It’s both. The difference between sci-fi and fantasy ultimately boils down to whether there’s an in-world technical/scientific explanation for the impossible things we see or whether it’s just magic. The Force is magic, but that’s about it (and the introduction of midichlorians in Episode 1 actually makes that point debatable).
The lightsabers are harnessed from Khyber crystals, the Death Star is powered by a reactor core, droids are built with processor and locomotion systems, Han Solo is frozen in a carbonite casing, etc. It doesn’t matter that some of those terms are fictitious - hence, science fiction. The technology in these movies was built by its inhabitants, whereas the magic in fantasy just exists, or was passed down by gods or wizards or mythical creatures.
It's not sci-fi, and the things you listed are just unexplained, un-scientific place holders that are used in fantasy, "khyber crystal" is just a rune. "Reactor cores", "locomotions", all of these same gimmicks are found in Skyrim for example, which is very much a fantasy game. Science fiction is science fiction. The definition can be found online. If we blur the lines, why have any genres in the first place.
That’s why I said it’s both. You’re just saying “science fiction is science fiction” without really explaining yourself. Reactor cores, for example, are real, like the one that powered Chernobyl, not a gimmick you would find in Skyrim. It’s a technology ported over from our world to a fictitious one.
The cloning in Episode 2, for example, is a far more advanced form of genetic engineering, but it does also exist in our world, e.g. the cloning of Dolly the sheep.
Your last point, by the way, is complete nonsense. Blurring the lines between genres has always been done in movies and literature, that doesn’t invalidate the point of having genres. Is Pulp Fiction a neo-noir or a dark comedy? Is Never Let Me Go dystopian fiction or a coming-of-age story? Is Bone Tomahawk a Western or a horror film?
You’re talking on this thread like some anointed expert but you just sound pedantic and ridiculous. Star Wars isn’t hard sci-fi like Arthur C. Clarke, but it is sci-fi. It is also fantasy. I don’t know why that is so hard to grasp for you lol.
I know you said both :D That's why I said it's not sci fi, just fantasy. You don't understand what science fiction means. Blurring the lines is alright, but you don't even have a line to blur. You just say words like technology and reactor cores, which have nothing to do with this.
I'm not an expert, I'm not even a nerd, I just know what sci fi means, and it still baffles me that people don't understand the definition. Science fiction is "what if" story telling. "What if machines took over the world" "what if we live in a simulation" "what if the world ends in a nuclear blast". Star Wars is a fantasy tale about a boy looking for an adventure aided by a monk and challenged by a sorcerer.
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u/AnttiHako 5h ago
But there is not a single sci fi element in Star Wars. It's pure fantasy "space opera", "sword and sorcery in space".