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What do you prefer?

Fantasy (as in magic, swords and sorcery, etc.)

or

Sci-fi (as in aliens, robots, ray guns, etc.)

Definitely scifi. Science rules...though lately, I've been getting into "science fantasy."

I like both very much.
I chose Sci-fi because of Star Wars

Science Fiction/ Fantasy

Difference?

RagesRemorse - Lord of the Rings ain't no Sci-Fi film darling

Science Fiction for me.

I suppose but differentiating Science fiction from Fantasy is like differentiating the thriller genre from the suspense genre. I do not see any difference. I've always seen Fantasy as a kind of sub genre of science fiction. I know ALL movie's are fantasy but the fantasy elements we are talking about here, i believe are found in every Science Fiction film.

Maybe there are three categories, Science fiction, Fantasy and Science fiction fantasy but surely, that would be splitting hairs that have already been split, eh .

Maybe someone can describe the difference between Science Fiction and fantasy. I've always thought that science fiction movie's were movie's that had an altered perspective on reality or time. Are Science Fiction movie's fantasy films that are still rooted in reality? If so, that still seems far to vague for me.

Originally posted by ragesRemorse
Maybe someone can describe the difference between Science Fiction and fantasy. I've always thought that science fiction movie's were movie's that had an altered perspective on reality or time. Are Science Fiction movie's fantasy films that are still rooted in reality? If so, that still seems far to vague for me. As I see it...

Science fiction (as the term implies) involves science (anywhere from sociology to physics). There should be some logical, theoretical connection to the real world. It's generally more head-centered than fantasy.

Fantasy need not have any such logical, theoretical connection. It's generally more heart-felt than scifi, but to work best, it should be internally consistent.

(Please note: this is not to say that science fiction can't rouse strong emotion, or that fantasy is for people too dumb for science).

Science fantasy is scifi taken to where it's logical, theoretical connection to the real world is tenuous ("Any technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic."

I believe there is a definite difference between fantasy and sci-fi.

Fantasy has to do more with changing the laws of reality, such as magic/sorcery and supernatural abilities existing. Sci-fi has more to do with technological advances which are still based in reality/laws of science.

There was a time when fantasy literature was my number one reading; I also greatly enjoyed sci-fi, but I recognized there was a significant difference which made fantasy my top choice. However, Warhammer 40,000, which combines fantasy, sci-fi and horror elements as well made me switch to that third category of the combination as my favorite type of reading.

Sci-Fi and Fantasy first of all have innacurate names. Sci-Fi doesnt mean aliens and fantasy doesnt mean magic and wizards.

Look at 1984, Brave New World...science fiction, but also "fantasy" in their own sense.

Fantasy also has a broad spectrum that includes sci fi elements.

So Id say they are close.


but I like sci-fi more.

I like them both, but science fiction often has more elements that cross into fantasy, such as the Jedi. Not to mention powerful entities.

But Arthur C Clarke said it best:

Any technology is indistinguishable from magic.

That's "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"