Space imperialism may seem too obvious a topic for modern viewers of sci-fi. George Lucas had his villains comprised of an empire in his original Star Wars trilogy. Politics in space though may be too difficult to make cinematic within a film. I don’t think we need to look further than Lucas’ attempt of this in his prequel trilogy. This was an effort which resulted in a bunch of aliens talking in a big room spouting phrases like, “Trade negotiations,” and “I love democracy.” As a kid I pressed forward on the VHS tape to get to the action in those films and as an adult I still don’t understand why these scenes are there.
1984’s Dune faces the same problem. Now I’ve never read the novel, I’ve been interested for a little bit now, but from what I understand is that politics are a major part of it. Within the film we only understand the vaguest idea of how this empire is set up. They exposit enough within the film to make it somewhat understandable but I’m generally bored and am just waiting for Kyle MachLachlan to ride a gigantic worm into battle. What we get is a mixed narrative torn between politics, prophecies, warfare, and David Lynch’s sci-fi surrealism.
What’s sad is that I want to be able to witness proper, space politics within a film. I believe it can be done but it will take lots of work and a craftsman who is able to make it look cinematic; I think House of Cards was able to achieve this desired effect. It would also be so refreshing to see a sci-fi world that is dictated by governments and business’ much like our own little earth instead of it just being pushed off to the side or represented through our ever cliche dystopian stories. Here’s to hoping that Denis Villeneuve can do it.
Thomas' FORL 2220 Blog 
Yes, it seems to be a very elusive task — to successfully interweave political allegory about our world and yet make the fictional world rich and full enough to stand on its own (i.e. not merely be a conceptual stand-in). And all of that within the constraints of the two-hour film. Perhaps a very well-done series could do this more effectively, since that is where much production is migrating anyway. I do see your point about the superficiality of political meanings woven into Star Wars and Dune.
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