October 4, 2025 • 26 mins
The episode is an excerpt from a ranking of "The 20 Greatest Science Fiction Franchises," which explores how these properties have shaped culture and storytelling. The source introduces science fiction as a genre that pushes boundaries and then profiles twenty franchises, assessing them based on their cultural impact, innovation, and enduring legacy. The franchises discussed range widely, including vast cinematic universes like Star Wars and Star Trek, literary cornerstones such as Dune, influential cyberpunk works like The Matrix and Blade Runner, and major video game properties like Halo and Mass Effect. Ultimately, the document explains that these franchises matter because they challenge people to consider the future and continue to evolve through new media adaptations.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Deep Dive science Fiction. Well it's huge,
isn't it, a massive library of ideas stretching across time,
different media galaxies.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Even it really is vast.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
So today we're aiming to give you a bit of
a shortcut. We're doing a deep dive into what the
analysis suggests are the twenty greatest sci fi franchises ever.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah, and it's quite a task because these aren't just stories, right,
they're like projections of our society, our tech, our fears,
our hopes exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
And we've looked at analysis based on what was it
four key.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Things that's right, cultural impact, how much did it change things? Storytelling?
Just how good is the story itself? Then there's innovation,
did it do something new? And finally, enduring legacy. Does
it stick around.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
We're trying to go beyond just making a list here.
The idea is to pull out those really valuable little nuggets,
the things that explain why these fictional worlds have such
a tight grip on us on the real world.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Think of it like the essential reading list for understanding
a big chunk of modern culture. But you know, in
conversation form, and.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
This is why you listening right now, should care. These franchises,
whether they show us this amazing utopian future or you know,
some dark, rainy, corporate nightmare.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Right, they've genuinely shaped debates about technology, about ethics, about
where we're all heading.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So we're basically diving into the history of the genre,
both the ideas and the business side of things, and
we're starting right at the very top.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Makes sense when you talk about sci fi that just
dominates culturally and commercially, you have to start with the
ones that basically wrote the rule book.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, the franchises that showed everyone what massive scale and
like truly revolutionary impact looked like.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
And number one, pretty much undisputed at the top of
these kinds of rankings has to be Star Wars.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Oh. Absolutely. When a New Hope came out in seventy seven,
it wasn't just a movie. It felt like it reset everything.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
For blockbusters totally. But the analysis we look at really
stresses that it's true genius wasn't just the special effects,
although they were amazing for them.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Time, right, It was the story structure. It's not really
traditional sci fi in a way. It's more like a
classic fairy tale, just with spaceships and laser swords.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
That's the key insight exactly. George Lucas was very open
about borrowing from Joseph Campbell. You know, the Hero with
a Thousand Faces.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Yeah, yeah, the whole hero's journey thing, right, the cul
To Adventure, the Wise Old mentor, Obi Wan Yoda, the
big showdown between good and evil.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
By using those classic mythic building blocks, he made it
instantly understandable, instantly powerful for everyone everywhere.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
It became modern myth pretty much. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
And the numbers, well, they back up its top ranking.
You're talking over ten billion dollars just at the box.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Office, and that doesn't even count the merch the toys,
the books, the theme parks, and now all the TV
shows like The Mandalorian that keep expanding it.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
It's the absolute blueprint for how you keep a franchise
culturally dominant for decades.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Okay, so if Star Wars is the epic fantasy battle,
what's next, Well we.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Shift to so it's kind of intellectual, maybe more philosophical,
cousin Star Trek Gene Roddenberry, nineteen sixty six. It's built
on almost the opposite idea optimism, right, exactly, optimistic futurism.
That's the core.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
And what's really interesting about Trek is how that optimism
is like baked into the world itself. The Federation, this
idea of a future where we've solved poverty, ended war.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, a post scarcity society. Humanity is just out there exploring,
driven by curiosity and science, and that.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Vision, that hopeful vision, is maybe its biggest contribution culturally.
The sources really highlight how Star Trek didn't just entertain
it actively inspired real people.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Oh, definitely, scientists, engineers, astronauts. They've explicitly said they were
inspired by watching Kirker Picard. They wanted to build the
stuff they saw.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
On screen, like the communicator influencing flip phones or the
trichorder idea.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Exactly, warp drive translators, medical scanners. This show planted those seeds.
It made people believe that kind of future was.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Possible, and it wasn't afraid to tackle big questions either.
Across all the series, the films constantly digging into morality, diplomacy,
wide diversity matters, often using alien races as like mirrors
for our own issues.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, sci fi is a tool for thinking about ethics,
really powerful stuff.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Okay, let's jump forward a bit three decades later, nineteen
ninety nine, Reality itself gets a massive shakeoup h the Matrix.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
The wakowskis that film was just a moment, a generational thing.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
It completely changed the look of sci fi films, didn't it.
That whole dark, kind of industrial, black leather cyberpunk aesthetic
it was everywhere suddenly totally iconic.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
But beyond the look, the sources point to the technical
innovation as being just as huge. That bullet time effect.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Oh yeah, neo dodging bullets mind blowing.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
At the time, it wasn't just a cool visual trick.
It was revolutionary using all those cameras, the digital effects.
It literally changed how action movies were made overnight.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
And that crazy visual style served this really smart philosophical
idea exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
The analysis emphasizes how the Matrix landed right when people
were just starting to get their heads around the internet
digital life. So the whole simulated reality.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Concept, borrowing from Plato's Cave Baudriard, it felt incredibly relevant.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Super potent, made everyone question reality.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
But here's a question. If the first one was so groundbreaking,
why did the sequels kind of stumble? At least critically?
Did the idea run out of gas.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
That's a fair point, and the analysis suggests it wasn't
that the core idea got weak. It's more that the
sequels got really tangled up in like dense philosophical explanations.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Wet some of that clean narrative drive.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, may maybe some of the visual novelty wore off,
But the impact of that first film, it's so immense
culturally and technically that the franchise's high ranking is totally secure.
Its legacy is rock solid.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Okay. Shifting from simulated worlds to literary ones, really dense
literary ones.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Dune, Yes, based on Frank Kerbert's nineteen sixty five novel.
If Star Wars is the fairy tale, Dune is, like
you said, the really complex galactic political science textbook.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
It's the absolute benchmark for intricate, high concepts sci fi
world building in literature, Isn't it totally?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Herbert didn't just make up a planet to Racus. He
created this whole complex ecosystem, this whole society built around it,
with these huge, powerful noble houses constantly.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Scheming and all hinges on one thing.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
The spice milan, Right, it's not just a drug, it's everything.
It enables space travel, gives psychic powers, extends life. It's
the key to the whole galactic economy.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
And focusing on that single resource and the whole ecology
around it that makes Dune feel different, more grounded in
a way despite the sandworms.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
And its influence is massive. That's what the rankings really stress.
You can see Dune's DNA and Star Wars politics. In
basically any epic story with complex societies and resource struggles,
the themes are huge, power, religion, ecology, exploitation.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
And the fact that Dennis Villenev's recent movies were such
big hits critically and commercially, it proves people.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Are ready for that kind of dense, complex storytelling, especially
when it looks that good Dune's time is now again.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
All right. Our final Titan in this top tier, the
one that basically invented sci fi horror.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Alien Ridley Scott nineteen seventy nine. It didn't just scare audiences,
It created this whole new blend existential dread meets well
sheer terror.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah, it carve out that sci fi horror subgenre.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
The Zeno work itself is obviously terrifying, one of cinema's
greatest monsters. But the genius isn't just the creature design,
it's the whole vibe.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
The analysis points to that gritty, sort of working class
feel of the crew on the Nostromo.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Right exactly. They're not shiny starfleet officers, they're space truckers.
It makes the horror feel much more real, more grounded,
you relate to them.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And then there's Ripley, Ellen Ripley. I was a bit
surprised the sources ranked to aliens so high based mainly
on one character's impact. But is she really that foundational? Oh?
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Absolutely, Sigourney Weaver is Ripley just smashed all the norms
for female characters and action and sci fi back then.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
She wasn't a damsel in distress, that's.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
For sure, not at all. She was the ultimate survivor, resourceful,
tough complex, not defined by her relationship to men. She
basically created the template for the modern female action hero.
Her influence is huge.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, and the series keeps coming back to that dark
theme too. Right, the evil corporation.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Wayland Utani, always valuing profit over people. That corporate cynicism
gives the whole franchise this grim lasting relevance. Still feels
true today. Okay, So moving beyond those absolute giants, we
get into franchises that maybe excel more in combining stunning
visuals with really deep philosophical questions, particularly about artificial life, identity,
(08:46):
that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Right and kicking that off, We've got a pair that
essentially defined the look of our synthetic future, Blade Runner
and Ghost in the Shell.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yeah, they definitely share that cyberpunk aesthetic, but they tackle
the philosophy in slightly different ways.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Blade Runner first Ridley Scott in nineteen eighty two, based
on Philip K. Dick's novel. It's the film that basically
gave us the whole visual language of cyberpackets.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Totally, that constant rain, the neon signs reflecting off wet streets,
the towering corporate buildings, the crowds. It's the definitive look.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
But underneath that amazing look, it's basically a detective story,
a neo noir, right.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
And it's asking that fundamental question what does it mean
to be human? It focuses relentlessly on the replicants, these
artificial beings who seem so human but have limited life spans.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
It forces you to think about consciousness, memory, empathy, the
ethics of creating life just to serve us.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
And its legacy just endures. It wasn't a huge hit
initially but became this massive cult classic, incredibly influential, and
the sequel Blade Runner twenty forty nine from twenty.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Seventeen also visually stunning and just this thought provoking exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
It proved the ideas in the aesthetic are still powerful.
It's influence on film, art, music, it's undeniable forty years on.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Okay, ing parallel to that, you've got Ghost in the
Shell starting as manga and anime and Japan back in
eighty nine. Also cyberpunk, also about transhumanism, but with the different.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Feel Yeah, a distinctly maybe Eastern philosophical angle. It centers
on Major Kusnagi, who's almost entirely cybernetic. Her body is artificial,
So a.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Blade Runner asks, can a machine be human? Ghost in
the Shell is more like what happens to the human ghost,
the soul in the shell, the body is machine.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Precisely, that distinction is key. The sources really praise gets
us for digging into that blurring line between the digital
world and the physical one networked consciousness, identity in an
age of technology.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Really deep existential stuff, and visually it was also groundbreaking, right, influencing.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Oh, hugely influential, especially on the look of cyberspace, the
density of its futuristic city scapes. You can definitely see
its fingerprints on the matrix.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
A landmark work, all right, shifting from questions of identity
to maybe inevitability and pure raw action.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Terminator James Cameron nineteen eighty four, The T eight hundred
just relentless, a perfect killing machine from a horrifying future.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
The core idea here, the time travel aspect. It's brilliant
because it's not just a fun adventure. It's like the
engine driving this unavoidable.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Disaster Judgment Day Skynett, the AI that goes rogue. The
whole story revolves around that tension between feet, can we
change the future? And free will?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
And culturally, wow, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the Terminator. I'll be back.
It's just baked into pop.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Culture, immense footprint, and while some of the later sequels
maybe didn't quite hit the.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Mark, Yeah, they got a bit complicated.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
The first two films are masterpieces, tight storytelling, incredible practical
and then digital effects that liquid metal T one thousand
blue people's minds, and this really dark potent warning about
AI still relevant.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Okay, now for something completely different, contrasting that dark future,
we have a franchise built entirely on change, on reinvention.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
That's true, Who the British Institution running since nineteen sixty three,
incredible longevity.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
How does it do it? How does a show about
a time traveling alien in a police box stay relevant
for over sixty years.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
The secret weapon, according to the analysis, is built right
into the show's premise, regeneration.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Right when the doctor is about to die. They can
change their body, their personality exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
It's genius. It lets the show completely reboot itself, new actor,
new companions, sometimes a new tone, while keeping all that history.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
That adaptability is amazing. It means the show can do
anything across what fourteen official doctors now at.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Least, and it can swing from historical drama one week
to cosmic horror the next, to pure space opera, but
it usually keeps that core optimistic feel, curiosity driving the adventure, not.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Violence, and that unique blend of optimism and imagination has
built this incredibly dedicated, multi generational fan base.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Absolutely its ability to keep changing keep evolving, plus successful
spin offs like Torchwood keeps it alive and globally popular,
a true television phenomenon.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Okay, so we've hit the blockbusters, the philosophical heavyweights. This
next group seems to focus more on franchises known for
really detailed societies, maybe blending genres or getting a lot
of critical love for being smart and complex.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Yeah, exactly, And a prime example is Battlestar Galactica, specifically
the reimagined series from two thousand and four.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Right, this wasn't the cheesy seventies show. This was something else,
entirely totally different.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
It took that basic premise humanity on the run from
killer robots the Cylons, and turned it into this really gritty,
intense political and moral drama.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
The sources called it a post nine one one allegory,
didn't they That feeling of paranoia desperation.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Very much so, and the style reflected that, that shaky
handheld camera work almost like a documentary. It made the
space battles and life on the ships feel incredibly real, incredibly.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Tense, and it got so much praise for its writing
for not shying away from tough issues.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Absolutely, it tackled faith politics, torture, what it means to
be human, especially when Cylon started looking exactly like humans.
