Science fiction (or sci-fi ) is a film genre that uses speculative , fictional science -based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms , spacecraft , robots , cyborgs , mutants , interstellar travel , time travel , or other technologies. Science fiction films have often been used to focus on political or social issues , and to explore philosophical issues like the human condition .
154-491: Tenet is a 2020 science fiction action thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan , who also produced it with his wife Emma Thomas . It stars John David Washington , Robert Pattinson , Elizabeth Debicki , Dimple Kapadia , Michael Caine , and Kenneth Branagh . The film follows a former CIA agent who is recruited into a secret organization, tasked with tracing the origin of objects that are traveling backward through time and their connection to an attack from
308-539: A "hugely expensive, blissfully empty spectacle". LA Weekly 's Asher Luberto also highlighted the similarities between Tenet and the James Bond films, but also felt it was "a daring, surprising and entirely original piece of work, reverent in its spectacle and haunting in its mesmerizing, dreamlike form". Branagh's character was described by some critics as a stereotypical Russian villain . Christina Newland of Vulture.com called Branagh "silly-accented ... as
462-500: A "seven-figure check" for him to return to the studio, consisting of the fees that Nolan waived to encourage the release of Tenet in theatres. The film was released on 4K Ultra HD , Blu-ray , DVD , and digital download on December 15, 2020. It was added to HBO Max on May 1, 2021. As of January 29, 2024, Tenet has grossed $ 58.5 million in the United States and Canada and $ 306.8 million in other territories, for
616-589: A Bond-villain-esque Russian mastermind". Mike McCahill of IndieWire gave the film a "C−" grade and called it "a humorless disappointment". Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune awarded it two out of four stars, writing that he wished the film "exploited its own ideas more dynamically". The New York Post 's Johnny Oleksinski also gave it two out of four stars, calling it Nolan's most "confusing" work so far, but acknowledged being "swept up by Nolan's incomparable cinematic vision". Kathleen Sachs of
770-512: A British cinema and media theorist and cultural critic: Science fiction film is a film genre which emphasizes actual, extrapolative, or 2.0 speculative science and the empirical method , interacting in a social context with the lesser emphasized, but still present, transcendentalism of magic and religion , in an attempt to reconcile man with the unknown. This definition suggests a continuum between (real-world) empiricism and ( supernatural ) transcendentalism , with science fiction films on
924-524: A Friend for the End of the World ( 2012 ), Safety Not Guaranteed ( 2013 ), and Pixels (2015), romance films such as Her (2013), Monsters (2010), and Ex Machina (2015), heist films including Inception (2010) and action films including Real Steel (2011), Total Recall (2012), Edge of Tomorrow ( 2014 ), Pacific Rim (2013), Chappie (2015), Tomorrowland (2015), and Ghost in
1078-618: A Tenet ship traveling back to the 14th, Kat reveals Sator has terminal cancer and is omnicidal. They surmise that after the Kyiv opera house siege on the 14th, Sator returns to a family vacation in Vietnam to commit suicide, sending the dead drop coordinates to the future via a dead man's switch . Arriving at the 14th, Kat poses as her past self in Vietnam as the Tenet forces in Stalsk-12 recover
1232-488: A Time in the West (1968), Nolan avoided watching any spy films that might influence him while making Tenet , instead relying upon his memories. The science-fiction aspect of the film revolves around the ability to reverse the entropy of things and people, resulting in time reversibility . While the film does refer to real concepts from physics, among them annihilation , the second law of thermodynamics , Maxwell's demon ,
1386-568: A bicycle components manufacturer. The final trailer was released in August and featured Scott's single. A making-of video was released on August 26. The marketing and promotion of the film was significantly hampered due to postponements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with executives calculating that each postponement cost Warner Bros. between $ 200,000 and $ 400,000 in marketing fees. Eventually, after briefly being held up indefinitely, Glenn Whipp of
1540-474: A civilization's level of technological advancement into types. Due to its exponential nature, sci-fi civilizations usually only attain Type I (harnessing all the energy attainable from a single planet), and strictly speaking often not even that. The concept of life, particularly intelligent life, having an extraterrestrial origin is a popular staple of science fiction films. Early films often used alien life forms as
1694-479: A color to Nolan's palette, and [she] has persuasive chemistry with Branagh in their joint portrait of a violent, dysfunctional love-hate relationship". She concluded that Tenet is "rich in audacity and originality", but lacks "a certain humanity". Jessica Kiang of The New York Times described the film as Nolan's "time-bending" take on James Bond , praising the film's cinematography, score, editing, acting, and "immaculately creaseless costumes", while also deeming it
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#17327871367351848-447: A dead drop depends on the location and method of concealment, ensuring retrieval without the operatives being spotted by the public, police, or other security forces. Common everyday items and behaviors are used to avoid suspicion. Any hidden location is used. A dead drop spike is a concealment device similar to a microcache . It has been used since the late 1960s to hide money, maps, documents, microfilm , and other items. The spike
2002-463: A fake—a test that only he passed. He is recruited by "Tenet", a secretive organization that briefs him on objects with "inverted" entropy that move backward through time. With his handler Neil, he traces inverted munitions to Priya Singh, an arms dealer in Mumbai . Priya reveals that she is a member of Tenet, and the man who inverted her bullets, Russian oligarch Andrei Sator, is communicating with
2156-528: A future Protagonist and that Neil has known him for a long time. He leaves them his piece of the algorithm to invert and sacrifice himself in the hypocenter. Later, in London, Priya plans to kill Kat to maintain the secrecy of Tenet. Realizing that it was he who created Tenet, the Protagonist kills Priya first and watches Kat leave with her son. Also appearing are Jefferson Hall , the "Well-Dressed Man", who
2310-401: A long tradition of movies featuring monster attacks. These differ from similar films in the horror or fantasy genres because science fiction films typically rely on a scientific (or at least pseudo-scientific) rationale for the monster's existence, rather than a supernatural or magical reason. Often, the science fiction film monster is created, awakened, or "evolves" because of the machinations of
2464-472: A machine. In Mumbai, Priya explains it was a "turnstile"—a device that inverts entropy. The two men were the same person, traveling in opposite directions through time. She reveals that Sator's henchmen sabotaged his CIA team but KORD got the artifact, 3/4 kg of weapons-grade plutonium . Believing that the Protagonist has destroyed the forgery, Kat introduces him to Sator in Italy. Sator agrees to help steal
2618-533: A mad scientist, a nuclear accident, or a scientific experiment gone awry. Typical examples include The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), Jurassic Park films, Cloverfield , Pacific Rim , the King Kong films, and the Godzilla franchise or the many films involving Frankenstein's monster . The core mental aspects of what makes us human has been a staple of science fiction films, particularly since
2772-462: A moderate success. The strongest contributors to the genre during the second half of the 1980s were James Cameron and Paul Verhoeven with The Terminator and RoboCop entries. Robert Zemeckis ' film Back to the Future ( 1985 ) and its sequels were critically praised and became box office successes, not to mention international phenomena. James Cameron's sequel to Alien , Aliens ( 1986 ),
2926-496: A nearly year-long shutdown (causing theaters in the city to miss out on the film's initial theatrical run), they would be re-releasing Tenet at select theaters in the city. In the Philippines, the film was released on HBO Go streaming platform on June 12, 2021, following the year-long indefinite closure of theaters in the country in response of a potential COVID-19 surge, becoming the last major Asian country to do so. The film
