If You Could Make A Movie....

[MrB398]

what would it be?

Would you do a documentary, a comedy, a drama, or some genre-straddling megamovie? What would it be about? Who would you cast in it?

Personally, if I had the money and resources, I'd do a ficticious documentary. It would be the Man's documentary, direct opposite of the cutesy March of the Penguins.

See, in this movie, it wouldn't be penguins marching. It would be men, marching to war. Not just any war. A future war that takes place in the out reaches of the galaxy. And I'm not talking about a Star Wars or Starship Troopers type of movie. It would be 10x better then those combined.

Oh, and 2 words: IMax. 3D.
I can picture the people dodging the non-existent projectiles.

So, um, yeah, I just want guys to walk out of the theatre and be totally pumped. Instead of see some penguins and be totally bored.

What about you guys?

[Neverfly]

(snip)It would be men, marching to war. Not just any war. A future war that takes place in the out reaches of the galaxy. And I'm not talking about a Star Wars or Starship Troopers type of movie. It would be 10x better then those combined.


As a soldier who has been in combat, I can assure you- There is no "glory" in war. Some people behave honorably. Some do not. Some are very brave, some not.
But in the end... There is an unspeakable pain. A burden that surviving soldier must carry for a lifetime. Some of you may notice I never seem to sleep...

If I was to make a War Movie, it would be like Black Hawk Down or such- One that shows how things are- not glorious and thrilling... But hard, dirty and rough.

Meet a soldier?- Shake His Hand.:neutral:

[Donnie B.]

If I had the funding and greenlight to make any movie I wanted...

I'd pass the reins to Joss Whedon so he could make more Firefly/Serenity.

[Gillianren]

I'd make a proper Discworld movie. Not the "we like the book Mort; can you leave out Death as a character?" nonsense he got from the studios.

[KaiYeves]

I would probably do something about either space or archeology, and I would be very careful to show my subject realistically, as these two areas are notorious for not being portrayed acurately in the movies.

[mike alexander]

I would enjoy a space movie based on Blish's 'Cities in Flight' stories.

I think Manhattan would make a really cool starship.

[sarongsong]

...Oh, and 2 words: IMax. 3D...Ooh---that reminds me:January 12, 2008
Filmed in South America during U2's Vertigo Tour, "U2 3D" [IMAX] is the first live-action movie ever shot, produced and exhibited in digital 3-D...opens January 23...
Rocklin Today (http://www.rocklintoday.com/news/templates/community_news.asp?articleid=5790&zoneid=4)

[Occam]

I'd make a proper Discworld movie. Not the "we like the book Mort; can you leave out Death as a character?" nonsense he got from the studios.

I quite enjoyed the movie of "Hogfather", Gillian. Have you seen it? It is quite faithful to the book.

If I could make a movie, Ringworld and The Mote In God's Eye would definitely be in the running. Other than that, I've already written a musical play based on the legend of Perseus, so I'd like to do that.

[Gillianren]

I quite enjoyed the movie of "Hogfather", Gillian. Have you seen it? It is quite faithful to the book.

Well, they changed bits around, and Mr. Teatime inexplicably sounded like Truman Capote, but other than that, yes, it was quite good. And it's finally getting a US DVD release.

[Occam]

... and Mr. Teatime inexplicably sounded like Truman Capote...
:lol:Yes, he did!:lol:

[tdvance]

Let's see, I like comedy, science fiction, action, Schwarzenegger movies, Bond movies--

so: Arnold Schwarzenegger IS James Bond, in space! And it's a laugh riot.

[Disinfo Agent]

For some time now I've felt that P.K. Dick's novel The Divine Invasion (http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Invasion-Philip-K-Dick/dp/0679734457/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201368814&sr=1-1) could easily be turned into a good film. It's not his best novel by any stretch, but it's very filmable. Valis, for example, is a better novel, but it does not lend itself well to the film medium; it's too introspective.

[Michael Noonan]

If I could make a movie it would be a real life winner. This is a copy of an email I am allowed to forward to my friends.
__________________________________________

Hello Michael,

My name is Jetske Nagtglas and I am a Greenpeace activist. Right now, I am in the Southern Ocean saving whales on board the Esperanza.


Earlier this week, I moved in between two huge whaling ships in a small inflatable, in the icy Antarctic waters, trying to stop the whaling mothership refuelling. As you can imagine it was pretty scary work. Yet it’s worth it when we help whales escape the deadly harpoons.


Watch video of the action

I want to thank you personally for your generous donation to our campaign. It is helping us save many whales.

For 12 days, we have been working tirelessly to chase the whaling ships hundreds of miles out of the hunting grounds. During this time not a single whale has been killed. Even the Japanese administrative vice-minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries has admitted that whaling has stopped because Greenpeace is following their fleet.


Read the latest crew updates from the Esperanza



If the whalers start hunting again, my job is to drive one of our inflatables so we can get between the whale and the harpoon.