It just refused easy answers set a new standard for
serious sci fi on TV.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Okay, speaking of complexity and maybe passionate fan bases, let's
talk about a show famous for quality over quantity. Firefly Ah.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yes, Joss Whedon's Space Western ran for just one season
in two thousand and two, heartbreakingly.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Short, but the following it generated unbelievable still going strong today,
Brown Coats Forever exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
And its strength really lies in that perfect blend of genres.
It's got the space ships and the futuristic tech, but
the vibe, the language, the frontier feel. It's pure Western.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
The Space Western label fits perfectly the crew of the Serenity, And.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
It's all about the characters, isn't it. The witty dialogue,
the camaraderie, that sense of rebellion against the powerful alliance,
and just the heart of it, this chosen family making
their way on the edges of society.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
That focus on the characters. The found family dynamic created
such a strong bond with viewers.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Which is why it survived cancelation. It fueled the movie Serenity.
The comics proof that sometimes one brilliant season is enough
to create a lasting legacy.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Now, if you want sci fi that feels incredibly plausible,
like it could actually happen.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Then you turn to The Expanse, the TV series based
on the novels by James S. A. Corey. It's really
seen as the modern gold standard for grounded sci fi.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Right, let's unpack grounded sci fi. The sources really highlight
the realistic physics. What makes it so different from say,
Star Trek's physics.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Well, it's merely about acknowledging things like inertian gravity in
a way most space opera doesen In the Expanse, ships
don't just stop on a dime. They have to accelerate.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Constantly, right the flip and burn maneuver.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Yeah, exactly. You accelerate towards your target, then halfway there
you flip the ship around and decelerate using the main engine.
So you don't just overshoot it or crash. There's no
magic artificial gravity or inertial dampeners. Space travel is physically demanding, and.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Those physics have real consequences for the story, for the society.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Huge consequences people living in the low gravity the asteroid belt,
the belters, they physically adapt, they grow taller, thinner, and
this creates massive social and political tension with Earth and Mars,
the high gravity planets.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
So the politics feel real because they stem from the science.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Socisely, the show got huge acclaim for weaving this intricate,
believable political thriller around scientifically sound principles. It feels startlingly real.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Okay, switching gears dramatically now from gritty realism to just
pure unadulterated fun. Back to the Future.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Uh huh. Yes, Roberts mechis Bob Gail the trilogy from
eighty five to ninety just iconic fun.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
It's genius is how it mixes the sci fi time
travel paradoxes with so much humor and heart right, and
it never gets bogged down in the technobabble, not at all.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
It keeps it light, keeps it moving, and the DeLorean.
I mean, has there ever been a cooler time machine?
It's a genuine cultural icon itself, and.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
So many lines just entered the language. Great Scott one
point to one gigawatts. The hoverboard its cultural footprint is massive.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
It's that perfect example of sci fi, breaking out of
the genre niche and just becoming beloved, timeless popular cinema.
Everyone loves Back to.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
The Future, all right, One more in this section a
franchise that started with a movie but really exploded on TV.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Stargate, Yeah, began with the nineteen ninety four film, then
launched SG one Atlantis Universe, a huge TV presence.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
The core idea is pretty elegant, isn't it, These ancient
alien gateways allowing instant travel across the galaxy, simple.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
But effective, And what the sources really emphasize is how
well the TV shows executed it. They found this great formula.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Mixing military sci fi the SG teams exploring with mysology
from different Earth cultures.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Right exactly, plus a good dose of humor and character interaction.
It made the exploration procedural but always engaging. Week after week,
a new planet, a new puzzle, a new alien race
based loosely on some ancient Earth myth.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And that accessible formula let it run for what over
three hundred episodes across the different series.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Something like that. That sheer volume, combined with its blend
of adventure, mythology and tech, built an incredibly loyal global
fan base that's still active today.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Okay, now we're moving into territor where the franchises didn't
necessarily start as movies or TV shows. Many came from
gaming or other media, but built these absolutely massive immersive universes.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah. Interactive media, especially video games, have become powerhouses for
sci fi world building in the last couple of decades,
and two really stand out, Halo and Mass Effect.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Let's start with Halo two thousand and one Xbox launch title.
It wasn't just a game. It felt like an event,
absolutely Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
It basically defined the console shooter for a generation, centered
on Master Chief, this iconic super soldier fighting the Alien Covenant.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
But it was more than just shooting aliens, wasn't it.
There was this whole epic backstory, the mystery of the
Halo rings.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Huge lore, a really compelling universe involving ancient precursor races,
galactic threats, and the gameplay itself, especially the multiplayer, was revolutionary.
It pushed the whole industry forward.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
The numbers are crazy too, eighty million copies sold, plus books, comics,
now the TV show. It's a true multimedia giant.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Definitely, and right up there with it in terms of
impact on sci fi gaming is Bywaar's Mass Effect trilogy.
