# Starlog and Argo/Lord of Light **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 9, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starlog-and-argo-lord-of-light/690409 "2014-06-09T15:00:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starlog-and-argo-lord-of-light/690409/1 "2014-06-09T15:00:02Z")
I watched Argo last night, and was wondering about the film the CIA appropriated for the cover story. _Argo_ was supposed to be this huge ($50M) production based on a Hugo winning novel. The trade papers all reported on it. It was a big deal. So I thought, did _Starlog_ magazine have any preproduction info, or articles? They covered anything SF related, even if the connection was tenuous at best. Like, if the guy that played Ensign Noname in a Star Trek episode was now being cast in a movie about corn farming in Yemen, it got a mention. Starlog had tons of blurbs (and some long articles) about movies that never got out of the planning stage - surely they had something on _Argo_, right? I checked my back issues from late 1979 until mid 1981 (to allow for the time lag in printing). I found all of two mentions, and both of them were related to the scandal of “Sci-Fi Land”, the theme park that was supposed to be based on the sets left over after Argo had finished. It seems the people behind the theme park were running a con and stole people’s money. So, my question - as I was surprised by the lack of coverage, I ask, does anyone remember any talk of the movie in late 1979? I never read the book, so I might not have noticed, but did any fans out there hear about the movie and were eagerly awaiting it? If so, were you disappointed that it never got made? And I wonder why it never got a mention in Starlog. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starlog-and-argo-lord-of-light/690409/2 "2014-06-09T16:43:59Z")
Probably because the majority of the stuff in Starlog was sent in by publicists or the people involved. It’s not like they had a crack squad of investigative journalists ready to swoop down on every rumor. The CIA probably figured that nobody in Tehran read the rag and didn’t bother to plant anything there. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starlog-and-argo-lord-of-light/690409/3 "2014-06-09T22:04:30Z")
If it had been made, it would have been the best Zelazny book ever turned into a movie. Instead, we get “Damnation Alley.” I guess that really doesn’t answer your question, though. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starlog-and-argo-lord-of-light/690409/4 "2014-06-09T22:15:24Z")
Think what someone creative (insane) could do with _Doorways In the Sand_. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starlog-and-argo-lord-of-light/690409/5 "2014-06-09T22:31:17Z")
Or for that matter, _Creatures of Light and Darkness._ ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starlog-and-argo-lord-of-light/690409/6 "2014-06-09T22:53:00Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Think what someone creative (insane) could do with _Doorways In the Sand_. It’s my dream to make that into a movie! ---
**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:** [June 10, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starlog-and-argo-lord-of-light/690409/7 "2014-06-10T00:27:38Z")
I tried to get the Dope to cast the movie a few years back, but not much interest… > **["Argo" the real movie](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=672343)** > > If the movie Argo had really been made, would it have been any good IYHO?