James Cameron’s Story Of Science Fiction
Avatar director gets geeky with his mates
UK Broadcast AMC (exclusive to BT), Tuesdays US Broadcast AMC, finished Episodes Reviewed 1.01-1.06
So this is how James Cameron is filling his time as he waits for his pixel-painters to repopulate Pandora for the Avatar sequels: nattering to his famous mates about sci-fi, while a bunch of researchers interview slightly less famous talking heads, and the editors try to cut it all together, with clips, into a coherent “story”.
In that respect, the series falls flat. This is about as much “the story of science fiction” as “American Pie” is a history of US popular music. It’s more of a genre-endorsement exercise, preaching in broad strokes and making sci-fi look awesome.
There are six episodes, each on a different theme: “Aliens”, “Space”, “Monsters”, “Dark Futures”, “Intelligent Machines” and “Time Travel”. In each one, Cameron chats away to various combinations of Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ridley Scott, Guillermo del Toro and George Lucas about the theme of the week. They kick off with an in-depth look at a relevant film by one of those guys before the B-list interviewees (actors such as Peter Capaldi and Whoopi Goldberg, plus journalists and specialists) discuss other movies and TV.
It’s all pretty sprawling and formless, though the clips are well chosen and pleasingly eclectic. Many of the contributors are fun – especially an arch-looking Peter Capaldi, who gives a surprising reason for the resonance of Doctor Who in popular culture. The analysis is rarely incisive, and sometimes there’s a slightly stilted, over-rehearsed feel to Cameron’s chats. But as a basic primer on sci-fi it’s serviceable enough, and for those of us who don’t need one it’s great nostalgia-wallowing material. Dave Golder