Starting in two thousand and seven, Ah Commander Shepherd.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
This is widely seen as one of the best RPG
experiences ever.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Right, absolutely, especially for sci fi. Its unique strength and
why it ranks so high is the emphasis on player choice.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Your decisions actually matter. They shape the story massively.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
The whole galaxy spanning story about stopping the Reapers, this
ancient machine race. It unfolds based on your choices. Your
alliance is your morality, Who lives, who dies, the fate
of entire species. It's on you.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
That blend of player agency with this incredibly rich, detailed
galaxy full of diverse alien cultures, it was groundbreaking, set.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
A new benchmark for interactive storytelling. It really makes you
grapple with big themes sacrifice, cooperation, the cost of survival
on an epic scale.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Huge influence, Okay, from consoles to tabletops. Warhammer forty thousand
This started as a miniature's game back in eighty seven, right,
but its cultural impact is kind of staggering.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
It really is. And to understand forty k you need
to understand the term grim dark.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Right, what exactly does that mean?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
It means the setting is bleak, hopelessly bleak. It's the
far future, but technology is like superstition. Humanity is ruled
by this decaying, brutal quasi religious empire, and there is
only war endless brutal war sounds cheerful, huh huh, Not exactly,
but the esthetic, this gothic, over the top brutal look,
combined with the incredibly deep lore for all the different
(20:37):
factions Space Marines or its Ldar Chaos, It's captivated people
for decades.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
So the appeal is in the richness of that dark world.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Absolutely, the sheer scale of the lore, constantly expanding through
game rules, novels, video games. It's created this incredibly passionate
global community, a true cultural force built from the tabletop.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Up sticking with games, but a different flavor of bleakness.
Fallout started in ninety seven, post apocalyptic, but with a twist.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Yeah, the twist is that retrofuturism. It's after the nuclear
bombs fell, but the world that was destroyed was stuck
in this sort of nineteen fifties vision of the future.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
So you get ray guns and robots alongside the devastation,
and that weirdly cheerful fifties music.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Exactly pit Boys on your Wrist Nuca Cola. Yeah, but
everything's irradiated and dangerous. It creates this really unique tone,
darkly funny, satirical, but also genuinely exploring survival, rebuilding, society,
human nature at its best and worst after collapse.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
And the recent TV show was a huge hit, wasn't
It brought it to a whole new audience.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Totally revitalized. It showed how well that unique blend of humor,
horror and retro style works across different media.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Okay, Next up, a franchise that's been rebooted and reinterpreted
many times, always using its premise for social commentary.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Planet of the Apes started way back in nineteen sixty eight.
That original film with the twist ending yeah, absolutely iconic and.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
The core idea a world where intelligent apes rule over
devolved humans. It's such a powerful setup for exploring big themes.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Definitely evolution, societal structures, prejudice, cycles of violence, what it
means to be human or animal. It holds up a
mirror to our own world by flipping the power dynamic.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
And the analysis highlights the recent trilogy the reboots starting
in twenty eleven.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Yeah, the Caesar trilogy. It was praised for using a
mazing motion capture technology not just for spectacle, but to
create incredibly nuanced, empathetic ape characters, especially Caesar himself.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Gave the franchise real emotional depth.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Again, exactly prove the core concept is strong enough to
be constantly reinvented and remain relevant tackling complex themes in
new ways.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
All right, last one in this multimedia giant category, we
head back to Japan for the absolute king of mecha anime, Gundam.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Since nineteen seventy nine mobile suit Gundam. It basically created
the real robot genre.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Okay, real robot What does that mean compared to say,
other giant robot shows.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
It means the giant robots the mobile suits are traded
more like tanks or fighter jets. They're tools of war,
mass produced used in complex political conflicts. It's not usually
about superheroes or mystical powers.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
So it's more grounded, more focused on the realities of war.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Exactly Gundam across It's literally dozens of series, films and
timelines over fifty now consistently explores the human cost of war,
political intrigue, the impact of technology. Child Soldiers really mature
themes for animation, especially back in seventy nine.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
And that focus on realistic conflict, even with giant robots,
is why it's had such a huge global impact.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
That's a big part of it. That thematic depth, combined
with iconic robot designs has created a massive enduring fan
base and billions in merchandise sales. It's the cornerstone of
Mecca worldwide.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Wow. Okay, so that's twenty franchises. We've gone from the
gritty realism of the Expanse to the sheer joy of
Back to the Future, from Dune's desert politics to mass effects,
player driven galactic war. It's an incredible range.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
This really shows the sheer breadth of science fiction, doesn't it.
And looking back across the analysis, we can sort of
group these franchises by their core strengths, what they do best.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Right, You've got the sheer scale and often optimism of
Star Wars and Star Trek, their household names cultural benchmarks.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Absolutely, But then if you want sci fi that really
messes with your head, asks those deep existential questions, the
analysis points to the Matrix and Blade Runner using tech
to probe the nature of reality of.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Being human and for pure intricate world building where the
rules of the universe, the societies, the tech feel incredibly
detailed and thought out.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
That's where Dune and the Expanse really shine. They build
these complex, believable systems, and we.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Can't forget the power of just great characters and heart right,
which seems key to the cult classics.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Definitely like the enduring charm and adaptability of Doctor Who,
or That Found Family warmth and Firefly that connects so
strongly with people.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
So bringing it all together the so what moment? Why
does diving into these twenty fictional worlds actually matter to
you the listener today?
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Because these stories weren't just entertainment. They were and still are,
like laboratories for the future. They've genuinely shaped how we
think about technology, about society, about where we might be heading.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
You mentioned Star Trek inspiring scientists yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Or The Matrix getting people talking about virtual reality way
back when, or Blade Runner making us confront AI ethics.
These ideas spill out of the fiction and into real
world debates, real world innovation. They reflect our curiosity, our anxieties,
our hopes, and.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
They're still evolving. The analysis noted how pretty much all
of these are still active franchises right, new movies, new shows,
new games constantly coming out even as we speak in
late twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Exactly. Their enduring appeal comes from that ability to adapt,
to find new things to say, while staying true to
that core function of sci fi imagining what's out there
beyond the stars, but maybe more importantly, imagining what's inside
us how we react when faced with the future.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Okay, so we've looked at all these different visions, and.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Maybe we can boil down two dominant, contrasting paths presented
across these franchises. On one hand, you have something like
Star Trek's Federation humanity overcomes its flaws, explores peacefully, driven
by knowledge, utopian basically right. And on the other hand,
you have the Blade Runner vision, dystopian corporate control, environmental decay,
(26:28):
technology blurring the lines of humanity in unsettling ways.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
So the final thought for you, our listener, to take
away is this, we've just explored decades of imagined futures.
