Posted on 02/19/2008 11:03:14 AM PST by rjp2005
Where have all the sci-fi films gone?
Those simple, thought-provoking speculative tales about how people respond to something new, what kind of moral choices they make, keeping traditions in the face of technological change. Essentially, the kind of films that were thought provoking and story/character driven - Day the Earth Stood Still, Planet of Apes, 12 Monkeys, Minority Report (more action though but good), etc.
The "Superhero and Fantasy Genre Craze" since Spiderman and LOTR has really eaten up a lot of support for original sci-fi works to film...
For 2008, we have two horror/slasher types "I Am Legend" (Omega Man remake) and "Death Race" (revisiting the 70's version), another superhero film in "Jumper", "Iron Man", which could be a treat, and maybe the only true sci-fi attempt, "Babylon A.D.". There was also "Sunshine", a late 90's disaster film leftover, possibly funded by Global Warming-mongers ;)
You'll have to settle for the stolen mashup version. It's called "Star Wars."
LOL!
What about Wizards from the mid 70’s?
For all us Browncoats, there’s always fan fiction. Steven Brust has finished a good one...
http://dreamcafe.com/firefly.html
No sure it could be done justice on any sized screen
You too?.. One of the all time greats.. be hard to match let alone equal it.. all without the current technology it was made..
Have not seen it(Forbidden Planet) on TV for years, some bright programmer could make points by showing it.. also 1,000,000 B.C. might be appreciated in re-show-INGS.. ABC or NBC could get more viewers by advertising its show date for a couple of weeks..
The season is on DVD at walmarts and such, it is well worth the price instead of renting them to see it if you like well written Sci-Fi.
...Because only Al Gore would fit through those doorways!
“I would like to see them make Azimovs Classic The Foundation Trilogy!”
Six hours of people talking? As much as I enjoyed them myself, I’m hard-pressed to see how you’d get a decent movie out of them. OTOH, in the 8 or 9 editions of “The Year’s Best Science Fiction” that I have I could find seveal dozen short stories that would make excellent sci-fi movies, with plots that wouldn’t require 6 hours to explore, or overly tax the viewer to follow. But judging by what gets made in Hollywood these days, anything more sophisticated than a comic book aimed at 9 year olds isn’t going to get made into a movie.
Ugh, I hated TinMan. Everything Sci-Fi channel does is soooo disappointing because every “world” they create appears to have about 200 residents on them. They are throwing out neon signs and buicks in the “OZ” without any hope of an actual manufacturing facility because there are a total of 200 people in the entire land. If you are going to have have some traveling salesman’s car in the TinMan miniseries for a good 1/2 hour, put in more than 1/2 hour effort to make it look at least a little other worldly.
Maybe it’s just me, but it’s soooo annoying.
pinger
Yeah, Alien was good too.
I watch an online copy of the new Stargate Ark of Truth a couple of weeks ago. What a stinker! My hope of a successful Stargate movie run was destroyed after watching that.
Hey, I didn’t know Brust did that, I have every book he wrote - Waiting for the next Vlad story that is suppose to be out soon. Thanks!
Serenity was excellent.
I think there are a bunch of made-for-TV science fiction that is good.
If there were a short-story vehicle similar to Twilight Zone or its follow ons, it would encourage more writers to work in the genre.
As for remakes, Hollywood should give them all up. Remake Day the Earth Stood Still? I’d rather see “Farewell to the Master”, the original by Harry Bates, without the antinuke propaganda.
A remake of Forbidden Planet? Lindsay Lohan as Altera and Johny Depp as Dr Morbius? I’d stay home and watch Full Metal Alchemist dvds instead.
Yes, and you usually don’t expect to wade through the complete Blue Danube Waltz in a movie.
They’ve been working on it, but I guess it didn’t go anywhere:
http://www.forbidden-planet.org/forbidden-planet/
Look at the bottom of the page.
I forgot the name of that one! Scared the pants off of me particularly when my older brother pretended to be one of them.
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