How to introduce a non-fan to Sci-Fi
by JelesL1 | created - 10 Aug 2016 | updated - 01 May 2018 | PublicHave a friend or family member that says they don't like Sci-Fi? Want to get a non-interested party to enjoy the fun of future fantasy?
Well you can't do it by sitting them down to Encounter at Farpoint and expecting them to be instantly hooked. Some people have to be eased into the idea of science fiction. So, if you have the time and desire to do it, here's how to get a non-fan into the genre.
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1. E.T. (1982)
PG | 115 min | Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi
A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace
Votes: 437,723 | Gross: $435.11M
Start with a classic that works for any viewer. This is a traditional sci-fi concept, an alien visitor, and it's almost guaranteed to be enjoyable.
2. Jurassic Park (1993)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough
Votes: 1,067,716 | Gross: $402.45M
A lot of people think that Sci-Fi means Star Trek with their warp engines and Klingon foreheads. And that can be off putting for some viewers (why, i'll never undersand). So Jurassic Park introduces the idea that not all sci-fi is space ships and ugly aliens.
Sci-fi just means science fiction. And this movie starts to show how broad that can be. Plus it's another movie that you can almost guarantee they will like.
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
PG | 138 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Roy Neary, an Indiana electric lineman, finds his quiet and ordinary daily life turned upside down after a close encounter with a UFO, spurring him to an obsessed cross-country quest for answers as a momentous event approaches.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon
Votes: 216,980 | Gross: $132.09M
4. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,450,308 | Gross: $322.74M
The entire original trilogy
5. Fanboys (2009)
PG-13 | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
Star Wars fanatics take a cross-country trip to George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch so their dying friend can see a screening of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) before its release.
Director: Kyle Newman | Stars: Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel, Kristen Bell, Sam Huntington
Votes: 61,220 | Gross: $0.69M
self depricating humor. Also provides a break for how heavily sci-fi the last few entries were.
6. Super 8 (2011)
PG-13 | 112 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
During the summer of 1979, a group of friends witness a train crash and investigate subsequent unexplained events in their small town.
Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Elle Fanning, AJ Michalka, Kyle Chandler, Joel Courtney
Votes: 367,618 | Gross: $127.00M
A feel good coming of age story with Spielberg attached. Huh.
7. Back to the Future (1985)
PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
Votes: 1,307,552 | Gross: $210.61M
Feel free to watch them all in a row, or break them up in between later entries. Depends on who you are watching with.
8. WALL·E (2008)
G | 98 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.
Director: Andrew Stanton | Stars: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard
Votes: 1,201,041 | Gross: $223.81M
9. Star Trek (2009)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.
Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Leonard Nimoy
Votes: 620,380 | Gross: $257.73M
Here you go. The Star Trek universe. It takes some time before getting here. But start with Star Trek too soon and people's preconceptions will take over. You have to build up a tolerance for cheeky aliens before getting here.
The JJ Abrams Star Trek films are made for the masses more so than any other part of the franchise. So it's best to start there.
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