Sci-Fi weekend at the British Museum

This August bank holiday (from Thursday 28 to Saturday 30 August), the British Film Institute will launch their blockbuster Sci-fi season with three screenings, in the historic grounds of the British Museum. The three films on show are classics of the genre - Mike Hodges’s  Flash Gordon  (1980), British disaster film  The Day the Earth Caught Fire  (1961) and Nicolas Roeg's  The Man Who Fell to Earth  (1976) starring David Bowie. 

Based on the comic book of the same name, the gloriously camp Flash Gordon  cannot be beaten for a good laugh. Full of men in tights acting their hearts out in a feverishly acidic coloured landscape, this film is highly recommended to anyone who has had a stressful week at work. Disaster film  The Day the Earth Caught Fire , on the other hand, is a scathing commentary on the media, voicing contemporary concerns about nuclear power. The film won a BAFTA for best screenplay, and is often cited as legendary sci-fi director Val Guest’s finest work. 

If you just see one of these films, make it The Man Who Fell to Earth, if only because David Bowie is breathtakingly brilliant in his first starring film role, playing an enigmatic alien to perfection. Based on the novel of the same name by Walter Tevis, this film is both haunting and infuriating and has rightfully become a beloved cult classic. Be sure to listen out for the soundtrack, which was written by John Phillips, former leader of the Mamas & the Papas.

Britain has been a leading proponent of science fiction since the genre was born, and we cannot think of a more suitable location to launch an upcoming season of science fiction films (which will run from October to December 2014) than the British Museum. For those who are interested, it is worth remembering that the BFI Gothic blockbuster season last year opened with a similar screening that sold out, so if you are interested we suggest you buy your tickets as soon as possible.