{"id":20905,"date":"2011-05-01T18:07:52","date_gmt":"2011-05-02T00:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=20905"},"modified":"2011-05-01T18:07:52","modified_gmt":"2011-05-02T00:07:52","slug":"the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/05\/01\/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made.html","title":{"rendered":"The Greatest Sci-Fi Movie Never Made"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Register <\/em>has been gathering suggestions, and posting also-rans<\/a>, but is finally soliciting a vote for the greatest sci-fi work never (yet) made into a movie<\/a>.\u00a0 My own commentary on the list of 50 below, with the understanding that, gasp, I’ve never read most of these and never even heard of a lot of them.\u00a0 To that end, I’ll only comment on the ones bolded<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Algebraist <\/em>\u2013 Iain M Banks<\/li>\n
  2. Altered Carbon <\/em>\u2013 Richard K Morgan<\/li>\n
  3. The Atrocity Archives <\/em>\u2013 Charles Stross <\/strong>– Magic as advanced math and science sounds like a non-starter as a movie, but combined with an Office-like government agency that monitors same it has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, Stross’ wit is just a bit too cerebral and\/or geeky, and I don’t see this happening without some significant dumbing down.<\/li>\n
  4. The Baroque Cycle <\/em>\u2013 Neal Stephenson<\/li>\n
  5. A Canticle for Leibowitz<\/em> \u2013 Walter M Miller, Jr.<\/li>\n
  6. Childhood’s End <\/em>\u2013 Arthur C Clarke <\/strong>– High concept but, ultimately, not a tale (except for, perhaps, elements of the first half) that could ever be reasonably sold.<\/li>\n
  7. The Chronicles of Amber <\/em>\u2013 Roger Zelazny<\/strong> – Nothing could make me happier, though it would need to be an HBO mini-series, along the lines of The Tudors<\/em> or Rome<\/em>.<\/li>\n
  8. Cities in Flight <\/em>\u2013 James Blish <\/strong>– Been years since I read these, and, honestly, I don’t recall much about them.<\/li>\n
  9. The City and the Stars <\/em>\u2013 Arthur C Clarke <\/strong>– An interesting idea, but I doubt it would make a decent movie without some serious punching up.<\/li>\n
  10. Consider Phlebas <\/em>\u2013 Iain M Banks<\/li>\n
  11. Cryptonomicon <\/em>\u2013 Neal Stephenson<\/li>\n
  12. Deathworld <\/em>\u2013 Harry Harrison <\/strong>– Certainly far more doable in today’s CG environment than ever before.\u00a0 Turn it into an action hero adventure (of the type Ahnold used to play), get James Cameron to give it some eco-sensitivity, and you could have a winner.<\/li>\n
  13. The Demolished Man <\/em>\u2013 Alfred Bester<\/li>\n
  14. Dorsai <\/em>\u2013 Gordon R Dickson<\/li>\n
  15. Downbelow Station<\/em> \u2013 CJ Cherryh<\/li>\n
  16. Dragonriders of Pern <\/em>\u2013 Anne McCaffrey <\/strong>– This is currently in the works but not yet made.\u00a0 And it certainly seems the most likely candidate I can think of to make a great SF\/Fantasy movie … but also one that could be horribly mis-handled.\u00a0 Here’s hoping.<\/li>\n
  17. Ender’s Game <\/em>\u2013 Orson Scott Card<\/li>\n
  18. Eon <\/em>\u2013 Greg Bear<\/li>\n
  19. Excession <\/em>\u2013 Iain M Banks<\/li>\n
  20. A Fire Upon the Deep <\/em>\u2013 Vernor Vinge<\/li>\n
  21. Footfall <\/em>\u2013 Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle <\/strong>– Some good possibilities here, though it’s been a couple of decades since I read the book.\u00a0 Probably more filmable than Mote<\/em>, but not as intriguing of a novel.<\/li>\n
  22. The Forever War <\/em>\u2013 Joe Haldeman <\/strong>– This one would take some careful handling to retain the narrative structure in a way that folks would understand it, but I’d like to see it.<\/li>\n
  23. The Forge of God <\/em>\u2013 Greg Bear<\/li>\n
  24. Foundation <\/em>\u2013 Isaac Asimov <\/strong>– Classic SF, sure, but movie material?\u00a0 I think not, not without a lot of creating some new, involving personal elements against the novel’s backdrop.\u00a0 This novel (and trilogy) are more a fascinating speculation about future history than a story about actual individuals that we’d care about.<\/li>\n
  25. The Gap Cycle <\/em>\u2013 Stephen R Donaldson<\/li>\n
  26. Gateway <\/em>– Frederick Pohl<\/li>\n
  27. Hyperion <\/em>– Dan Simmons<\/li>\n
  28. The Legacy of Heorot <\/em>– Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes<\/li>\n
  29. Lensmen <\/em>– E.E. “Doc” Smith<\/li>\n
  30. Lord of Light <\/em>\u2013 Roger Zelazny <\/strong>– I don’t see any way you could do this movie without really torquing someone (or many someones) off.\u00a0 And I’m not sure a movie setting would do it justice, though I could, again, see an HBO mini-series out of it.<\/li>\n
  31. Lucifer’s Hammer <\/em>\u2013 Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle <\/strong>– There’s a lot of Niven-Pournelle on the list, and I attribute that to their use of visible elements and action sequences amidst the tech-speculative fiction.\u00a0 While yet another asteroid-hurtling-toward-earth movie would seem a non-starter, one where it actually hits might go along with the disaster porn movement of the recent past.<\/li>\n
  32. The Man in the High Castle <\/em>\u2013 Philip K Dick<\/li>\n
  33. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress<\/em> \u2013 Robert A Heinlein <\/strong>– I think this could be done up very nicely as a movie. You’d have to pare down some of the more pedantic moments, but the overall narrative is straight-foward and workable. Even the somewhat downer ending would work.<\/li>\n
  34. The Mote In God’s Eye <\/em>\u2013 Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle<\/strong> – I don’t see how this could be filmed and still do justice to this marvelous novel. Eleven zillion characters, many of whom have lots of internal monologue … people would get ticked off no matter how you cut it down to size.<\/li>\n
  35. Neuromancer <\/em>\u2013 William Gibson<\/li>\n
  36. Night’s Dawn <\/em>\u2013 Peter F Hamilton<\/li>\n
  37. Old Man’s War <\/em>\u2013 John Scalzi <\/strong>– A bit simpler sell than the thematically neighborly Forever War, as it’s a bit more straightforward of a novel.\u00a0 I think this would work (I think that’s true for most of Scalzi’s novels, and I’m surprised we haven’t seen more on the screen).<\/li>\n
  38. On Basilisk Station <\/strong><\/em>\u2013 David Weber <\/strong>– This would make great space opera, complete with space battles, twirling moustachios and plenty of bad guys to boo and good guys to cheer.\u00a0 Plus, some strong female characters.\u00a0 It wouldn’t be Citizen Kane, but it would be a fine movie.<\/li>\n
  39. The Player of Games <\/em>\u2013 Iain M Banks<\/li>\n
  40. Protector <\/em>\u2013 Larry Niven<\/strong> – Maybe.\u00a0 Been a while since I read it.<\/li>\n
  41. Rendezvous With Rama <\/em>\u2013 Arthur C Clarke <\/strong>– Some possibilities here, but I’d worry it would come across as a cross between 2001 and the cinematically beautiful-but-boring bits of the original Star Trek <\/em>movie. Clarke tends (like Niven) to have a high concept and spend the novel with people exploring it.<\/li>\n
  42. Ringworld <\/em>\u2013 Larry Niven <\/strong>– See Rendezvous With Rama<\/em>. Though it would\u00a0 be fun to see a Pierson’s Puppeteer in CG.<\/li>\n
  43. Skylark <\/em>\u2013 EE “Doc” Smith<\/li>\n
  44. Snow Crash <\/em>\u2013 Neal Stephenson<\/li>\n
  45. The Stainless Steel Rat <\/em>\u2013 Harry Harrison <\/strong>– I would pay money to see this.\u00a0 Hmmm.\u00a0 Been a long time since I read it, either.<\/li>\n
  46. The Stars My Destination <\/em>(aka Tiger! Tiger!<\/em>) \u2013 Alfred Bester<\/li>\n
  47. Stranger in a Strange Land <\/strong><\/em>\u2013 Robert A Heinlein <\/strong>– I don’t see how this could possibly be filmed.\u00a0 It’s a series of set pieces filled with amusing dialog and discussion about the nature of morality, humanity, and reality. I enjoy the book (in most places), but it’s not movie material.<\/li>\n
  48. The Technicolor Time Machine <\/em>\u2013 Harry Harrison<\/li>\n
  49. Titan <\/em>\u2013 John Varley<\/li>\n
  50. Use of Weapons <\/em>\u2013 Iain M Banks<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Going through the list, it helps emphasize that what makes a good book is not necessarily what makes a good movie.<\/p>\n

    The Algebraist<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Iain M Banks
    \nAltered Carbon<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Richard K Morgan
    \nThe Atrocity Archives<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Charles Stross
    \nThe Baroque Cycle<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Neal Stephenson
    \nA Canticle for Leibowitz<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Walter M Miller, Jr.
