…has been invested in “space opera,” science fiction at its most romantic. Thespace opera is an action adventure, commonly of galactic scale, of which the film cycle Star Wars (1977, 1980, 1983, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2015–17) is the best-known exemplar. It presents a unique type of “widescreen baroque,”…

…(1934–50) the subgenre of “space opera,” action-adventure set on a vast intergalactic scale involving faster-than-light spaceships, powerful weapons, and fantastic technology.