Classic Science Fiction Directors: 5 Filmmakers Who Stand Out

Lovers of science fiction film enjoy the directors' abilities to take worldly themes and display them in otherworldly settings. The directors are judged by their imaginations and their ability to transfer those thoughts onto film. Recent technological advances have taken away boundaries, and the sky's the limit on what they can accomplish.

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1. Fritz Lang


Lang defined the future with his science fiction silent movies. "Metropolis" (1927), which features what is thought to be the inspiration for the C-3PO character in George Lucas's "Star Wars." He studied engineering and art at the Technical University of Vienna, which gave him an ability to create and build. He came to America in 1936, working at MGM.

2. Steven Spielberg

Spielberg pleases crowds by creating blockbuster movies. His films have taken millions of people on spiritual journeys addressing human issues, such as war, the Holocaust, slavery, and friendship. His best science fiction movies include "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Jurassic Park," "E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial," and "Minority report." He is also known for other movies, including "Saving Private Ryan," "Jaws," and "Schindler's List" (which earned him an Academy Award). Time magazine included him in their list of 100 Most Important People of the Century.

3. George Lucas


Lucas is responsible for the creation of the "Star Wars" saga, which took film to a new level of excellence in sound and special effects. He established Lucasfilm (now owned by Disney), and has been nominated for four Academy Awards, for writing and directing. Outside of his science fiction work, his "American Graffiti" became an American classic, and the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" made him one of the most successful filmmakers of all time.


4. Stanley Kubrick

Kubrick directed films in several genres, including war, literary adaptions, romance, horror and science fiction. He is known for attention to details in staging, filming and acting, often forming close ties to his collaborators. Although known for movies like " Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb," "The Shining," and "A Clockwork Orange," it is his "2001: A Space Odyssey" that is considered to be the movie that brought sci-fi movies into the modern era.

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5. James Cameron


Cameron became a household name in 2009 with his "The Terminator" series of movies. He studied physics at Fullerton College in California, before turning to the arts. His science fiction movie accomplishments include a list of all-time favorites like "Aliens," "The Abyss," and "Avatar." He also directed one of the biggest non-science fiction movie blockbusters of all time, "Titanic."

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