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I didnt read the Time Travelers wife, And i hear the movie and the book do have differences. But i gotta say, the Movie was good. I liked it, and the GF cried. To which usually means its a good chick flick.
Good thread! Books-to-movies rarely works well. I remember when they did 26 hours of James Micheners's Centennial as a mini-series in the late '70s and that still didn't cover the novel adequately, but then Michener always wrote long novels. For sci-fi I'd like to see Ringworld. Look how often they've tried to do Ray Bradbury on film. Not much luck, however well intentioned.
I really liked the latest incarnation of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, those movies rocked!
I also think the mini-series did The Stand justice...
But most of the time the books are better, sometimes way better than the movies. Case in point - Starship Troopers. Great novel, horrid movie, I understand there are one or two sequels? GAG.
Didn't someone try to do Ringworld a few decades ago? Like a TV series or mini-series? Back in the 80s I think.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress would make a great movie. The "throwing rice" scene could be fantastic if done right.
Oh Bog!
I also think the mini-series did The Stand justice...
But most of the time the books are better, sometimes way better than the movies. Case in point - Starship Troopers. Great novel, horrid movie, I understand there are one or two sequels? GAG.
Didn't someone try to do Ringworld a few decades ago? Like a TV series or mini-series? Back in the 80s I think.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress would make a great movie. The "throwing rice" scene could be fantastic if done right.
Oh Bog!
StarRider1701":igfwx0fl said:
Oh, like, dude, for decades I've been saying that Mistress would be a great mini-series, except for one huge problem: The computer "Mike" was described as massive, miles long and underground. Today he could be our cell phone. Pity. What a great show it could have been. Still a damn good novel!
You sure? I don't see my cellphone throwing rocks around.
Even the most powerful supercomputers, which occupy entire rooms if not stories, are nowhere near Mikes abilities.
I guess IBM Roadrunner could provide all the computing power for a community described in the Mistress and easily calculate rock throwing equations while supporting all other systems, but creative thinking and advanced reasoning? That's still far in the future.
I watched Starship Troopers just couple of days ago... Even stayed up long after my bed time :lol: , but I had to see it...
jim48":11nmxv3x said:
Mike was a super computer that pretty near ran the whole planet (moon)! Even today he would take up at least a room or two - something like a server farm. It's still quite doable within the descriptions of the book, having Manny be one of the few with access to this particular computer room. The hardware is simply a bit more sophisticated than Heinlein envisioned when he wrote the book back in 196-?
Lucifer's Hammer by Niven and Pournelle would be another great one to see on the big screen.
I always thought something like Ann McCafeys "Pern stories" (with a lot of CGI) or any oof the Eregon.
Shpaget":z2z8mfdt said:
Ok, but have you ever read the book? The book is so much deeper and more complex, delving into their society and social attitudes. They left all that out of the movie, concentrating solely on the war and the fighting scenes.
StarRider1701":lw1b2v8l said:
I thought the movie was mediocre at best, with little from the novel save the title, sort of like George Pal's productions of The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine. At least Pal's movies were quite entertaining. I seem to have to stand corrected on Moon is a Harsh Mistress being technologically outdated as far as the computer stuff. A six hour television format would be ideal. Minus commercials that's four hours of movie. Seriously. Who would play Manny? The Professor? The girl? Who would be the voice of Mike? The guy who played the professor on Gilligan's Island is 80 now. I nominate him!
StarRider1701":3qqxjlyo said:
I thought the movie was mediocre and had little of Heinlein in it save for the title, not unlike George Pal's productions of The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine, but at least Pal's movies were quite entertaining. I seem to have to stand corrected on Mike the computer being outdated for today. The ideal format would be a six hour television mini-series. That's four hours of movie minus commercials. Seriously. Who would play Manny? The Professor? The girl? Who would be the voice of Mike? The guy who played the professor on Gilligan's Island is 80 now. I nominate him! How the heck did this post twice?!! This is a difficult site late at night.
No, for some reason I haven't read the book. It's been sitting in my PC for years but somehow I always skip it and read something else. That's the only reason why I watched the movie.
jryle1234":ye555qct said:
Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy. But movies on Mars somehow wind up getting jinxed. Hollywood would undoubtedly screw it up, if the past is any guide.
Arthur C. Clarke's 1960's novel A Fall of Moondust was written with a screenplay in mind, and it would make a wonderful movie....a disaster/rescue flick with lots of suspense.
Other faves of mine that would make great movies:
The Mote in God's Eye, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Earth, by David Brin
Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
Way Station, by Clifford Simak
A Fall of Moondust? Way Station? I haven't read those since high school, Eddie. Great choices! I'd like to see them do justice to Ringworld, one of Asimov's robot detective novels--Caves of Steel or Naked Sun--Glory Road, Rendezvous With Rama and what was the Heinlein family one with the forebears of tribbles? I can't remember. Dag!!!
Way Station?!
Freak yes!
Just about any Clifford Simak book would make a great movie!
Shakespeare's World, Project Pope, Why call them back from heaven and just about anything else he ever wrote.
How about a Jack Vance novel?
