Fantastic landscapes are successful in the American Cinema, from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in 1907 to Avatar in 2009, the fantasy world creates dreams and makes money! Walt Disney, Terry Gilliam, George Lucas, Tim Burton, Steven Spielberg or Peter Jackson have created our favorites places: an another American beyond the frontier (of time). We'll see today how these filmmakers are building worlds by mixing elements : another New York City is called "Gotham City" or "Coruscant Planet", a large jungle is called "Pandora Planet" and an unlimited desert "Tatouine Planet" or "Dune.
USUAL PLACES, UNUSUAL ASPECTS
I would like to begin with movies adapted from comics books, you know: Gotham City as the darkest New York as possible and Metropolis as the golden city! Heroes and superheroes are usually living in gigantic places from our world but just a little different, it is also: Men In Black, Hellboy, X Men, Matrix or even Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean.
I would like to begin with movies adapted from comics books, you know: Gotham City as the darkest New York as possible and Metropolis as the golden city! Heroes and superheroes are usually living in gigantic places from our world but just a little different, it is also: Men In Black, Hellboy, X Men, Matrix or even Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean.The city is designed as a graphic place to aggravate human beings sins or desires. That's why there is always crimes in the streets of Sin City or Gotham. In X-Men or Hellboy there is a different world where aliens are considered as a threat but the place is the same. And in Harry Potter and Pirates of the caribbean there is magic and different laws.
What is different is mainly the headquarters (Daily Planet, Wayne Building or Ministry of Magic) and the aspects of the superhero. Concerning rules, we can how politicians involve heroes in city life after public debates about their difference: they are accepted until a problem appears. In other words, the superhero city is a joke about the American Life: a 7 differences game.
CITIES OF THE FUTURE
The point between Blade Runner, Star Wars, Starship Troopers, Dark City, Brazil, Immortel, Cowboy Beebop or the 5th element is a crowded, dark and cross cultural metropolitan way of life. One level above than the comics city, every aspect of life is increasing: traffic, building size, inhabitants and melting pot.
The artistic department is in love with the night, lights and spaceships between buildings. There is glass, large surfaces and automatisations everywhere (remember the elevator in Star Wars Episode 2 or the robots in iRobot). The city as a planet is a stressful place for The 5th Element's cab driver or the Blade Runner's detective and movies are predicted a very apocalyptic future.
CREATING ANOTHER WORLD
But everything isn't so bad, and science fiction offers also gigantic natural experience in Avatar, Star Wars, Dune, Waterworld, Riddick or lord of the ring movies. The landscape in science fiction is founded on a simple elemental concept: one element for a universe. The jungle for Pandora (Avatar), the desert for Tatooine (Star Wars), water for Warterworld, Fire for Aliens 3 or Chronicle of Riddick, the air for Cloud City in the Empire Strikes back etc.
But everything isn't so bad, and science fiction offers also gigantic natural experience in Avatar, Star Wars, Dune, Waterworld, Riddick or lord of the ring movies. The landscape in science fiction is founded on a simple elemental concept: one element for a universe. The jungle for Pandora (Avatar), the desert for Tatooine (Star Wars), water for Warterworld, Fire for Aliens 3 or Chronicle of Riddick, the air for Cloud City in the Empire Strikes back etc. In fantasy's stories the concept is coupled with historical mixing: Medieval time in lord of the ring or Willow, Ancient time in Star Wars, Modern time in The Muchhausen Baron or mythologic time in Clash of the titans.
By way of conclusion, fantastic landscapes are mixing elements from our reality to underline some aspects of it: violence in Sin City, Medieval Time in Lord of the ring, Blue Planet in Waterworld. American cinema is a place of dreaming when the landscape amplies our imagination.
