How 'Star Wars' ruined sci-fi

CNN ^ | 5/2/2014 | CNN

[Dallas59]

Now that the cast of the seventh "Star Wars" movie has been announced, you can imagine the anticipation among the millions of fans of the film franchise. And why not? The six "Star Wars" films have been enormous successes: they have grossed over $2 billion domestically at the box office, spawned scores of books, comic books and merchandise (how many kids have their own light saber?) and made household names of characters like Darth Vader, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker.

[GOPsterinMA]

“As time went on it got worse and worse then when it changed its name to sy-fy it was over. Its total crap.”

Yep.

“I can guess what audience they play to.”

Fags?

“Author can grind his axe somewhere else - you can’t argue with success.”

Amen to that!!!

“2001: A Space Odyssey”: I still “don’t get” that movie. WTF are the ape things in the beginning supposed to mean? I’ve tried watching it at least 5 times - I can’t understand.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Gene Roddenberry sold the idea of “Star Trek” to NBC as “Wagon Train to the Stars”. It’s not unheard of.

[Bratch]

Really?

[Colonel_Flagg]

Yes. In fact, it was one of the names he considered for the series.

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Wagon_Train_to_the_Stars

[mdmathis6]

I liked Asimov’s Foundation Series...but there is no way they could ever do a series of movies that could capture the complexities of the books. Ray Bradbury wrote in a way that his books were very adaptable to video and cinema...I loved The Martian Chronicles series they did for TV in the late 70’s and it is still very watchable. “Something Wicked This way Comes”, though more fantasy then sci fi, was very chilling when adapted for the Big Screen.

I wish there could have been some film adaptations of Harry Harrison’s work as well. Some of his Stainless Steel Rat books were insanely funny and satirical...I’ll bet Marvel productions could do work with them even though Marvel had no previous dealings with Harrison’s work or characters.

[mdmathis6]

“Star Trek, the original with James T. Kirk. The flip phone for one. Flat screen TV”

Yeah...and were still stuck with Kirk(shatner) doing Priceline commercials with that blond from the Big Bang show...

It must have been Spock’s fault....his messing with red matter messed up time...”for all time”!

[nuke rocketeer]

That’s ‘cuz it was a pile of crap.....though that never stopped Hollywood before.....

[nuke rocketeer]

or Dominic Flandry?

[nuke rocketeer]

That’s because NBC bought Sci-Fi soon after the Riverworld pilot was made and the suits there decided that rassling and cheesy movies like Sharknado were better.......

[pa_dweller]

Ahhh. That explains the decline of SyFy. Seems like all cheese all the time now.

[Altariel]

Firefly reference in a star wars thread.

Nice.

[nuke rocketeer]

I have not watched it since Galactica signed off.

[Altariel]

Episode
No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date Production
code
1 “Serenity” Joss Whedon Joss Whedon December 20, 2002[117] 1AGE79
Malcolm Reynolds is a veteran and the captain of Serenity. He and his crew are smuggling goods, but they need to pick up some passengers for extra money. However, not all the passengers are what they seem.

2 “The Train Job” Joss Whedon Joss Whedon & Tim Minear September 20, 2002[117] 1AGE01
The crew of Serenity takes on a train heist commissioned by a crime lord. They steal the goods, only to find it is medicine that is desperately needed by the town.

3 “Bushwhacked” Tim Minear Tim Minear September 27, 2002[117] 1AGE02
Serenity is pulled in by an Alliance cruiser while investigating a spaceship that was attacked by Reavers. Simon and River must hide to prevent capture, while something is wrong with the lone survivor of the attacked spaceship.

4 “Shindig” Vern Gillum Jane Espenson November 1, 2002[118] 1AGE03
Inara attends a formal society dance, only to find Malcolm there as well, attempting to set up a smuggling job. Mal comes to blows with Inara’s conceited date and finds himself facing a duel with a renowned swordsman, and only one night to learn how to fence.

5 “Safe” Michael Grossman Drew Z. Greenberg November 8, 2002[118] 1AGE04
Mal must choose which crew members to save when one is gravely wounded and two others are kidnapped. Simon finds an uneasy haven in a remote village, but River’s uncanny perceptions jeopardize the Tams’ temporary safety.

