Many feel that secondary school graduates are not prepared to compete in a world of rapidly expanding technology. High school and college students in the United States often prefer fantasy to science. This book offers a strategy for overcoming student apathy toward the physical sciences by harnessing the power of the cinema. In it, ten popular science fiction films including: (1) "Forbidden Planet"; (2) "The Day the Earth Caught Fire"; (3) "Destination Moon"; (4) "When Worlds Collide"; (5) "The Day the Earth Stood Still"; (6) "Them!"; (7) "The Andromeda Strain"; (8) "Five Million Years to Earth"; (9) "The Day of the Triffids"; and (10) "Colossus: The Forbin Project" are analyzed in depth. Detailed plot summaries are provided and a point-by-point guide to the scientific issues raised by each. Also included are capsule descriptions of 24 additional science fiction films, many of which can be found on videotape. The document states that science fiction films can reverse negative attitudes that many students have toward real science by moving them from familiar experiences they enjoy to an appreciation of unfamiliar experiences such as physics, chemistry, astronomy, and biology. (CW)