Zubrin's "First Landing" to be made into a movie!

[wvbraun]

From the Mars Society homepage:<br /><br /><i>A major sensation was caused at the convention by the announcement by award-winning filmmaker <b>Sam Burbank</b> that he would be making a theatrical motion picture based on Robert Zubrin's novel "First Landing." Listing the various Hollywood horror pictures or shoot-em- ups nominally featuring Mars, Burbank drew a sharp distinction between those efforts and the kind of movie "First Landing" will be.<br /><br /> There never has been a movie actually about the human exploration of Mars. This will be the first." Burbank said, adding: "It will not be set in the glorious science fiction future, but in our own time, and it will show the mission done with all the grungy realism of the kind of space travel we can really do. It's not going to show the Mars mission as being easy. It's not going to show it as being impossible. It's going to show it as being really tough, but doable, by a group of people who have what it takes to do it."</i><br /><br />I think this is great news. People like Burbank and Cameron are an enormous asset to the space movement, they really have the means to get the message across.

 

[Aetius]

That's awesome news. I feel that anything which keeps Mars in the public consciousness, without totally misrepresenting it as a planet, is good.<br /><br />I swear, "Ghosts Of Mars" and "Time Machine" both look like they were made by people vehemently opposed to space travel. Perhaps this new film version of Zubrin's book can help me forget both.

 

[lunatic133]

Yes I know! I overheard Bob talking to some hollywood guy on the phone (what me evesdrop never) earlier this summer when the idea was born. First Landing was definitely one of my favorite Mars novels (although admittedly I sometimes get it confused with Ben Bova's Mars as the themes are vaguely similar) but I cannot WAIT for the movie to come out. I just hope that they don't butcher the original story TOO bad as they tend to do in sci-fi movies.

 

[lunatic133]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>I swear, "Ghosts Of Mars" and "Time Machine" both look like they were made by people vehemently opposed to space travel. Perhaps this new film version of Zubrin's book can help me forget both.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br />YES I'm so glad I'm not the only person who's noticed that! I've never seen Ghosts of Mars but it's pretty anal IMO to make a movie about Mars that is against space exploration. And The Time Machine ... the original book of The Time Machine is one of my favorites, but the movie ... just ... UGH!! And the irony of it is it's a movie where the producer of the movie is against space travel and makes it the downfall of humanity -- and yet in the book the underlying theme is that the surface dwellers were enslaved by the underworlders because of complacency and stagnation! Unbelievable. I also don't remember ever being more furious than when I attempted to watch Zenon: Z3. I remember in simpler times, namely middle school, I was very much a fan of the first Zenon movie. But the third one was not only a bad movie but a complete sack of anti-space trash! [ / rant ]

 

[kdavis007]

I read that book. It was really neat.

 

[lunatic133]

But in the 50's didn't everyone still believe that there were little green men and great lost civilizations on Mars?

 

[rybanis]

Well, this is nice. I have a soft spot for adventure movies. They don't need to have "action", per se. Something like this, if made well, would probably do great things. I hope it won't get turned into some movie that doesn't have any basis in reality whatsoever. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>