What SF would you like to see on the big screen? I still can’t figure out why Harry Harrison’s The Stainless Steel Rat hasn’t been filmed yet - light, fun, strong characters {a stylishly roguish hero and his sexy nemesis}, great settings, lots of action, steam-powered robots, and the book practically is a screenplay. Cast George Clooney as Slippery Jim, Angelina Jolie as, well, Angelina, a nice cameo for Sean Connery as Inskipp, and I can’t see it failing.
Starship Troopers, not done as either a)a bad movie, or b) a very clever self parody. (Depending on how you see it.)
John Christopher’s Tripod Trilogy. (Yeah, the BBC did a version, but one could probably do bigger and better.)
Anything by Cyril Kornbluth.
We’ve been here many times before, so I’ll re-iterate:
The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester. I still think the opening, with Gully Foyle trapped in his coffin of an air locker aboard the derelict spaceship, seeing a passing ship, signalling to it, and having it ignore him is one of the best and most cinmatic of opening for an SF movie. In the right hands, this would be wonderful.
The Demolished Man , also by Bester. This won the very first Hugo award, and deserved it. Again, in the right hands the telepath party woulsd be ground-breaking and beautiful. (Although I can easily see it becoming crap in the wrong hands)
Arena by Fredric Brown. It’s a short story, I know, but you can properly treat it if you give it a whole movie length. And, although it’s been ripped off and supposed adapted for Star Trek, it’s never been done right and accurately. It’s about time.
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. Ignore the damned sequels. and, yes, this would be a visual and sense-of-wonder film. Not a lotta plot or character development. But it would be great.
I, Robot by Isaaac asimov. The Harlan Ellison script, that actually adapts the book, instead of stealing the title.
Nightfall by Asimov – It’s been done badly as a movie twice. It might be better if they actually kept to the damned story.
Double Star by Heinlein, or maybe The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It’s about time someone did Heinlein the honor of adapting his work straight.
First, one that C.S. Lewis actually wished to see as a movie- Arthur C. Clarke’s CHILDHOOD’S END.
Also~
Lewis’s SPACE TRILOGY
Heinlein’s STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND
I think The Stars My Destination would make a great animated film. It seems like a lot of the scenes would work better in animation than in live action. Cel animation, not digital, of course.
If I could make one movie, I’d want that movie to be an adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s Martian Time Slip, and I’d want it to star John Tuturro as Jack Bohlen and Gary Sinise as Arnie Kott. Dick’s Dr. Bloodmoney would also make a fine film, but first things first.
Ringworld. As long as we don’t have to cast Jackie Chan as Louis Wu
Permutation City., as long as it is nothing whatsoever like Lawnmower Man.
Weapon by Robert Mason - it has already been made into a movie called Solo (sort of a conglomeration of the book and its sequel), but it was inexcusibly complete, utter shite and needs to be redone properly.
Haruki Murakami’s Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
Naaahhh. It might be a matter of personal taste, but I’d much rather see this as a movie with good CGI effects. An animated feature would seem too unimpressive and cheap. But a live-action movie of this would blow me away.
YMMV
Heinlein’s juveniles would make great animated films. An animated movie version of “Have Space Suit - Will Travel”, or “Starman Jones”, or “Citizen of the Galaxy” would be awesome.
I’d also love to see an animated movie of a collection of Heinlein short stories. Something akin to ‘Heavy Metal’, with Heinlein’s future history tying the stories together.
Citizen of the Galaxy would also be a good live action movie.
Let Peter Jackson handle Asimov’s “FOUNDATION” series. Make 5 movies, take 10 years. Skip the two prequels as they contain too many spoilers.
Niven and Pournelle’s Lucifer’s Hammer (or even Footfall) would have made a much better movie than Armageddon or Deep Impact. Harry the Mailman would have been a great character, I could see Jeff Daniels in the role.
Not Ringworld, but The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton. You can sell a cop movie easier than an SF extravaganza. **Lucifer’s Hammer ** would work better than Footfall, I think. Not so much cutting away to the ship, for example.
Hell, I’d settle for a movie that did the novel justice. I don’t care which novel. Just don’t think that because you are writing the screenplay, you know better than the author. I fact, there should be a law against such crimes as **I, Robot ** and Starship Troopers.
John Brunner’s The Sheep Look Up, though I realize how unlikely it is for anyone to finance a long and extraordinarily depressing movie that only I would go and see. Maybe they could figure out a “love conquers all” ending for it.
To be honest I’ve always wanted to see film of “…The Gods Themselves…”
Hey, we’ve got all this CGI technology. Could we not put it to use making squares and triangles into interesting interesting characters?
Wasn’t that what the story was inviting us to do? I dunno, I think it would be an interesting challenge.
I’d like to see a movie version of Eric Frank Russell’s Sinister Barrier. A thriller/action movie, although it might bring out the tinfoil hat brigade with some of the subject of the story. Alternately, from the same author, an adaptation of his Wasp book, another thriller but with comic potential.
The only sf books I’d like to see done are the ones with the absolute minimum of special effects and maximum of characterization.
The one I think has the best potential to be a good movie is by Roger McBride Allen:
How about a version of Solaris that doesn’t suck?
One that stays true to the theme of the book, which is about the difficulty in understanding something that is truly alien. One that is not sex lies and videotape in space, or an incomprably boring art film.
Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game and Iain M. Banks Consider Phlebas.
William Gibson’s “Neuromancer.”
John Steakley’s “Armor.”
Walter Jon Williams’ “Days of Atonement.”
Ender’s Game, by OSC.
The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
I, Robot, Asimov.
The Hobbit.
Childhood’s End.
Oh! It’s frustrating me I can’t think of anymore. There are so many!
The **2001 ** series, a good movie, not a bad one with horrible 70’s clothing. And let’s tone down some of the annoying characters from the later books.
**Roundevous with Rama ** series is good, even the sequels. Let’s kill the absolutely horrible depressing ending.
I couldn’t get into this thread fast enough. I’ll be back.