Limits of Infinity/Screening Space

Sobchack, Vivian Carol. The Limits of Infinity: The American Science Fiction Film, 1950-75. South Brunswick, NJ, and New York: Barnes; London: Thomas Yoseloff, 1980.

Includes a selected biblio. of books, articles, and unpublished material; over 140 film stills; and a good index. Makes useful comments (mostly passim) about many films important for the study of the human/machine interface, esp. films featuring secure or dangerous containment in spaceships (see 68-77).

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Screening Space: The American Science Fiction Film. New York: Ungar, 1987. "Second, Enlarged Edition."

This is The Limits of Infinity enlarged with a "Preface to the Enlarged Edition," a new chapter (ch. 4, "Postfuturism"), and associated apparatus. The new chapter is heavily influenced by F. Jameson's essay, "Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism," cited under Background, and deals with several relevant films, esp. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, BLADE RUNNER, DUNE, and a number of "marginal SF" films such as REPO MAN and BUCKEROO BANZAI. See A. Gordon's rev. "The Postmodern Always Rings Twice," cited in this Category.