3080-530: A number of science fiction comic strips were adapted as serials , notably Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers , both starring Buster Crabbe . These serials, and the comic strips they were based on, were very popular with the general public. Other notable science fiction films of the 1930s include Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Doctor X (1932), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), F.P.1 (1932), Island of Lost Souls (1932), Deluge (1933), The Invisible Man (1933), Master of
3234-463: A particular area or time period. This is not true of the science fiction film. However, there are several common visual elements that are evocative of the genre. These include the spacecraft or space station, alien worlds or creatures, robots, and futuristic gadgets. Examples include movies like Lost in Space , Serenity , Avatar , Prometheus , Tomorrowland , Passengers , and Valerian and
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#17327871367353388-500: A particular concern of the writer by serving as a vehicle of warning against a type of activity, including technological research. In the case of alien invasion films, the creatures can provide as a stand-in for a feared foreign power. Films that fit into the Disaster film typically also fall into the following general categories: While monster films do not usually depict danger on a global or epic scale, science fiction film also has
3542-530: A per-theater average of more than $ 10,000. Tenet divided critics, with USA Today 's Jenna Ryu and the Los Angeles Times 's Christi Carras respectively describing the reviews as "mixed" and "all over the place". The Independent 's Clémence Michallon wrote that the film was perceived as "both entertaining and 'cerebral' by some, but lacking and confusing by others". Ellise Shafer of Variety found that, while some were weary of
3696-565: A popular staple of science fiction film and science fiction television series. Time travel usually involves the use of some type of advanced technology, such as H. G. Wells' classic The Time Machine , the commercially successful 1980s-era Back to the Future trilogy, the Bill & Ted trilogy, the Terminator series, Déjà Vu (2006), Source Code (2011), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Predestination (2014). Other movies, such as
3850-500: A song by Travis Scott , which plays over the film's closing credits. In August 2019, Warner Bros. debuted a forty-second teaser ahead of Hobbs & Shaw previews, which was published online in December. Yohana Desta of Vanity Fair called it an "old-school surprise" and praised Göransson's score, while Jim Vejvoda of IGN described it as " Inception with time travel". Both Vejvoda and IndieWire 's Zack Sharf noted
4004-657: A special metal called unobtainium. That same year, Terminator Salvation was released and garnered only moderate success. The 2010s saw new entries in several classic science fiction franchises, including Predators ( 2010 ), Tron: Legacy (2010), a resurgence of the Star Wars series, and entries into the Planet of the Apes and Godzilla franchises. Several more cross-genre films have also been produced, including comedies such as Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), Seeking
4158-423: A split-second before their demise, and then use their bodies for spare parts. Dead drop A dead drop or dead letter box is a method of espionage tradecraft used to pass items or information between two individuals (e.g., a case officer and an agent , or two agents) via a secret location. By avoiding direct meetings, individuals can maintain operational security . This method stands in contrast to
4312-607: A team to Eagle Mountain to record the Chinooks and Mi-8, and to Southampton to record the F50 catamarans. Others were hired to capture the aural atmosphere of Oslo, Mumbai, and Tallinn. King got audio of both live and blank automatic weapon rounds at a gun range in San Francisquito Canyon and rented a runway to test how the vehicles in the film sound. Jennifer Lame replaced Nolan's long-time editor Lee Smith , who
4466-533: A threat or peril to the human race, where the invaders were frequently fictional representations of actual military or political threats on Earth as observed in films such as Mars Attacks! , Starship Troopers , the Alien series, the Predator series, and The Chronicles of Riddick series. Some aliens were represented as benign and even beneficial in nature in such films as Escape to Witch Mountain , E.T.
4620-493: A worldwide total of $ 363.7 million. With a production budget of $ 200 million, it is Nolan's most expensive original project. IndieWire speculated that marketing costs pushed the final sum to $ 300–350 million, though some analysts predicted it would incur lower advertising costs than usual, owing to inexpensive live sports ads. Box office analyst Jeff Bock estimated the film would need to make $ 400–500 million to break even. In November 2020, rival studios expected
4774-595: Is a popular scientific element in films as depicted in Jurassic Park (cloning of extinct species), The Island (cloning of humans), and ( genetic modification ) in some superhero movies and in the Alien series. Cybernetics and holographic projections as depicted in RoboCop and I, Robot are also popularized. Interstellar travel and teleportation is a popular theme in the Star Trek series that
Tenet (film) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4928-700: Is a popular theme in Independence Day while invisibility is also popular in Star Trek . Arc reactor technology, featured in Iron Man , is similar to a cold fusion device. Miniaturization technology where people are shrunk to microscopic sizes is featured in films like Fantastic Voyage (1966), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), and Marvel's Ant-Man (2015). The late Arthur C. Clarke 's third law states that "any sufficiently advanced technology
5082-564: Is achieved through warp drives and transporters while intergalactic travel is popular in films such as Stargate and Star Wars that is achieved through hyperspace or wormholes . Nanotechnology is also featured in the Star Trek series in the form of replicators (utopia), in The Day the Earth Stood Still in the form of grey goo (dystopia), and in Iron Man 3 in the form of extremis (nanotubes) . Force fields
5236-813: Is an exception. The first depiction of a sophisticated robot in a United States film was Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still . Robots in films are often sentient and sometimes sentimental, and they have filled a range of roles in science fiction films. Robots have been supporting characters, such as Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet , Huey, Dewey and Louie in Silent Running , Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation , sidekicks (e.g., C-3PO and R2-D2 from Star Wars , JARVIS from Iron Man ), and extras, visible in
5390-514: Is arguably no free will. One of the film's common refrains, "ignorance is our ammunition", could hint at the illusionist stance that free will does not exist but people should act as if they have free will. However, the characters (especially Neil) express uncertainty as to whether history can be altered, and say several times during the film, "what's happened, happened". Neil's attitude towards free will could be interpreted as compatibilist , whereby free will and determinism are seen as compatible. Kat
5544-699: Is featured in Minority Report as well as in The Matrix saga (in which precognition is achieved by knowing the artificial world). Robots have been a part of science fiction since the Czech playwright Karel Čapek coined the word in 1921. In early films, robots were usually played by a human actor in a boxy metal suit, as in The Phantom Empire , although the female robot in Metropolis
5698-506: Is indistinguishable from magic". Past science fiction films have depicted "fictional" ("magical") technologies that became present reality. For example, the Personal Access Display Device from Star Trek was a precursor of smartphones and tablet computers . Gesture recognition in the movie Minority Report is part of current game consoles . Human-level artificial intelligence is also fast approaching with
5852-439: Is regarded as one of the best movies of the period, Planet of the Apes (1968) and Fahrenheit 451 ( 1966 ), which provided social commentary, and the campy Barbarella (1968), which explored the comical side of earlier science fiction. Jean-Luc Godard 's French "new wave" film Alphaville (1965) posited a futuristic Paris commanded by an artificial intelligence which has outlawed all emotion. The era of crewed trips to
6006-539: Is remote telepresence via androids as depicted in Surrogates and Iron Man 3 . As artificial intelligence becomes smarter due to increasing computer power , some sci-fi dreams have already been realized. For example, the computer Deep Blue beat the world chess champion in 1997 and a documentary film, Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine , was released in 2003. Another famous computer called Watson defeated