Think about the world around you now and think ahead
fifty years. Which of those two paths the Starfleet Utopia
or The Blade Runner. Dystopia feels like the more likely
reflection of the world you'll actually be living in.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
That's the question sci fi keeps asking.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
And that's our deep dive for today. We'll be back
next time to unpack another layer of knowledge.
Welcome to the Deep Dive science Fiction. Well it's huge,
isn't it, a massive library of ideas stretching across time,
different media galaxies.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Even it really is vast.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
So today we're aiming to give you a bit of
a shortcut. We're doing a deep dive into what the
analysis suggests are the twenty greatest sci fi franchises ever.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah, and it's quite a task because these aren't just stories, right,
they're like projections of our society, our tech, our fears,
our hopes exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
And we've looked at analysis based on what was it
four key.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Things that's right, cultural impact, how much did it change things? Storytelling?
Just how good is the story itself? Then there's innovation,
did it do something new? And finally, enduring legacy. Does
it stick around.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
We're trying to go beyond just making a list here.
The idea is to pull out those really valuable little nuggets,
the things that explain why these fictional worlds have such
a tight grip on us on the real world.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Think of it like the essential reading list for understanding
a big chunk of modern culture. But you know, in
conversation form, and.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
This is why you listening right now, should care. These franchises,
whether they show us this amazing utopian future or you know,
some dark, rainy, corporate nightmare.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Right, they've genuinely shaped debates about technology, about ethics, about
where we're all heading.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So we're basically diving into the history of the genre,
both the ideas and the business side of things, and
we're starting right at the very top.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Makes sense when you talk about sci fi that just
dominates culturally and commercially, you have to start with the
ones that basically wrote the rule book.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, the franchises that showed everyone what massive scale and
like truly revolutionary impact looked like.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
And number one, pretty much undisputed at the top of
these kinds of rankings has to be Star Wars.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Oh. Absolutely. When a New Hope came out in seventy seven,
it wasn't just a movie. It felt like it reset everything.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
For blockbusters totally. But the analysis we look at really
stresses that it's true genius wasn't just the special effects,
although they were amazing for them.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Time, right, It was the story structure. It's not really
traditional sci fi in a way. It's more like a
classic fairy tale, just with spaceships and laser swords.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
That's the key insight exactly. George Lucas was very open
about borrowing from Joseph Campbell. You know, the Hero with
a Thousand Faces.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Yeah, yeah, the whole hero's journey thing, right, the cul
To Adventure, the Wise Old mentor, Obi Wan Yoda, the
big showdown between good and evil.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
By using those classic mythic building blocks, he made it
instantly understandable, instantly powerful for everyone everywhere.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
It became modern myth pretty much. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
And the numbers, well, they back up its top ranking.
You're talking over ten billion dollars just at the box.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Office, and that doesn't even count the merch the toys,
the books, the theme parks, and now all the TV
shows like The Mandalorian that keep expanding it.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
It's the absolute blueprint for how you keep a franchise
culturally dominant for decades.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Okay, so if Star Wars is the epic fantasy battle,
what's next, Well we.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Shift to so it's kind of intellectual, maybe more philosophical,
cousin Star Trek Gene Roddenberry, nineteen sixty six. It's built
on almost the opposite idea optimism, right, exactly, optimistic futurism.
That's the core.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
And what's really interesting about Trek is how that optimism
is like baked into the world itself. The Federation, this
idea of a future where we've solved poverty, ended war.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, a post scarcity society. Humanity is just out there exploring,
driven by curiosity and science, and that.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Vision, that hopeful vision, is maybe its biggest contribution culturally.
The sources really highlight how Star Trek didn't just entertain
it actively inspired real people.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Oh, definitely, scientists, engineers, astronauts. They've explicitly said they were
inspired by watching Kirker Picard. They wanted to build the
stuff they saw.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
On screen, like the communicator influencing flip phones or the
trichorder idea.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Exactly, warp drive translators, medical scanners. This show planted those seeds.
It made people believe that kind of future was.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Possible, and it wasn't afraid to tackle big questions either.
Across all the series, the films constantly digging into morality, diplomacy,
wide diversity matters, often using alien races as like mirrors
for our own issues.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, sci fi is a tool for thinking about ethics,
really powerful stuff.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Okay, let's jump forward a bit three decades later, nineteen
ninety nine, Reality itself gets a massive shakeoup h the Matrix.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
The wakowskis that film was just a moment, a generational thing.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
It completely changed the look of sci fi films, didn't it.
That whole dark, kind of industrial, black leather cyberpunk aesthetic
it was everywhere suddenly totally iconic.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
But beyond the look, the sources point to the technical
innovation as being just as huge. That bullet time effect.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Oh yeah, neo dodging bullets mind blowing.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
At the time, it wasn't just a cool visual trick.
It was revolutionary using all those cameras, the digital effects.
It literally changed how action movies were made overnight.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
And that crazy visual style served this really smart philosophical
idea exactly.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
The analysis emphasizes how the Matrix landed right when people
were just starting to get their heads around the internet
digital life. So the whole simulated reality.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Concept, borrowing from Plato's Cave Baudriard, it felt incredibly relevant.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Super potent, made everyone question reality.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
But here's a question. If the first one was so groundbreaking,
why did the sequels kind of stumble? At least critically?
Did the idea run out of gas.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
That's a fair point, and the analysis suggests it wasn't
that the core idea got weak. It's more that the
sequels got really tangled up in like dense philosophical explanations.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Wet some of that clean narrative drive.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, may maybe some of the visual novelty wore off,
But the impact of that first film, it's so immense
culturally and technically that the franchise's high ranking is totally secure.
Its legacy is rock solid.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Okay. Shifting from simulated worlds to literary ones, really dense
literary ones.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Dune, Yes, based on Frank Kerbert's nineteen sixty five novel.
If Star Wars is the fairy tale, Dune is, like
you said, the really complex galactic political science textbook.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
It's the absolute benchmark for intricate, high concepts sci fi
world building in literature, Isn't it totally?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Herbert didn't just make up a planet to Racus. He
created this whole complex ecosystem, this whole society built around it,
with these huge, powerful noble houses constantly.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Scheming and all hinges on one thing.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
The spice milan, Right, it's not just a drug, it's everything.
