Adaptations
Brian
Philip K. Dick, "The Golden Man." Since I had the story, I read it.
Next is usually said to be a "loose adaptation," but that hardly does
justice to the facts; "took one idea from" is accurate. Oh, and it
used a character's name, as well.
I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations that
stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on," or is this
one the hands-down winner?
David Johnston
That would have to be "Lawnmower Man".
Brian
>
> > I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations that
> > stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on," or is this
> > one the hands-down winner?
>
> That would have to be "Lawnmower Man".
Ha, you're right; I forgot about that one.
Although, since King's suit was a successful one, it probably doesn't
count as an adaptation.
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
"Lawnmower Man" comes to mind quickly.
"I, Robot", which told a perfectly Asimovian Robot story and used an
Asimov character name... but didn't use a thing out of any of the
stories in the I, Robot collection.
--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Website: http://www.grandcentralarena.com Blog:
http://seawasp.livejournal.com
Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
news:4152f45b-a4e0-464c...@v8g2000yqe.googlegroups.c
om:
> I recently saw the movie Next and noticed it was based on a
> story by Philip K. Dick, "The Golden Man." Since I had the
> story, I read it. Next is usually said to be a "loose
> adaptation," but that hardly does justice to the facts; "took
> one idea from" is accurate. Oh, and it used a character's name,
> as well.
"Based on the title of an obscure book."
>
> I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations
> that stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on,"
> or is this one the hands-down winner?
>
Pretty much anything in which the book author received money for
the movie rights.
A shorter, more interesting list in what adaptations are
identifiably based on the original?
--
Terry Austin
"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek
Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.
David Johnston
<seaw...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
> Brian wrote:
> > I recently saw the movie Next and noticed it was based on a story by
> > Philip K. Dick, "The Golden Man." Since I had the story, I read it.
> > Next is usually said to be a "loose adaptation," but that hardly does
> > justice to the facts; "took one idea from" is accurate. Oh, and it
> > used a character's name, as well.
>
> > I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations that
> > stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on," or is this
> > one the hands-down winner?
>
> "Lawnmower Man" comes to mind quickly.
>
> "I, Robot", which told a perfectly Asimovian Robot story and used an
> Asimov character name... but didn't use a thing out of any of the
> stories in the I, Robot collection.
>
Yep but since it did tell a perfectly Asimovian robot story, I figured
it wasn't as unfaithful as Lawnmower Man. (Well that and the script
was entirely finished before they optioned the title to keep from
getting sued. )
Dorothy J Heydt
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>Brian wrote:
>> I recently saw the movie Next and noticed it was based on a story by
>> Philip K. Dick, "The Golden Man." Since I had the story, I read it.
>> Next is usually said to be a "loose adaptation," but that hardly does
>> justice to the facts; "took one idea from" is accurate. Oh, and it
>> used a character's name, as well.
>>
>> I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations that
>> stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on," or is this
>> one the hands-down winner?
>
> "Lawnmower Man" comes to mind quickly.
>
> "I, Robot", which told a perfectly Asimovian Robot story and used an
>Asimov character name... but didn't use a thing out of any of the
>stories in the I, Robot collection.
And turned Dr. Susan Calvin ... DR. SUSAN CALVIN! ... into a hot
babe. Feh.
--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.
Jack Bohn
I take it the "one idea" from the story is not the central idea?
"Nightfall" changed almost everything else, but the central idea, and
so was still recognizable.
I'm trying to remember some sf movie that wouldn't be recognizable if
it hadn't used the same title. The James Bond movies were famous for
jacking up the title of a novel, pulling out the Ian Fleming story,
and installing their own, "The Spy Who Loved Me" being perhaps the
most radical change.
--
-Jack
Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
news:r4g2765ndt4kgak79...@4ax.com:
Only if you have used a power drill to put holes in your brain
until you forget that Moonraker ever existed.
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> In article <i50rhq$ph5$2...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>> Brian wrote:
>>> I recently saw the movie Next and noticed it was based on a story by
>>> Philip K. Dick, "The Golden Man." Since I had the story, I read it.
>>> Next is usually said to be a "loose adaptation," but that hardly does
>>> justice to the facts; "took one idea from" is accurate. Oh, and it
>>> used a character's name, as well.
>>>
>>> I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations that
>>> stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on," or is this
>>> one the hands-down winner?
>> "Lawnmower Man" comes to mind quickly.
