Comments on: Biographical Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Film

Biographical Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Film

thatwhichfalls — Mon, 02 Dec 2002 21:31:02 -0800

is an attempt to do for SF film what David Thomson's brilliant "A Biographical Dictionary of Film" does for film in general - to provide a well informed and wholly subjective survey of the most important people who contributed to the field. The BESFF is very much a work in progress, and half the fun is seeing who author Gary Westfahl has chosen to include this month. His entries so far range from the obvious to the surprising to the deeply obscure. Always though, his witty and often compassionate pocket reviews of these carreers show how seriously he feels SF cinema should be taken, and by extension how betrayed he feels by those within the field who don't.

By: kliuless

kliuless — Tue, 03 Dec 2002 08:37:00 -0800

not to ignite the science fiction vs fantasy debate! and i know it's on sfsite (great site btw :) but shouldn't it really be Gary Westfahl's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Fantasy AND Horror Film? cuz like, for example, anthony quinn's film career hardly qualifies as anything approaching science fiction.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Tue, 03 Dec 2002 08:57:07 -0800

Anthony Quinn's life, on the other hand...

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 03 Dec 2002 09:05:14 -0800

Great post, thatwhichfalls! I love the fact that he begins with Forry Ackerman (check out his "Aweird Winning" website). I look forward to following the growth of the dictionary.

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Tue, 03 Dec 2002 10:43:42 -0800

Terrific post. I love it when people piss off Harlan.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 03 Dec 2002 13:21:30 -0800

Ha! Thanks, PST, that was a wonderful entry. Harlan's a classic case of someone who started out full of promise that he never fulfilled; he must realize that on some level, which is presumably one reason he's notoriously short-fused. And where's The Last Dangerous Visions anyway?

By: cyclopz

cyclopz — Tue, 03 Dec 2002 14:36:01 -0800

I'm a little confused by why Westfahl would waste energy on an entry for Elvira before adding Ridley Scott, who directed the two greatest sci-fi films of all time...Blade Runner and Alien. And why bother with the secondary Star Trek characters before listing Gene Roddenberry, who did as much to influence the way we view science fiction on film as anyone on the list. Otherwise...a cool resource.