Thetitle explains itself: With Fantastic Planets, Forbidden Zones, and LostContinents (University of Texas Press), Douglas Brode lists, describes andargues for his favorites in a genre that once was marginal but now ismainstream. He begins with a working definition of science fiction—“fantasy +technology = sci-fi.” But this equation, Brode more or less admits, is a littlehazier than any of Einstein’s formulas. It excludes Lord of the Rings (aren’tswords the product of technology?) but admits The Birds, which includes only apassing reference (from a doubtful narrator) to a technological cause for theavian onslaught.
Quibblesaside, Fantastic Planets is unfailingly entertaining, as serendipitously enjoyableas an encyclopedia of fun facts. Each entry includes listings of credits andcast, a “Most Memorable Line” (Godzilla: “Here in Tokyo, time has been turnedback two million years”), background on development and production, a synopsis,short analysis and piece of trivia. Action fans may want to know thatJean-Claude Van Damme was originally slated to play the title character inArnold Schwarzenegger’s Predator. Guess there wasn’t room for both actors onthe same planet.
Brodeoften summarizes the various interpretations given to his films—was DavidCronenberg’s The Fly an AIDS allegory or not?—and lets the reader chose.However, he minces no words when making critical judgments, calling MikeHodges’ 1980 Flash Gordon “a shrill, cynical, and smug disappointment.”
Curiously,while the films are ranked from one to one hundred in Brode’s estimation,Fantastic Planets isn’t arranged by rank, release date or alphabetical order,but in no particular order. The real fun comes when readers test Brode’schoices against their own and find some of them wanting. None of the greatestscience fiction films are omitted, and he makes room for a good number of intriguingobscurities, but some of his choices are arguable. How dare he include MichaelBay’s Transformers but forget Edgar G. Ulmer’s Man from Planet X?