>>
>> "I, Robot", which told a perfectly Asimovian Robot story and used an
>> Asimov character name... but didn't use a thing out of any of the
>> stories in the I, Robot collection.
>
> And turned Dr. Susan Calvin ... DR. SUSAN CALVIN! ... into a hot
> babe. Feh.
>
Eh. She actually remained more Susan Calvin as a character than I
thought would be possible. She *DIDN'T* end up in a romance with the Hot
Leading Guy. She was a robotics expert and that was her schtick, and
that was what she was interested in.
Ted Nolan <tednolan>
Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taus...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Jack Bohn <jack...@bright.net> wrote in
>news:r4g2765ndt4kgak79...@4ax.com:
>
>> Brian wrote:
>>
>>>I recently saw the movie Next and noticed it was based on a
>>>story by Philip K. Dick, "The Golden Man." Since I had the
>>>story, I read it. Next is usually said to be a "loose
>>>adaptation," but that hardly does justice to the facts; "took
>>>one idea from" is accurate. Oh, and it used a character's name,
>>>as well.
>>>
>>>I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations
>>>that stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on,"
>>>or is this one the hands-down winner?
>>
>> I take it the "one idea" from the story is not the central idea?
>> "Nightfall" changed almost everything else, but the central
>> idea, and so was still recognizable.
>>
>> I'm trying to remember some sf movie that wouldn't be
>> recognizable if it hadn't used the same title. The James Bond
>> movies were famous for jacking up the title of a novel, pulling
>> out the Ian Fleming story, and installing their own, "The Spy
>> Who Loved Me" being perhaps the most radical change.
>>
>Only if you have used a power drill to put holes in your brain
>until you forget that Moonraker ever existed.
>
That's the one where they released a novelization of the script instead
of re-releasing the Fleming title. As I recall, the Fleming and the movie
shared the name of the villain and the fact that he cheated at cards, and
that's it..
Ted
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..
Lawrence Watt-Evans
<sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
> "I, Robot", which told a perfectly Asimovian Robot story and used an
>Asimov character name... but didn't use a thing out of any of the
>stories in the I, Robot collection.
Several Asimov character names, actually.
--
My webpage is at http://www.watt-evans.com
I'm serializing novels at http://www.ethshar.com/TheFinalCalling01.html
and http://www.watt-evans.com/realmsoflight1.html
Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
news:8dienn...@mid.individual.net:
The Fleming original is still readily available.
> As I recall, the
> Fleming and the movie shared the name of the villain and the
> fact that he cheated at cards, and that's it..
>
Pretty much. The movie had double the budget for suck over most
Bond films.
Brian
> I take it the "one idea" from the story is not the central idea?
> "Nightfall" changed almost everything else, but the central idea, and
> so was still recognizable.
No, Next is unrecognizable as an adaptation of the story. The tagline
for Next is, "If you can see the future, you can save it." So I'm not
spoiling anything by saying that this single aspect of the story--an
ability to see into the future--is the one shared by both story and
film. And central as that is to both works, the treatment of it is
wholly different.
>
> I'm trying to remember some sf movie that wouldn't be recognizable if
> it hadn't used the same title. The James Bond movies were famous for
> jacking up the title of a novel, pulling out the Ian Fleming story,
> and installing their own, "The Spy Who Loved Me" being perhaps the
> most radical change.
I was leaving out Bond, since I don't think of the Bond books as
relating to "sf." But, yes, there are some egregious examples in the
Bond oeuvre. It's too bad Tarrantino's one-time idea to re-do the
series as faithful period films never came to fruition.
Brian
Brian
movie, is an awful adaptation of "Who Goes There?" It's a rare
instance of being able to see the problem just from the titles. The
movie title answers the question of the story title, thereby missing
the point entirely.
Brian
Joseph Nebus
>On Aug 24, 10:21=A0am, "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)"
><seaw...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>> Brian wrote:
>> > I recently saw the movie Next and noticed it was based on a story by
>> > Philip K. Dick, "The Golden Man." =A0Since I had the story, I read it.
>> > Next is usually said to be a "loose adaptation," but that hardly does
>> > justice to the facts; "took one idea from" is accurate. =A0Oh, and it
>> > used a character's name, as well.
>>
>> > I'm curious: =A0what other science fiction works have adaptations that
>> > stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on," or is this
>> > one the hands-down winner?
>>
>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 "Lawnmower Man" comes to mind quickly.
>>
>> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 "I, Robot", which told a perfectly Asimovian Robot story =
>and used an
>> Asimov character name... but didn't use a thing out of any of the
>> stories in the I, Robot collection.
