In Search of Tomorrow

Excellently structured, brilliantly paced and very very thorough at over 5 hours long, and what a fantastic documentary it is.

To go through each year and go from movie to movie per year just fills the whole documentary with so much content, and it's amazing to see and hear from so many talented people that not only worked on these films, but many people who were inspired by these films.

It's a deep dive into all aspects of what made 80's sci-fi so amazing, so captivating, so memorable and how a lot of the ideas of the technologies have even come into existence in every day life today.

I grew up with so many of these movies that I still watch today and this documentary gives a great insight into the making of these films, the ideas that came together to get these films made and how they inspired many aspects of not only the making of future films but how the technologies have been developed from these ideas.

The documentary doesn't just go through each year with some of the most important films per year, it also goes over the scores, the heroes/villains/anti-heros, the development of the special effects, the science behind the movies, and so much more.

My review can't do this documentary any justice so I can only say, if you haven't watched it yet, watch it. It's a must see for Sci-fi fans and movie buffs alike.

Highly recommended.

Is it perfect? No, but it comes pretty damned close. At five hours you could easily binge this if it was on your favorite streaming service. Own this, there is still time at the writing of this review, and you can take your time, savor it and watch an hour a day for a week. Fair warning though, if you do break up your watching, you will definitely find yourself wanting them to spend more time on your favorite movies! There are only a handful of movies touched on that I hadn't heard of or have avoided for one reason or another, and now I have some motivation to hunt those down. I also really enjoy how they connect many of the films to the events of their day, and how and why some of the films resonate more so today, how prescient so many of them were. In many ways those were simpler times, in others more difficult or close-minded, but fortunately for us, there were some hopeful storytellers, and much of what they created inspired so many of the people making our lives better today and for years to come.

Associate backer here. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire documentary. Structure wise, it's edited well, music is great, interviews and stories are fun.

Content was great for me as well, even though I pretty much already knew every single thing they showed or mentioned and could probably recite nearly every scene that they featured.

My only gripe was it being a bit too heavy on the global warming preaching. It doesn't fit for the genre of that time in the first place, as the social commentary of sci-fi in the 70's and 80's was about nuclear war, population issues, etc. And even if it had been on point, we just don't need preaching in a nostalgia documentary. Mentioning it once or twice, sure, but it was far too recurring in the whole show and detracted from the overall enjoyment, even brought you out of the immersion a bit. Seriously, we get enough of "climate change" and "evil corporations" stuff in every single second of life today in all forms of media, we don't need it in this as well.

Other than that gripe, which is a small one, this is the movie to watch for some real sci-fi nostalgia.

While it's not possible to re-watch your favorite sci-fi movies from your childhood for the first time, this is as close as you can get to doing that.

Hello friend,

if you are reading this, you are stumbeling back in time. Searching for an on point analysis of classic, mainstream and niche, 80s scifi movies, you will find it right here. Bits and pieces of beloved memories from your cinema and TV past, as well as new details you may never have heard before. Interviews with legends (Hi, Clancy Brown!), well edited snippets of so many movies and covers, as well as the pure essence of the most enjoyable soundtracks.

Am I biased toward this movie? Sure I am... since I watched the first Star Wars as a kid.

Only downside... its taking nearly 5 hours of your lifetime! And thank god for every minute of it!

Less than 5 minutes in and a young hipster-looking guy says "a lot of these films are warning about global warming,.." as if climate change was a thing in the 70's and before. It wasn't. 'Limits To Growth', one of the classic books of the environmental movement in the 70's, has not one mention of global warming or climate change or anything resembling it. Back then it was all about overpopulation, pollution of the seas and running out of resources. Global warming or climate change hadn't been invented and popularized yet. I'm not sure the thoughts of the said interviewees warrant the running time, but maybe nostalgia is enough to entertain you.