# Good SF Short Story buried in long SF movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2008, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426 "2008-06-27T12:43:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [June 27, 2008, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/1 "2008-06-27T12:43:16Z")
For years I thought that most movies were doing it wrong. They’d take a long, involved piece of complex science fiction and try to cram it, with all its explanations and new ideas, along with plot development and character exposition, into a traditional 1.5 to 2.5 hour movie. And, of course, it wouldn’t work. It’s seem nto hurried. essentialy stuff would be left out. People would simply be more confused than ever. Look at David Lynch’s **Dune** , for example. The _right_ way to do it is to take a less ambitious short story. You can then use time to develop the science and explanations as you develop the story and characters, and there’s no rush. Instead of trying to build an entire world or an entire civilization, concentrate on something smaller and less manageable. Of course, like many things that I imagine and extrapolate (like the History and Development of Computer Animation, but that’s another story), when they actually did this, it didn’t work out the way I’d planned. There are a few cases where this approachj worked (You may disagree, but I hold up John Carpenter’s version of **The Thing** as an example), but generally what REALLY happens when they do this is that even the short story gets radically changed. Even more often, the short story gets told, but it becomes such a minor part of the plot and story that it gets swallowed up by everything else, and the everything else that the filmmakers add out of their own imaginatioons is, well, _dumb_. I have to admit that frequently the thrill of a good SF short is intellectual, with often a nifty idea at its core and a clever twist at the end. this isn’t necessarily the best thing for a movie, which has, after all, to be largely _visual_. And a good popular movie that will bring in enough patrons to justify the expense of special effects will have to have enough action and excitement to bring in repeats and word-of-mouth business. So we end up with the movies we have. Here are a few examples: 1.) **Total Recall** – arguably the poster child for this gentre of “good short story to overblown movie drowning in action and effects”. Philip K. Dick’s story started out, I’ll bet, as a result of a cute pun – the saying “We can Remainder it for you Wholesale” in Dick’s word-playing mind became “We can Remember it for you Wholesale”, and involved a company called Rekall that could implant false (and usualy fantastic) memories for a fee. The flip being, of course, that when they implanted false memories about secret-agent stuff on Mars into the mind of a nebbish-type, they found that it paralleled the real situation. This is in the movie, but they pretty much exhaust it in the first 20 minutes or so. And instead of a Woody Allen-like nebbish, they change the hero to the marketable Arnold Schwartzenegger. And instead of memories, the film turns into a dream/VR-style real-time adventure (which it almost has to do. You can’t film memories, and this is more direct than flashbacks). The plot of what went on on Mars has to come from somewhere else. I claim that it bears an uncanny resemlance to Robert Sheckley’s _the Status Civilization_, right down to the Skrenning Mutants, with a touch of _A Princess of Mars_ (the Oxygen Plant) thrown in at the end. It’s a big dumb action film, which I really do like, but it’s a long way from WCRIFYW. 2.) **Mimic** – Donald A Wollheim’s short story about a weird old guy, looking like a street perv, who turns out to be a giant predatory insect camoflaging itself as a human (the way some praying mantids, for instance, can look uncannily like flowers) was a disturbing image (and got extra punch when another camoflaged creature snaps up one of its young at the end), but it doesn’t seem like much to carry a movie. The “perv in a raincoat actually a giant bug” actually gets played out in the movie **Mimic** , but it’s a shot of only a few seconds. The rest of the film is wholly made up of non-short-story elements, and I don’t recall any other sorts of bugs. 3.) **Invasion of the Saucermen** , later remade --terribly – as **Invasion of the Eye Creatures** (or **Invasion of the the Eye Creatures**. This actually is based on a pretty decent and clever short story by Paul W. Fairman, **The Cosmic Frame** (iMDB doesn’t understand the source, anf gives the title as “The Cosmic Flame”, which shows that the guy who put this in never read it) [Paul W. Fairman - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0265640/) The story itself gets told in Invaion of the Saucermen (I think it disappeared by the time Eye Creatures was made), but it’s buried among all the idiocy of big-headeed aliens, dismbodied hands that inject alcohol, crawl ariound, and have eyeballs, and aliens that conveniently explode when you shine bright lights on them. The story’s worth a read. 4.) **This Island Earth** – the Raymond F. Jones story was really a novel, but it’s hard for me to believe that they read past the opening chapters, which appeared as the story “The Alien Machine”, and which is depicted in the film. I don’t think much of the rest of the book made it into the film – the screenwriter Coen and O’Callaghan seem to have made up the rest themselves – and from simply perusing pulp SF covers, it would seem. All the idiocy of the movie – the bug-eyed, bare-brained insectoid mutants, the irrational actions of the aliens, the planet-turned-nto-a-sun, even the names Zaygon and Metaluna – seems to be original. The good beginning was even screwed up – scientist CalMeacham in the film just follows the alien schematics to build his Interociter, as if it’s a high-tech Heathkit. That’s a test for a good tedchnician, not a scientist. In the book and short story, Meacham doesn’t get a diagram, and has to dope out how it goes together from clues in the catalog. And we get glimpses of some of the other “tests” given to other candidates. And Cal has to repair and rebuild parts that break – no small feat. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/2 "2008-06-27T13:20:37Z")
I’ll add that sometimes good short stories are buried in larger science fiction novels. As Heinlein approached the end of his career, he appeared to try and cram as many of the plots he had floating around his head into a few novels. **Friday** and **The Cat Who Walked Through Walls** are two examples. Each included a half dozen stories which could each serve as the basis for a single novel. I suppose he figured he didn’t have time to write them all out in full. Pity, as it seriously weakened both books. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/3 "2008-06-27T13:33:42Z")
