# What science fiction stories could be made into good low budget movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816 "2012-05-13T23:48:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/21 "2012-05-14T05:57:09Z")
Several of these have been done: _Nightfall_,\* Inconstant Moon\*, _The Puppet Masters_, _A Boy and His Dog_, _Flowers for Algernon_, and _The Screwfly Solution_. Not necessarily done well, mind you. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/22 "2012-05-14T06:18:14Z")
> [@glee](#): > > - [‘A Boy and His Dog’](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Boy_and_His_Dog) (I think this one has been filmed already though) Get thee to a video store or Netflix or Amazon! It’s not only been filmed. It’s definitively been filmed. And that’s Harlan’s own thought on the matter! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/23 "2012-05-14T06:33:38Z")
Heinlein’s _All You Zombies_. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/24 "2012-05-14T08:05:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Been done.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charly) [To death.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_and_Algernon) ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/25 "2012-05-14T08:16:30Z")
_The Moon Moth_ by Jack Vance. I’ve been waiting for years for one of Vance’s works to be translated on to the screen. One of his non-SF books was made into a TV movie some years back (_Bad Ronald_) but I don’t believe any of his SF works have been filmed. (Although, knowing Hollywood, maybe that’s a blessing.) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/26 "2012-05-14T11:39:50Z")
Harry Harrison’s novel _Technicolor Time Machine_. For those who don’t know, it’s about a film company using a time machine to create a blockbuster movie in record short time. I’ve always thought it would make a good film itself. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/27 "2012-05-14T12:16:58Z")
I’ve long thought that Fredric Brown’s _Arena_ could, and should, be filmed. It’s been ripped off many times, and, although an episode of _Star Trek_ was supposedly based on it, it has been said that they simply bought the right because the telreplay they were writing already resembled it so much. Certainly what they ended up with was related to, but most enphatically was _not_ Brown’s story. With CGI, you could do a helluva job on this. In the right hands, you could make a great flick, without the crutch of voiceovers. I think the way to go about making a good SF movie to to make it from a short story – most novels have too much background, or too much going on, to compress it all into a film. On the other hand, Hollywood tends to take a simple, sdtraightforward story and eviscerate it, dumb it down, then pad it out. Donald A Wollheim’s clever short story _Mimic_ became a bloated film of the same name that lost the punch it had as a story. But _The Day the Earth Stood Still_, _They Live_, _The Last Mimzy_ and others started out as short stories. I’d have to look through my lists again, but I think that lots of stories by Fredric Brown, Robert Sheckley\*, Arthur C. Clarke, Asimov, and Niven could be turned into good films. Heck, you could build an entire series out of the “Bar Tales” of Clarke, Pratt/de Camp, Niven, Robinson, et al. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/28 "2012-05-14T14:15:04Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > _The Moon Moth_ by Jack Vance. I’ve been waiting for years for one of Vance’s works to be translated on to the screen. Not a film, but there’s a graphic novel of The Moon Moth due later this month, **aldi** … His story _The Brains of Earth_ would have made a great ‘B’ movie. Could still work today, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/29 "2012-05-14T17:24:52Z")
“Liar” by Isaac Asimov. “The Mountains of Mourning” by Lois McMaster Bujold “A Pail of Air” by Fritz Leiber “Alpha Ralpha Boulevard” by Cordwainer Smith "The Country of the Kind"by Damon Knight ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/30 "2012-05-14T17:44:05Z")
Several of Cordwainer Smith’s stories, although I would probably disagree with **Dendarii Dame** on _Alpha Ralpha Boulevard_. I can’t see how you could do that one justice without a sizable budget. _Scanners Live In Vain_ would probably be my first choice, although _The Lady who Sailed the Soul_ and _Mother Hittons Littul Kittons_ could both work without needing huge budgets. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/31 "2012-05-14T18:30:58Z")
I would love to see Venus on the Half-Shell made into a movie, if only to see how someone would tackle a cod piece/viagra based navigation system on screen. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/32 "2012-05-14T22:33:02Z")
**The Jaunt** by Stephen King. I’d love to see a better, updated adaptation on **Flowers For Algernon.** Someone like Aronofsky directing. I rented Charly and was highly disappointed. It didn’t date well at all, and even though he won the Oscar, i didn’t think his acting was all that great. Also they could’ve stuck closer to the book. It didn’t have anywhere near the emotional impact the book did for me. **The Cold Equations** – by Tom Goodwin. And another thumbs up for **A Pail of Air.** although, you might need to expand the acts a bit, it’d need more meat for a 2 hr. movie, I think. Maybe more exploration into the airless earth? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/33 "2012-05-14T22:35:34Z")
Oh, and of course **The Long Walk,** by King (Bachman). ---
