drose@uci-icse (07/18/85)
From: Don Rose <drose@uci-icse>
First of all, let me say I just starting reading sf-lovers bboard and find
it fantastic - well-written, fun, informative, etc. Since I am a closet
writer (who isn't) - esp. of screenplays - let me start my involvement with
the net by asking anyone/everyone to spout off on what things they always
wanted to see in films (esp. SF-related) - your visual fantasies, if you
will. I think the results should be interesting and enjoyable for all.
(A related question: what do most people out there feel will work/sell
today - e.g. people may have opinions on outdated/overworked genres, or
genres due for a revival, a la the current return-of-the-Western.)
Looking forward to your replies...... Donald Rose
(P.S. Has there ever been a Sci Fi Western?)hester@uci-icse (07/18/85)
From: Jim Hester <hester@uci-icse> Depends on what you define as a Sci Fi Western, but Westworld (+sequils) and Star Wars immediately come to mind, for different reasons.
hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) (07/20/85)
In article <2802@topaz.ARPA> drose@uci-icse writes: >From: Don Rose <drose@uci-icse> > >(P.S. Has there ever been a Sci Fi Western?) Well, _Battle Beyond the Stars_ was western SF (a remake of _The Magnificent Seven_, itself a remake of _The Seven Samurai_). So was _Borderland_ (a remake of _High Noon_). I remember a SF/Western short story invloving time-travel. The plot was rather complex and involved a time traveling woman arriving at a point in the Old West to have her child and having to fetch a .44 magnum from the future so a local could defend her against her enemies (and incidently his). Afraid I can't remember title or author at the moment. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe) Citicorp TTI Common Sense is what tells you that a ten 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. pound weight falls ten times as fast as a Santa Monica, CA 90405 one pound weight. (213) 450-9111, ext. 2483 {philabs,randvax,trwrb,vortex}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe
ccrdave@ucdavis.UUCP (Lord Kahless) (07/21/85)
> asking anyone/everyone to spout off on what things they always > wanted to see in films (esp. SF-related) - your visual fantasies, if you > will. I think the results should be interesting and enjoyable for all. There are two categories of movies I like to see. The first are movies that go far beyond the ordinary world. Personally, I think "Dragonflight" would make a really primo movie, if you could manage to really make those dragons fly and live. (The story is much smaller and more focused than Dune, has a greater emotional impact, is much more personal, and requires much less philosophical background.) Picture a really beautiful mating flight scene, or the hatching scene, or flaming thread ... The other sort of movie I like is the movie near our world, but just a shade beyond. I really enjoyed "Blade Runner." The street scenes, the sets, the clothes and the technology all look so much like how 2019 in downtown Los Angeles would really feel. Notice the Atari ads in the background, or the Hari Krishnas and the Orthodox Jew. Note the international symbol cross walk, with speech synthasizer. The visual detail is stunning! The space station scene in 2001 gives much the same feel. Hilton & Ma Bell in orbit. > (P.S. Has there ever been a Sci Fi Western?) Do the Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica episodes count? They had Gunfight at the O.K. corral and Shane, respectively.
dca@edison.UUCP (David C. Albrecht) (07/23/85)
> From: Jim Hester <hester@uci-icse> > > Depends on what you define as a Sci Fi Western, but Westworld (+sequils) > and Star Wars immediately come to mind, for different reasons. Similarly, given a rather wiggly definition of Western, Outland is a remake of High Noon. David Albrecht General Electric
leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (07/24/85)
>Well, _Battle Beyond the Stars_ was western SF (a >remake of _The Magnificent Seven_, itself a remake of >_The Seven Samurai_). So was _Borderland_ (a remake of >_High Noon_). I cannot swear I know the intent of the original question, but I disagree with both of these statements. Corman said he always wanted to do "SEVEN SAMURAI in space." That doesn't make BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS even a remake of that film, only a film that uses some of the same situations. I would hardly call WEST SIDE STORY a remake of ROMEO AND JULIET or FORBIDDEN PLANET a remake of THE TEMPEST. And certainly the fact that a western also used ideas from SEVEN SAMURAI does not, in itself, make BATTLE suddenly a western in space. There is too much difference between OUTLAND and HIGH NOON to call one a remake. An even if it was, that would only make it a remake of a western in a science fiction setting, not a western itself. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper
srt@ucla-cs.UUCP (08/02/85)
In article <377@ucdavis.UUCP> ccrdave@ucdavis.UUCP (Lord Kahless) writes: > >Picture a really beautiful mating flight scene, or the hatching >scene, or flaming thread ... > Personally I feel that this is exactly the kind of scene that DOESN'T work in an sf movie. People are very sensitive to visual imagery and when presented with a filmaker's vision of some scene that is completely orthogonal to real experience, they almost always find some part of the scene objectionable. In a movie like Bladerunner, on the other hand, the filmaker and the viewer share a common base to extrapolate from, and so the visual imagery is much more satisfying (of course, Bladerunner did this the best that its ever been done). I think you'll notice that good fantasy authors almost never lavish great detail on describing the completely unnatural elements of their stories. Instead, they tend to "hint" at the images and let the reader's imagination fill in the rest in a way that is pleasing to the reader. Unfortunately, filmakers don't have the same leeway. Different but the same. That's the ticket for SF films. Scott R. Turner ARPA: (now) srt@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA (soon) srt@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU UUCP: ...!{cepu,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!srt SPUDNET: ...eye%srt@russet.spud