A fun overview of the history and evolution of science fiction movies. It is entertainingly written and Scalzi isn't shy about saying this is a good movie and that isn't, this worked, that didn't, and these are so bad they're still worth watching just for laughs. "Sci-fi" is rather loosely defined, with quite a few fantasy (usually darker fantasy) movies included. ( )

This is not a bad little tome.

Scalzi takes a pretty even-handed look at the movies, giving a literature background to start with, an introduction to films, and then listing his 50 important selections.

He also takes a look at tv, music, and important figures or characters from the various productions. He even mentions novelisations which he thinks are good (ET, and Buckaroo Banzai) and the Abyss, which I don't remember reading if I did, but I agree with the first two, and am still looking for a copy of Buckaroo.

Also a section on non-English films.

If you are quite familiar with all this already, you don't need this book, as you will have seen all of them and know most of it, barring the odd Mexican wrestler movie perhaps. Even so, it would be a useful reference, and certainly excellent as an introduction to those that are new.

It is also an annoying odd square shape to some degree. ( )