My first choice would be The Gray Prince, the land yacht culture would be great to see.
Any of the Alastor Cluster novels as well.
The Caldwell Chronicles would be a good subject for a movie.
Jack Vance is the master of putting "any man" (sorry ladies) into a situation, usually a simple detective story, on a world, not Earth, and describing the setting, customs and environment in a way you can relate to.
Or, hold your breath,
Alan Dean Foster's "Ice Rigger"? I have and always will think that would be a great movie!
I have always thought Rutger Hauer would be ideal to play Skua September.
The other books in the "Humanx" universe would be wonderful to see, the Flinx character (sanitation engineer, 3rd class) is a great character.
Any H. Beam Piper novel or short story would be a great movie!
Space Viking or Uller Uprising would be amazing to see.
I agree about "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress", but we are nowhere near the capability of "Mike" yet.
Remember, back in the 60's when the book was written, even people in "The Know" thought getting a computer to become self aware was going to happen as soon as the transistor, relay or valve count approached or exceeded the number of neurons in a living brain.
We still haven't gotten there yet!
The other AI concept in the T.J. Bass novels "Half Past Human" and "GodWhale", both of which would make great movies, was the WIC/RAC genius circuit.
WIC = "What If Circuit"
RAC = "Random Association Circuit"
If you think about it, that really IS the key to AI, and what mammal and some avian brains do really well.
I have to admit I am unashamedly a space opera fan and a Star Wars fan so the Brian Daly Han Solo novels would be great movies.
They were serialised in comic strip form a few years ago, first time I ever got a newspaper subscription!
A novel I have read till it's cover fell off is "The World Is Round" by Tony Rothman, it is simply wonderful, if you see it, buy and read it! Another great film waiting to be made!
I have always thought Samuel R. Delany's "Nova" would make a great film, it's another novel I have read quite a few times.
Ursala K. LeGuin's "Morgain" trilogy would make a great series of movies, along with the "Downbelow Station" novels and the Hani series, "Pride Of Chanur", etc.
Of course if you want excitement, thrills, a damn good story with good looking women, stunning vista's and great looking starships, you can't go past "Dallas Hyatt, Adventuress"!
Ok, that was a shameless plug, but everyone who has read my novel not only liked it, but sat up to the wee hours and read the whole of Part 1 in a single sitting.
So read it! Tell me what you think!
The one thing we all have to bear in mind (and I'm speaking for myself here) our imagination's are almost always better than ANY special effects house could ever produce!
Even when a writer/director/producer stays faithful to the original source material,
(which seems to be rare, take the Marvel comic adaptations for example)
the way we envisage a scene from a novel and how it ends up on the screen tends to be somewhat different.
Freak yes!
Just about any Clifford Simak book would make a great movie!
Shakespeare's World, Project Pope, Why call them back from heaven and just about anything else he ever wrote.
How about a Jack Vance novel?
My first choice would be The Gray Prince, the land yacht culture would be great to see.
Any of the Alastor Cluster novels as well.
The Caldwell Chronicles would be a good subject for a movie.
Jack Vance is the master of putting "any man" (sorry ladies) into a situation, usually a simple detective story, on a world, not Earth, and describing the setting, customs and environment in a way you can relate to.
Or, hold your breath,
Alan Dean Foster's "Ice Rigger"? I have and always will think that would be a great movie!
I have always thought Rutger Hauer would be ideal to play Skua September.
The other books in the "Humanx" universe would be wonderful to see, the Flinx character (sanitation engineer, 3rd class) is a great character.
Any H. Beam Piper novel or short story would be a great movie!
Space Viking or Uller Uprising would be amazing to see.
I agree about "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress", but we are nowhere near the capability of "Mike" yet.
Remember, back in the 60's when the book was written, even people in "The Know" thought getting a computer to become self aware was going to happen as soon as the transistor, relay or valve count approached or exceeded the number of neurons in a living brain.
We still haven't gotten there yet!
The other AI concept in the T.J. Bass novels "Half Past Human" and "GodWhale", both of which would make great movies, was the WIC/RAC genius circuit.
WIC = "What If Circuit"
RAC = "Random Association Circuit"
If you think about it, that really IS the key to AI, and what mammal and some avian brains do really well.
I have to admit I am unashamedly a space opera fan and a Star Wars fan so the Brian Daly Han Solo novels would be great movies.
They were serialised in comic strip form a few years ago, first time I ever got a newspaper subscription!
A novel I have read till it's cover fell off is "The World Is Round" by Tony Rothman, it is simply wonderful, if you see it, buy and read it! Another great film waiting to be made!
I have always thought Samuel R. Delany's "Nova" would make a great film, it's another novel I have read quite a few times.
Ursala K. LeGuin's "Morgain" trilogy would make a great series of movies, along with the "Downbelow Station" novels and the Hani series, "Pride Of Chanur", etc.
Of course if you want excitement, thrills, a damn good story with good looking women, stunning vista's and great looking starships, you can't go past "Dallas Hyatt, Adventuress"!
Ok, that was a shameless plug, but everyone who has read my novel not only liked it, but sat up to the wee hours and read the whole of Part 1 in a single sitting.
So read it! Tell me what you think!
The one thing we all have to bear in mind (and I'm speaking for myself here) our imagination's are almost always better than ANY special effects house could ever produce!
Even when a writer/director/producer stays faithful to the original source material,
(which seems to be rare, take the Marvel comic adaptations for example)
the way we envisage a scene from a novel and how it ends up on the screen tends to be somewhat different.
One book that would be a great movie was a Larry Niven team up... cant remember who co-wrote. Gerrard maybe.
It was called The Magician and the Scorcerer or The Wizard and the Scorcerer - something like that. It was a totally hilarious book about a modern Zenobiologist studying a primitave culture, up close and personal. He was living among the natives. Well they "fooled" his fool proof landing craft and caused it to blow up, now he's stranded with them unless he can figure out a way to contact his ship in orbit and have it send down another shuttle.
As I said, totally hilarous book, would make a great movie.
Yes, the Stone Family, traveling the solar system, they would be fun to watch, movie or TV show. The book was a series of continuing mishaps, generally caused by the "terrible twins" who thought they knew everything (doesnt every teenager) and foiled and/or aided by Grandma Stone who sometimes acted like a teenager herself! Good book, great characters.
For action any of the Bolo books by David Drake, in fact almost any of his books would make an action packed movie.
Pournelle's Mercenary series.
Any of the Man vs Kzin stories would be great.
It was called The Magician and the Scorcerer or The Wizard and the Scorcerer - something like that. It was a totally hilarious book about a modern Zenobiologist studying a primitave culture, up close and personal. He was living among the natives. Well they "fooled" his fool proof landing craft and caused it to blow up, now he's stranded with them unless he can figure out a way to contact his ship in orbit and have it send down another shuttle.
As I said, totally hilarous book, would make a great movie.
Yes, the Stone Family, traveling the solar system, they would be fun to watch, movie or TV show. The book was a series of continuing mishaps, generally caused by the "terrible twins" who thought they knew everything (doesnt every teenager) and foiled and/or aided by Grandma Stone who sometimes acted like a teenager herself! Good book, great characters.
For action any of the Bolo books by David Drake, in fact almost any of his books would make an action packed movie.
Pournelle's Mercenary series.
Any of the Man vs Kzin stories would be great.
junkheap":19gc50pf said:
Ah yes, Martian "flatcats", from The Rolling Stones, my second-most favorite Heinlein novel after Red Planet. David Gerrold, the author of the Star Trek TOS episode "The Trouble With Tribbles", blanched when he got a congratulatory note from Robert Heinlein that playfully teased him for "stealing" the idea of a pet with prolific reproductive habits taking over a ship. He admitted that he might have been subconsciously thinking of the flatcats when he wrote the script. Heinlein was pretty gracious about it, though, as I recall.
junkheap":3vfonha3 said:
Thank you. I couldn't think of that to save my life. Yeah, Heinlein was gracious about the Tribbles script. Another boo-boo was Arena, written by Gene L. ****. Writers Guild informed him that it was awfully close to a short story by Fredric Brown, so Brown got story credit and a check.
:roll: Having just read "FLOOD" I believe it would make a good disaster type SF movie, but only if you could come up with a better cause.
As a sincere Heinlen fan, I cannot express how much I anticipated Starship Troopers, to be totally devastated. Confused movie, with it's nude scenes that force it to become R rated, yet the action and characters are structured to appeal to the younger crowd.
Anyhewww, I would like to see a John Carter movie, and while researching Burroughs, discovered that there is a movie in the works, "John Carter of Mars". It will feature human actors, but Pixar is heavily involved. I can't wait to see how they portray thoats and green martians. Of all the fictional characters I have ever read about, Tars Tarkas is definitely my favorite.
Slightly off topic, but the only film I have ever remembered that was 100% true to the book was "Reach For The Sky", the story of Douglas Bader.
Anyhewww, I would like to see a John Carter movie, and while researching Burroughs, discovered that there is a movie in the works, "John Carter of Mars". It will feature human actors, but Pixar is heavily involved. I can't wait to see how they portray thoats and green martians. Of all the fictional characters I have ever read about, Tars Tarkas is definitely my favorite.
Slightly off topic, but the only film I have ever remembered that was 100% true to the book was "Reach For The Sky", the story of Douglas Bader.
How about a new TV series based on Roger Zealazney's (spelling?) Amber books. I mean you have the family infighting, lots of potential for visiting different worlds, and a focus on one or two characters who always seem to end up in the middle of things. If done right, it could be better then BSG or ST:TOS. I loved the books and would really like to see it done as a series, but I'd settle for a couple of movies.
I have heard that there is a problem with getting the rights to this series and that has caused several attempts to be derailed. Anyone know anything more?
I have heard that there is a problem with getting the rights to this series and that has caused several attempts to be derailed. Anyone know anything more?
Niven/Pournelle's Footfall
Star Wars, of course! Specifically, Timothy Zahn's The Last Command trilogy for Eps 7-9.
Star Wars, of course! Specifically, Timothy Zahn's The Last Command trilogy for Eps 7-9.
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