# The greatest sci-fi movie never made? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431 "2008-02-13T14:56:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/101 "2008-02-14T02:36:47Z")
Would Denzel Washington be too old for the role, do you think? No clue for Nimashet. Nor even Kosutic. Though I imagine it would be possible to role Pahner and Kosutic’s roles into one character. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/102 "2008-02-14T02:48:10Z")
How about E. E. “Doc” Smith’s _Lensman_ series? I can’t believe our friend **Qadgop** hasn’t dropped in to recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/103 "2008-02-14T02:59:17Z")
[QUOTE=Roadfood] To make it these days as a Sci Fi movie, it’s gotta have lottsa violence, light on the plot, heavy on the CGI effects. [/QUOTE] Then its time for Stackpoles “Return of Kerensky” trilogy from the battletech universe. Done well it would make transformers look like a couple neighborhood kids in a shoving match. Lots of likeable and dislikable charachters from both sides of the war and more than enough action and drama to fill 3-4 decent movies well. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/104 "2008-02-14T05:04:39Z")
[QUOTE=RiverRunner] [QUOTE=Morgyn] I wonder if The Shockwave Rider could be done, even though most of the tech it describes is already here or has been surpassed. [/QUOTE] Wow. I thought I was the only person on the planet who had read that. I think this is the first time I have ever seen it mentioned. [/QUOTE] What, anywhere? You’re kidding, right? Right? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/105 "2008-02-14T05:18:24Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] Actually, I loved that scene, and character. It’s Mike O’Neil I have troubles with. In case you haven’t figured it out, John Ringo’s works tend to be guilty pleasures for me. I keep reading, but… (shrug) [/QUOTE] I kind of like him myself. 🙂 I really like Ringo’s work, though I haven’t enjoyed the spin off series very much. [QUOTE=Der Trihs] Some good ideas here; I’d add Weber’s and Ringo’s Empire of Man books. Although they’d do better as a miniseries, or even a series if they could somehow get enough of a special effects budget. A troop of soldiers on a march across a jungle planet, giant four armed aliens, horrendous predators, political intrigue, cool weapons, clashes of armies; plenty of potential there. Plus, they can pick as hunky an actor as they like without violating the book; it’s even said in the book that he could play himself in a movie about him. [/QUOTE] Yeah…I liked that series to. 4 armed aliens with humans from a high tech society stranded on a hell planet…what’s not to like? It’s not really SciFi (well, actually I suppose it is), but what about Harry Turtledoves alternative history of WWII books? THAT could be pretty cool. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/106 "2008-02-14T06:04:35Z")
While I love the Legacy of the Aldenta stories (Mike O’Neil, Posleen) I think that [Through the Looking Glass](http://www.amazon.com/Into-Looking-Glass-John-Ringo/dp/B000MKYKFY/ref=pd_sim_b_img_48) would make a better movie. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/107 "2008-02-14T06:18:50Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] It’s not really SciFi (well, actually I suppose it is), but what about Harry Turtledoves alternative history of WWII books? THAT could be pretty cool. -XT [/QUOTE] Which ones? The WorldWar books - which could be great fun. The Featherstone books? Or the Derlavi books? I think he has more alt his WWII, but those are the three monster series that come to mind. All of which could be fun to see done visually, and all of which would have some major problems. The Featherstone books would be easiest, from a technical standpoint, but egads they’d be a tough sell - Lincoln, remembered both for having lost the Civil War _and_ for being a major supporter of Marx and Engalls; the idea of a socialist President, who happened to be stuck holding the stick when the music stops on the Roaring 20s; the hostile occupation of Canada and Deseret; and oh, just as an aside, a Hitler analogue in charge of the CSA. Complete with a Scarlett O’Hara analogue playing his Eva Braun. That’s going to go over soooo well. 😉 **Rick** , I agree that Through the Looking Glass would be easier to film and to script. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2008, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/108 "2008-02-14T07:13:18Z")
[QUOTE=bytheway] How about Niven’s [Inconstant Moon](http://homepage.ntlworld.com/adam.milner/books/inconstant_moon.htm) ? [/QUOTE] Wasn’t this already done as an episode of a TV show? ---
**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:** [February 14, 2008, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/109 "2008-02-14T07:16:35Z")
[QUOTE=Meurglys] And if _Jumper_ is a success, maybe they’ll do _Wildside_ by the same author… [/QUOTE] Or heck, maybe they’ll actually do **Jumper** itself, instead of the crappy rewrite the movie has become. (Assuming that the novelization that Gould did of the movie, “Jumper: Griffin’s Story,” is an accurate reflection of the movie.) Although I guess Griffin’s story lends itself to a movie better than Davy’s story did. **Wildside** would be incredibly awesome, though. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/110 "2008-02-14T07:29:04Z")
[QUOTE=chorpler] Or heck, maybe they’ll actually do **Jumper** itself, instead of the crappy rewrite the movie has become. (Assuming that the novelization that Gould did of the movie, “Jumper: Griffin’s Story,” is an accurate reflection of the movie.) Although I guess Griffin’s story lends itself to a movie better than Davy’s story did. **Wildside** would be incredibly awesome, though. [/QUOTE] As soon as I heard there would be a movie I knew it would require a serious rewrite. I mean, a book that talks about ME terrorists and planes and revenge and “trips” from the World Trade Towers managing to make it as a movie? But I liked **The Bourne Identity** though that was a departure from the book, so I’m keeping alive a small hope that I’ll like **Jumper** in spite of the wild differences. ---