6160-401: Is resistant to water and mildew and can be placed in the ground or submerged in a shallow stream for later retrieval. Various signaling methods are employed to indicate that a dead drop has been made. These include chalk marks on a wall, a piece of chewing gum on a lamppost or a newspaper placed on a park bench . In some cases, signals are made from an agent's residence, visible from
6314-466: Is seen as the character who most strongly embodies free will in Tenet by choosing to stray from the plan and shoot Sator, at which point she is free from his control. Kat relays to the Protagonist that when she was returning with Max to Sator's yacht in Vietnam and saw a woman (her future self, unbeknownst to past Kat) diving gracefully off the yacht, she felt jealous of that woman's freedom. Similarly, there
Tenet (film) - Misplaced Pages Continue
6468-481: Is uncertainty in Tenet regarding the grandfather paradox and whether the use of the Algorithm in the future, wiping out the past (the time of the events in Tenet ), would also wipe out the future. Tenet has been interpreted as a war between past and future. The plot revolves around reversing the entropy of things and people, resulting in time reversibility , and the film references physics concepts including
6622-525: Is whether robots will someday replace humans, a question raised in the film adaptation of Isaac Asimov 's I, Robot (in jobs) and in the film Real Steel (in sports), or whether intelligent robots could develop a conscience and a motivation to protect, take over, or destroy the human race (as depicted in The Terminator , Transformers , and in Avengers: Age of Ultron ). Another theme
6776-652: The Chicago Reader gave the film one and a half out of four stars, concluding that Nolan "doesn't show much growth in his most recent self-indulgent work". Brian Lloyd of Entertainment.ie said poor sound mixing "often" rendered dialog inaudible when viewed on 35 mm film, suggesting viewing the film on Digital Cinema Package files to reduce the problem. The San Francisco Chronicle 's Mick LaSalle also found Tenet "difficult to understand", and continued that "even worse, it inspires little desire to understand it". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave
6930-467: The Los Angeles Times noted that Warner Bros. did not put Tenet on the Academy 's streaming platform or send out screeners to awards voters. Given the large investment in the film, part of its marketing campaign involved dual promotions with the watch manufacturer Hamilton and Fortnite , both of whom assisted in increasing public awareness of the forthcoming film. Hamilton featured Washington wearing
7084-442: The Planet of the Apes series, Timeline (2003) and The Last Mimzy (2007), explained their depictions of time travel by drawing on physics concepts such as the special relativity phenomenon of time dilation (which could occur if a spaceship was travelling near the speed of light) and wormholes . Some films show time travel not being attained from advanced technology, but rather from an inner source or personal power, such as
7238-565: The Power Rangers (2017) reboot was greatly improved as compared to the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995). While "size does matter", a famous tagline of the movie Godzilla , incredibly small robots, called nanobots , do matter as well (e.g. Borg nanoprobes in Star Trek and nanites in I, Robot ). The concept of time travel —travelling backwards and forwards through time—has always been
7392-457: The Star Wars prequel trilogy , or the huge robot probes seen in Monsters vs. Aliens ). In some cases, robots have even been the leading characters in science fiction films; in the film Blade Runner (1982), many of the characters are bioengineered android " replicants ". This is also present in the animated films WALL-E (2008), Astro Boy (2009), Big Hero 6 (2014), Ghost in
7546-452: The 93rd Academy Awards and received numerous other accolades . On "the 14th", the Protagonist leads a covert CIA extraction during a staged terrorist siege at an Opera House in Kyiv . He is saved from KORD forces by a masked operative wearing a red trinket. The Protagonist retrieves an artifact but his team is captured and tortured. He swallows a suicide pill but wakes up to find it was
7700-649: The National Liberal Club after management at Sotheby's refused to participate, at Cannon Hall after Thornhill Primary School in Islington and Channing School were deemed unsatisfactory, and at Shree Vardhan Tower after it was determined that security at the Antilia was too high to film there. Washington , Pattinson , and Debicki were cast in March 2019. Each of them were only permitted to read
7854-466: The Star Wars prequel trilogy began with the release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace , which eventually grossed over one billion dollars. As the decade progressed, computers played an increasingly important role in both the addition of special effects (thanks to Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park ) and the production of films. As software developed in sophistication it
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#17327871367358008-631: The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel . A restaurant named "Chaand" was erected near the hotel, but was never used, serving only as an unneeded alternate location. Forty boats were positioned at the Gateway of India, where the crew rescued a man who had attempted suicide. Production proceeded in Los Angeles, where Hawthorne Plaza Shopping Center functioned as the interior set of an icebreaker and a shipping container. The Victorville Airport
8162-616: The Washington Monument . Cultural theorist Scott Bukatman has proposed that science fiction film allows contemporary culture to witness an expression of the sublime , be it through exaggerated scale, apocalypse or transcendence. Science fiction films appeared early in the silent film era, typically as short films shot in black and white, sometimes with colour tinting. They usually had a technological theme and were often intended to be humorous. In 1902 , Georges Méliès released Le Voyage dans la Lune , generally considered
8316-469: The cyberpunk genre spawned several movies on the theme of the computer-human interface, such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day ( 1991 ), Total Recall ( 1990 ), The Lawnmower Man ( 1992 ), and The Matrix ( 1999 ). Other themes included disaster films (e.g., Armageddon and Deep Impact , both 1998 ), alien invasion (e.g., Independence Day ( 1996 )) and genetic experimentation (e.g., Jurassic Park ( 1993 ) and Gattaca ( 1997 )). Also,
8470-517: The grandfather paradox , and Feynman and Wheeler 's Absorber Theory , Nolan stated that "we're not going to make any case for this being scientifically accurate". Commenting on the scientific aspects of writing the script, he stated: "I think the scientific method is the best tool we have for analyzing and understanding the world around us ... I've been very inspired by working with great scientists like Kip Thorne , who I worked with on Interstellar , who also helped me out with some early analysis of
8624-471: The live drop , which involves a face-to-face exchange. Spies and their handlers have been known to perform dead drops using various techniques to hide items (such as money, secrets or instructions) and to signal that the drop has been made. Although the signal and location by necessity must be agreed upon in advance, the signal may or may not be located close to the dead drop itself. The operatives may not necessarily know or meet each other. The success of
8778-552: The second law of thermodynamics , Maxwell's demon , and Feynman and Wheeler 's notion of a one-electron universe ; nonetheless, Christopher Nolan stated in the film's press notes: "we're not going to make any case for this being scientifically accurate". Science fiction film The genre has existed since the early years of silent cinema , when Georges Méliès ' A Trip to the Moon (1902) employed trick photography effects. The next major example (first in feature-length in
8932-452: The virtual reality world became a real-world prison for humanity, managed by intelligent machines. In movies such as eXistenZ , The Thirteenth Floor , and Inception , the nature of reality and virtual reality become intermixed with no clear distinguishing boundary. Telekinesis and telepathy are featured in movies like Star Wars , The Last Mimzy , Race to Witch Mountain , Chronicle , and Lucy while precognition
9086-827: The young adult dystopian fiction subgenre, popular in the early part of the decade. These include the Hunger Games film series , based on the trilogy of novels by Suzanne Collins , The Divergent Series based on Veronica Roth 's Divergent trilogy , and the Maze Runner series , based on James Dashner 's The Maze Runner novels . Several adult adaptations have also been produced, including The Martian (2015), based on Andy Weir 's 2011 novel , Cloud Atlas (2012), based on David Mitchell 's 2004 novel , World War Z , based on Max Brooks ' 2006 novel , and Ready Player One (2018), based on Ernest Cline 's 2011 novel . Independent productions also increased in