>Yep but since it did tell a perfectly Asimovian robot story, I figured
>it wasn't as unfaithful as Lawnmower Man. (Well that and the script
>was entirely finished before they optioned the title to keep from
>getting sued. )
The movie _I, Robot_ did rather well in keeping to Asimovian
robot stories, but it dropped the ball on the ending. Had it been an
actual Asimov story the ending would have been either the robot
delivering the nano-macguffins to shut down the sooooopercomputer (was
it named VIKI?), which I suppose was ruled out by the Law of Whose Name
Appears Before The Title In The Opening Credits? Yes, That's Right; or
else sooooopercomputer VIKI would have won and it turned out the Robot-
shielded life not so terrifying a prospect as it seems from outside, a
resolution I suppose unsellable to the movies.
--
Joseph Nebus
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Cowie
> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
[I, ROBOT]
>>
>> And turned Dr. Susan Calvin ... DR. SUSAN CALVIN! ... into a hot babe.
>> Feh.
>>
>>
> Eh. She actually remained more Susan Calvin as a character than I
> thought would be possible. She *DIDN'T* end up in a romance with the Hot
> Leading Guy. She was a robotics expert and that was her schtick, and
> that was what she was interested in.
And she was white and he was black, and is it true that Hollywood still
gets nervous about inter-racial romance?
--
David Cowie http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidcowie/
Containment Failure + 59403:01
Derek Lyons
Starship Troopers
D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.
http://derekl1963.livejournal.com/
-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL
Dimensional Traveler
--
"There's something that doesn't make sense. Let's go and poke it with a
stick."
David Cowie
> Starship Troopers
I seem to remember that a lot of the events in the film of ST are not too
unlike the events in the book. The big difference is in the linking
material.
--
David Cowie http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidcowie/
Containment Failure + 59404:28
trag
<tausti...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Only if you have used a power drill to put holes in your brain
> until you forget that Moonraker ever existed.
Hey, that sounds like a good idea. Does it work?
William George Ferguson
wrote:
Since nobody else mentioned it, I'll throw in Andre Norton's The Beast
Master. The movie (and its sequels and tv series) kept the concept of a
man with a team of beasts including a big cat, a raptor, and a couple of
nimble handed thief animals, but otherwise changed an sf story about an
interstellar war veteran into a s&s story about a barbarian 'hidden
prince'.
--
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
(Bene Gesserit)
Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
3b33fb...@s9g2000yqd.googlegroups.com:
I dunno. My head is so hard I can't find a drill bit strong enough.
Perhaps you should try it, and let us know.
Robert Carnegie
> On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:43:22 -0400, Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) wrote:
>
> > Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>
> [I, ROBOT]
> >>
> >> And turned Dr. Susan Calvin ... DR. SUSAN CALVIN! ... into a hot babe.
> >> Feh.
> >>
> >>
> > Eh. She actually remained more Susan Calvin as a character than I
> > thought would be possible. She *DIDN'T* end up in a romance with the Hot
> > Leading Guy. She was a robotics expert and that was her schtick, and
> > that was what she was interested in.
>
> And she was white and he was black, and is it true that Hollywood still
> gets nervous about inter-racial romance?
When I last saw _House, M.D._ and _Scrubs_, and I may be not current
on either, I think it'd been more of a Serious Issue in the former
than in the latter, overall.
But I think in a series, it's easier than in one movie - that probably
has to get a lot of other things done - to have that not be
conspicuous in that relationship.
Meanwhile in the real world......
Speaking of which, I also haven't seen _Avatar_.
Speaking on thread topic, I remember _Total Recall_, which seemed to
me to be no keener to have an actual romance developing between male
and female lead than _the Pelican Brief_, unless I was badly not
paying attention towards the end of each.
Of course, an experienced reader of romance can mentally write that in
as they view whichever movie.
Come to think, until _Toy Story 2_, Woody had to date outside his
genre (or can I say trope? I want to, it's fun), which maybe just say
that kids don't care yet. Or that they only have those toys.
Howard Brazee
wrote:
>I recently saw the movie Next and noticed it was based on a story by
Since you mentioned Dick, the obvious example is _Total Recall_. But
almost any movie that I knew the SF novel before the movie did this.
Expanding, look at James Bond movies, not just _Moonraker_ to see how
much got changed.
--
"In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found,
than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace
to the legislature, and not to the executive department."
- James Madison
Kurt Busiek
Trouble is, then you go, "Hey, there's a Bond movie I've never seen! I
did not know that!"
