The odd intersection of basketball and science fiction cinema is the subject of my latest article at Anorak: "Nerdlucks Can't Jump: Five Science Fiction Movies Basketball Shots that Saw David Beat Goliath."
Here's a snippet:
"RECENT rumors about Space Jam II (purportedly to star Le Bron James…) serve as a good reminder that the science fiction cinema and the game of basketball are inextricably linked.
Well, not really.
But sci-fi and basketball at least have something of a common history.
It was James Naismith (1861 – 1939), the creator of the game, who once said that basketball’s invention was “not an accident.” Instead, in his words, basketball was developed to “fit a need.”
In movies of the genre variety, basketball has indeed fulfilled a very specific need.
When a sci-fi movie’s protagonist demonstrates a surprising skill in basketball he or she is not only hinting at unseen talents, but quite possibly, providing the key to the character’s very survival.
In some cases, in fact, a good game of basketball can save the world, or at least topple figures or authority and power.
Without further ado then, below are the five times that basketball figured prominently in the science fiction cinema…and the underdog won.
And here are some videos that illustrate the list...
Read the whole article at Anorak, and see the list of titles!
John nice discussion of basketball in science-fiction. How I wish that in Highlander(1986) they had convinced the NHL to allow the opening scene at a hockey game and not a wrestling match.
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If you were able to include television shows, there is a basketball-style game played in Firefly as well as a basketball game that rips the very fabric of time in Futurama.
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