FromMark's Sci-Fi / Fantasy BlogTwo classic sci-fi films, Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977), are among the 25 films selected this year to be preserved by the Library of Congress National Film Registry, with the intent that they are available for future generations to enjoy. The announcement by the Librarian of Congress notes that "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant films from many eras and genres are selected in the annual effort to choose specific films to be guarded against deterioration. Up to half the films produced in this country before 1950, and as much as 90 percent of those made before 1920, are lost forever. Early film stock was recycled for the silver nitrate content, and any film will break down in mere decades. Previous genre selections include 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982 [but which version?]), Cat People (1942), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Flash Gordon serial (1936), Frankenstein (1931), Groundhog Day (1993), Invasion of the Body-Snatchers (1951), Planet of the Apes (1968), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Star Wars (1977), The Thing from Another World (1951), and The Wizard of Oz (1939).