And then you watch it again.
kdb
--
Visit http://www.busiek.com -- for all your Busiek needs!
Kim DeVaughn
>
> I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations that
> stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on," or is this
> one the hands-down winner?
_Battlefield Earth_
/kim
--
==========================================================================
"Acting is the most minor of gifts and not a very high-class way to earn a
living. After all, Shirley Temple could do it at the age of four."
--Katharine Hepburn
David Mitchell
> In article <i50rhq$ph5$2...@news.eternal-september.org>, Sea Wasp (Ryk E.
> Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>> "I, Robot", which told a perfectly Asimovian Robot story and used
an
>>Asimov character name... but didn't use a thing out of any of the
>>stories in the I, Robot collection.
>
> And turned Dr. Susan Calvin ... DR. SUSAN CALVIN! ... into a hot babe.
> Feh.
I always thought Dr. Susan Calvin *was* a hot babe.
(Not that she would have been interested in me, of course).
--
=======================================================================
= David --- If you use Microsoft products, you will, inevitably, get
= Mitchell --- viruses, so please don't add me to your address book.
=======================================================================
Dimensional Traveler
> Brian<mat...@verizon.net> writes:
>>
>> I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations that
>> stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on," or is this
>> one the hands-down winner?
>
> _Battlefield Earth_
>
Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
news:i51nq5$bve$1...@news.eternal-september.org:
> On 2010-08-24 14:24:20 -0700, trag <tr...@io.com> said:
>
>> On Aug 24, 12:40 pm, Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
>> <tausti...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Only if you have used a power drill to put holes in your brain
>>> until you forget that Moonraker ever existed.
>>
>> Hey, that sounds like a good idea. Does it work?
>
> Trouble is, then you go, "Hey, there's a Bond movie I've never
> seen! I did not know that!"
>
> And then you watch it again.
>
If you do it right, not more than once or twice.
--
Terry Austin
Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole. - David
Bilek
Yeah, I had Terry confused with Hannibal Lecter. - Mike Schilling
Dan Goodman
> On 8/24/2010 7:05 PM, Kim DeVaughn wrote:
> >Brian<mat...@verizon.net> writes:
> > >
> > > I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations
> > > that stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on,"
> > > or is this one the hands-down winner?
> >
> > _Battlefield Earth_
> >
> Considering what a mess the book is, how can you tell?
I would say it's a decent short story.
--
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
Journal dsgood.dreamwidth.org (livejournal.com, insanejournal.com)
Robert Carnegie
<david.robot.mitch...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:04:04 +0000, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> > Spoor) <seaw...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
> >> "I, Robot", which told a perfectly Asimovian Robot story and used
> an
> >>Asimov character name... but didn't use a thing out of any of the
> >>stories in the I, Robot collection.
>
> > And turned Dr. Susan Calvin ... DR. SUSAN CALVIN! ... into a hot babe.
> > Feh.
>
> I always thought Dr. Susan Calvin *was* a hot babe.
>
> (Not that she would have been interested in me, of course).
Consider that the book covers a considerable span of future time. I
think I got the impression that she rebuffed more than one male
colleague when she was younger and I hope that word is in your
vocabulary :-)
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:04:04 +0000, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>
>> In article <i50rhq$ph5$2...@news.eternal-september.org>, Sea Wasp (Ryk E.
>> Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>>> "I, Robot", which told a perfectly Asimovian Robot story and used
> an
>>> Asimov character name... but didn't use a thing out of any of the
>>> stories in the I, Robot collection.
>> And turned Dr. Susan Calvin ... DR. SUSAN CALVIN! ... into a hot babe.
>> Feh.
>
> I always thought Dr. Susan Calvin *was* a hot babe.
>
> (Not that she would have been interested in me, of course).
>
For her mind and capabilities, yes, but by Hollywood standards she was
most definitely not (Asimov makes a point of her NOT being good-looking
in any ordinary sense of the term; I actually always thought of her as
looking rather like a very slender Ayn Rand).
Christian Weisgerber
> Now I think of it, The Thing From Another World, while a terrific
> movie, is an awful adaptation of "Who Goes There?"
The 1951 one? That was just terrible.
John Carpenter's 1982 adaptation "The Thing" is both faithful to the
source and very good.
IMDb tells me that another film version is in the pipeline for next
year. Ugh.
