It seems to be that Hollywood has decided that two genres that never belong in the same movie are romance and science fiction. Apparently in the future when we're all living on spaceships with aliens fighting intergalactic civil wars around us, we'll no longer be able to fall in love.
But after scouring hundreds of favourite sci-fi movies to find a small sliver of romance, it seems there are some, but with varying degrees of romantic storyline. Most of these aren't the traditional type of science fiction movies, but they do have a distinctly sci-fi element to them.
Somewhere In Time
The first film that came to mind was this one. Based on a novel by Richard Matheson called "Bid Time Return", Somewhere In Time is a 1980 movie starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. In it, a man from 1980 falls in love with a woman, via photograph, from 1912 and travels back in time to meet her.
This is an absolutely beautiful film that has a small but dedicated following. Never promoted as one of Christopher Reeve's biggest films (although some could argue that Superman is similarly a romantic sci-fi movie), it was largely overlooked by the public, although it did receive a number of Saturn Awards for its costumes and music, as well as an Academy Award nomination for its costume design.
The Time Traveler's Wife
Similarly based on a novel, this time by Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife is also, unsurprisingly from its title, about time travel. The movie came out in 2003 and stars Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. A librarian with a genetic disorder that causes him to jump about in time randomly finds himself connecting with the same woman over and over again at different times in her life. They fall in love and struggle to build their relationship despite these obstacles.
While many people found the novel a little complicated to understand, the movie makes the time jumps much easier to follow. It's rather telling that the novel was often shelved in libraries and bookstores under "romance" or "literary fiction" rather than "science fiction", as the time travel aspect of the story is clearly secondary to the love story that is developing between the main characters.
The Terminator
Don't laugh. This 1984 movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton is well and truly science fiction. Telling the story of a man who travels back in time to stop a human-looking machine from killing a woman before she can give birth to the man who will save humanity from the machines, this film has more to it than just robots, guns and future apocalypses.
What people often forget though is that throughout the running from the machines and learning to use a gun, the main (human) characters fall in love. Sent back in time to find Linda Hamilton's character and protect her, Michael Biehn's character was in love with her long before their first meeting. She, on the other hand is terrified, running for her life, until they come together, desperately clinging to each other for survival. If that's not romance, what is?
Starman
Another 1984 movie, this film has more of a romantic plotline than most other science fiction. Starring Jeff Bridges as an alien who crash-lands on Earth and takes on the guise of the recently deceased husband of a local woman (played by Karen Allen), kidnapping her to help him get back home. Unsurprisingly, they begin to fall in love during the cross-country journey to his rescue point.
Often considered one of the best sci-fi moves of the year, Starman won a number of awards, including Jeff Bridges receiving a Saturn Award for Best Actor. Jeff Bridges was also nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his role as Starman.
WALL-E
Billed as a science fiction post-apocalyptic movie, this 2008 Pixar animation is undeniably a work of genius. With the voice talents of Sigourney Weaver, Kathy Najimy and John Ratzenberger, this film tells the story of two robots who fall in love while he is on duty cleaning up a waste-covered Earth in the far future.
Arguably one of the very few true romantic sci-fi films in existence, the relationship between the two robots is demonstrated brilliantly not through dialogue (of which there is vitually none) but through the use of the clever visuals that we have come to know, love and expect from Pixar. WALL-E won dozens of awards including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Saturn Award and a Golden Globe for Best Animated Film.
Kim McGreal - Kim McGreal is an aspiring British writer trapped in the mundane guise of an office worker with an unhealthy superhero obsession.
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