We need “all hands on deck” to save whales this season. You may want to send this page onto a friend so they have an opportunity to help as you did.

Send to a friend: https://www.greenpeace.org.au/secure/appeal/whales/


Thank you for being part of our anti-whaling campaign. We will keep you updated on activities in the Southern Ocean. We aim to save as many whales as we can to make this our most successful expedition ever!


Best wishes,

Jetske Nagtglas
Greenpeace whales activist

________________________________________

But it would only be any good if the battle was won for all time for the whales. Just saving them each year is not enough ... the sequel would need to be about what we are doing to restore their damaged world, also a real life drama.

[KaiYeves]

That would be a great movie, Michael!
I have an idea for something that's like Elf+Martian Child+ ET+ Night at the Museum.
A well meaning undercover alien has hilarious mishaps trying to adjust to life studying humans in a big, New York-ish city. They land a job as a docent at a Natural History Museum, and their inside knowledge of space makes them a big hit. However, the museum is still suffering a lot of money trouble because of public apathy toward science. A big natural event, like a bright comet or lunar eclipse is going to happen in about a month, and the alien visitor helps the museum staff organize a voluntary blackout hour for the city, (Like the one Sydney had recently as a global warming protest) on the night of the event. The whole city sees the event, and is amazed. At the end, the musem director asks "Hey, where is <name of visitor>, this was a genius idea?" But they've already gone home. The next day, the museum is full of visitors.

[djellison]

I would do two. One would be a full feature length documentary on the building, landing and exploration by the Mars Exploration Rovers. Think 'in the shadow of the moon' meets 'Roving Mars'-Imax.

Then - Baxter's 'Voyage' - that would be such a beautiful film if done properly.

Doug

[Romanus]

I'd love to make a movie about the fall of Constantinople in 1453. That would be pretty hard to get off the ground in this P.C. age, but it's a story worth telling, if done by capable hands.

A runner-up would be a Silmarillion miniseries, preferably animated.

[KaiYeves]

I would do two. One would be a full feature length documentary on the building, landing and exploration by the Mars Exploration Rovers. Think 'in the shadow of the moon' meets 'Roving Mars'-Imax.
I would watch that!

[BigDon]

I quite enjoyed the movie of "Hogfather", Gillian. Have you seen it? It is quite faithful to the book.

If I could make a movie, Ringworld and The Mote In God's Eye would definitely be in the running. Other than that, I've already written a musical play based on the legend of Perseus, so I'd like to do that.



Mote In God's Eye

SPOILER WARNING!!!







Yeah, but you would need Steve Jackson to do Mote justice. And it would be a challedge to get across the point that the Moties were everything earlier fiction writers wrote about humans in space up 'til then. When *we* were the enfant terrible and *other* race's cultures were old stodgy things.

Everything from technical innovation to reproductive rate where more so in Moties than in Humans. The only thing saving the rest of the Galaxy from being overrun with Moties was their star's serious isolation and the fact that even after major space faring (in system) cultures developed they never developed FTL drive.

And of course its the senior scientist who realizes that they couldn't welcome the Moties with open arms into the rest of galactic civilization as planned. Quite the opposite. IIRC the Moties were functional hermaphrodites who HAD to reproduce every 18 months or they would die. All of their technology couldn't get around that aspect of their biology. Every thousand years or so their whole culture would collapse from overpopulation issues. Basically they are "R" stratigists who's technology and intellect gives them "K" stratigist life spans. It wasn't working for them.

Combine that with an insect-like genectic caste structure of Doctors, Engineers, Warriors, et al. who are literally born knowing everything in their respective castes and only a few short years to adulthood. Then you can see where giving them FTL might not be a good idea.

And then they'ed put Will Smith in as the lead role for the humans. You know they would.

[kushan]

As Occam said, Ringworld or The Mote In God's Eye, but I'd really love to do a Footfall movie (or better yet, see it done by some talented director). I read the book recently, and it's AWESOME (yeah, should've read it much earlier, but hey, I'm 17 and English is not my native language :D)

[mike alexander]

The Moties had an FTL drive (the Crazy Eddie Drive). What they didn't realize was that the jump point at the other end was inside a star, so none of their ships survived.

I would prefer not to see it as a movie. Much of it is stodgy, and with the exception of Renner (and to an extent Bury) the human characters are wooden. I remember reading Spider Robinson's review when the book first came out, and while generally favorable, he called it "A brand-new Stutz Bearcat."

[closetgeek]

I don't know if it could be done, but my favorite fiction book ever is The Great And Secret Show by Clive Barker. I would love to see what special effects could do by way of visualization. If I were to an historical fiction I would probably go by way of 300 ( liked the movie but could use a little less drama in EVERY SCENE) or something from that general time period. For a documentary, I would love to do something discussing the common misconceptions of American history.