**Author:** ![puppygod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@puppygod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puppygod)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/111 "2008-02-14T12:04:19Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] It might need some reconceptualizing, however. Kinda hard, nowadays, to sell the premise that the Earth is using the Moon as a **farm.** Or that the Lunar colony is thereby doomed to starvation because of a water deficit. Only way the Moon will ever be colonized on that scale is if there’s a way to make water out of local materials; which there probably is. [/QUOTE] I don’t think that would be a big problem. Just add explanation that with huge advances in genetic engineering almost everything - not just food, but also drugs, fuels, chemicals, even construction materials - are grown by modified crops. And demand for arable land much exceeds Earth capacity. I think that explanation like that would be quite reasonable - especially with all recent stories about biofuels and their economical effects. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/112 "2008-02-14T12:06:28Z")
[QUOTE=drachillix] Then its time for Stackpoles “Return of Kerensky” trilogy from the battletech universe. Done well it would make transformers look like a couple neighborhood kids in a shoving match. Lots of likeable and dislikable charachters from both sides of the war and more than enough action and drama to fill 3-4 decent movies well. [/QUOTE] I’d love to see that as well, unfortunately there’s too much to put in one film and would require a lot of backstory exposition (actually thinking about it maybe they could just do an opening sequence that sets the scene and leave the rest to wikipedia, hmmm…). Haven’t there been plans for there to be a battletech film for a while? Not sure it would be fixed on the Clans though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Walking\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90ced4/32.png) [@The\_Walking\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Walking_Dude)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/113 "2008-02-14T12:48:17Z")
I think Niven’s **Dream Park** and Foster’s **Midworld** would both make very good movies. Heinlein’s **Job: A Comedy of Justice** could also be quite wonderful, but I’m not sure whether that is strictly sci-fi or not. I’m not sure what you classify that book as, but I bet the movie would be hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/114 "2008-02-14T12:50:47Z")
Maybe I missed it – do I get to be the first one to mention “Microcosmic God”? How about Damon Knight’s “The Country of the Kind”? I liked the recent film version of _I am Legend_, but I’d still like to see it filmed a lot closer to the book. There was a truly crappy Sci-Fi Channel version, but imagine a good movie of Riverworld. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/115 "2008-02-14T14:09:27Z")
[QUOTE=mbh] …How about a nice, brainless, action flick with great visuals? I keep hearing rumors about a _John Carter of Mars_ film in pre-pre-pre-production. Mars, Venus, Pellucidar…any of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ worlds would make good eye-candy. [/QUOTE] S M Stirling’s _[The Sky People](http://www.amazon.com/Sky-People-S-M-Stirling/dp/0765353768/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202997488&sr=8-1)_ is set on an alternate Venus. Not the blasted hellhole that science has revealed in our solar system–but a steaming jungle planet, stocked with creatures from Earth prehistory. Pterodactyls _and_ sabertooths (saberteeth?)! Plus scary ape-men & at least one beautiful warrior princess! The explorers are astronauts & cosmonauts–all that Cold War money went into a real Space Race. The plot is a bit pulpy & not deep, but somewhat less gory that Stirling’s usual stuff. The visuals would _rock_! The sequel–_In the Courts of the Crimson Kings_–comes out in March. Set on Mars, of course! ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/116 "2008-02-14T14:24:38Z")
Another vote for Clarke’s CHILDHOOD’S END Wilson/Shea’s ILLUMINATUS Ayn Rand’s ATLAS SHRUGGED (motor that runs on atmospheric static electricity, a society hidden by electrical mirage, sonic death-ray- it qualifies as Sci-Fi) and/or ANTHEM C.S. Lewis’s SPACE TRILOGY (tho I’ve never made it through the first one, I love II & III). ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/117 "2008-02-14T15:01:43Z")
[QUOTE=chorpler] Wasn’t this already done as an episode of a TV show? [/QUOTE] Yes, I believe it was an episode of Outer Limits. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/118 "2008-02-14T15:07:09Z")
[QUOTE=Morgyn] What, anywhere? You’re kidding, right? Right? :eek: [/QUOTE] No, I’m not kidding. I only recently started dropping into Cafe Society more than once in a blue moon, though. I take it that it comes up in here from time to time? I read that one ages ago but still retain fond memories of it. Considering the state of my memory, that in itself is a good recommendation. RR ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/119 "2008-02-14T15:18:32Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] C.S. Lewis’s SPACE TRILOGY (tho I’ve never made it through the first one, I love II & III). [/QUOTE] Let’s see how well Narnia does, you might get your wish. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/120 "2008-02-14T15:21:17Z")
Oooo, oooo, another vote for both Haldeman’s _The Forever War_ and Pohl’s _Gateway_. Those could be wicked cool if they were done right. Joe Haldeman’s _Tool of the Trade_, a brilliant, taut, semi-satirical Cold War scifi espionage thriller about mind control, would also make an awesome movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431.md?page=7)