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Citadel Film Series
A Pictorial History of Science Fiction Films
Traces, in text and stills, the development of science fiction and fantasy-horror movies, from the 1930s to the 1970s, commenting on outstanding, representative, and popular individual films
240 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1975
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 2, 2026
I was young when I discovered my passion for science fiction, so young that I can’t remember the exact age. It started with my enraptured enjoyment of the films of the genre, in which aliens in flying saucers or robots or mutated bugs rampaging across the countryside threatened humanity. I couldn’t get enough, and I wanted to know what was out there that I hadn’t seen.
This made Jeff Rovin’s book the perfect gift for me at that age. Though very much the pictorial guide described in its title, it is so much more than that, as it offers as well an extensive listing of the many movies produced over the years that fit that category. Rovin’s scope is very broad, including horror movies and Cold War-era political thrillers – anything that could fit the label. As Rovin notes, the identification is often a subjective one, and the speculation he sees at the heart of the genre is often wide-ranging.
My younger self thrilled to the sight of the numerous stills, promotional shots, and behind-the-scenes photos that fill the pages of the book. Reading it today is very much an exercise in nostalgia, both for the films of that era and my experiences in watching them. It’s also an interesting look at how science fiction cinema was regarded just prior to the release in 1977 of Star Wars, a movie that would redefine the genre profoundly. Absent its shadow, Rovin’s narrative offers assessments of films that now seem quaint by comparison, which can offer different ways of appreciating them.
Rovin’s text is filed with such judgments, which as a young reader largely went over my head. Reading them now, the tone of the confident guide through seven decades of science fiction filmmaking comes across in places more as arrogant snobbishness. While there is not denying that the quality of science fiction cinema varies widely, Rovin’s personal views are presented as authoritative assessments, many of which have not aged well. Declaring in his chapter on science fiction television shows, for example, that the original Star Trek series “hardly deserved the cult developed in its wake,” is just the most egregious example of how the author can miss the point in his judgments.
This might be excusable as a matter of opinion were it not for the errors scattered throughout the text. Many of these are mistakes in plot details: it is George Voskovec’s character and not Gene Barry’s who figures out how to target the capsules in the 1957 movie The 27th Day, and the submarine in 1961’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was traveling to the Marianas Trench to fire its missile rather than the North Pole, to cite just two examples. Rovin’s treatment of the storied Doctor Who franchise, however, is particularly egregious. While the long-running show is absent from the chapter on television shows, the two movies starring Peter Cushing are covered in the chapter on 1960s films, which are described inaccurately as “assembled from the television series” rather than the new productions that they were. At best, such mistakes were the product of haste; at worst, they suggest that Rovin was far less knowledgeable about his subject than he wants his reader to believe.
These issues bring into question the value of Rovin’s assessments, yet they could not diminish my affection for this book. And they were offset in some respects by my enjoyment in sparring with Rovin’s opinions about the films described within the book’s pages. Seeing again the images that I stared at so often before took me back to when I was discovering science fiction cinema for myself for the first time. Rovin’s book proved valuable for that experience, for which I will always be grateful. Hopefully others looking for an opinionated, flawed, but ultimately useful account of the first seven decades of the genre will come across a copy to enjoy the same guidance.
This made Jeff Rovin’s book the perfect gift for me at that age. Though very much the pictorial guide described in its title, it is so much more than that, as it offers as well an extensive listing of the many movies produced over the years that fit that category. Rovin’s scope is very broad, including horror movies and Cold War-era political thrillers – anything that could fit the label. As Rovin notes, the identification is often a subjective one, and the speculation he sees at the heart of the genre is often wide-ranging.
My younger self thrilled to the sight of the numerous stills, promotional shots, and behind-the-scenes photos that fill the pages of the book. Reading it today is very much an exercise in nostalgia, both for the films of that era and my experiences in watching them. It’s also an interesting look at how science fiction cinema was regarded just prior to the release in 1977 of Star Wars, a movie that would redefine the genre profoundly. Absent its shadow, Rovin’s narrative offers assessments of films that now seem quaint by comparison, which can offer different ways of appreciating them.
Rovin’s text is filed with such judgments, which as a young reader largely went over my head. Reading them now, the tone of the confident guide through seven decades of science fiction filmmaking comes across in places more as arrogant snobbishness. While there is not denying that the quality of science fiction cinema varies widely, Rovin’s personal views are presented as authoritative assessments, many of which have not aged well. Declaring in his chapter on science fiction television shows, for example, that the original Star Trek series “hardly deserved the cult developed in its wake,” is just the most egregious example of how the author can miss the point in his judgments.
This might be excusable as a matter of opinion were it not for the errors scattered throughout the text. Many of these are mistakes in plot details: it is George Voskovec’s character and not Gene Barry’s who figures out how to target the capsules in the 1957 movie The 27th Day, and the submarine in 1961’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was traveling to the Marianas Trench to fire its missile rather than the North Pole, to cite just two examples. Rovin’s treatment of the storied Doctor Who franchise, however, is particularly egregious. While the long-running show is absent from the chapter on television shows, the two movies starring Peter Cushing are covered in the chapter on 1960s films, which are described inaccurately as “assembled from the television series” rather than the new productions that they were. At best, such mistakes were the product of haste; at worst, they suggest that Rovin was far less knowledgeable about his subject than he wants his reader to believe.
These issues bring into question the value of Rovin’s assessments, yet they could not diminish my affection for this book. And they were offset in some respects by my enjoyment in sparring with Rovin’s opinions about the films described within the book’s pages. Seeing again the images that I stared at so often before took me back to when I was discovering science fiction cinema for myself for the first time. Rovin’s book proved valuable for that experience, for which I will always be grateful. Hopefully others looking for an opinionated, flawed, but ultimately useful account of the first seven decades of the genre will come across a copy to enjoy the same guidance.
January 8, 2019
An interesting look at science fiction film. I found some new movies I may need to check out!
Read
May 28, 2013791.4309 R875 1975
February 14, 2016
read SOMETIME in 2006
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews