# "Argo" the real movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051 "2012-11-15T01:13:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/1 "2012-11-15T01:13:44Z")
If the movie _Argo_ had really been made, would it have been any good IYHO? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/2 "2012-11-15T01:35:08Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > If the movie _Argo_ had really been made, would it have been any good IYHO? Depends. Who would’ve been cast as Sam? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/3 "2012-11-15T02:12:16Z")
It’s a hard role to cast given the types of male leads that prevailed in the late 70s. Maybe Tmothy Bottoms? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/4 "2012-11-15T13:37:50Z")
Which “Argo”? As I pointed out recently, the real Argo was actually an adaptation of Roger Zelazny’s _Lord of Light_, with production concept drawings by Jack Kirby (!!!) It wasn’t at all the Strar Wars ripoff they portrayed in the film _Argo_. Properly executed (especially if they did it now, with CGI – but they coulda made it thirty years ago with glass paintings and mattes) it could be awesome. But Hollywood has shown an infinite capacity for Screwing Things Up, so I can’t really say how it would turn out. It deprends on who did it, and how free a hand they got. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/5 "2012-11-15T17:55:56Z")
No… it would have been “Battle Beyond the Stars” level. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/6 "2012-11-15T21:18:26Z")
Thanks **Cal**! I hadn’t seen your discussion of it. BTW, I mean that they actually made the movei they had written the fake script for. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/7 "2012-11-15T21:28:47Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Thanks **Cal**! I hadn’t seen your discussion of it. BTW, I mean that they actually made the movei they had written the fake script for. I’m not sure what you mean. “Lord of Light”, renamed “Argo”, _was_ the film they had been planning to make, and which they made up storyboards for, and wrote a script for: [http://lordoflight.com/](http://lordoflight.com/) > **[The Real Story Behind Affleck's 'Argo'](https://www.ibtimes.com/lord-light-real-movie-behind-fake-movie-ben-afflecks-argo-845707)** > > Ben Affleck's "Argo" tells the story of a rescue mission during the Iran hostage crisis. Documentary filmmaker Judd Ehrlich is gearing up to tell the whole story. It wasn’t at all like the movie-within-a-movie _faux_ Star Wars film depicted in the recent movie _Argo_, for which they seem to have written a completely different fake script. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/8 "2012-11-15T21:33:33Z")
(Full disclosure: Haven’t seen _Argo_ yet) My OP was asking would \*Lord of the Light \*have been any good. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/9 "2012-11-15T21:36:27Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > (Full disclosure: Haven’t seen _Argo_ yet) My OP was asking would \*Lord of the Light \*have been any good. Darn…I was getting all excited for a Starblazers thread. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/10 "2012-11-16T00:30:21Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > My OP was asking would \*Lord of the Light \*have been any good. Love the novel. But I’m not sure how well it would have translated back in the day - it might of come off as pretty damn hokey. It might be a bit more viable today given modern CGI. The problem is that it assumes either a very basic familiarity with Hindu and Buddhist mythology or at least the willingness to dive into it and look it up, which is obviously easier for a book than a film ;). Dumbing it down would weaken the story, but leaving it as is might lose a lot of Americans. It’s not a project I’d relish tackling if I was both a fan ( which I am ) and a filmmaker ( which I’m not ). ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/11 "2012-11-17T00:15:15Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > (Full disclosure: Haven’t seen _Argo_ yet) My OP was asking would \*Lord of the Light \*have been any good. > [@Tamerlane](#): > > Love the novel. But I’m not sure how well it would have translated back in the day - it might of come off as pretty damn hokey. > > It might be a bit more viable today given modern CGI. The problem is that it assumes either a very basic familiarity with Hindu and Buddhist mythology or at least the willingness to dive into it and look it up, which is obviously easier for a book than a film ;). Dumbing it down would weaken the story, but leaving it as is might lose a lot of Americans. It’s not a project I’d relish tackling if I was both a fan ( which I am ) and a filmmaker ( which I’m not ). Still asking: who plays Sam? Rutgers Hauer would have been a fine young Rild. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/12 "2012-11-17T03:39:00Z")
I meant **Rutger** goddamnit. Stupid iPad spelling corrections. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/13 "2012-11-17T06:18:10Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Still asking: who plays Sam? > > . Which Sam? IIRC, he changes bodies at least three times during the book. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/14 "2012-11-17T06:26:11Z")
There was a recent Kickstarter to complete a documentary about the whole saga. Let’s see… oh, good, it got funded: [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scifilandmovie/science-fiction-land-a-stranger-than-fiction-doc](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scifilandmovie/science-fiction-land-a-stranger-than-fiction-doc) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/15 "2012-11-17T22:29:53Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Which Sam? IIRC, he changes bodies at least three times during the book. Pick one! ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argo-the-real-movie/641051/16 "2012-11-18T02:12:31Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Thanks **Cal**! I hadn’t seen your discussion of it. BTW, I mean that they actually made the movei they had written the fake script for. If it happened the way they showed it in the movie, the SCRIPT wasn’t fake - they picked it out from a pile of other scripts. It was the PRODUCTION of that script that was fake.