9240-412: The " mad scientist " transferring the human mind to another body is as old as Frankenstein while the idea of corporations behind mind transfer technologies is observed in later films such as Gamer , Avatar , and Surrogates . Films such as Total Recall have popularized a thread of films that explore the concept of reprogramming the human mind. The theme of brainwashing in several films of
9394-526: The "Algorithm", a device that future antagonists need to invert the entropy of the world and destroy its past. Priya had planned for Sator to get the artifact to reveal the other eight pieces in preparing his dead drop . Recalling an earlier conversation with Michael Crosby, the Protagonist realizes it is a nuclear hypocenter detonated on the 14th in Sator's hometown, the Russian closed city of Stalsk-12. On
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#17327871367359548-623: The 1950s, Ray Harryhausen , protege of master King Kong animator Willis O'Brien, used stop-motion animation to create special effects for the following notable science fiction films: It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) and 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957). The most successful monster movies were Japanese film studio Toho 's kaiju films directed by Ishirō Honda and featuring special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya . The 1954 film Godzilla , with
9702-476: The 1960s, but some of the films transformed science fiction cinema. Stanley Kubrick 's 2001: A Space Odyssey ( 1968 ) brought new realism to the genre, with its groundbreaking visual effects and realistic portrayal of space travel and influenced the genre with its epic story and transcendent philosophical scope. Other 1960s films included Planet of the Vampires (1965) by Italian filmmaker Mario Bava , that
9856-482: The 1970s included Woody Allen 's Sleeper ( 1973 ), and John Carpenter 's Dark Star ( 1974 ). The sports science fiction genre can be seen in films such as Rollerball (1975). Star Wars ( 1977 ) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind ( 1977 ) were box-office hits that brought about a huge increase in science fiction films. In 1979 , Star Trek: The Motion Picture brought the television series to
10010-408: The 1980s. Ridley Scott 's Blade Runner (1982), an adaptation of Philip K. Dick 's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? , examined what made an organic-creation a human, while the RoboCop series saw an android mechanism fitted with the brain and reprogrammed mind of a human to create a cyborg . The idea of brain transfer was not entirely new to science fiction film, as the concept of
10164-443: The 2000s-era films Donnie Darko , Mr. Nobody , The Butterfly Effect , and X-Men: Days of Future Past . More conventional time travel movies use technology to bring the past to life in the present, or in a present that lies in our future. The film Iceman (1984) told the story of the reanimation of a frozen Neanderthal . The film Freejack (1992) shows time travel used to pull victims of horrible deaths forward in time
10318-579: The 2010s, with the rise of digital filmmaking making it easier for filmmakers to produce movies on a smaller budget. These films include Attack the Block (2011), Source Code (2011), Looper (2012), Upstream Color (2013), Ex Machina (2015), and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017). In 2016, Ex Machina won the Academy Award for Visual Effects in a surprising upset over
10472-400: The Algorithm. They use a "temporal pincer movement ", with inverted and non-inverted troops creating a diversion so the Protagonist and Ives can steal the Algorithm before detonation. Sator's henchman, Volkov, traps them in the hypocenter. Calling from Vietnam, Sator explains the antagonists are trying to prevent catastrophes that will be caused by climate change . As Volkov is about to execute
10626-576: The American box office its fifth weekend with $ 2.7 million, before ceding the number one spot to The War with Grandpa its sixth weekend. The film's worldwide 2024 IMAX re-release began on February 23, 2024, in 55 IMAX locations, including 12 showing the film in 70mm, opening against the one-week North American engagement of the Dolby Cinema reissue of Les Misérables (2012). It grossed $ 600,000 globally on its three-day opening weekend for
10780-515: The City of a Thousand Planets . More subtle visual clues can appear with changes of the human form through modifications in appearance, size, or behavior, or by means a known environment turned eerily alien, such as an empty city The Omega Man (1971). While science is a major element of this genre, many movie studios take significant liberties with scientific knowledge. Such liberties can be most readily observed in films that show spacecraft maneuvering in outer space . The vacuum should preclude
10934-568: The Earth Stood Still , and The Watch , the aliens were nearly human in physical appearance, and communicated in a common earth language. However, the aliens in Stargate and Prometheus were human in physical appearance but communicated in an alien language. A few films have tried to represent intelligent aliens as something utterly different from the usual humanoid shape (e.g. An intelligent life form surrounding an entire planet in Solaris ,
11088-772: The Extra-Terrestrial , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , The Fifth Element , The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , Avatar , Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets , and the Men in Black series. In order to provide subject matter to which audiences can relate, the large majority of intelligent alien races presented in films have an anthropomorphic nature, possessing human emotions and motivations. In films like Cocoon , My Stepmother Is an Alien , Species , Contact , The Box , Knowing , The Day
11242-506: The Kyiv Opera House); and "Rotas" (the name of the security company running Oslo Freeport). There is a further nod to the word "Tenet" in the film's final battle in which the red and blue teams each have "ten" minutes to carry out their non-inverted ("ten") and inverted ("net") operations in Stalsk-12. When the Protagonist is being tortured, trains pass by in opposite directions. Ludwig Göransson 's score includes melodies that sound
11396-739: The Moon in 1969 and the 1970s saw a resurgence of interest in the science fiction film. Andrei Tarkovsky 's Solaris ( 1972 ) and Stalker ( 1979 ) are two widely acclaimed examples of the renewed interest of film auteurs in science fiction. Science fiction films from the early 1970s explored the theme of paranoia, in which humanity is depicted as under threat from sociological, ecological or technological adversaries of its own creation, such as George Lucas 's directional debut THX 1138 ( 1971 ), The Andromeda Strain ( 1971 ), Silent Running ( 1972 ), Soylent Green ( 1973 ), Westworld ( 1973 ) and its sequel Futureworld ( 1976 ), and Logan's Run ( 1976 ). The science fiction comedies of
11550-584: The Pole (1912), Himmelskibet (1918; which with its runtime of 97 minutes generally is considered the first feature-length science fiction film in history), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Mechanical Man (1921), Paris Qui Dort (1923), Aelita (1924), Luch Smerti (1925), and The Lost World (1925). In the 1930s, there were several big budget science fiction films, notably Just Imagine (1930), King Kong (1933), Things to Come (1936), and Lost Horizon (1937). Starting in 1936,
11704-691: The Protagonist tries to extract at the opera house; Andrew Howard as the Driver who sabotages the CIA's Kyiv operation and tortures the Protagonist; Wes Chatham as SWAT 3, a member of the Protagonist's covert CIA team in Kyiv; Denzil Smith as Sanjay Singh, Priya's husband; Jeremy Theobald as the steward at the Reform Club; Laurie Shepherd as Max, Kat and Sator's son; Jack Cutmore-Scott as Klaus, an employee at Sator's Rotas freeport in Oslo; Josh Stewart as
11858-416: The Protagonist, an inverted soldier with a red trinket appears and sacrifices themselves, enabling the Protagonist and Ives to escape with the Algorithm. The hypocenter detonates in Stalsk-12 as Kat kills Sator in Vietnam. The Protagonist, Neil, and Ives arrange to separate and hide pieces of the Algorithm. The Protagonist notices the red trinket on Neil's bag. Neil reveals that he was recruited in his past by
