Can't wait for 2024's solar eclipse? Get a head start with these films featuring eclipses
A total solar eclipse will blanket the area in darkness on April 8.
But if you can't wait that long, get a head start -- or get your backup plan ready in case of rain -- with these films that prominently feature eclipses in them.
The symbolism of eclipses in film
In film, a solar eclipse can signal change, portray terror, raise emotional stakes and more.
On NPR, Glen Weldon writes that solar eclipses remind us that even something as basic as the sun shining in the middle of the day can get tweaked. "Several Hollywood movies have employed solar eclipses as a kind of shorthand to signal to audiences that the normal rules have temporarily lifted, and things are about to get weird."
Lisa Yaszek, a professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech University and former president of the Science Fiction Research Association, discussed the history, meanings, and accuracy of eclipses infiction in an interview with Vox.
Yaszek says an eclipse feels like a moment where something is wrong or different. So, with a story that’s trying to comment on how political or social relationships are wrong, or how it’s time for a change in the characters, an eclipse can be a symbol of that.
Over the years, and as the understanding about eclipses grew, the depiction of a solar eclipse in media changed, Yaszek said. The earliest stories were about dread. As science learned to predict eclipses, stories changed to allow that knowledge to manipulate superstitious people. The most recent trend is using an eclipse to signal the reversal of fortune for a group historically discriminated against.
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How an eclipse is used in some movies
Amy Wang writes in The Oregonian that since eclipses are seen as bad omens, directors often use them as visual cues and plot points. Wang offers a look at films where eclipses have played a role, astronomically accurate or not.
They include:
"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" -- A solar eclipse provides an ominous backdrop during a test of the Death Star just before a city is destroyed and the rebels barely escape with their lives.
"Dolores Claiborne" -- The title character takes advantage of a solar eclipse to corner her abusive and deceitful husband, an encounter that ends very badly.
"2001: A Space Odyssey" -- The film opens with an eclipse – viewed from outer space as the Earth, moon and sun all align.
"Barabbas" -- Director Richard Fleischer scheduled the filming of the crucifixion scene around a total solar eclipse that crossed Europe in 1961.
Films that feature a solar eclipse
Many movies have used eclipses as symbols or prominent plot devices. Some of the most well known are:
"2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968)
"Almanach 1999-2000" (1999)
"Apocalypto" (2006)
"Avatar: The Way of Water" (2022)
"Barabbas" (1961)
"Bloody Birthday" (1981)
"Darkness" (2002)
"Dolores Claiborne" (1995)
"Dragonslayer" (1981)
"Eclipse" (1994)
"Fantasia" (1940)
"Farinelli" (1994)
"Gerald's Game" (2017)
"Hellboy" (2004)
"The House of the Devil" (2009)
"Judy Berlin" (1999)
"The Kid Who Would Be King" (2019)
"King Solomon's Mines" (1937)
"A Knight in Camelot" (1998)
"Ladyhawke" (1985)
"The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration" (2003)
"Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" (2001)
"Little Shop of Horrors" (1986)
"Little Sinner" (1935)
"Perfect Strangers" (2017)
"Pharaoh" (1966)
"Pitch Black" (2000)
"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" (2016)
"Sister Death" (2023)
"The Seventh Sign" (1988)
"Verónica" (2017)
"The Watcher in the Woods" (1980)
"The Wild Thornberrys Movie" (2002)
"Wolf Creek" (2005)
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: 2024 total solar eclipse: Get ready with movies featuring eclipses