And sometimes things just work as both a short story and a movie: **A Boy and His Dog**. Ellison has carped about the ending (with some justification), but the underground sections of the movie made it much stronger, eliminating a plot hole in the original story. If he’s being kept underground solely to have sex with the young women there, why the hell does he leave? In the story, he got bored waiting for it, but somehow for a guy his age, the promise of all the sex you can want would be a hell of an incentive to stay. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/4 "2008-06-27T19:01:35Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I have to admit that frequently the thrill of a good SF short is intellectual, with often a nifty idea at its core and a clever twist at the end. [/QUOTE] Last year’s [The Man From Earth](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/) tried to convey exactly that – a simple, yet original (and, at least to me, highly compelling) premise, thought through to its natural conclusion(s), and, despite basically just showing half a dozen people sitting around and talking for 90 minutes, largely succeeded (even though I didn’t care terribly much for the ‘twist’ at the end). Sorry if that was a little off topic (after all, this is a good SF story _filling_ a long SF movie), but I think the film just isn’t as well known as it deserves to be. 🙂 ---
**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:** [June 27, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/5 "2008-06-27T19:19:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Last year’s The Man From Earth tried to convey exactly that – a simple, yet original (and, at least to me, highly compelling) premise, thought through to its natural conclusion(s), and, despite basically just showing half a dozen people sitting around and talking for 90 minutes, largely succeeded (even though I didn’t care terribly much for the ‘twist’ at the end). > Sorry if that was a little off topic (after all, this is a good SF story filling a long SF movie), but I think the film just isn’t as well known as it deserves to be. Good to hear about it – I hadn’t encountered this before. It’s by Jerome Bixby, who wrote the short story “It’s a GOOD Life” (filmed as an episode of Twilight Zone, although not scripted by him). He also reworked the story for **Fantastic Voyage** , wrote the script for the excellent 1950s film **It! The Terror from Beyond Space** (from which I’m convinced Alien was ripped off), wrote the very underappreciated 1950s **The Lost Missile** , and lots of other stuff (including four original Star Trek episodes). Anything new by him (though he’s been dead for a decade – I assume the script’s been sitting on a shelf) is worth seeing. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/6 "2008-06-27T19:20:06Z")
A couple of other wonderful Philip K. Dick stories which have been stretched on the rack until they scream. _The Impostor_ (filmed as [Impostor](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0160399/) ) _Second Variety_ (filmed as [Screamers).](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114367/) ---
**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:** [June 27, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/7 "2008-06-27T19:40:28Z")
And of course the one you just mentioned in the thread on films better than the book - **The Day the Earth Stood Still** , from the short story _Farewell to the Master_. While I agree I found the movie stronger than the story, I have to say that I really did like Bates’ punchline ending and would have been pleased to see that in the movie as well. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/8 "2008-06-27T19:52:31Z")
> [@](#): > > A couple of other wonderful Philip K. Dick stories which have been stretched on the rack until they scream. > > The Impostor (filmed as Impostor ) > > Second Variety (filmed as Screamers). Don’t forget **Paycheck** [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338337/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338337/) Although I’m more inclined not to put this in that category. Unlike most other Dick adaptations, this one’s a lot closer than most (although **A Scanner Darkly** has got to win that prize) It’d be easy to put **Minority Report** in the same category, but it doesn’t fit. Even though I didn’t particularly care for it (and it twiosted the story pretty hasrd), thought and care went into making it, and it’s not the filler-puffed mess the other films I’m trying to point out. ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/9 "2008-06-27T20:03:41Z")
Well, **The Sentinel** was stretched out by Clarke and Kubrick to become **2001:A Space Odyssey.** ---
**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:** [June 27, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/10 "2008-06-27T20:36:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, The Sentinel was stretched out by Clarke and Kubrick to become 2001:A Space Odyssey. Yeah, but that’s an example of the GOOD way to do this that I gave in my OP. The problem is that there are so few of these, and most such films end up as atrociously padded and ultimately stupid. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/11 "2008-06-27T20:39:30Z")
(I still think the novella is the perfect length for SF, and it maps pretty well to a 1 1/2 to 2 hour film.) ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/12 "2008-06-27T20:52:46Z")
How about Henry Kuttner’s Mimsy Were The Borogroves turned into the movie **The Last Mimzy**? They kept the bunny rabbit from the future and the toys that taught them things and threw out everything else, including the flawless ending. Stoner hippie teachers? Government agents? Time portal to send DNA back to the future? Ugh. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/13 "2008-06-27T21:10:19Z")
> [@](#): > > How about Henry Kuttner’s Mimsy Were The Borogroves turned into the movie The Last Mimzy? They kept the bunny rabbit from the future and the toys that taught them things and threw out everything else, including the flawless ending. I just watched **Timescape** / **The Grand Tour** last night, based on “Vintage Season” by Catherine L. Moore, Kuttner’s wife. They had the essential story at the beginning, but then padded it out and extended it with the normal guy travelling in time as well to prevent the disasters, giving it a happy ending. I kinda like **The Last Mimzy** and **Tiomescape**. At least they’re truying to bring a higher class story to the screen, even if they feel compelled to make It All Turn Out Alright. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-sf-short-story-buried-in-long-sf-movie/454426/14 "2008-06-27T22:34:40Z")
_ **A.I.** _ was an over-long movie based on _Supertoys Last all Summer Long_, a short story that was like two pages long. They really should have ended the film underwater.