12012-633: The Russian authorities, the agent delivering information would approach the rock and transmit data wirelessly into it from a hand-held device, and later, his British handlers would pick up the stored data by similar means. SecureDrop , initially called DeadDrop, is a software suite for teams that allows them to create a digital dead drop location to receive tips from whistleblowers through the Internet. The team members and whistleblowers never communicate directly and never know each other's identity, thereby allowing whistleblowers to dead-drop information despite
12166-502: The Sea ( 1916 ) is a film based on Jules Verne ’s famous novel of a wondrous submarine and its vengeful captain. In the 1920s, European filmmakers tended to use science fiction for prediction and social commentary, as can be seen in German films such as Metropolis ( 1927 ) and Frau im Mond ( 1929 ). Other notable science fiction films of the silent era include The Impossible Voyage (1904), The Motorist (1906), The Conquest of
12320-530: The Shell (2017) and in Next Gen (2018). Films like Bicentennial Man , A.I. Artificial Intelligence , Chappie , and Ex Machina depicted the emotional fallouts of robots that are self-aware. Other films like The Animatrix (The Second Renaissance) present the consequences of mass-producing self-aware androids as humanity succumbs to their robot overlords. One popular theme in science fiction film
12474-1076: The Shell (2017). The superhero film boom has also continued, into films such as Iron Man 2 (2010) and Iron Man 3 (2013), several entries into the X-Men film series , and The Avengers (2012), which became the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time. New franchises such as Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy also began in this decade. Further into the decade, more realistic science fiction epic films also become prevalent, including Battleship (2012), Gravity (2013), Elysium (2013), Interstellar ( 2014 ), Mad Max: Fury Road ( 2015 ), The Martian ( 2015 ), Arrival ( 2016 ), Passengers (2016), and Blade Runner 2049 ( 2017 ). Many of these films have gained widespread accolades, including several Academy Award wins and nominations. These films have addressed recent matters of scientific interest, including space travel, climate change, and artificial intelligence. Alongside these original films, many adaptations were produced, especially within
12628-653: The Taran Tactical firing range in Simi Valley . They did some of their own stunts. Over one hundred watercraft were recruited for the film, including two F50 catamarans , the superyacht Planet Nine (onto which an Mi-8 helicopter landed), an icebreaker, a cargo tanker, fishing boats, and speedboats. The windfarm vessel Iceni Revenge was used for the three months spent filming in Denmark, Estonia, and Italy. During filming, sound designer Richard King sent
12782-776: The United Kingdom, and the United States. Filming in Estonia took place in June and July, with the Linnahall , Pärnu Highway ( E67 ), and adjacent streets closed to facilitate the production. Kumu Art Museum doubled as the fictional Oslo Freeport. Barbara's office was built in a former law court, the Tallinn Freeport exterior was at the city docks, and a room at the Hilton Tallinn Park Hotel
12936-407: The United States on September 3, 2020. It was Nolan's last film to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures . Tenet was the first Hollywood tent-pole to open in theaters during the pandemic and grossed $ 365 million worldwide on a $ 205 million budget, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2020 despite failing to break-even . The film divided critics but won Best Visual Effects at
13090-571: The United States on September 3, gradually expanding in the ensuing weeks. On September 4, it was released in China. The lack of available movies afforded it more screens per multiplex than would otherwise have been possible. On March 2, 2021, Warner Bros. announced that, in light of the New York state government allowing film theaters in New York City to re-open on Friday, March 5, following
13244-697: The World (1934), Mad Love (1935), Trans-Atlantic Tunnel (1935), The Devil-Doll (1936), The Invisible Ray (1936), The Man Who Changed His Mind (1936), The Walking Dead (1936), Non-Stop New York (1937), and The Return of Doctor X (1939). The 1940s brought us Before I Hang (1940), Black Friday (1940), Dr. Cyclops (1940), The Devil Commands (1941), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941), Man Made Monster (1941), It Happened Tomorrow (1944), It Happens Every Spring (1949), and The Perfect Woman (1949). The release of Destination Moon (1950) and Rocketship X-M (1950) brought us to what many people consider "the golden age of
13398-776: The Worlds (1953), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), This Island Earth (1955), Forbidden Planet (1956), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) and On the Beach (1959). There is often a close connection between films in the science fiction genre and the so-called " monster movie ". Examples of this are Them! (1954), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and The Blob (1958). During
13552-534: The advent of smartphone A.I. while a working cloaking device / material is the main goal of stealth technology . Autonomous cars (e.g. KITT from the Knight Rider series) and quantum computers , like in the movie Stealth and Transcendence , also will be available eventually. Furthermore, although Clarke's laws do not classify "sufficiently advanced" technologies , the Kardashev scale measures
13706-526: The artifact, which the Protagonist and Neil do in Tallinn , but they are ambushed by an inverted Sator holding Kat hostage. The Protagonist hides the artifact and rescues Kat, but they are recaptured and taken to a freeport in Tallinn where the inverted Sator interrogates them for the location of the artifact, shooting Kat with an inverted bullet. Tenet troops led by Commander Ives arrive, but Sator escapes into
13860-576: The background to create a futuristic setting (e.g., Back to the Future Part II (1989), Total Recall (2012), RoboCop (2014)). As well, robots have been formidable movie villains or monsters (e.g., the robot Box in the film Logan's Run (1976), HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey , ARIIA in Eagle Eye , robot Sentinels in X-Men: Days of Future Past , the battle droids in
14014-691: The ball shaped creature in Dark Star , microbial-like creatures in The Invasion , shape-shifting creatures in Evolution ). Recent trends in films involve building-size alien creatures like in the movie Pacific Rim where the CGI has tremendously improved over the previous decades as compared in previous films such as Godzilla . A frequent theme among science fiction films is that of impending or actual disaster on an epic scale. These often address
14168-708: The big screen for the first time. It was also in this period that the Walt Disney Company released many science fiction films for family audiences such as The Black Hole , Flight of the Navigator , and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids . The sequels to Star Wars , The Empire Strikes Back ( 1980 ) and Return of the Jedi ( 1983 ), also saw worldwide box office success. Ridley Scott 's films, such as Alien ( 1979 ) and Blade Runner ( 1982 ), along with James Cameron 's The Terminator ( 1984 ), presented
14322-501: The cerebral spectacle audiences expect from a Christopher Nolan production." On Metacritic , the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100 based on 50 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Guy Lodge of Variety described Tenet as a "grandly entertaining, time-slipping spectacle". The Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw felt it was both "madly preposterous" and "amazing cinema". Kevin Maher of The Times awarded
14476-579: The country. In Estonia, Tenet became the highest-grossing film of all time, with a total gross of $ 1.2 million. In the United States and Canada, with 65% of theaters operating at 25–40% capacity, the film earned $ 20.2 million from 2,810 theaters in its first eleven days of release: $ 12 million in the U.S., $ 2.5 million in Canada, and the rest from previews. The second, third, and fourth weekends added $ 6.6 million, $ 4.6 million, and $ 3.3 million, respectively. Tenet remained atop
14630-606: The cume to $ 5.1 million by the end of the week. Tenet debuted to $ 53 million in forty-one countries, grossing $ 7.1 million in the United Kingdom, $ 6.7 million in France, and $ 4.2 million in Germany. It made $ 58.1 million its second weekend, with China ($ 30 million from first showings), the UK ($ 13.1 million), France ($ 10.7 million), Germany ($ 8.7 million), and South Korea ($ 8.2 million) as
14784-578: The dead drop as a double agent for a variety of purposes, such as to feed misinformation to the enemy or to identify other operatives using it or ultimately to booby trap it. There is also the risk that a third party may find the deposited material. On January 23, 2006, the Russian FSB accused Britain of using wireless dead drops concealed inside hollowed-out rocks ("spy rock") to collect espionage information from agents in Russia. According to
