The Possible and the Improbable: Exploring Science Fiction movies

As the 90th birthday of legendary science fiction writer Ray Bradbury approaches (on August 22 -- mark your calendars!), we take a look at a few recent additions of classic scifi to our rapidly expanding DVD collection.

Let's start with Fahrenheit 451 (1966), based on Bradbury's own dystopian vision of a world where books are outlawed and society has degraded into mindless violence and hedonism. A single line accidentally read in a burning tome and the martyrdom of a book lover leads Montag, a fireman charged with incinerating books, to question the meaning of humanity and to develop a secret, illegal passion for reading. (A little side note: when his book was itself subjected to the censoring of objectionable words and content, Bradbury demanded that only the original text be published henceforth, adding this note to unedited editions: Do not insult me with the beheadings, finger-choppings or the lung-deflations you plan for my works. I need my head to shake or nod, my hand to wave or make into a fist, my lungs to shout or whisper with. I will not go gently onto a shelf, degutted, to become a non-book.) To see this DVD in the catalog, click here.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) -- in this precursor to Godzilla and a host of other beasts brought back by atomic testing, a dinosaur is awakened in the Arctic and makes its lumbering way to New York City, where -- well, you'll just have to see what happens. Let's just say Wall Street and Coney Island don't fare so well. Want to read more? Check it out in PINES.

Swinging completely into the realm of fiction and scientific impossiblity, 1950's Rocketship X-M star Llloyd Bridges as an astronaut on an errant spaceship that zooms past its intended Moon landing and hurtles to crew to Mars. Where it's raining. The Martians aren't happy about the new arrivals. But at least the oxygen masks work! So maybe it isn't the most scientifically-accurate movie ever made, but it is out of this world. If you're a Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan, you may remember this one. Go ahead -- reserve it today. And invite your friends over for popcorn and a good "bad" movie!

Just imagine -- you're minding your own business, living and working in Chicago, and suddenly, robots from Venus start an attack. What do you do? What if you're one of the last people left after evacuation? What if one of the other last people turns out to be a psychopath? For answers to these and other pertinent questions, you need only view Target Earth (1954).  Lucky you, we've got the DVD!

And finally, there's This Island Earth (1955), based on the novel by Raymond F. Jones, and the movie seen briefly in another extraterretrial flick, E. T. (look for the scene when E.T. is watching tv). In this feature, Earth is being invaded by beings from the planet Metaluna, who seek both uraniums deposits and assistance in fighting a war with Zagons. As another MST3K favorite, it gets high marks. Luckily, it's also available in the library catalog.