i.e do you prefer:

• technically grounded and plausible science elements (e.g The Martian)

or

• stuff so fantastical that it doesn’t even warrant trying to explain it (Dr Who, some Marvel/DC stuff, Star Wars)

Another way to look at this would be Sci-Fi versus Science Fantasy, perhaps.

• Old-School Sci-Fi like HG Wells centers around a core scientific idea and the consequences arising from that,

whereas

• Science Fantasy (more prevalent nowadays) only looks to science - or the impression of some science - to serve the fantasy devices it uses.

So which is better?