Great Movies and Series [Not Sci-Fi]

[Jarvis323]

No science in the central premise - the conceit of the story.

What actual science is there in a mad scientist trying to drown people? That's really about character development than story premise.

I don't know, it's labeled as sci fi by its distributors and elsewhere. Most of what is labeled as sci fi now days is not centrally premised on real science.

 

[DaveC426913]

I don't know, it's labeled as sci fi by its distributors and elsewhere. Most of what is labeled as sci fi now days is not centrally premised on real science.

It doesn't have to be real science to be sci fi. Star Trek is sci fi because advanced tech based on fictional science is critical to the premise.

No such science - real or fictional - is required for the premise of The OA. Magic or occultism or deism are perfectly plausible vehicles, and are defined by NOT being under the purview of scientific rationality. And that's OK - in fantasy.

 

[Jarvis323]

It doesn't have to be real science to be sci fi. Star Trek is sci do because advanced tech based on fictional science is critical to the premise.

No such science - real or fictional - is required for the premise of The OA

I think it would be a pretty different show if half of it wasn't about a scientist with advanced tech that is able to monitor near death experiences trying to prove the afterlife.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I think it would be a pretty different show if half of it wasn't about a scientist with advanced tech that is able to monitor near death experiences trying to prove the afterlife.

She was an angel - the Original Angel.

It doesn't get more mystical than that.

Your point is taken. It did have that sci-fi side to it. But ultimately the events were mystical and without explanation. And with her and her guide both being angels, it is hard to deny the mysticism.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I think it would be a pretty different show if half of it wasn't about a scientist with advanced tech that is able to monitor near death experiences trying to prove the afterlife.

She was an angel - the Original Angel.

It doesn't get more mystical than that.

Your point is taken. It did have that sci-fi side to it. But ultimately the events were mystical and without explanation. And with her and her guide both being angels, it is hard to deny the mysticism.

One way to contrast the idea [sci vs fantasy] is to watch what I consider to be the best hard sci-fi movie ever made - Primer

If you watch Primer a number of times and think very hard about the plot, it can all be reverse engineered. But this is not true with The OA. The mystical events are unpredictable even retrospectively.

 

[collinsmark]

I think it would be a pretty different show if half of it wasn't about a scientist with advanced tech that is able to monitor near death experiences trying to prove the afterlife.

I sort of have to agree with @Ivan Seeking insofar as the ambiguous nature of what was actually discovered in the OA.

Yes, it's true whatever was discovered was done so by a scientist with advanced tech, monitoring near death experiences, trying to prove the afterlife. But as the series progresses, the scientist's hypothesis is proven wrong. Whatever was discovered was not the afterlife -- at least not an afterlife of a traditionally believed nature. It was something else. Something different. What exactly it is isn't clear.

So yeah, there's science in the show. But the "science" part is debunked, at least a little, as part of the plot. So is that still science fiction? Maybe, but not necessarily certainly.

It would seem that what was actually discovered was some sort of proof of an Everttian interpretation of quantum mechanics (QM). But was it? The show could have done some hand-waving along those lines bringing it solidly back into the realm of science fiction. But they didn't actually do any invocation of QM. Well, not yet anyway.

So I guess we'll see, if there's another season.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I loved 95% of it! It is one of my favorite series by far. But they started losing me at the end. The robots were stupid. But I guess that is just because they violated my interpretation that it has to be a person for the mystical stuff to work. LOL!

My god machines will even replace us in the afterlife!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Have we mentioned Young Sheldon? I like that show!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Not to be forgotten...

SYNOPSIS: “Mindwalk,” like “My Dinner with Andre,” is a dialogue-driven film, which explores basic philosophical questions. In this case, the principal subject is holistic vs. atomistic ways of viewing the world. The film was directed by Austiran-born Bernt Capra, a Hollywood production designer. He also wrote the story behind the film, which he adapted from the popular book The Turning Point (1983) by his brother Fritjof Capra, noted physicist and environmentalist...
http://www.philfilms.utm.edu/1/mindwalk.htm