It enables space travel, gives psychic powers, extends life. It's
the key to the whole galactic economy.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
And focusing on that single resource and the whole ecology
around it that makes Dune feel different, more grounded in
a way despite the sandworms.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
And its influence is massive. That's what the rankings really stress.
You can see Dune's DNA and Star Wars politics. In
basically any epic story with complex societies and resource struggles,
the themes are huge, power, religion, ecology, exploitation.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
And the fact that Dennis Villenev's recent movies were such
big hits critically and commercially, it proves people.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Are ready for that kind of dense, complex storytelling, especially
when it looks that good Dune's time is now again.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
All right. Our final Titan in this top tier, the
one that basically invented sci fi horror.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Alien Ridley Scott nineteen seventy nine. It didn't just scare audiences,
It created this whole new blend existential dread meets well
sheer terror.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah, it carve out that sci fi horror subgenre.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
The Zeno work itself is obviously terrifying, one of cinema's
greatest monsters. But the genius isn't just the creature design,
it's the whole vibe.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
The analysis points to that gritty, sort of working class
feel of the crew on the Nostromo.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Right exactly. They're not shiny starfleet officers, they're space truckers.
It makes the horror feel much more real, more grounded,
you relate to them.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And then there's Ripley, Ellen Ripley. I was a bit
surprised the sources ranked to aliens so high based mainly
on one character's impact. But is she really that foundational? Oh?
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Absolutely, Sigourney Weaver is Ripley just smashed all the norms
for female characters and action and sci fi back then.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
She wasn't a damsel in distress, that's.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
For sure, not at all. She was the ultimate survivor, resourceful,
tough complex, not defined by her relationship to men. She
basically created the template for the modern female action hero.
Her influence is huge.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yeah, and the series keeps coming back to that dark
theme too. Right, the evil corporation.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Wayland Utani, always valuing profit over people. That corporate cynicism
gives the whole franchise this grim lasting relevance. Still feels
true today. Okay, So moving beyond those absolute giants, we
get into franchises that maybe excel more in combining stunning
visuals with really deep philosophical questions, particularly about artificial life, identity,
(08:46):
that sort of thing.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Right and kicking that off, We've got a pair that
essentially defined the look of our synthetic future, Blade Runner
and Ghost in the Shell.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Yeah, they definitely share that cyberpunk aesthetic, but they tackle
the philosophy in slightly different ways.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Blade Runner first Ridley Scott in nineteen eighty two, based
on Philip K. Dick's novel. It's the film that basically
gave us the whole visual language of cyberpackets.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Totally, that constant rain, the neon signs reflecting off wet streets,
the towering corporate buildings, the crowds. It's the definitive look.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
But underneath that amazing look, it's basically a detective story,
a neo noir, right.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
And it's asking that fundamental question what does it mean
to be human? It focuses relentlessly on the replicants, these
artificial beings who seem so human but have limited life spans.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
It forces you to think about consciousness, memory, empathy, the
ethics of creating life just to serve us.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
And its legacy just endures. It wasn't a huge hit
initially but became this massive cult classic, incredibly influential, and
the sequel Blade Runner twenty forty nine from twenty.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Seventeen also visually stunning and just this thought provoking exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
It proved the ideas in the aesthetic are still powerful.
It's influence on film, art, music, it's undeniable forty years on.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Okay, ing parallel to that, you've got Ghost in the
Shell starting as manga and anime and Japan back in
eighty nine. Also cyberpunk, also about transhumanism, but with the different.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Feel Yeah, a distinctly maybe Eastern philosophical angle. It centers
on Major Kusnagi, who's almost entirely cybernetic. Her body is artificial,
So a.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Blade Runner asks, can a machine be human? Ghost in
the Shell is more like what happens to the human ghost,
the soul in the shell, the body is machine.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Precisely, that distinction is key. The sources really praise gets
us for digging into that blurring line between the digital
world and the physical one networked consciousness, identity in an
age of technology.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Really deep existential stuff, and visually it was also groundbreaking, right, influencing.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Oh, hugely influential, especially on the look of cyberspace, the
density of its futuristic city scapes. You can definitely see
its fingerprints on the matrix.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
A landmark work, all right, shifting from questions of identity
to maybe inevitability and pure raw action.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Terminator James Cameron nineteen eighty four, The T eight hundred
just relentless, a perfect killing machine from a horrifying future.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
The core idea here, the time travel aspect. It's brilliant
because it's not just a fun adventure. It's like the
engine driving this unavoidable.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Disaster Judgment Day Skynett, the AI that goes rogue. The
whole story revolves around that tension between feet, can we
change the future? And free will?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
And culturally, wow, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the Terminator. I'll be back.
It's just baked into pop.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Culture, immense footprint, and while some of the later sequels
maybe didn't quite hit the.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Mark, Yeah, they got a bit complicated.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
The first two films are masterpieces, tight storytelling, incredible practical
and then digital effects that liquid metal T one thousand
blue people's minds, and this really dark potent warning about
AI still relevant.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Okay, now for something completely different, contrasting that dark future,
we have a franchise built entirely on change, on reinvention.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
That's true, Who the British Institution running since nineteen sixty three,
incredible longevity.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
How does it do it? How does a show about
a time traveling alien in a police box stay relevant
for over sixty years.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
The secret weapon, according to the analysis, is built right
into the show's premise, regeneration.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
Right when the doctor is about to die. They can
change their body, their personality exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
It's genius. It lets the show completely reboot itself, new actor,
new companions, sometimes a new tone, while keeping all that history.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
That adaptability is amazing. It means the show can do
anything across what fourteen official doctors now at.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Least, and it can swing from historical drama one week
to cosmic horror the next, to pure space opera, but
it usually keeps that core optimistic feel, curiosity driving the adventure, not.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Violence, and that unique blend of optimism and imagination has
built this incredibly dedicated, multi generational fan base.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Absolutely its ability to keep changing keep evolving, plus successful
spin offs like Torchwood keeps it alive and globally popular,
a true television phenomenon.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Okay, so we've hit the blockbusters, the philosophical heavyweights. This
next group seems to focus more on franchises known for
really detailed societies, maybe blending genres or getting a lot
of critical love for being smart and complex.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Yeah, exactly, And a prime example is Battlestar Galactica, specifically
the reimagined series from two thousand and four.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Right, this wasn't the cheesy seventies show. This was something else,
entirely totally different.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
It took that basic premise humanity on the run from
killer robots the Cylons, and turned it into this really gritty,
intense political and moral drama.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
The sources called it a post nine one one allegory,
didn't they That feeling of paranoia desperation.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Very much so, and the style reflected that, that shaky
handheld camera work almost like a documentary. It made the
space battles and life on the ships feel incredibly real, incredibly.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Tense, and it got so much praise for its writing
for not shying away from tough issues.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Absolutely, it tackled faith politics, torture, what it means to
be human, especially when Cylon started looking exactly like humans.
