I agree. And I've always imagined the scene where we find out what's going on: Enoch Wallace sitting at a wooden table in a rustic kitchen, drinking coffee and reading the paper. Then he hears a signal, gets up and goes to the other side of the room, to the control panel of an intergalactic communications network.

And seeing the government agent studying Enoch's house, so normal to look at and so strange to touch. And saying "that's what was in the other grave."

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It's not what we don't know that harms us;
it's what we do know that ain't so.

Its been put off and put off, but I'd love to see Chris Cunningham actually get to do his adaptation of Neuromancer. But then, I'd love to see him do any feature film. Every frame of the opening shot, a helicopter zoom across the water towards Chiba City, with the scratchy crackles of an Aphex Twin score, already exists in my head.

My main point was that you could only do the target range sequence with special effects, and you have to include the target range.

In your movie then, would the second scene be him picking up his mail after a modern postal truck delivers it?

It's been a long time since I read this book. Sometimes I get parts of it mixed up in my head with "The Big Back Yard" (I think that's the title)[/quote][/i]

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Ooo-Rah! That would indeed be great to see on the big screen. Personally, I'd liek to see it as a Japanese Anime mini series.

Gotta agree with Turtledove's War World also.

Then there's one of my favorites, Drake's RANKS OF BRONZE.

But perhaps the one story I've waited and waited for, for years, is a classic novel I can't even recall the name of the author or; Deathbeast- a time travel dinosaur book that had a rather unique take on energy weapons.

It's The Big Front Yard, about alien visitors building a doorway to another world into a man's house. A wonderful and award-winning story. Probably over the heads of the average audience.

Deathbeast was by David Gerrold. He did have a unique take on energy weapons, specifically how a really powerful laser would affect flesh.

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It's not what we don't know that harms us;
it's what we do know that ain't so.

Doe, John:

You reading my mind? Yes. It's a wide shot, dirt road, woodsy countryside. Wallace enters from left after the truck stops, drops off the mail and pulls away. The truck isn't 'modern' though. Maybe late 40's, dusty, canted US MAIL sign in the back window.

The only point about using CGI is that it could be kept to a minimum in this movie. Not needed. Would detract. For example, the scene where Wallace meets Ulysses could be done almost entirely with creative lighting and mask/makeup work.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

Yes, absolutely. CGI would probably be required for the target shooting sequence, which is vital since it establishes that Wallace is a dead-accurate shot.

CGI might also be used for the Hazers (if I remember the name right), but maybe showing them too literally would be a distraction. People would expect them to start fires or walk through walls or something.

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It's not what we don't know that harms us;
it's what we do know that ain't so.

Harry Harrison
- Stainless Steel Rat series
- Bill, The Galactic Hero series
- Deathworld series

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Don't wrestle with a pig; you'll both get muddy and the pig enjoys it.
- JayUtah

Never try to reason with a pig. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.
- tsig
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Law of Logical Argument: Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about

Yes; the Stainless Steel rat, seconded. Good cinematic potential, and a laugh.

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Orion's Arm . The Starlark . Voices: Future Tense . OA Flickr set

Hmmmm...how about George Clooney as Slippery Jim, Uma Thurman as Angelia, Morgan Freeman as (drat, forgot his name, head of the Special Corps).

..just casting off the top of my head

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JayUtah wrote:
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Harold Peters Inskipp.
I don't know, Inskipp was generally portrayed as having quite the temper, and I see Morgan Freeman as somewhat more thoughtful, what about Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) or John Lithgow (3rd Rock From the Sun)

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There is nothing threatening about this nationalism. As a nation, the Danes have not been a threat to anyone for hundreds of years.
- Xenophobe's Guide to the Danes

That was it--gotta get my SSR collection out again.


Lithgow would be excellent, would have to be made up slightly older, but he could carry it off.

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JayUtah wrote:
The marketplace of ideas ensures that each item is put on display, but does not compel its purchase.

D'oh... I forgot about Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun series! #-o

I'm not an anime fan, but somehow I get the feeling that it would translate well to that medium...

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If ignorance is bliss, why is the world so full of misery?

That's an interesting idea. I'd watch it regardless. But maybe if Sky Captain and the World of Tommorow does well, such an idea might not seem so silly.

Still I don't think much of Lensmen would need changing. Just the science stuff updated to be a little more believable to modern viewers. I think that can be done without polluting the rest of the story (since the science was all BS anyways and just served to get folks around). Those stories were more about the characters and the amazing things they could do.

Still, I wanna see someone explain diesel powered starcraft on-screen sometime in my lifetime. That'd be worth the price of admission.

Jerry Pournelle's "Higher Education" is far from BEST science fiction - it's intended for teenage market, after all, - but I think it would make a good movie. Indeed, as a movie it may serve the book's intended purpose better - "Higher Education" puts a lot of emphasis on the value of reading, but it is preaching to the converted - only teenagers already into reading would read it! OTOH, teenagers who do not read books might see the movie

I've got a couple thougths that no one mentioned... maybe with good reason.

Footfall by Niven and Pournelle. More or less a straight up alien invasion story, but it had some cleaver elements. I've always been a bit haunted by the idea of a tidal wave being watched from orbit as it wipes out India and East Africa.

A pulpy choice, but Midnight at the Well of Souls by Jack Chalker. It's definitly not your straight up type of story, and could be done now with CGI.

An out of date choice: Warday by Striber and Kunitika(sp?). A novel about the effects of a limited nuclear exchange on the United States. It was a bit clinical, but parts of it could make an interesting story.

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"Kittens give Morbo gas." -- Morbo the Newscaster, Futurama

Yeah, that would probably work pretty well. Just hope to whatever deity you worship that someone other than Arnuhld would be cast as Gully Foil... :P

(BTW, I would not exactly call that a "joyous, sweeping romp". It may be outdated in the science department, but the violence might actually have to be toned down to some extent, either that or it would have to get an R rating...)

Other stuff:

Stephen Baxter's Raft.

Arthur C. Clarke's Against the Fall of Night. (Or maybe The City and the Stars...)

Maybe Robert Silverberg's Downward to the Earth, but that would be pretty tough - I, for one, would have trouble taking CGI Nildoror and Sulidoror seriously. Plus, it would obviously get an NC-17 rating...

Another David Gerrold book, Voyage of the Star Wolf. Not very intellectual, and in fact rather like Wing Commander minus the whole game aspect. Though the Morethans are, of course, a much more interesting enemy than the Kilrathi... (This one would get an R rating, methinks.)

Paul Linebarger's Norstrilia.

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If ignorance is bliss, why is the world so full of misery?

I've never read this book, but the title gives me visions of a giant nose rampaging around Tokyo sneezing fire. Perhaps it would be battling a flying moustache...

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J Pax

One more, I just ran across it on my shelves, would by James White "Sector General" series--lots of wierd aliens, medical problems, the Rhabwar space ambulance, and a good-looking nurse....what's not to like?

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JayUtah wrote:
The marketplace of ideas ensures that each item is put on display, but does not compel its purchase.

C. M. Kornbluth and Judith Merrill's Gunner Cade