# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/121 "2008-02-14T15:40:17Z")
Well, what about my namesake **Icerigger** by Alan Dean Foster. A planet with frozen oceans where the natives use sailing ships on skis. A clipper ship with airfoils and massive masts with billowing sails flying along on skis. What’s not to love. Again, Foster’s **Nor Crystal Tears** A first contact story from the perspective of insect like aliens. I would love it see this filmed because nothing like it has ever been done. Could audiences relate to giant bugs who are the protagonists of the story? Their whistle/click language in subtitles, it would be an ambitious film. ---
**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, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/122 "2008-02-14T16:10:13Z")
I guess _The Man Who Folded Himself_ is possible, and time travel stories are always interesting – but I’m afraid they’d get squeamish about the main character having so much sex with both himself and his sister from an alternate timeline. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/123 "2008-02-14T16:17:03Z")
[QUOTE=aldiboronti] Inspired by [this thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=455485) My candidate would be a five-book series, The Demon Princes by Jack Vance, where Kirth Gersen tracks down the five so-called Demon Princes that killed his parents: Attel Malagate the Woe, Kokor Hekkus, Viole Falushe, Lens Larque and Howard Allan Treesong. One of the great classics of science fiction, I’ve always thought it would make a wonderful cinematic experience in the right hands. I did hear that Vance has a distrust of Hollywood, for which one can easily forgive him. I live in hope though. [/QUOTE] My favorite SciFi series, and I thought I was the only one. If they made the movies on a Star Wars budget it would be great, otherwise, not so great. I’d pay just to see Smade’s planet. ---
**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, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/124 "2008-02-14T16:22:15Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] Which ones? The WorldWar books - which could be great fun. The Featherstone books? Or the Derlavi books [/QUOTE] I had forgotten that the Featherstone books had gotten up through WWII as well. I always think of that series as starting in WWI and forget that the story progressed through the inter-war years up through the end of WWII. I meant the In the Balance books (first series)…I think that would make a killer series of movies if they could do them right. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/125 "2008-02-14T16:28:35Z")
I’m going to show my age, and say “Halo” I am prepared for a big old-fogey verbal thrashing in response. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/126 "2008-02-14T16:34:42Z")
[QUOTE=Mosier] I’m going to show my age, and say “Halo” I am prepared for a big old-fogey verbal thrashing in response. [/QUOTE] Hey, “The Rock” needs to work, too. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/127 "2008-02-14T16:39:54Z")
[QUOTE=Mosier] I’m going to show my age, and say “Halo” I am prepared for a big old-fogey verbal thrashing in response. [/QUOTE] [It’s coming](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464037/). (Why did I know this even before I searched?) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/128 "2008-02-14T16:46:36Z")
Could it ever make it as a movie? hard to see how-the plot spans centuries…and Asimov never deined a lot about how things worked in the distant future. However, i’d cast sean connery as hari Selden; maybe Sing as gen. Bel riose. ---
**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, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/129 "2008-02-14T16:47:56Z")
Who would play the Mule? -XT ---
**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, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/130 "2008-02-14T16:51:06Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] Who would play the Mule? [/QUOTE] The same guy who played Smeagol/Gollum, I always thought. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/131 "2008-02-14T16:54:39Z")
[QUOTE=Bill Door] How about E. E. “Doc” Smith’s _Lensman_ series? I can’t believe our friend **Qadgop** hasn’t dropped in to recommend it. [/QUOTE] There was an [anime adaptation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lensman#Other_appearances) in 1984 but it was only loosely based on the books. However: > [@](#): > > In 2008, Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures began negotiations with the author’s estate for rights to film the Lensman series. The negotiations are for an 18-month renewable option. Imagine Entertainment was founded in 1986 by Ron Howard.[3] ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/132 "2008-02-14T17:00:11Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] 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! [/QUOTE] The prologue to _ITCOTCK_ – you can read it and six sample chapters [here](http://www.smstirling.com/) – has SF authors at an SF con watching the live TV broadcast from the first Mars lander in 1962. The venerable [Leigh Brackett](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leigh_Brackett) exults: > [@](#): > > “I knew it!” Leigh shouted, punching her fist into the air. “I told you sons of… sons what it would be like years ago!” And, come to think of it, some of Brackett’s Golden-Age Solar System stories might make good movies – in an alternate-universe kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/133 "2008-02-14T17:18:15Z")
[The Ballad of Halo Jones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_Jones) would make an amazing miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/134 "2008-02-14T23:07:59Z")
Still holding out hope for an [Elric movie.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=448396) But I’ve just about given up on ever seeing a [live-action adaptation of _The Last Unicorn._](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Unicorn#Continent_Films) (These are both fantasy rather than SF, but you’ll find the books shelved in the SF section of your bookstore, so . . .) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/135 "2008-02-14T23:10:38Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] Who would play the Mule? -XT [/QUOTE] [Francis.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_the_talking_mule) ---
**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, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/136 "2008-02-14T23:13:47Z")
Wrong kind of Mule. 🙂 -XT ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/137 "2008-02-14T23:15:25Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] Wilson/Shea’s ILLUMINATUS [/QUOTE] Now **that** would be a challenge! (In particular, keeping faithful to the late-'60s-early-'70s cultural milieu – a time when both social revolution and fascist crackdown appeared real possibilities to many – without appearing hopelessly dated. And working all that utterly indispensable philosophy and historical stuff into the dialogue and/or exposition without glazing over the eyes of the audience. The special effects, OTOH, would be easy.) ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/138 "2008-02-15T00:51:31Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I’d love to make Fredric Brown’s **Arena** into a movie. It’s simple enough, and it could be done AMAZINGLy well with CGI. [/QUOTE] You mean you didn’t like it as a _Star Trek_ episode? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/139 "2008-02-15T00:59:15Z")
Ok, there are a lot of really good stories that could be made into movies, but the thread asks not for good ones, even great ones, but the “greatest.” That has to mean the best Science Fiction story that would survive transformation into a really good movie, that hasn’t had it done, yet. I would offer an unusual selection: “Nightfall,” by Asimov, but I see it’s been done as a couple of low-budget cheeseys. ☹ I’d have to go with _Stranger in a Strange Land_. It’s got religion, sex, violence and sex. Movies thrive on that. And it has a pretty good story, which might even manage not to be screwed up. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431/140 "2008-02-15T01:31:17Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] I’d have to go with _Stranger in a Strange Land_. It’s got religion, sex, violence and sex. Movies thrive on that. And it has a pretty good story, which might even manage not to be screwed up. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Unfortunately, way past its expiration date. I remember seeing an ad looking for a Stranger screenwriter in 1967. Back then, it would have been cool. While I like the idea of Lensmen movies, how about **Skylark of Space**? A lot more episodic, a much stronger and continuing villain, and the invention is even more believable in the present day than in 1919. I’d like to see deCamp’s **Lest Darkness Fall**. You can use the sets and costumes left over from **Rome**. As for Lewis, I can maybe see **Out of the Silent Planet** , but I can’t see **Perelandra** being good cinema. I forget if the Eve figure is naked all the time (I read it a long time ago) but even that wouldn’t help enough. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-sci-fi-movie-never-made/437431.md?page=8)