On TV, "Sanctuary" did an episode (1.05 "Kush) that was essentially
an uncredited adaptation within the mythology of the show. And
didn't "The X-Files" have an episode (1.08 "Ice") that was "inspired"
quite a bit by "Who Goes There?". I imagine more versions are
hiding in the large output of "Twilight Zone"/"Outer Limits"/etc.
--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber na...@mips.inka.de
Brian
> Brian <mata...@verizon.net> wrote:
> > Now I think of it, The Thing From Another World, while a terrific
> > movie, is an awful adaptation of "Who Goes There?"
>
> The 1951 one? That was just terrible.
Terrible? Surely you're joking. Wonderful movie, with that great
Hawks rapid-fire dialogue, camaraderie, and sense of humor. It is to
B-movies what those old cartoons were to their later, post-Code
descendants: both adult and fun. Hell, Ben Hecht worked on the
screenplay. A classic, and deservedly so. Right up there with 2001,
Blade Runner, and The Day the Earth Stood Still (in the sense that it,
too, was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry).
> John Carpenter's 1982 adaptation "The Thing" is both faithful to the
> source and very good.
Agreed.
Greg Goss
>I recently saw the movie Next and noticed it was based on a story by
>Philip K. Dick, "The Golden Man." Since I had the story, I read it.
>Next is usually said to be a "loose adaptation," but that hardly does
>justice to the facts; "took one idea from" is accurate. Oh, and it
>used a character's name, as well.
>
>I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations that
>stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on," or is this
>one the hands-down winner?
Was "Moonraker" a SF film? The movie had only one scene taken from
the book, though the main characters were all present.
--
Tomorrow is today already.
Greg Goss, 1989-01-27
Greg Goss
>That's the one where they released a novelization of the script instead
>of re-releasing the Fleming title. As I recall, the Fleming and the movie
>shared the name of the villain and the fact that he cheated at cards, and
I forget the cheating at cards. They kept the scene where Bond and
the babe are locked into the blast chamber.
John F. Eldredge
Well, sort-of science fiction (more of a technothriller). The villain
has a secret space station, and some of the scenes take place there. The
station has a radar jammer, which supposedly kept it from being detected
from Earth. In reality, since a jammer is an active transmitter, the
authorities should have been wondering why a supposedly-empty region of
space was beaming radar at the Earth. Also, an object the size of the
station, in a low orbit, would be naked-eye-visible from Earth.
--
John F. Eldredge -- jo...@jfeldredge.com
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly
is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria
Scott Lurndal
>I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations that
>stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on," or is this
>one the hands-down winner?
>
Anyone who went to see Bladerunner, thinking it was adapted from
Alan Nourse's novel, was both sorely disappointed and immensely
entertained.
scott
Anthony Nance
> On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:22:51 -0600, Greg Goss wrote:
>
>> Brian <mat...@verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>>>I recently saw the movie Next and noticed it was based on a story by
>>>Philip K. Dick, "The Golden Man." Since I had the story, I read it.
>>>Next is usually said to be a "loose adaptation," but that hardly does
>>>justice to the facts; "took one idea from" is accurate. Oh, and it used
>>>a character's name, as well.
>>>
>>>I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations that
>>>stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on," or is this one
>>>the hands-down winner?
>>
>> Was "Moonraker" a SF film? The movie had only one scene taken from the
>> book, though the main characters were all present.
>
> Well, sort-of science fiction (more of a technothriller). The villain
> has a secret space station, and some of the scenes take place there. The
> station has a radar jammer, which supposedly kept it from being detected
> from Earth. In reality, since a jammer is an active transmitter, the
> authorities should have been wondering why a supposedly-empty region of
> space was beaming radar at the Earth. Also, an object the size of the
> station, in a low orbit, would be naked-eye-visible from Earth.
For me at least, if I still had any doubts at that point, the laser
battle in space put it squarely into science-fiction territory.
Tony, also not remembering too much tech jargon or detail (but it has
been a long while)
Robert Carnegie
> On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:22:51 -0600, Greg Goss wrote:
>
> > Brian <mat...@verizon.net> wrote:
> >
> >>I recently saw the movie Next and noticed it was based on a story by
> >>Philip K. Dick, "The Golden Man." Since I had the story, I read it.
> >>Next is usually said to be a "loose adaptation," but that hardly does
> >>justice to the facts; "took one idea from" is accurate. Oh, and it used
> >>a character's name, as well.
> >>
> >>I'm curious: what other science fiction works have adaptations that
> >>stretch even the standards implied by "loosely based on," or is this one
> >>the hands-down winner?
