this- destroying the evil empire by driving a black hole into their nearby sun. Once your brain stops twitching, you realize that sometimes you just have to accept it as a means to an end. I never thought Space Opera was terribly good SF- but it was never meant to be. The science is notable for being terrible, but used primarily to carry the story and the characters. I never liked Star Wars- but I love the things done with it- the fan films, the toys the ideas. Yah, the light saber handguard is a point, but have you ever read the wikipedia page on lightsaber combat? It’s really fascinating. Star Wars was a combination ripoff/homage to the old cheesy cliffhanger serials (If you think there’s no connection between The Shadow clouding mens minds and the Old Jedi Mindtrick [the fact that this is the actual name still cracks me up] then you are very mistaken). I’ve just made a bracket inside a parenthesis which tells me that my comment is getting too long. It upsets me that I’ve been crapped on all my life for loving SF, but when I point out popular SF like X-men, Superman, Star Wars and so on people say “Oh, that’s not SF, it’s fantasy/comics/diet cola/blankityblank”

Anyone else wonder why Star Wars is argued to be fantasy but Star Trek isn’t? I’m not doing the one better than the other argument, I’m just saying nobody ever says “I love Star Trek! But that’s not really Science Fiction”

No, it existed as a label from at least the Fifties for certain “flavors” of fiction of the Robert E. Howard, Lin Carter variety. No magic, per se, but elements of heroic or so-called high fantasy mingled liberally with sometimes post-holocaust landscapes or alien worlds or…well, Jack Vance’s oeuvre is almost entirely regarded as science fantasy and has been so regarded since at least the Dying Earth stories.

It’s fantasy. We even have a castle in the air that must be stormed.

SW was good because it evoked icons and images that were both familiar and strange. The science was just a by-product. Remember when the Millennium Falcon wouldn’t go into hyperdrive and almost “caught” a couple of time before sputtering to a stop? That was an inside joke to old car lovers.

JRC

“Castle Spitdizzy”??

I initially read that as “Castle Spindizzy” and was ready to discuss the mystic journeys of James Blish. It would have been epic, really.

If the science and technology is crucial to the story and has a basis in accurate or plausible science. It is Hard Science Fiction.

If the science and technology is window dressing and bears little relation to actual science, it is Soft Science Fiction.

If the science and technology is embarassingly and obviously inaccurate, and the story could just as easily taken place in space, a castle in Middle Earth, OR the Wild West, it should fall into a third category.

I move we agree to call it Flaccid Science Fiction.

That could include Star Wars, Dr Who, and almost everything by Michael Crichton.