14938-432: The film "may be the most challenging of Nolan's films to date" in terms of "the concepts forming the narrative's foundation: backwards-moving entropy, non-linear thinking, temporal paradoxes", but questioned whether its runtime "might prove to be problematic". He named it the best film of 2020. Leslie Felperin of The Hollywood Reporter felt that Washington was "dashing but a little dull" and that Debicki's performance "adds
15092-418: The film a full five stars, deeming it "a delightfully convoluted masterpiece". Robbie Collin of The Telegraph likened it to Nolan's Inception and praised the "depth, subtlety and wit of Pattinson and Debicki's performances". In his review for Rolling Stone , Peter Travers described the film as "pure, ravishing cinema" and called Washington a "star-in-the-making" who "brings a natural athletic grace to
15246-412: The film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, and PostTrak reported that 80% of those gave the film a positive score, with 65% saying they would recommend it. Some publications reported that the film gained a cult following among science fiction enthusiasts and Nolan's fanbase. Tenet received nominations for Best Production Design and Best Visual Effects at the 93rd Academy Awards , winning
15400-573: The film be released in theatres as the first Hollywood tent-pole following the prolonged shutdown, instead of being released on the HBO Max streaming service. Following a negotiation between Nolan and Warner Bros. executives, the studio arranged for the film to be released in seventy countries, with a run time of 150 minutes, on August 26, following preview screenings in Australia and South Korea on August 22 and 23. The film opened in select cities in
15554-463: The film carries a profound message - that the evolution of a species toward technological perfection (in this case exemplified by the disappeared alien civilization called the "Krell") does not ensure the loss of primitive and dangerous urges. In the film, this part of the primitive mind manifests itself as monstrous destructive force emanating from the Freudian subconscious, or "Id". Some films blur
15708-464: The film to lose up to $ 100 million, but Warner Bros. insisted losses would not top $ 50 million. Nolan received twenty percent of the film's first-dollar gross . The film was projected to make $ 25–30 million internationally over its first five days. In South Korea, pre-sale IMAX tickets sold out, and weekend previews earned $ 717,000 from 590 venues. Another four days in the country yielded $ 4.13 million from about 2,200 screens, bringing
15862-402: The film's "metaphysical babble", reviews were "largely positive", with critics overall naming it "a mind-blowing addition to Nolan's already-impressive arsenal". On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , 70% of 378 critics gave Tenet a positive review, with an average rating of 7/10; the website's critical consensus reads: "A visually dazzling puzzle for film lovers to unlock, Tenet serves up all
16016-612: The films were often well-photographed in colour ... and their dismal dialogue was delivered in well-designed and well-lit sets." With the Space Race between the USSR and the US going on, documentaries and illustrations of actual events, pioneers and technology were plenty. Any movie featuring realistic space travel was at risk of being obsolete at its time of release, rather fossil than fiction. There were relatively few science fiction films in
16170-440: The first science fiction film, and a film that used early trick photography to depict a spacecraft's journey to the Moon. Several early films merged the science fiction and horror genres. Examples of this are Frankenstein ( 1910 ), a film adaptation of Mary Shelley 's novel, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), based on the psychological tale by Robert Louis Stevenson . Taking a more adventurous tack, 20,000 Leagues Under
16324-885: The future as dark, dirty and chaotic, and depicted aliens and androids as hostile and dangerous. In contrast, Steven Spielberg 's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ( 1982 ), one of the most successful films of the 1980s, presented aliens as benign and friendly, a theme already present in Spielberg's own Close Encounters of the Third Kind . James Bond also entered the science fiction genre in 1979 with Moonraker . The big budget adaptations of Frank Herbert 's Dune and Alex Raymond 's Flash Gordon , as well as Peter Hyams 's sequel to 2001 , 2010: The Year We Make Contact (based on 2001 author Arthur C. Clarke 's sequel novel 2010: Odyssey Two ), were box office failures that dissuaded producers from investing in science fiction literary properties. Disney's Tron ( 1982 ) turned out to be
16478-464: The future to the present. Nolan took over five years to write the screenplay after deliberating about Tenet 's central ideas for more than a decade. Pre-production began in late 2018, casting took place in March 2019, and principal photography lasted six months in multiple countries. After delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic , Tenet was released in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2020, and in
16632-477: The future. Sator's estranged wife Kat Barton is an art appraiser who authenticated a forged Goya by her friend Arepo. Sator purchased the Goya at auction believing it to be legitimate, later using it to blackmail Kat into staying with him. To earn Kat's help, the Protagonist and Neil try to steal the Goya from Sator's freeport facility at Oslo Airport but are thwarted by two masked men who emerge from either side of
16786-416: The genre) was the film Metropolis (1927). From the 1930s to the 1950s, the genre consisted mainly of low-budget B movies . After Stanley Kubrick 's landmark 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), the science fiction film genre was taken more seriously. In the late 1970s, big-budget science fiction films filled with special effects became popular with audiences after the success of Star Wars (1977) and paved
16940-421: The genre. In the monster films of the 1950s, the scientist often played a heroic role as the only person who could provide a technological fix for some impending doom. Reflecting the distrust of government that began in the 1960s in the United States, the brilliant but rebellious scientist became a common theme, often serving a Cassandra -like role during an impending disaster. Biotechnology (e.g., cloning )
17094-464: The idea of reprogrammable reality and memory. The idea that a human could be entirely represented as a program in a computer was a core element of the film Tron . This would be further explored in the film version of The Lawnmower Man , Transcendence , and Ready Player One and the idea reversed in Virtuosity as computer programs sought to become real persons. In The Matrix series,
17248-468: The ideas I wanted to explore to do with time and quantum physics on Tenet , although I promised him I wasn't going to bandy his name around as if there was some kind of scientific reality to Tenet . It's a very different kettle of fish to Interstellar ." For both the production and the distribution of the film, which had an estimated budget of $ 200 million, Nolan continued his relationship with Warner Bros. and his production company Syncopy . Tenet
17402-467: The kind of film that reminds us of the magic of the moviegoing experience", despite not reaching "cinematic greatness". Keith Phipps of The Ringer wrote that Tenet has the makings of a cult film, with "a failed release due to the pandemic, a muted critical reception, and a twisty narrative that demands multiple viewings". Director Denis Villeneuve called the film "a masterpiece" and "an incredible cinematic achievement". James Berardinelli noted that
17556-568: The largest markets. It made $ 30.6 million its third weekend, earning $ 16.4 million in the UK, $ 13.2 million in France, $ 11.4 million in Germany, $ 10.3 million in South Korea, and $ 10.2 million in China. The film earned $ 11.4 million in its first two weeks in Japan, and, after opening in India on December 4, 2020, made about $ 1.2 million in its first ten days in
17710-721: The latter. At the 74th British Academy Film Awards , the film won the Best Special Visual Effects award, and also won an award in the same category at the 26th Critics' Choice Awards , out of its five nominations. It received a nomination for Best Original Score at the 78th Golden Globe Awards . Other nominations include five Satellite Awards (winning one), nine Saturn Awards (winning one), and one Hugo Award nomination. Tenet ' s complex plot and character timelines, ambiguities and hidden details have been analyzed, leading to various fan theories and interpretations. Palindromes (words which are spelled
