After finding out about this Milton Keynes based attraction I instantly made it my mission to get there as quickly as humanly possible to bring you this National Film and Sci Fi Museum review.

A stones throw away from CentreMK shopping centre in Milton Keynes stands the National Film and Sci Fi Museum. A £14 entry (at the time of writing this article) attraction that will take you on a journey through movie history complete with props, costumes and more in a collection worth millions of pounds.
Before heading to this wonderful gem of an attraction for movie lovers I firstly have to address some ridiculous TripAdvisor reviews that I saw before attending the event.

The museum doesn’t allow photography due to some licensing issues with their items (their words) and whilst I’ve never heard that before, nor to my knowledge do you need a license to display any item it does make perfect sense from a spoiler perspective.
Why would you want to visit the museum if you can just go online and see every item within it free of charge? There are plenty of props in the lobby area too for you to take a snap of!

Keeping the items a secret is all part of the mystery and gets you down to the museum to check it out for yourself. If you have a problem with that and can’t pry yourself away from your phone for five minutes or take photos then that’s on you. The attraction have even been kind enough to add selfie spots with certain replica set pieces and figures so you can take photos in there and share memories should you wish, just respect the items and the collection within it.
Another highlight of some strange TripAdvisor reviews was the fact that people were saying they completed the attraction in 30 minutes. It’s safe to say that these people didn’t read a single thing and just walked straight through not paying one ounce of attention to anything on display and straight out the exit. The space is rather expansive and there are hundreds of items within it to see and explore.

Each item has a little label and clearly tells you if it’s a replica, production used or similar. There are themed spaces including a replica of Sherlock Holmes flat complete with props within it and even a Stargate portal replica. I thought the theming in some areas wasn’t needed yet they put the effort in to make the attraction look the part and make the props stand out even more so in their environment.
Various items on display come from other peoples collections and from Star Wars to Star Trek, Dr Who to Red Dwarf and even The Addams Family there’s a little bit for everyone. I was very surprised at their Indiana Jones collection, there were some great pieces within it but some items throughout the entire collection did have me questioning if they were either production moulds or just simply replicas.

 
Some items weren’t listed as production used so I just assumed replicas have been dotted around some areas to pad out the items within it but a heads up on which items are replicas and which are production used displayed more clearly would have been nice!
This collection is worth millions of pounds and within it was a Star Wars original script with hand-written notes that is so valuable the building can’t insure the full script so they’ve simply displayed some pages from it!

Pieces of a Yoda puppet that was never made to last is deteriorating in front of my very eyes yet it’s here before me and it was something truly great to witness. All around you is cinema history and seeing those reviews of people just walking past them and ignoring years of cinematic history, well, it made me question why they even went into the exhibition in the first place. It clearly isn’t for them.
From looking at images on the museums social media it seems to be an ongoing project. Originally many items weren’t labelled (a common complaint when the attraction first opened) and slowly but surely labels are being sorted for all items within it and new spaces are being built to expand the immersion into the museum.

A full sized proton back from Ghostbusters used by Dan Ackroyd was certainly a highlight ticket item for me in addition to some Jaws props and the Indiana Jones collection. Seeing holy grail items from your favourite film in an attraction that only cost £14 to enter seemed a bargain to me but I’m the target market. 
I’m under the impression that the attraction entry price was £12 only two years ago, but to get new items and for any sort of expansion work (and no doubt lockdown being a huge deciding factor) the price was increased. Not many people realise just how expensive movie props are, let alone the cost to insure them and to source them. Whilst £14 still feels affordable to me (especially for a Milton Keynes based attraction) not many people who are as passionate about the hobby would agree or understand the reasons behind this.

I can see a family maybe having an issue with this price point and children certainly won’t appreciate anything on display other than the selfie points so please keep that in mind when you decide to visit.
There’s no need to add interaction or immersive things for children as some reviews state, this is a museum celebrating movie history and history is the key word here. Anyone less than 10 years old probably won’t be interested in this attraction and it’s not an attraction that is catered for children in anyway shape or form. 

Once upon a time all of these movie props were thrown into a skip after a production and now they’re works of art. You’re paying to enter an art gallery at the end of the day, the price point seemed fair and reflected the incredible items on display.
What I also found interesting was that the entry wristband you had paid for could be used to re-enter the attraction as many times as you wanted throughout the day.

 
Want to go and get a quick bite across the road? Go and grab some food and come back. Missed an item or just wanted another glimpse? Get yourselves back in there and take a look!
For me, I could have stayed in there for much longer than the 90 minutes we were in there. I could have sat down and just combed through the finer details of the props and just embraced every piece of history I was surrounded by but we had a film screening to go to. 

Before and after your tour you’re in a main store area that sells vintage collectibles, signed items and autographs and more. It’s a little Forbidden Planet type attraction with the addition of signed goods and there is the Pixel Bunker right next door.
The Pixel Bunker is an arcade attraction (separate attraction entirely) where you can pay to play a variety of arcade games. Arcade games and movie props. That’s the dream right there!

The organisers of the museum have a hand in running Showmasters comic con events so all of the autographs on sale are from guests of the comic con. Naturally, autographs are expensive but at least you know that they are authentic unlike many stalls at comic-con where you’re not entirely sure if they’re signed by the celeb, a robotic autograph machine or merely just a print.
The museum also holds presentations, creators talks, guest appearances and signings, as well as dedicated events and talks, special educational activities for school groups, and corporate experiences. 

Visiting the National Film and Sci Fi Museum feels like the beginning, you can see more items being added over time and the attraction going from strength to strength. It would be great to revisit in a year or two and see the changes made.
The attraction only opened in 2021 and it is already an expansive space packed full of millions of pounds worth of movie history. Ignore the fussy National Film and Sci Fi Museum TripAdvisor comments. If you love movies, you’re going to love this!
An attraction that really does take you back to the movies.
National Film and Sci Fi Museum Review by Sean Evans
Visit https://nationalfilmandscifimuseum.com/ for more information!