Explorers and Real Genius return to the screen this October, followed by conversations with scientists and people who help Hollywood tell its stories. A homemade spacecraft and a high-powered laser make a promising double invitation to question the movies. This October, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is giving two 1985 science-fiction films an audience—and then handing the conversation to people who can examine the science behind them.
Movies Under the Microscope opens with Explorers on Oct. 16 and continues with Real Genius on Oct. 22. Both evenings take place at NHM Commons, pairing a screening with a discussion that considers the films’ inventions, ideas and relationship to real scientific work.
Explorers offers the first route in: children pursuing the possibility of space travel. Its guest panel includes theoretical physicist Clifford V. Johnson, a science consultant on Avengers: Endgame and Star Trek: Discovery; Fanbase Press co-founder and editor-in-chief Barbra Dillon; and Futurama producer Lee Supercinski.
That mix makes room for several kinds of curiosity. A physicist can consider the machinery, a producer the demands of storytelling, and an editor the imaginative worlds that bring an audience along. The pleasure is in watching a familiar genre from those different positions.
Real Genius takes the conversation toward gifted young people and the uses of their inventions. Its scheduled guests include UCLA physicist David Saltzberg, whose consulting credits include The Big Bang Theory and Oppenheimer; writer Cody Ziglar; pop-culture educator Jason Patrick Galit; and NHM history collections manager Beth Werling.
Arriving early makes sense for both events. Doors open at 6 p.m., with an all-vinyl 1980s DJ set by mikecmusic, objects selected from the museum’s history collection and rotating pop-ups. South LA Cafe remains accessible until 7:30 p.m., when the screenings begin.
The result is an evening with several points of entry: film nostalgia, music, museum collections and an opportunity to ask what science fiction gets right—or makes wonderfully improbable. At $25 for general admission and $20 for members, with NHM Car Park parking included for ticket holders, it is also an outing whose main costs can be understood before leaving home.
For more information about event, visit nhm.org
Plan a visit. Explorers: Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. Real Genius: Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. NHM Commons Theater, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Exposition Park. Doors at 6 p.m.; films at 7:30 p.m.; events end at 10 p.m. $25 general admission or $20 for members, per event.
Photo credits: Photo courtesy of the Natural History Museum
