Science-fiction no longer is taking a back seat at the Oscars, but the genre still has a long way to go apparently.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences handed out four Oscars to science-fiction films including "Avatar" and "Star Trek," all in technical categories. "The Hurt Locker," in what was expected to be a close race, took home six awards on the night, including Best Director for Katherine Bigelow and Best Picture.

In fact, "Hurt Locker" blocked "Avatar's" path in a number of categories including Film Editing, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. "Avatar" won for Art Direction (Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg and Kim Sinclair), Cinematography (Mauro Fiore) and Visual Effects (Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones).

"Avatar" also was nominated for original score by James Horner, who won the award back in 1997 for the most recent Cameron flick "Titanic," but lost to Michael Giacchino for "Up." Giacchino also composed the music for "Star Trek."

Speaking of "Star Trek," the film won an Oscar for Makeup (Barney Burman, Minday Hall and Joel Harlow), receiving the award from comedian Ben Stiller, who came out on stage dressed as a Na'vi from "Avatar." However, it lost Sound Mixing to "The Hurt Locker" and Visual Effects to "Avatar."

"District 9," which had been a very early favorite for the Oscars, ended with only two nominations and no wins, up for Visual Effects and Adapted Screenplay, losing to "Precious."

This year's Oscars broadcast on ABC clocked in at 3-1/2 hours, ending right at midnight on the east coast. Tom Hanks presented the award for Best Picture, and didn't even read the nominees, walking out on stage and immediately announcing the winner, envelope already open.

Comedian Steve Martin, who hosted the show with Alec Baldwin from "30 Rock," joked that the Oscar program was "so long, 'Avatar' now takes place in the past."