good excuse for a film to be in space?

[MadaBidyoni]

Hi
most of the space films & tv shows don't have a good excuse to be in space.
i mean, they could be easily be set in sea for example. Instead of "sailing" with a space ship - sail with a normal ship etc...
do you know about a good "excuse" for a story to be set in space?

[Snowman37]

I don't understand. Why does a movie or TV show need an excuse to be set in outer space?

[Rise Of The Phoenix]

I disagree here MadaBidyoni, most films that are set in space do have good reasons to be set in space.
2001 was about exploration of space and contact.
Star Trek films, Star Wars, Stargate, Serenity and many others like them have the same premise of exploring, making contact with alien races and fighting large galactic sized wars or larger wars than that.

I agree with Snowman37's point, I don't see a reason why a movie needs to have a specific reason to be set anywhere in particular, other than what fits with the plot of the movie.
For example you wouldn't set a space based film purely at sea, unless of course it was about a space ship crashing into the ocean of a planet.

[Dr. D.]

Hi
most of the space films & tv shows don't have a good excuse to be in space.
i mean, they could be easily be set in sea for example. Instead of "sailing" with a space ship - sail with a normal ship etc...
do you know about a good "excuse" for a story to be set in space?

I don't have a response to the idea of a show or movie requiring an "excuse" to be set in space.

However, I can respond to the general concept of this topic by rephrasing it and posing a new question:

Putting aside the obvious differences in settings, such as space consisting of a vacuum and various other non-planetary environments, what stories have been set in space - or could be set in space - that otherwise could not occur in another setting such as on a planet?

[knowles2]

I disagree here MadaBidyoni, most films that are set in space do have good reasons to be set in space.
2001 was about exploration of space and contact.
Star Trek films, Star Wars, Stargate, Serenity and many others like them have the same premise of exploring, making contact with alien races and fighting large galactic sized wars or larger wars than that.

I agree with Snowman37's point, I don't see a reason why a movie needs to have a specific reason to be set anywhere in particular, other than what fits with the plot of the movie.
For example you wouldn't set a space based film purely at sea, unless of course it was about a space ship crashing into the ocean of a planet.

If you take Serenity as an example there no reason why you could not change the ship to be a sailing vessel, Planets and space stations are ports and oil rigs that the crew visit for the mission every week. Star trek could be viewed in the same way, a ocean going vessel exploring the oceans. The aliens are simply humans of different islands looks different to the rest to the humans from the island you come from.

Why have huge space ship battles when you could have huge sea battles. Sea Quest was really just star trek done under water.

[Pharaoh Hamenthotep]

Why have sea battles when you can have space battles?

Which would you rather watch: Waterworld or Star Trek?

[MadaBidyoni]

knowles2 understood me
maybe i didn't explain it clear enough?
you don't need a real excuse ... i just said that most stories are not that unique regarding space. they take a "normal" story that could be set in earth & just put it in space.
yes, its "cooler" that way. but thats it... there is nothing more.
so i'm looking for a story that uses space in a unique way. story that couldn't be set in earth - only in space.

[SeaBee]

Every film should be set in space.
I personally would love to see Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Milky Way"!

Seriously though, it does depend on the storyline and premise. A film about a trip through a black hole would be impossible if set on Earth, but it is true that a lot of films set in space don't really need to be there.

Quite often, though, it's more about telling a story in a different way. Taking "Firefly" as an example. There have been hundreds of TV shows and films of the wild west, cowboys, rustlers, bank robbers and so on. What set it apart was that it was set in space.

[Dr. D.]

so i'm looking for a story that uses space in a unique way. story that couldn't be set in earth - only in space.

In other words:

Putting aside the obvious differences in settings, such as space consisting of a vacuum and various other non-planetary environments, what stories have been set in space - or could be set in space - that otherwise could not occur in another setting such as on a planet?

[Wyrminarrd]

There are all sorts of technological reasons to set things in space, for instance in Firefly if they were really on a sailing vessel it would be much to easy to chase them down using aircrafts and such.

A planet is a pretty small place when all is said and done and Earth is pretty well known which leaves little room for writing creative stories.

[Snowman37]

knowles2 understood me
maybe i didn't explain it clear enough?
you don't need a real excuse ... i just said that most stories are not that unique regarding space. they take a "normal" story that could be set in earth & just put it in space.
yes, its "cooler" that way. but thats it... there is nothing more.
so i'm looking for a story that uses space in a unique way. story that couldn't be set in earth - only in space.

Most science-fiction stories don't use space as a setting to be unique, it's used simply because it can. A few unique space-based stories...

Sphere: not set in space, but deals with a space ship crash on the ocean floor
Lost in Space (the movie): deals with Earth's atmosphere polluted beyond repair, a family is being sent out to help start a new colony
Stargate (the movie): You've probably seen this, but it's a good example, no?
Alien (any of the movies): Alien monsters in space, people try'n not to die. How would this be done on Earth? People running from lions in Africa?

I do like the idea of trying to imagine how a story could be reworked to be Earth-based, though.

[knowles2]

Most science-fiction stories don't use space as a setting to be unique, it's used simply because it can. A few unique space-based stories...

Sphere: not set in space, but deals with a space ship crash on the ocean floor
Lost in Space (the movie): deals with Earth's atmosphere polluted beyond repair, a family is being sent out to help start a new colony
Stargate (the movie): You've probably seen this, but it's a good example, no?
Alien (any of the movies): Alien monsters in space, people try'n not to die. How would this be done on Earth? People running from lions in Africa?

I do like the idea of trying to imagine how a story could be reworked to be Earth-based, though.

Well in the case of Alien you do not have to imagine, just watch the Alien vs predator films.

[Snowman37]

Movies that were not received well by the audience. Besides, I'm talking about the Alien movies, not the crossover films.

[Pharaoh Hamenthotep]

But the Alien movies had that "we must keep the aliens away from Earth at all costs" theme..

[Pytheas]

Lost in Space (the movie): deals with Earth's atmosphere polluted beyond repair, a family is being sent out to help start a new colony

Considering that Lost in Space is mostly just a space-set version of Swiss Family Robinson with a few marginally interesting additions, this is another one you don't really have to imagine. Though, with a story like that being told in the modern day, it'd be difficult to find a context other than space travel.