| Saturn Awards | |
|---|---|
| Current: 45th Saturn Awards | |
.jpg')) James Remar holding a Saturn Award at the 2011 ceremony | |
| Awarded for | Best in genre fiction film, television and home media releases |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films |
| First awarded | 1973 |
| Website | thesaturnawards |
The Saturn Awards[1] are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films; they were initially created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror on film, but have since grown to reward other films belonging to genre fiction, as well as television and home media releases. The Saturn Awards were created in 1973 and were originally referred to as Golden Scrolls.
History
The Saturn Awards were devised by Donald A. Reed in 1973, who felt that work in films in the genre of science fiction at that time lacked recognition within the established Hollywood film industry's award system.[2] Initially, the award given was a Golden Scroll certificate.[3] In the late 1970s, the award was changed to be a representation of the planet Saturn, with its ring(s) composed of film.
The Saturn Awards are voted upon by members of the presenting Academy. The Academy is a non-profit organization with membership open to the public. Its president and executive producer is Robert Holguin, and producer/writers Bradley Marcus and Kevin Marcus.[4] Its members include filmmakers JJ Abrams, Bryan Singer, Steven Spielberg, Bryan Fuller, Mark A. Altman, Vince Gilligan and James Cameron, among others.[5]
Although the Awards still primarily focus on films and television in the science fiction, fantasy and horror categories, the Saturns have also recognized productions in other dramatic genres. There are also special awards for lifetime achievement in film production.
Criticism
The Saturn Awards has been criticized for having broadened its scope, nominating and awarding prestige movies genre awards (sci-fi, fantasy or horror) and thereby stretching the meanings of the genres too far.[6][7][8][9][10]
Award categories
Film
- Best Science Fiction Film (since 1972)
- Best Horror Film (since 1972)
- Best Fantasy Film (since 1973)
- Best Animated Film (1978, 1982, since 2002)
- Best International Film (1979–1982, since 2006)
- Best Action or Adventure Film (since 1994)
- Best Independent Film (since 2012)
- Best Thriller Film (since 2013)
- Best Comic-to-Movie Film (since 2013)
- Best Film Director (since 1974)
- Best Film Writing (since 1973)
- Best Actor in a Film (since 1974)
- Best Actress in a Film (since 1974)
- Best Supporting Actor in a Film (since 1974)
- Best Supporting Actress in a Film (since 1974)
- Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a Film (since 1984)
- Best Music (since 1973)
- Best Film Editing (1977–1978, since 2011)
- Best Film Production Design (since 2009)
- Best Film Costume (since 1976)
- Best Film Make-Up (since 1973)
- Best Film Special Effects (since 1973)
Television
- Best Superhero Television Series (since 2014)
- Best Science Fiction Television Series (since 2015)
- Best Fantasy Television Series (since 2015)
- Best Horror Television Series (since 2015)
- Best Action-Thriller Television Series (since 2015)
- Best Animated Series on Television (since 2017)
- Best Actor on Television (since 1996)
- Best Actress on Television (since 1996)
- Best Supporting Actor on Television (since 1999)
- Best Supporting Actress on Television (since 1999)
- Best Guest Starring Role on Television (since 2008)
- Best Performance by a Younger Actor on Television (since 2013)
Streaming
- Best Streaming Superhero Series (since 2017)
- Best Streaming Science Fiction, Action & Fantasy Series (since 2019)
- Best Streaming Horror & Thriller Series (since 2019)
- Best Actor in Streaming Presentation (since 2019)
- Best Actress in Streaming Presentation (since 2019)
- Best Supporting Actor in Streaming Presentation (since 2019)
- Best Supporting Actress in Streaming Presentation (since 2019)
Home video
- Best DVD or Blu-ray Release (since 2001)
- Best DVD or Blu-ray Special Edition Release (since 2001)
- Best Classic Film DVD Release (2002)
- Best Television DVD Release (since 2002)
- Best DVD or Blu-ray Collection (since 2003)
- Best Retro Television Series on DVD (since 2014)
Special awards
- The George Pal Memorial Award
- The Life Career Award
- The President's Memorial Award
- Special Recognition Award
- Breakthrough Performance Award
Discontinued categories
- Best Low-Budget Film (1980–1982)
- Best Network Television Series (1988–2014)
- Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series (1996–2014)
- Best International Series (2007)
- Best Youth-Oriented Television Series (2011–2014)
- Best New Media Television Series (2015–2017)
- Best Television Presentation (1994–2017)
Records
| Superlative | Individual(s) / Work | Record set | Year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most awards (individual) | James Cameron | 11 awards | 1984–2009 |
| Most nominations (individual) | John Williams | 21 nominations | 1977–2017 |
| Most awards (film) | Star Wars | 15 awards[a] | 1977 |
| Most nominations (film) | 18 nominations[a] | ||
| Most awards (TV series) | The Walking Dead | 21 awards | 2010–2018/19 |
| Most nominations (TV series) | Lost | 54 nominations | 2004–2010 |
| Most awards (acting) | Robert Downey Jr. Anna Torv | 4 awards | 1993–2018/19 2009–2012 |
| Most nominations (acting) | Tom Cruise | 11 nominations | 1994–2018/19 |
| Most awards (same category) | John Williams | 9 wins for Best Music | 1977–2015 |
| Most nominations (same category) | 21 nominations for Best Music | 1977–2017 | |
| Most awards (film franchise) | Star Wars | 44 wins[b] | |
| Most nominations (film franchise) | Marvel Cinematic Universe | 135 nominations[c] | 2008–2018/19 |
Notes
- ^ a b Star Wars (1977) was originally nominated for 16 awards and won 12; the actual number of wins include a special award to reward Gilbert Taylor's cinematography, a special award to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 1997, and 1 win as a part of a compilation (Best DVD Movie Collection) for Star Wars Trilogy (2004) in 2005. The actual number of nominations also include two nominations as part of compilations while the two special awards were non-competitive, so they do not count as nominations.