17864-399: The line between the genres, such as films where the protagonist gains the extraordinary powers of the superhero . These films usually employ quasi-plausible reason for the hero gaining these powers. Not all science fiction themes are equally suitable for movies. Science fiction horror is most common. Often enough, these films could just as well pass as Westerns or World War II films if
18018-411: The main cast and thousands of extras. Production designer Nathan Crowley ordered around thirty military wristwatches from Hamilton Watch Company , each analog with a digital countdown. Principal photography , involving a crew that Pattinson estimated at 500 people, began on May 22, 2019, in a soundstage in Los Angeles, and eventually incorporated seven countries—Denmark, Estonia, India, Italy, Norway,
18172-458: The much higher-budget Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). Science fiction films are often speculative in nature, and often include key supporting elements of science and technology. However, as often as not the "science" in a Hollywood science fiction movie can be considered pseudo-science, relying primarily on atmosphere and quasi-scientific artistic fancy than facts and conventional scientific theory. The definition can also vary depending on
18326-442: The outside, such as distinctively coloured towel hung from a balcony or a potted plant positioned on a windowsill. While the dead drop method is useful in preventing the instantaneous capture of either an operative/ handler pair or an entire espionage network, it is not without disadvantages. If one of the operatives is compromised, they may reveal the location and signal for that specific dead drop. Counterintelligence can then use
18480-492: The production in August. Martin Donovan 's inclusion was revealed in the first trailer for the film. Special effects supervisor Scott R. Fisher watched World War II films and documentaries to find reference points for the film that were based in reality. Prop prototypes were often 3D printed . Costume designer Jeffrey Kurland and his team cut and stitched the clothing for the film in the United States, manufacturing it for
18634-473: The release of Transformers (2007) and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), both of which resulted in worldwide box office success. In 2009, James Cameron 's Avatar garnered worldwide box office success, and would later become the highest-grossing movie of all time. This movie was also an example of political commentary. It depicted humans destroying the environment on another planet by mining for
18788-586: The repetitions of the Korova Milkbar make the alien decor seem more familiar. As well, familiar images become alien, as in the films Repo Man and Liquid Sky . For example, in Dr. Strangelove , the distortion of the humans make the familiar images seem more alien. Finally, alien images are juxtaposed with the familiar, as in The Deadly Mantis , when a giant praying mantis is shown climbing
18942-417: The same forward and backward) and anadromes (words which when spelled backward produce another word) appear throughout the film in various guises. The five-letter words from the palindromic Sator Square appear as names and locations in the film: "Sator" (the Russian oligarch); "Arepo" (the art forger); "Tenet" (the name of the film and the Protagonist's organization); "Opera" (the opening scene takes place at
19096-508: The same forward and backward. He experimented with distorted industrial noise and, to represent Sator's irradiated breathing, asked Nolan to tape his own breath in a studio. Göransson produced ten to fifteen minutes of music each week. The first scoring session was held in November 2019, and sessions continued into early 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic , Göransson recorded musicians at their homes. The Tenet soundtrack contains " The Plan ",
19250-461: The same forward and backward. The film itself is a form of "temporal palindrome", as it ends at the same time as the events of the beginning of the film were taking place, "the 14th". Several characters have complex timelines in the film due to inverting and reverting, notably Neil, the Protagonist, Sator and Kat. Inversion allows multiple versions of a character to exist simultaneously; for instance, there are five simultaneous Neils (that are known) in
19404-432: The scenes without ever being seen by the viewer or his past self, in an example of a temporal pincer movement . Inversion also sets up bootstrap paradoxes , whereby events are caused by themselves in a " chicken or the egg " scenario. Free will is a theme in Tenet . There are suggestions that Tenet 's universe is deterministic , so what happens (including bootstrap paradoxes) will always happen, and consequently, there
19558-403: The science fiction film". In the 1950s, public interest in space travel and new technologies was great. While many 1950s science fiction films were low-budget B movies , there were several successful films with larger budgets and impressive special effects. These include The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The Thing from Another World (1951), When Worlds Collide (1951), The War of
19712-429: The science fiction props were removed. Common motifs also include voyages and expeditions to other planets, and dystopias , while utopias are rare. Film theorist Vivian Sobchack argues that science fiction films differ from fantasy films in that while science fiction film seeks to achieve our belief in the images we are viewing, fantasy film instead attempts to suspend our disbelief. The science fiction film displays
19866-463: The scientist has varied considerably in the science fiction film genre, depending on the public perception of science and advanced technology. Starting with Dr. Frankenstein , the mad scientist became a stock character who posed a dire threat to society and perhaps even civilization. Certain portrayals of the "mad scientist", such as Peter Sellers 's performance in Dr. Strangelove , have become iconic to
20020-649: The screenplay while locked in a room. Nolan chose Washington based on his performance in BlacKkKlansman (2018). Washington kept diaries in which he expanded the Protagonist's backstory. Pattinson took some of Neil's mannerisms from political journalist and author Christopher Hitchens . Kat was originally going to be an older woman, but Debicki's appearance in Widows (2018) convinced the filmmakers otherwise. The casting of Dimple Kapadia , Aaron Taylor-Johnson , Clémence Poésy , Michael Caine , and Kenneth Branagh
20174-437: The side of empiricism, and happy films and sad films on the side of transcendentalism. However, there are numerous well-known examples of science fiction horror films, epitomized by such pictures as Frankenstein and Alien . The visual style of science fiction film is characterized by a clash between alien and familiar images. This clash is implemented when alien images become familiar, as in A Clockwork Orange , when
20328-719: The site. Four Boeing CH-47 Chinooks were loaned out for four days. Outside shots of a tunnel were done in the desert, while the cavernous insides of the Hypocenter were fashioned on Warner Soundstage 16, their largest, with 32,130 square feet. Tenet wrapped on November 12, after 96 days of shooting. Director of photography Hoyte van Hoytema employed a combination of 70 mm film and IMAX , prioritizing Panavision lenses that would best accommodate lower light. Segments that concerned time inversion were captured in both backward- and forward-mobility and speech. To ensure proficiency in handling firearms, Washington and Pattinson attended
20482-500: The sixties and seventies including A Clockwork Orange and The Manchurian Candidate coincided with secret real-life government experimentation during Project MKULTRA . Voluntary erasure of memory is further explored as themes of the films Paycheck and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind . Some films like Limitless explore the concept of mind enhancement. The anime series Serial Experiments Lain also explores
20636-579: The stunts and hand-to-hand combat". The Dispatch 's Alec Dent found Tenet to have "a gloriously innovative storyline with incredible visuals to match". Mark Daniell of the Toronto Sun gave the film four out of four stars, deeming it "the cinematic equivalent of a Rubik's Cube ". Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it three and a half out of four stars, praising Debicki's "mesmerizing" portrayal and concluding that "it's
20790-640: The title monster attacking Tokyo, gained immense popularity, spawned multiple sequels, led to other kaiju films like Rodan , and created one of the most recognizable monsters in cinema history. Japanese science fiction films, particularly the tokusatsu and kaiju genres, were known for their extensive use of special effects , and gained worldwide popularity in the 1950s. Kaiju and tokusatsu films, notably Warning from Space (1956), sparked Stanley Kubrick 's interest in science fiction films and influenced 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). According to his biographer John Baxter , despite their "clumsy model sequences,