> >
> > Was "Moonraker" a SF film? The movie had only one scene taken from the
> > book, though the main characters were all present.
>
> Well, sort-of science fiction (more of a technothriller). The villain
> has a secret space station, and some of the scenes take place there. The
> station has a radar jammer, which supposedly kept it from being detected
> from Earth. In reality, since a jammer is an active transmitter, the
> authorities should have been wondering why a supposedly-empty region of
> space was beaming radar at the Earth. Also, an object the size of the
> station, in a low orbit, would be naked-eye-visible from Earth.
At least, the nice, white Space Shuttles parked outside it would be.
On the other hand, round about now there are actual invisibility (in
microwave wavelength) shields.
Greg Goss
At least they credited Nourse. I wonder what they paid for it?
Nigel
wrote:
> On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:04:04 +0000, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> > Spoor) <seaw...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
> >> "I, Robot", which told a perfectly Asimovian Robot story and used
> an
> >>Asimov character name... but didn't use a thing out of any of the
> >>stories in the I, Robot collection.
>
> > And turned Dr. Susan Calvin ... DR. SUSAN CALVIN! ... into a hot babe.
> > Feh.
>
> I always thought Dr. Susan Calvin *was* a hot babe.
>
She's just got to take off her glasses and let down her hair ...
Cheers,
Nigel.
Nigel
> The movie _I, Robot_ did rather well in keeping to Asimovian
> robot stories, but it dropped the ball on the ending.
<snip>
> else sooooopercomputer VIKI would have won and it turned out the Robot-
> shielded life not so terrifying a prospect as it seems from outside, a
> resolution I suppose unsellable to the movies.
>
Even Asimov wasn't convinced about that being a good idea. In _ I
Robot_, *Calvin* believes that domination by The Machines is good for
humanity. However, in later stories it is revealed that The Machines
themselves decided that they were holding humanity back and phased
themselves out of existance.
Cheers,
Nigel.
Michael Stemper
>On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:43:22 -0400, Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) wrote:
>[I, ROBOT]
>> thought would be possible. She *DIDN'T* end up in a romance with the Hot
>> Leading Guy. She was a robotics expert and that was her schtick, and
>> that was what she was interested in.
>
>And she was white and he was black, and is it true that Hollywood still
>gets nervous about inter-racial romance?
Dunno about that, but last night, I read "Nor Iron Bars" by Blish. In it,
a minor plot twist is that the black woman who's having a medical emergency
turns out to be engaged to a white guy. They were keeping it secret from
the other passengers, to protect her from gossip. Or something. It really
hit me how much things have changed over my life time (I was about three
when this was written).
Aside from the cultural speed-bump, the story's not very good, anyway.
A hyperdrive that's designed to cause a ship to have negative mass to
get around the speed limit instead causes it to shrink down into the
S-orbital of some atom. People get out and walk around on one of the
electrons. At least the electron wasn't portrayed as being like a
billiard ball.
--
Michael F. Stemper
#include <Standard_Disclaimer>
If it's "tourist season", where do I get my license?
William December Starr
t...@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan <tednolan>) said:
> Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taus...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Only if you have used a power drill to put holes in your brain
>> until you forget that Moonraker ever existed.
>
> That's the one where they released a novelization of the script
> instead of re-releasing the Fleming title. As I recall, the
> Fleming and the movie shared the name of the villain and the fact
> that he cheated at cards, and that's it..
Here's something I wrote in a Panixians-only newsgroup
(panix.user.movies) when the subject came up about a year ago:
| In both, Hugo Drax was a wealthy aerospace contractor who was
| ostensibly merely providing rocketry hardware (an early-generation
| ICBM in the book, a space shuttle in the movie) to the good-guy
| nation (Britain in the book, the U.S. in the movie because Great
| Britain having a space program would break the suspension of
| disbelief of even the most credulous of 007 fans), but actually had
| a Secret Dastardly Plan for using said piece of hardware to kill
| {everybody in London | everybody on Earth} for reasons grounded in
| his own megalomania, psychoses, etc.
|
| So there was a _bit_ more in common than just the title and the
| name of the villain.
Immediately after which I added mention of the novelization of the
movie as a product entirely separate from the Fleming novel, of
course.
-- wds
lal_truckee
> On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:45:59 +0000, Derek Lyons wrote:
>
>> Starship Troopers
>
> I seem to remember that a lot of the events in the film of ST are not too
> unlike the events in the book.CLIP
The recruiting officer episode has echos of the book - but I can't think
of another ...