- ^ 14 wins for Star Wars (1977), 4 wins for The Empire Strikes Back (1980), 5 wins for Return of the Jedi (1983), 2 wins for The Phantom Menace (1999), 2 wins for Attack of the Clones (2002), 2 wins for Revenge of the Sith (2005), 8 wins for The Force Awakens (2015), 3 wins for Rogue One (2016), 3 wins for The Last Jedi (2017), and 1 win for a compilation (Best DVD Movie Collection) comprising three films (Star Wars Trilogy) of the franchise.
- ^ 8 nominations for Iron Man (2008), 1 nomination for The Incredible Hulk (2008), 4 nominations for Iron Man 2 (2010), 4 nominations for Thor (2011), 7 nominations for Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), 6 nominations for The Avengers (2012), 5 nominations for Iron Man 3 (2013), 5 nominations for Thor: The Dark World (2013), 11 nominations for Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), 9 nominations for Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), 4 nominations for Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), 6 nominations for Ant-Man (2015), 8 nominations for Captain America: Civil War (2016), 10 nominations for Doctor Strange (2016), 4 nominations for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), 4 nominations for Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), 2 nominations for Thor: Ragnarok (2017), 14 nominations for Black Panther (2018), 2 nominations for Avengers: Infinity War (2018), 3 nominations for Captain Marvel (2019), 14 nominations for Avengers: Endgame (2019), and 4 nominations for Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019).
Year-by-year results
The year indicates the year of release of the films eligible.
- 1972: 1st Saturn Awards
- 1973: 2nd Saturn Awards
- 1974/75: 3rd Saturn Awards
- 1976: 4th Saturn Awards
- 1977: 5th Saturn Awards
- 1978: 6th Saturn Awards
- 1979: 7th Saturn Awards
- 1980: 8th Saturn Awards
- 1981: 9th Saturn Awards
- 1982: 10th Saturn Awards
- 1983: 11th Saturn Awards
- 1984: 12th Saturn Awards
- 1985: 13th Saturn Awards
- 1986: 14th Saturn Awards
- 1987: 15th Saturn Awards
- 1988: 16th Saturn Awards
- 1989–1990: 17th Saturn Awards
- 1991: 18th Saturn Awards
- 1992: 19th Saturn Awards
- 1993: 20th Saturn Awards
- 1994: 21st Saturn Awards
- 1995: 22nd Saturn Awards
- 1996: 23rd Saturn Awards
- 1997: 24th Saturn Awards
- 1998: 25th Saturn Awards
- 1999: 26th Saturn Awards
- 2000: 27th Saturn Awards
- 2001: 28th Saturn Awards
- 2002: 29th Saturn Awards
- 2003: 30th Saturn Awards
- 2004: 31st Saturn Awards
- 2005: 32nd Saturn Awards
- 2006: 33rd Saturn Awards
- 2007: 34th Saturn Awards
- 2008: 35th Saturn Awards
- 2009: 36th Saturn Awards
- 2010: 37th Saturn Awards
- 2011: 38th Saturn Awards
- 2012: 39th Saturn Awards
- 2013: 40th Saturn Awards
- 2014: 41st Saturn Awards
- 2015: 42nd Saturn Awards
- 2016: 43rd Saturn Awards
- 2017: 44th Saturn Awards
- 2018–2019: 45th Saturn Awards
See also
References
- ^ "Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror ... and the Saturn Goes to ..." The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- ^ About the founder: Dr. Donald A. Reed (1935–2001)
- ^ Fxperts - Saturn Award history Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- ^ Membership and / or Donation information
- ^ "The Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy & Horror Films". Retrieved February 15, 2011.
- ^ Nathaniel Rogers. «Nominations for Everyone!» — Saturn Awards. The Film Experience, February 26, 2014
"I think the Saturn Awards have lost focus. You're a genre award. You're supposed to be about fantasy, sci-fi and horror. That's your whole goddamn raison d'être". - ^ Natalie Zutter. It’s About Time the Saturn Awards Introduced a Superhero Category. Tor.com, February 22, 2013
- ^ Myles McNutt. What’s my Genre Again?: The In(s)anity of the Saturn Awards. Cultural Learnings, February 19, 2010.
"The problem is that, over time, the Saturn Awards have stretched the meaning of genre so far that it legitimately has no meaning. <...> Rather than seeming like a legitimate celebration of science fiction, fantasy or horror, the Saturn Awards read like an unflattering and at points embarrassing collection of films and television series which reflect not the best that genre has to offer, but rather a desperate attempt to tap into the cultural zeitgeist while masquerading as a celebration of the underappreciated. - ^ Thomas M. Sipos. Saturn Awards Betray Horror. Horror Magazine, 1997
- ^ Francisco Salazar. Saturn Awards 2015 Date & Nominations. Latinpost, March 5, 2015
"However, sometimes the Saturn Awards choose prestige films and ignore some of the more important science fiction, fantasy and horror films of the year."
External links
- Official website
- Saturn Awards at IMDb