    \nChildhood’s End<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Arthur C Clarke
    \nThe Chronicles of Amber<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Roger Zelazny
    \nCities in Flight<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 James Blish
    \nThe City and the Stars<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Arthur C Clarke
    \nConsider Phlebas<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Iain M Banks
    \nCryptonomicon<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Neal Stephenson
    \nDeathworld<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Harry Harrison
    \nThe Demolished Man<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Alfred Bester
    \nDorsai<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Gordon R Dickson
    \nDownbelow Station<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 CJ Cherryh
    \nDragonriders of Pern<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Anne McCaffrey
    \nEnder’s Game<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Orson Scott Card
    \nEon<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Greg Bear
    \nExcession<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Iain M Banks
    \nA Fire Upon the Deep<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Vernor Vinge
    \nFootfall<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
    \nThe Forever War<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Joe Haldeman
    \nThe Forge of God<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Greg Bear
    \nFoundation<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Isaac Asimov
    \nThe Gap Cycle<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Stephen R Donaldson
    \nGateway<\/em><\/strong> – Frederick Pohl
    \nHyperion<\/em><\/strong> – Dan Simmons
    \nThe Legacy of Heorot<\/em><\/strong> – Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes
    \nLensmen<\/em><\/strong> – E.E. “Doc” Smith
    \nLord of Light<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Roger Zelazny
    \nLucifer’s Hammer<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
    \nThe Man in the High Castle<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Philip K Dick
    \nThe Moon is a Harsh Mistress<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Robert A Heinlein
    \nThe Mote In God’s Eye<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
    \nNeuromancer<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 William Gibson
    \nNight’s Dawn<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Peter F Hamilton
    \nOld Man’s War<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 John Scalzi
    \nOn Basilisk Station<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 David Weber
    \nThe Player of Games<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Iain M Banks
    \nProtector<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Larry Niven
    \nRendezvous With Rama<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Arthur C Clarke
    \nRingworld<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Larry Niven
    \nSkylark<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 EE “Doc” Smith
    \nSnow Crash<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Neal Stephenson
    \nThe Stainless Steel Rat<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Harry Harrison
    \nThe Stars My Destination<\/em><\/strong> (aka Tiger! Tiger!<\/em><\/strong>) \u2013 Alfred Bester
    \nStranger in a Strange Land<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Robert A Heinlein
    \nThe Technicolor Time Machine<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Harry Harrison
    \nTitan<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 John Varley
    \nUse of Weapons<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Iain M Banks<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Register has been gathering suggestions, and posting also-rans, but is finally soliciting a vote for the greatest sci-fi work never (yet) made into a movie.\u00a0 My own commentary on the list of 50 below, with the understanding that, gasp, I’ve never read most of these and never even heard of a lot of them.\u00a0 … Continue reading “The Greatest Sci-Fi Movie Never Made”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[36,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-books","category-media-movies"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/destination-moon.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":128343,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/17\/the-50-greatest-sci-fi-tv-shows-kinda-sorta-more-or-less.html","url_meta":{"origin":20905,"position":0},"title":"The 50 Greatest Sci-Fi TV Shows (kinda-sorta more-or-less)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 17-Oct-15 7:13pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A few caveats on the Popular Mechanics list:1. I suspect this list would look a lot different in, say, five years. We are currently going through a rich time in SF genre TV, and what will turn out to be great and what will turn out to be a flash\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2888,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/09\/09\/frelling_idiots.html","url_meta":{"origin":20905,"position":1},"title":"Frelling idiots","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 9-Sep-02 11:09am","format":false,"excerpt":"Sci Fi has officially announced Farscape's cancellation. \"There are no bigger fans of Farscape than we here at SCI FI Channel,\" the network said in a statement. \"It was one...","rel":"","context":"In "Media & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Media & Culture","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49768,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/06\/the-swinging-sci-fi-sixties.html","url_meta":{"origin":20905,"position":2},"title":"The Swinging Sci-Fi Sixties","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 6-Mar-15 9:38pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I've kind of gotten into the swing of tailoring movie choices with my daughter around the era that she's studying in history. We've dealt with 40s-50s so far, and she's moving into the 60s. So the question becomes, what SF movies from the 60s (that I consider iconic and\/or enjoy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/fantastic-voyage-poster-1966-everett5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11533,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/08\/06\/mark_those_calendars_or_d.html","url_meta":{"origin":20905,"position":3},"title":"Mark those calendars (or DVRs)","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 6-Aug-07 7:17pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Margie nabbed this week's TV Guide from the store, with previews of upcoming Sci-Fi TV.\u00a0 While Battlestar Galactica won't be back until 2008, a TV movie Battlestar Galactica: Razor will...","rel":"","context":"In "TV"","block_context":{"text":"TV","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-tv"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":135569,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/12\/07\/old-mans-war-coming-netflix.html","url_meta":{"origin":20905,"position":4},"title":"“Old Man’s War” is coming to Netflix","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 7-Dec-17 2:11pm","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my favorite books. I very much look forward to the movie adaptation, now under development. Scalzi's reaction is a very positive one, as one might think. Netflix Grabs Hold Of John Scalzi\u2019s Sci-Fi Novel \u2018Old Man\u2019s War\u2019 For Jon Shestack, Madhouse EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has acquired John Scalzi\u2019s modern\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/old-mans-war.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41374,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/03\/09\/sci-fi-ikea-manuals.html","url_meta":{"origin":20905,"position":5},"title":"Sci-Fi Ikea Manuals","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 9-Mar-14 12:19pm","format":false,"excerpt":"These have been around a few years, but they're still darned funny. \u00a0I particularly enjoy the piece list for the TARDIS.\ufeff Sci-Fi Ikea Manuals \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 View this post on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}