6 “Our Mrs. Reynolds” Vondie Curtis Hall Joss Whedon October 4, 2002[118] 1AGE05
As an unexpected reward for an unpaid job, Mal finds himself married to a naïve, subservient young woman named Saffron. The crew are amused at his discomfort and Book lectures him on propriety, but things are not as smoothly straightforward as they thought them to be.

7 “Jaynestown” Marita Grabiak Ben Edlund October 18, 2002[118] 1AGE06
Returning to a planet where he ran into some serious trouble years ago, Jayne discovers that he has become a local folk legend. Mal decides to use this entertaining distraction to complete a job, but some unfinished business may derail his plans.

8 “Out of Gas” David Solomon Tim Minear October 25, 2002[119] 1AGE07
After Serenity suffers a catastrophe that leaves her crew with only hours of oxygen, flashbacks show how Mal and Zoe acquired Serenity and assembled their motley crew.

9 “Ariel” Allan Kroeker Jose Molina November 15, 2002[119] 1AGE08
Hard up for cash, Serenity takes on a job from Simon: help him get a thorough diagnostic of River in return for the opportunity to loot the vast medical stores of an Alliance hospital on central world Ariel. But River’s pursuers are hot on their trail, and they receive some unexpected inside help.

10 “War Stories” James Contner Cheryl Cain December 6, 2002[119] 1AGE09
Angered at Zoe’s unshakable war connection to Mal, Wash demands a shot at a field assignment. Unfortunately, crime lord Niska chooses this moment to exact a brutal vengeance for Mal’s failure to complete an earlier job.

11 “Trash” Vern Gillum Ben Edlund & Jose Molina July 21, 2003[115] 1AGE12
Saffron returns to plague Serenity with a scheme to steal a rare antique weapon from a wealthy landowner. Unfortunately for Mal, she neglects to mention just how she came across the information needed to break into the landowner’s home.

12 “The Message” Tim Minear Joss Whedon & Tim Minear July 28, 2003[115] 1AGE13
A former Independence soldier who had served with Mal and Zoe returns in a dramatic manner, with a vicious Alliance officer chasing after him for some unusual smuggled goods.

13 “Heart of Gold” Thomas J. Wright Brett Matthews August 4, 2003[115] 1AGE10
A Companion-trained friend of Inara’s who runs a brothel on a remote planet calls for help from Serenity when a local bigwig reveals his intentions to take the baby from a girl he impregnated.

14 “Objects in Space” Joss Whedon Joss Whedon December 13, 2002[120] 1AGE11
Serenity encounters a ruthlessly professional bounty hunter, Jubal Early, who will stop at nothing to retrieve River. But River, feeling unwelcome on the ship, takes a novel approach to escaping from the long arm of the Alliance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_(TV_series)

[GeronL]

Thanks

[lepton]

By the 1970s, it was a long drive to a movie.

---

Other places to get airconditioning dispersed the audience...even available at homes by then.

[lepton]

Some weren’t shown in the original run of Firefly...and it had two pilots.

[GeronL]

All on Hulu plus though

[x]

"Star Wars" has corrupted people's notion of a literary genre full of ideas, turning it into a Saturday afternoon serial. And that's more than a shame -- it's an obscenity.

He's got a point, but for many or most people, science fiction meant Buck Rogers or Superman or Edgar Rice Burrough's Martian novels or Percival Lowell's Martian canals. Even Verne and Wells existed in the popular mind as adventure stories rather than speculation about ideas and scientific possibilities.

Are the many films based on Philip K. Dick's books worse because of Star Wars? Would they have been better if Lucas (and Spielberg who also played a role in what the author considers the debasement of the genre) had never lived?

And was the old SF -- for all its laudable involvement with serious ideas -- maybe a little ham-handed in its treatment? Always the too obvious lesson from many practitioners?

[Tax-chick]

Oh, excellent point.

[1010RD]

All those award factories - Oscars, Emmy’s, Tony’s, etc.- are liberal agenda factories.