If you’re a fan of Sci-Fi, then you may have heard about or at least are the right target audience for a film called In Search For Tomorrow. It’s a documentary that chronicles the amazing trend and increases in science fiction movies during the 80s.
We were given a copy of this film specifically so that we could share our thoughts and review it for our site.
Sometimes I find giving documentary-style videos a review can be a little bit difficult with our traditional formatting. It’s for that reason that I decided to break with the traditional Connor’s Critique style and just talk about this movie, instead of trying to force it into a mischaracterized box.
Pro(s)
When dealing with documentaries that specifically talk about a decade, the format that usually comes to mind is an in-demand collection of celebrity creators and industry people who aren’t specifically closely connected to the subject discussing their personal experiences within the culture. If this sounds familiar, you might be thinking of I Love The 90’s on VH1.
Very much on brand, this series does the exact same thing, with a small change. While other shows or series in the past have just pretty much grabbed anyone that lived through the time period and allowed them to share their opinion, In Search of Tomorrow does an amazing job pulling actual people from 80s movies or 80’s culture, experts, or people so closely connected to the topics, that it’s almost perfect that they were chosen to speak on it.
In fact, one such expert really pulled on the heartstrings. Seeing Ivan Reitman talking about Ghostbusters and other 80’s science fiction films. If you’re a fan of the Reitman, then you likely agree with me that his passing away this year, among other things, was way too soon.
Due to their choice of experts, celebrities, and everyone involved, the documentary has the topic completely and well covered. In Search of Tomorrow is a master class of 80’s lore and expertise.
“In Search of Tomorrow is a master class of 80’s lore and expertise!”
Some of the major standouts of the documentary, people I was really excited to see, were Alex Winter from the Bill and Ted series of films, Peter Weller from the Robocop movie, and Sarah Douglas who played Ursa in Superman 2.
While a lot of documentaries can sometimes feel a little bit talky with non-stop exposition, this documentary does a great job not only breaking down the entire experience by year, but also by covering categories such as poster design, and practical effects. The discussion of practical effects is important due to the relatively modern invention for the time and the addition of CGI in science fiction films. In Search of Tomorrow even talks about the effects of science fiction upon the world, as well as the world upon science fiction.
Con(s)
This documentary is a hair shy of 5 hours long.
I need you to let that sit in. 5 hours.
This should never have been a documentary. There is just way too much to be covered within the genre of 80 sci-fi. I’m also sure that they left a lot of things on the cutting room floor that would have probably been great to see, with time being a factor. However, what exists during In Search of Tomorrow is plenty of content that could have easily been cut down and spaced out amongst a good 10-episode documentary series.
I must also agree that there is definitely something wrong with humanity, the fact that we could easily sit down and watch 9 hours of a streaming show in one seating, but have reservations about watching a movie, over two and a half hours, says something about us as a culture. That being said, it doesn’t mean that I literally wanna sit down and watch a 5-hour documentary.
Of all the things in this entire documentary, it’s my only complaint. And this is after having completely sat through the entire 5-hours, and then going back and re-watching certain segments that I wanted to talk about in more depth.
Conclusion
While this is definitely a long documentary, if you are a fan of science fiction, if you are a fan of 80’s nostalgia or just a fan of how movies are made then you need to watch this documentary!
“…if you are a fan of science fiction, if you are a fan of 80’s nostalgia or just a fan of how movies are made then you need to watch this documentary!”
I know the 5-hour issue is going to be make-or-break for a lot of people, but there is just so much that this movie has to share that it would be a shame to miss out on it all just because of its overall length.
This Documentary is currently available for pre-order Here.
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