20944-470: The trailer's stylization of the film's title as TENƎT to emphasize the palindromic nature. The film's prologue also played in select IMAX theaters before screenings of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker , which Kyle Kizu of The Hollywood Reporter favorably compared to the prolog of Nolan's other films. The film's logo was altered in May 2020 to remove the inverted stylization due to its similarity with that of
21098-649: The transmission of sound or maneuvers employing wings, yet the soundtrack is filled with inappropriate flying noises and changes in flight path resembling an aircraft banking. The filmmakers, unfamiliar with the specifics of space travel , focus instead on providing acoustical atmosphere and the more familiar maneuvers of the aircraft. Similar instances of ignoring science in favor of art can be seen when movies present environmental effects as portrayed in Star Wars and Star Trek . Entire planets are destroyed in titanic explosions requiring mere seconds, whereas an actual event of this nature takes many hours. The role of
21252-468: The turnstile. To save Kat's life, they also invert themselves. The inverted Protagonist drives back to the ambush to retrieve the hidden artifact where he encounters Sator, who overpowers him and takes it. To un-invert, the Protagonist travels back in time to the freeport in Oslo , fights his past self, and enters the turnstile, followed by Neil and Kat. In Oslo, Priya tells him Sator now has all nine pieces of
21406-460: The two best human Jeopardy (game show) players in 2011 and a NOVA documentary film, Smartest Machine on Earth , was released in the same year. Building-size robots are also becoming a popular theme in movies as featured in Pacific Rim . Future live action films may include an adaptation of popular television series like Voltron and Robotech . The CGI robots of Pacific Rim and
21560-535: The unfamiliar and alien in the context of the familiar. Despite the alien nature of the scenes and science fictional elements of the setting, the imagery of the film is related back to humankind and how we relate to our surroundings. While the science fiction film strives to push the boundaries of the human experience, they remain bound to the conditions and understanding of the audience and thereby contain prosaic aspects, rather than being completely alien or abstract. Genre films such as westerns or war movies are bound to
21714-444: The viewpoint of the observer. Many science fiction films include elements of mysticism, occult , magic, or the supernatural , considered by some to be more properly elements of fantasy or the occult (or religious) film. This transforms the movie genre into a science fantasy with a religious or quasi-religious philosophy serving as the driving motivation. The movie Forbidden Planet employs many common science fiction elements, but
21868-569: The voice of a Tenet agent in Mumbai; and Sean Avery as the lead soldier on the Red Team. Writer and director Christopher Nolan conceived the ideas behind Tenet over the course of twenty years, but began working on the script in 2014. The title, as well as being a palindrome , is an allusion to the Sator Square . Inspired by a feeling about how he imagined Sergio Leone made Once Upon
22022-493: The watch and endorsing it in multiple ad campaigns, while Fortnite developer Epic Games worked on the pre-release trailer for the film and created an interview with Washington which was featured on multiple video game websites. Warner Bros. originally scheduled Tenet for a July 17, 2020, release in IMAX, 35 mm , and 70 mm film. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was delayed to July 31, and then August 12. Nolan desired that
22176-475: The way for the blockbuster hits of subsequent decades. Screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identifies science fiction films as one of eleven super-genres in his screenwriters’ taxonomy , stating that all feature-length narrative films can be classified by these super-genres. The other ten super-genres are action , crime , fantasy , horror , romance , slice of life , sports , thriller , war , and western . According to Vivian Sobchack ,
22330-457: The world during the moments of the climactic scene inside the Stalsk-12 hypocenter where he dies (two inverted and one normal on the battlefield, one inverted at the opera siege and one more normal somewhere else in the world who will later meet the Protagonist in Neil's first appearance of the film), and the implication is that an older future Protagonist is orchestrating the events of the film behind
22484-918: Was also used. Mayor of Tallinn Mihhail Kõlvart expressed concerns about potential disruptions, as the shooting schedule required that the arterial Laagna Road be closed for one month. A compromise was eventually reached, involving temporary road closures and detours. Scenes were shot on the Amalfi Coast (Italy) and at Cannon Hall (United Kingdom) from July to August, and on the roof of the Oslo Opera House , at The Thief hotel (Norway), and in Rødbyhavn at Nysted Wind Farm (Denmark) in early September. A five-day shoot occurred later that month in Mumbai, specifically at Breach Candy Hospital , Cafe Mondegar , Colaba Causeway , Colaba Market, Gateway of India , Grant Road , Royal Bombay Yacht Club , and
22638-517: Was announced as filming started. Kapadia's screen test was put together by director Homi Adajania while working on his 2020 film Angrezi Medium . Caine was only given the pages from the script that included what was filmed on his one day of work. Branagh rescheduled production on his own directorial venture Death on the Nile (2022) to take his part, claiming to have studied the manuscript more times than any other in his career. Himesh Patel joined
22792-471: Was completed (although it was later continued, but at the time it was not intended to be) with the darkly themed Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith . Science-fiction also returned as a tool for political commentary in films such as A.I. Artificial Intelligence , Minority Report , Sunshine , District 9 , Children of Men , Serenity , Sleep Dealer , and Pandorum . The 2000s also saw
22946-442: Was disguised as Oslo, with more than ninety extras involved. Instead of using miniatures and visual effects (VFX) for the plane crash sequence, Nolan determined that purchasing a Boeing 747 proved more cost-effective. In October, filming moved to Eagle Mountain , where an abandoned town had been constructed and hundreds were clothed in military camouflage uniforms. Over thirty buildings were prefabricated in Los Angeles and shipped to
23100-430: Was occupied with 2019's 1917 . Visual effects supervisor Andy Lockley said the film's VFX shots involved the participation of 300 employees at DNEG . Ludwig Göransson was chosen to compose the film's music after Nolan's frequent collaborator and first choice, Hans Zimmer , turned down the offer in favor of the 2021 film Dune . Researching retrograde composition led Göransson to generate melodies that would sound
23254-486: Was re-released in theaters for exclusive IMAX screenings in 70 mm formats for an exclusive one-week theatrical window from February 23 to March 1, 2024. It also included footage to promote the release of the studio's then-upcoming film, Dune: Part Two (2024). Nolan subsequently expressed dissatisfaction with Warner Bros., with Nolan's next film being financed and distributed by Universal Pictures instead. In 2023, Variety reported that Warner Bros. offered Nolan
23408-684: Was the last Syncopy film to be distributed by Warner Bros. before leaving the film studio in January 2021. Nolan and production designer Nathan Crowley traveled to scout for locations in February and April 2019. Disappointed with the Royal Swedish Opera as a potential stand-in for the Kyiv Opera House, Crowley instead chose the Linnahall , which fit his affinity for Brutalist architecture . The production decided to film at
23562-455: Was used to produce more complicated effects. It also enabled filmmakers to enhance the visual quality of animation, resulting in films such as Ghost in the Shell (1995) from Japan, and The Iron Giant (1999) from the United States. During the first decade of the 2000s, superhero films abounded, as did earthbound science fiction such as the Matrix trilogy. In 2005 , the Star Wars saga
23716-534: Was very different from the original film, falling more into the action/science fiction genre, it was both a critical and commercial success and Sigourney Weaver was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards . The Japanese cyberpunk anime film Akira ( 1988 ) also had a big influence outside Japan when released. In the 1990s, the emergence of the World Wide Web and
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