Science Fiction Categories (Movies)

[PanzerMeyer]

We all know that "science fiction" can be a very broad term which is often loosely applied to many movies but how exactly would you define it and do you see any subcategories of the genre? For example, I like to categorize sci-fi into horror sci-fi, action sci-fi, hard sci-fi and fantasy sci-fi. Horror and Action are self-explanatory but "hard" sci-fi would be a movie where all of the technology you see in the film has a logical and thorough explanation behind it. Fantasy sci-fi I would consider to be a film where all or most of the technology you see has little or no explanation. In other words, it just "is".

Here are some examples I've come up with so far:

Horror Sci-Fi -- Alien, Event Horizon, Pitch Black
Action Sci-Fi -- Terminator, Star Trek II, Predator
Hard Sci-Fi -- Andromeda Strain, I-Robot, Blade Runner
Fantasy Sci-Fi -- Star Wars, Dune, Stargate