Over the last decade, music and sound have become an increasingly recognised aspect of film production and film studies. Off the Planet is an important contribution to the work in this field and is targeted at both cinema studies readers and film music students and aficionados. Off the Planet comprises a lively, stimulating and diverse collection of essays on aspects of music, sound and Science Fiction cinema. Following a detailed historical introduction to the development of sound and music in the genre, individual chapters analyse key films, film series, composers and directors in the post-War era. The first part profiles seminal 1950s productions such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, the first Godzilla film and Forbidden Planet. Later chapters analyse the work of composer John Williams, the career of director David Cronenberg, the Mad Max series, James Cameron’s Terminators and other notable SF films such as Space is the Place, Blade Runner , Mars Attacks! and The Matrix.Contributors include leading academics and researchers from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.