It just refused easy answers set a new standard for
serious sci fi on TV.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Okay, speaking of complexity and maybe passionate fan bases, let's
talk about a show famous for quality over quantity. Firefly Ah.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yes, Joss Whedon's Space Western ran for just one season
in two thousand and two, heartbreakingly.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Short, but the following it generated unbelievable still going strong today,
Brown Coats Forever exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
And its strength really lies in that perfect blend of genres.
It's got the space ships and the futuristic tech, but
the vibe, the language, the frontier feel. It's pure Western.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
The Space Western label fits perfectly the crew of the Serenity, And.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
It's all about the characters, isn't it. The witty dialogue,
the camaraderie, that sense of rebellion against the powerful alliance,
and just the heart of it, this chosen family making
their way on the edges of society.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
That focus on the characters. The found family dynamic created
such a strong bond with viewers.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Which is why it survived cancelation. It fueled the movie Serenity.
The comics proof that sometimes one brilliant season is enough
to create a lasting legacy.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Now, if you want sci fi that feels incredibly plausible,
like it could actually happen.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Then you turn to The Expanse, the TV series based
on the novels by James S. A. Corey. It's really
seen as the modern gold standard for grounded sci fi.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Right, let's unpack grounded sci fi. The sources really highlight
the realistic physics. What makes it so different from say,
Star Trek's physics.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Well, it's merely about acknowledging things like inertian gravity in
a way most space opera doesen In the Expanse, ships
don't just stop on a dime. They have to accelerate.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Constantly, right the flip and burn maneuver.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Yeah, exactly. You accelerate towards your target, then halfway there
you flip the ship around and decelerate using the main engine.
So you don't just overshoot it or crash. There's no
magic artificial gravity or inertial dampeners. Space travel is physically demanding, and.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Those physics have real consequences for the story, for the society.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Huge consequences people living in the low gravity the asteroid belt,
the belters, they physically adapt, they grow taller, thinner, and
this creates massive social and political tension with Earth and Mars,
the high gravity planets.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
So the politics feel real because they stem from the science.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Socisely, the show got huge acclaim for weaving this intricate,
believable political thriller around scientifically sound principles. It feels startlingly real.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Okay, switching gears dramatically now from gritty realism to just
pure unadulterated fun. Back to the Future.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Uh huh. Yes, Roberts mechis Bob Gail the trilogy from
eighty five to ninety just iconic fun.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
It's genius is how it mixes the sci fi time
travel paradoxes with so much humor and heart right, and
it never gets bogged down in the technobabble, not at all.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
It keeps it light, keeps it moving, and the DeLorean.
I mean, has there ever been a cooler time machine?
It's a genuine cultural icon itself, and.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
So many lines just entered the language. Great Scott one
point to one gigawatts. The hoverboard its cultural footprint is massive.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
It's that perfect example of sci fi, breaking out of
the genre niche and just becoming beloved, timeless popular cinema.
Everyone loves Back to.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
The Future, all right, One more in this section a
franchise that started with a movie but really exploded on TV.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Stargate, Yeah, began with the nineteen ninety four film, then
launched SG one Atlantis Universe, a huge TV presence.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
The core idea is pretty elegant, isn't it, These ancient
alien gateways allowing instant travel across the galaxy, simple.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
But effective, And what the sources really emphasize is how
well the TV shows executed it. They found this great formula.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Mixing military sci fi the SG teams exploring with mysology
from different Earth cultures.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Right exactly, plus a good dose of humor and character interaction.
It made the exploration procedural but always engaging. Week after week,
a new planet, a new puzzle, a new alien race
based loosely on some ancient Earth myth.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And that accessible formula let it run for what over
three hundred episodes across the different series.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Something like that. That sheer volume, combined with its blend
of adventure, mythology and tech, built an incredibly loyal global
fan base that's still active today.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Okay, now we're moving into territor where the franchises didn't
necessarily start as movies or TV shows. Many came from
gaming or other media, but built these absolutely massive immersive universes.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Yeah. Interactive media, especially video games, have become powerhouses for
sci fi world building in the last couple of decades,
and two really stand out, Halo and Mass Effect.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Let's start with Halo two thousand and one Xbox launch title.
It wasn't just a game. It felt like an event,
absolutely Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
It basically defined the console shooter for a generation, centered
on Master Chief, this iconic super soldier fighting the Alien Covenant.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
But it was more than just shooting aliens, wasn't it.
There was this whole epic backstory, the mystery of the
Halo rings.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Huge lore, a really compelling universe involving ancient precursor races,
galactic threats, and the gameplay itself, especially the multiplayer, was revolutionary.
It pushed the whole industry forward.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
The numbers are crazy too, eighty million copies sold, plus books, comics,
now the TV show. It's a true multimedia giant.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Definitely, and right up there with it in terms of
impact on sci fi gaming is Bywaar's Mass Effect trilogy.
