It is odd now to think that, when George Lucas proposed Star Wars, the studios sighed grumpily at the idea. It was, at that point, felt that science fiction was box office poison. Star Wars became the biggest film of all time. Later, Jurassic Park did the same. At time of writing — and, perhaps, until we are all dead — the world’s biggest film remains the staggeringly successful Avatar. The form has become the default setting for the Hollywood blockbuster (if you think of it, large parts of most superhero films fall into the category).

It is, thus, easy to forget that the genre (one that is hard to define) remains among the most intellectually fecund of popular entertainments. There are ideas to be savoured and chewed over in all the best fantastic films. Raise three cheers for a season, beginning this week, of great science fiction films at the Irish Film Institute. Futures Past takes an intriguing line: How Cinema of the Past has Imagined Our Future. We often find much to laugh at in such imaginings. Not only does Pan Am still exist in Blade Runner, but Rick Decker is seen reading an actual newspaper. How quaint. Many future historians predicted many things correctly, but very few guessed that space exploration would go no further afield after the 1970s.

The folk at the IFI have brought together a number of boffins in various fields to discuss some of the films being screened. Neither the selection nor the personnel can be much faulted. The event, featuring nine movies, runs until the end of the month. We’ve picked out five to be going on with. Make sure to check out The Day The Earth Caught Fire tomorrow if you’re able. Full listings are available here.

THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE (1961)

I was lucky enough to see this classic disaster film in Finland with the director, Val Guest, in the audience. As well as saying chilling things about climate change, the picture also features fascinating location footage at the Daily Express offices. Truly another era.

GUEST SPEAKERS : Oisin Coughlan (Friends of the Earth) and Diarmuid Torney (Lecturer in International Relations at DCU) will discuss this film in the context of climate change. APRIL 6th.

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)

You know what this is. Though Kubrick’s speculative epic is now rated as a masterpiece for the ages, it has not always been entirely fashionable. Critics used to worry that there was more oomph than intellectual depth. Well, it is a Stanley Kubrick film. Oh, controversial. FROM APRIL 8th

GUEST SPEAKERS (APRIL 10th): Joseph Roche (former Mars One Candidate/Professor of Education, TCD) and Peter Gallagher (Professor of Astrophysics, TCD) will discuss the themes of space flight, living ‘off-earth’ and wormholes.

SILENT RUNNING (1972)

The financial failure of films such as Douglas Trumbull’s great ecological epic were at the root of the notion that nobody would go and see science fiction in the 1970s. The droids that follow Bruce Dern about his intergalactic hot house were an unmistakable influence on those in Star Wars. Savour the amazing first shot. APRIL 13TH

GUEST SPEAKERS: Ella McSweeney (Presenter, RTÉ’s Ear to the Ground) and Yvonne Buckley (Chair of Zoology, Head of Biodiversity, TCD) will discuss topic of extinction before this screening.

FANTASTIC VOYAGE (1966)

Fantastic Voyage, dude? Many of us still think back to this great fantasy when trying to remember important stuff about blood chemistry. Directed by Richard Fleischer, one of the most versatile men in Hollywood — he of 10 Rillington Place, The Vikings, Tora! Tora! Tora! and, also in the season, Solylent Green — Fantastic Voyage is one of the few Raquel Welch films worth enduring. APRIL 23rd

GUEST SPEAKERS: Claire O’Connell (The Irish Times) and Fergal O’Brien (Professor of Biomaterials AMBER and RSCI) will discuss this film in the context of nanotechnology.

THX 1138 (1971)

It is worth remembering that, when at college, George Lucas was viewed as the intellectual who would, most likely, deliver avant garde features for the downtown crowd. That’s how he started out. This magnificent film stars Robert Duvall as a cyborg adrift in an icy dystopia. Still startling. Still strange. Could only have emerged in those strange, turbulent years. APRIL 27th