**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:** [May 14, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/34 "2012-05-14T22:48:33Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > **The Jaunt** by Stephen King. > > I’d love to see a better, updated adaptation on **Flowers For Algernon.** Someone like Aronofsky directing. I rented Charly and was highly disappointed. It didn’t date well at all, and even though he won the Oscar, i didn’t think his acting was all that great. Also they could’ve stuck closer to the book. It didn’t have anywhere near the emotional impact the book did for me. > > **The Cold Equations** – by Tom Goodwin. > > And another thumbs up for **A Pail of Air.** although, you might need to expand the acts a bit, it’d need more meat for a 2 hr. movie, I think. Maybe more exploration into the airless earth? There have been three versions of The Cold Equations \*\* done on TV. I’ve only seen one of them, but they did a halfway decent job. > [@](#): > > AdaptationsThe story has been adapted for television at least three times: as part of the 1962 British anthology series Out of This World; as part of the 1985–1989 revival of The Twilight Zone (“The Cold Equations”) and again in 1996 as a made-for-TV movie on the Sci-Fi Channel. The story was also adapted into an episode of the radio program X Minus One in 1955, an episode of the radio program Exploring Tomorrow in 1958, and for “Faster Than Light” on CBC Radio’s Sunday Showcase in September 2002 by Joe Mahoney (hosted by science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer). In the X Minus One broadcast the girl was trying to visit her husband to make amends for an affair she had. > **[The Cold Equations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cold_Equations)** > > "The Cold Equations" is a science fiction short story by American writer Tom Godwin (1915–1980), first published in Astounding Magazine in August 1954. In 1970, the Science Fiction Writers of America selected it as one of the best science-fiction short stories published before 1965, and it was therefore included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929–1964. It has been widely anthologized and dramatized. > In the year 2178, a small Emergency Dispatch Ship (EDS) is launched from the i... ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/35 "2012-05-14T23:13:40Z")
Bester’s _Fondly Fahrenheit_ and/or _Time is the Traitor_. _Shipwreck_ by Charles Logan (though it is pretty downbeat). _High Eight_ by Keith Roberts (though whether it is SF or a ghost story is debatable). _Light of Other Days_ by Bob Shaw. Any or all of Ballard’s _Vermillion Sands_ stories. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/36 "2012-05-14T23:32:42Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > There have been three versions of The Cold Equations \*\* done on TV. I’ve only seen one of them, but they did a halfway decent job. > > [The Cold Equations - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cold_Equations) Huh, I thought I’ve seen all of the Twilight Zone reboots, but somehow that one escaped me. I kind of figured it had to have been done many times. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/37 "2012-05-15T03:19:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Why would you need to hide the main character? He’s a normal-looking human. In fact, most of the characters are just normal-looking humans, with at most funny clothes. Because the location where he narrates is a twist. You do it as a voiceover and show the incidents, then show him finishing up his story live. Richard Wilson’s “Mother to the World” would work, as would Racoona Sheldon’s “The Screwfly Solution.” ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/38 "2012-05-15T03:49:50Z")
> [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](#): > > _Light of Other Days_ by Bob Shaw… Some of my favorite short stories have been mentioned here. (Forgot how much I loved Niven’s _Gil Hamilton_ stories… a psychic detective and black market organlegging). And I read _Light of Other Days_ at a short story party. Which brings up a valid point: a lot of these would make a good short film. But if you tried to stretch them out to 90+ minutes… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/39 "2012-05-15T04:15:55Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Oh, and of course **The Long Walk,** by King (Bachman). After what happened to _The Running Man,_ I’m not sure I want Hollywood going anywhere near Bachmann any more. Besides, they’d **never** have the guts nowadays to film _Rage._ ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816/40 "2012-05-15T04:39:08Z")
George O. Smith, Highways in Hiding. Very little required except some stunt work. Tim Powers, Declare. A little CGI required for the few scenes with Djinn, but not much. A very long book, however, might have to compress it a bit. Eric Frank Russell, Sinister Barrier. Would need some CGI Vitons, but they would not be difficult. John Crowley, Little Big. Almost no special effects needed. Just some period costuming for the early days, but might be able to write around that. It’s also a very long book would work GREAT as a miniseries. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-stories-could-be-made-into-good-low-budget-movies/621816.md?page=3)