Starting in two thousand and seven, Ah Commander Shepherd.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
This is widely seen as one of the best RPG
experiences ever.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Right, absolutely, especially for sci fi. Its unique strength and
why it ranks so high is the emphasis on player choice.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Your decisions actually matter. They shape the story massively.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
The whole galaxy spanning story about stopping the Reapers, this
ancient machine race. It unfolds based on your choices. Your
alliance is your morality, Who lives, who dies, the fate
of entire species. It's on you.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
That blend of player agency with this incredibly rich, detailed
galaxy full of diverse alien cultures, it was groundbreaking, set.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
A new benchmark for interactive storytelling. It really makes you
grapple with big themes sacrifice, cooperation, the cost of survival
on an epic scale.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Huge influence, Okay, from consoles to tabletops. Warhammer forty thousand
This started as a miniature's game back in eighty seven, right,
but its cultural impact is kind of staggering.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
It really is. And to understand forty k you need
to understand the term grim dark.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Right, what exactly does that mean?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
It means the setting is bleak, hopelessly bleak. It's the
far future, but technology is like superstition. Humanity is ruled
by this decaying, brutal quasi religious empire, and there is
only war endless brutal war sounds cheerful, huh huh, Not exactly,
but the esthetic, this gothic, over the top brutal look,
combined with the incredibly deep lore for all the different
(20:37):
factions Space Marines or its Ldar Chaos, It's captivated people
for decades.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
So the appeal is in the richness of that dark world.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Absolutely, the sheer scale of the lore, constantly expanding through
game rules, novels, video games. It's created this incredibly passionate
global community, a true cultural force built from the tabletop.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Up sticking with games, but a different flavor of bleakness.
Fallout started in ninety seven, post apocalyptic, but with a twist.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Yeah, the twist is that retrofuturism. It's after the nuclear
bombs fell, but the world that was destroyed was stuck
in this sort of nineteen fifties vision of the future.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
So you get ray guns and robots alongside the devastation,
and that weirdly cheerful fifties music.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Exactly pit Boys on your Wrist Nuca Cola. Yeah, but
everything's irradiated and dangerous. It creates this really unique tone,
darkly funny, satirical, but also genuinely exploring survival, rebuilding, society,
human nature at its best and worst after collapse.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
And the recent TV show was a huge hit, wasn't
It brought it to a whole new audience.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Totally revitalized. It showed how well that unique blend of humor,
horror and retro style works across different media.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Okay, Next up, a franchise that's been rebooted and reinterpreted
many times, always using its premise for social commentary.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Planet of the Apes started way back in nineteen sixty eight.
That original film with the twist ending yeah, absolutely iconic and.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
The core idea a world where intelligent apes rule over
devolved humans. It's such a powerful setup for exploring big themes.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Definitely evolution, societal structures, prejudice, cycles of violence, what it
means to be human or animal. It holds up a
mirror to our own world by flipping the power dynamic.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
And the analysis highlights the recent trilogy the reboots starting
in twenty eleven.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Yeah, the Caesar trilogy. It was praised for using a
mazing motion capture technology not just for spectacle, but to
create incredibly nuanced, empathetic ape characters, especially Caesar himself.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Gave the franchise real emotional depth.
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Again, exactly prove the core concept is strong enough to
be constantly reinvented and remain relevant tackling complex themes in
new ways.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
All right, last one in this multimedia giant category, we
head back to Japan for the absolute king of mecha anime, Gundam.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Since nineteen seventy nine mobile suit Gundam. It basically created
the real robot genre.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Okay, real robot What does that mean compared to say,
other giant robot shows.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
It means the giant robots the mobile suits are traded
more like tanks or fighter jets. They're tools of war,
mass produced used in complex political conflicts. It's not usually
about superheroes or mystical powers.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
So it's more grounded, more focused on the realities of war.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Exactly Gundam across It's literally dozens of series, films and
timelines over fifty now consistently explores the human cost of war,
political intrigue, the impact of technology. Child Soldiers really mature
themes for animation, especially back in seventy nine.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
And that focus on realistic conflict, even with giant robots,
is why it's had such a huge global impact.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
That's a big part of it. That thematic depth, combined
with iconic robot designs has created a massive enduring fan
base and billions in merchandise sales. It's the cornerstone of
Mecca worldwide.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Wow. Okay, so that's twenty franchises. We've gone from the
gritty realism of the Expanse to the sheer joy of
Back to the Future, from Dune's desert politics to mass effects,
player driven galactic war. It's an incredible range.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
This really shows the sheer breadth of science fiction, doesn't it.
And looking back across the analysis, we can sort of
group these franchises by their core strengths, what they do best.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Right, You've got the sheer scale and often optimism of
Star Wars and Star Trek, their household names cultural benchmarks.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Absolutely, But then if you want sci fi that really
messes with your head, asks those deep existential questions, the
analysis points to the Matrix and Blade Runner using tech
to probe the nature of reality of.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Being human and for pure intricate world building where the
rules of the universe, the societies, the tech feel incredibly
detailed and thought out.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
That's where Dune and the Expanse really shine. They build
these complex, believable systems, and we.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Can't forget the power of just great characters and heart right,
which seems key to the cult classics.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Definitely like the enduring charm and adaptability of Doctor Who,
or That Found Family warmth and Firefly that connects so
strongly with people.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
So bringing it all together the so what moment? Why
does diving into these twenty fictional worlds actually matter to
you the listener today?
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Because these stories weren't just entertainment. They were and still are,
like laboratories for the future. They've genuinely shaped how we
think about technology, about society, about where we might be heading.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
You mentioned Star Trek inspiring scientists yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Or The Matrix getting people talking about virtual reality way
back when, or Blade Runner making us confront AI ethics.
These ideas spill out of the fiction and into real
world debates, real world innovation. They reflect our curiosity, our anxieties,
our hopes, and.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
They're still evolving. The analysis noted how pretty much all
of these are still active franchises right, new movies, new shows,
new games constantly coming out even as we speak in
late twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Exactly. Their enduring appeal comes from that ability to adapt,
to find new things to say, while staying true to
that core function of sci fi imagining what's out there
beyond the stars, but maybe more importantly, imagining what's inside
us how we react when faced with the future.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Okay, so we've looked at all these different visions, and.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Maybe we can boil down two dominant, contrasting paths presented
across these franchises. On one hand, you have something like
Star Trek's Federation humanity overcomes its flaws, explores peacefully, driven
by knowledge, utopian basically right. And on the other hand,
you have the Blade Runner vision, dystopian corporate control, environmental decay,
(26:28):
technology blurring the lines of humanity in unsettling ways.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
So the final thought for you, our listener, to take
away is this, we've just explored decades of imagined futures.
Think about the world around you now and think ahead
fifty years. Which of those two paths the Starfleet Utopia
or The Blade Runner. Dystopia feels like the more likely
reflection of the world you'll actually be living in.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
That's the question sci fi keeps asking.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
And that's our deep dive for today. We'll be back
next time to unpack another layer of knowledge.
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