The Movies That Made Me The Sci-Fi Author I Am Today

Most movies I remember from my childhood were sci-fi movies. They set my imagination off and made me hungry for more of those adventures. One of the earliest examples of my writing, was a knock-off of Explorers starring a prepubescent River Phoenix and Ethan Hawk. My favorite toys acted out my boyhood equivalent of fan fiction. They would load up their guns and equipment for a mission, tear down the road in their truck, encounter the enemy, have their vehicle blown out from under them (sometimes with firecrackers), creating a debris field of tiny plastic bodies, spent batteries, bundles of yarn, and weapons. The survivors would fight to the death with rifles and swords. The action figures were all from sci-fi movies and cartoons like Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Thunder Cats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and C.O.P.S.—no, not that Cops—the one with not-so-subtle hints of Dick Tracy, and Big Boss, a blatant mash-up of Boss Hog and Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-0T6QKc0yg

I loved those cartoons, but the movies held my interest into adulthood. I struggled with reading as a kid and young adult. I read painfully slowly because I kept losing my place and would read the same paragraph again and again until I got so bored, I’d toss the book aside and go back to playing with my toys. Maybe it was all the TV and Nintendo. I don’t know. My parents took me to an optometrist who tried to help me with an eye exercise regimen, but I never followed it. I sometimes wonder how different I would be if I could have learned to love reading like some of my boys do.

I asked Gemini to make an image of me directing a hypothetical film version of Dennis E. Taylor's For We Are Many, where the scene is Minister Cranston is lecturing the camera as though he is talking to Bob. Apparently Cranston will be played by Brian Cox if many fans have their way. Not a bad choice.

I loved writing though. When I saw a great movie, I’d always dream of making an awesome sci-fi or action movie. It’s the feeling I have now about writing a great novel. In the summer of 1999, after seeing The Fifth Element, Pleasantville, and Dead Poets Society in close succession, I set my sights on becoming a film director. I went to Full Sail University, enrolling in their film program and was thrilled to be embarking on that journey. I ended up shifting my degree to their digital media arts program because Photoshop and the other apps I was learning to use seemed to offer me a more direct path to creating something all my own and to making a living.

I’ve spent the last 25 years using that degree to carve out an amazing career in marketing. During that time, I occasionally worked on some creative projects like when I built and hosted a website under the auspices of raising awareness about demon-possessed dolls and the horrific events that turned otherwise harmless toys into supernatural portals for malicious spirits. Mostly though, I wrote for my marketing gig, penning countless blot posts, and a couple of non-fiction books.

All of that probably wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t fallen in love with the creativity sparked by these movies. They’re not all sci-fi. I’m including other movies that made me who I am because, if you haven’t seen them, you should check them out too. Some of them aren’t all that great, but they made an impression on me, so I couldn’t leave them out. Let me know which is your favorite.

• The Wizard of Oz (Return to Oz connected with me more than the original ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

• Alice in Wonderland (The Disney animated version will always hold a special place in my heart, but does anyone remember the 80s made-for-TV special with the Jabberwocky in it?)

• The Blob

• Night of the Living Dead

• The Phantom Tollbooth

• Logan’s Run

• Star Wars (all the Star Wars)

• The Hobbit (old school animated version)

• Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

• Alien

• Indiana Jones (all the Jones, yes, even Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)

• The Cannonball Run

• The Dark Crystal

• Blade Runner

• The Philadelphia Experiment

• The NeverEnding Story

• Dune

• The Last Starfighter

• The Peanut Butter Solution

• Cocoon

• The Goonies

• Weird Science

• Back to the Future  (1, 2, and 3)

• Short Circuit

• Flight of the Navigator

• Labyrinth

• Big Trouble in Little China

• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

• Ghost

• *batteries not included

• Harry and the Hendersons

• Masters of the Universe

• Planes, Trains & Automobiles

• The Princess Bride

• Predator

• Bloodsport

• Dead Poets Society

• The Burbs

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (I stopped watching after 1 and 2)

• The Silence of the Lambs

• Terminator 2 (I saw the sequel before The Terminator)

• The Addams Family (I had such a crush on Christina Ricci.)

• Needful Things

• The Arrival

• The Truman Show

• Pleasantville

• American Beauty

• Wild Wild West

• The Matrix (all the Matrices)

• Harry Potter (all the Wizarding Worlds)

It should go without saying that I’ve seen tons of more recent movies, but these older ones are part of my DNA, in a way that I doubt any new movie will shape me. Some of them were based on books or were novelized, but it wasn’t reading that hooked me with these stories because I really wasn’t a reader when these came out. I aced all of my reading coursework in school thanks to Cliff’s Notes and good test-taking skills.

The visuals of these movies got me. The characters and relationships held my attention. And the stories definitely made me want to write stories of my own. If the majority of these make you groan, then you’re probably not going to love my writing.

As an Aside: Project Hail Mary

Now that I am an avid reader and lover of sci-fi, I'm really excited to see the movie adaptation of Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary. The book is phenomenal, and the audiobook is a treat! Can't wait to see the film. The Martian translated so well. Hopefully they do a great job with Rocky. 🤞

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0XN3-n-2Lo

⬆️ I saw a teaser for this movie, but I haven't watched the trailer. I wish I could temporarily erase my memories of the book before I go watch the movie. No spoilers, memory!