SF filmmaking dead? Horse hockey!  Contrary to the complaining about special effects, I believe the new advances in specials effects will one day bring about a re-birth of SF films in a very powerful way.   One of the reasons SF films of the past were so schlocky is that the special effects never kept up with the vision of the original material. The new, improved effects are going to allow SF stories to be filmed that were never filmed before.  The best fruits of SF from the last twenty years or more are finally going to have their day on the theater screens.  Asimov's "I Robot"   - basterdized through it was - is a perfect example of this. And lets not forget the recent attempts at Phillip K. Dick's work, which even Sir Ridley has had a go at.   Once this process really gets underway, we'll start seeing SF that truly originates as film.