rec.arts.sf.movies Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
rec.arts.sf.movies Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Subject: rec.arts.sf.movies Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies,rec.arts.movies.past-films,rec.arts.sf.misc
Last change:
12 Feb 2009
Changed:
20. Quatermass films
Contents:
Part 1: General Information
1. Abbreviations
a. General
b. SF specific
2. Anime
3. Can the X beat the Y?
4. Exposure to vacuum (and helmet lights)
5. Frequent subjects
6. Isaac Asimov movies
7. Websites for further SF movie info
8. What movies are about X?
a. Alien Invasion
b. Alternate History
c. Artificial Intelligence
d. Cyberpunk
e. Cyborgs
f. Dinosaurs
g. ESP/Telepathy
h. First Contact
i. Genetic Engineering
j. Killer asteroids/comets
k. Magical Realism
l. Mars/Martians
m. Post Apocalypse
n. Robots / Androids
o. Time Travel
p. Urban Fantasy
q. Virtual Reality
Part 2: Specific Movies
1. ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION
a. Jamie Lee Curtis' role
b. Sequel
c. FAQ
2. AKIRA
3. ALIEN, ALIENS, etc.
a. Alien v. Predator
b. Names of ships
c. FAQ
4. BACK TO THE FUTURE
a. Cute gimmicks
b. FAQ
5. BLADERUNNER
a. Deckard a replicant?
b. Possible sequel
c. FAQ
6. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
a. What does the title mean?
7. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE 3RD KIND
a. Original
b. Different versions
8. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
a. What is that famous phrase?
9. DUNE
a. David Lynch film - Rumored 7-hour Director's Cut
b. Telefilm
10. FORBIDDEN PLANET
a. Original
b. Possible remake
11. HEAVY METAL
a. Sequel?
12. THE LAST STARFIGHTER
a. CGI forerunner
13. LATHE OF HEAVEN
14. LOGAN'S RUN
a. Original
b. Possible remake
15. LORD OF THE RINGS
a. Animated versions
b. Live action version
16. MAD MAX
a. Why was it dubbed?
b. Where can I get an undubbed version?
c. Sequels
d. FAQ
17. METROPOLIS
a. Different versions
b. Music of
c. FAQs
18. PLANET OF THE APES
a. Original
b. Remake
c. Was Leo on Earth the whole time?
d. What's up with the ending?
e. Sequel
f. How did Boulle's book end?
19. PREDATOR
a. What story is it based on?
20. Quatermass films
a. Various films
21. ROLLERBALL
a. Original
b. Remake
22. STAR TREK
a. Trek newsgroup
b. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
c. Next Trek film?
23. STAR WARS
a. Original film
b. New releases
24. STARSHIP TROOPERS
a. Power armor
25. THE TERMINATOR
a. Harlan Ellison's credit/lawsuit
b. Sequels
c. FAQ
26. TRON
a. Original
b. Possible sequel
27. 12 MONKEYS
a. What film was it based on?
b. What did the ending mean?
28. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
a. Film v. novel
b. HAL v. IBM
c. Cinerama
d. Sequel
29. WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT
a. Who voiced Jessica Rabbit?
b. Sequel?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
rec.arts.sf.movies is a newsgroup devoted to discussions of science
fiction, horror, and fantasy movies. It is a high-volume newsgroup and
this article is intended to help reduce the number of unnecessary
postings, thereby making it more useful and enjoyable to everyone.
If you have not already done so, please read the articles in
news.announce.newusers. They contain a great deal of useful
information about network etiquette and convention.
Before we begin, two pieces of net.etiquette. Both of these are
mentioned in news.announce.newusers, but since they are so frequently
violated, and at least one of them is particularly relevant to this
group, we mention them here:
SPOILER WARNINGS: Many people feel that much of the enjoyment of a
film is ruined if they know certain things about it, especially when
those things are surprise endings or mysteries. On the other hand,
they also want to know whether or not a film is worth seeing, or they
may be following a particular thread of conversation where such
information may be revealed. The solution to this is to put the words
SPOILER in your header, or in the text of your posting. You can also
put a ctl-L character in the *first* column if you are using rn. Some
people think that spoiler warnings are not necessary. We don't
understand why, and do not want to discuss it. Use your best judgment.
There is also a FAQ list posted to rec.arts.movies.misc which covers
more general topics and includes the location of many useful
databases. And finally, there is a group, rec.arts.movies.reviews,
that carries reviews of both SF and non-SF movies.
Please keep in mind two points:
1. Always remember that there is a live human being at the
other end of the wires. In other words, please write your
replies with the same courtesy you would use in talking to
someone face-to-face.
2. Try to recognize humor and irony in postings. Tone of
voice does not carry in ASCII print, and postings are often
snapped off quickly, so that humorous intent may not be
obvious. More destructive and vicious arguments have been
caused by this one fact of net existence than any other. It
will help if satiric/ironic/humorous comments are marked with
the "smiley face," :-)
Part 1:
1. Abbreviations
a. General
AFAIK -- "As Far As I Know"
BTW -- "By the way"
CG -- "Computer Graphics"
CGI -- "Computer Generated Imagery"
DVD -- "Digital Video Disc" (replacement for laserdiscs)
FAQ -- "Frequently Asked Questions"
FTL -- "Faster than light"
FWIW -- "For What It's Worth"
FX -- "Effects" (see SFX / VFX)
FYI -- "For your information"
IIRC -- "If I remember/recall correctly"
IMDB -- "Internet Movie Database" (www.imdb.com)
IMHO -- "In my humble (honest) opinion"
LBX -- "Letterbox" (widescreen format)
LD -- "Laserdisc"
P&S -- "Pan & Scan" (inferior full frame TV format of
widescreen films)
ROFL -- "Rolling on the floor, laughing"
ROTF -- "Rolling on the floor"
ROT-13 -- "Rotate 13" (a method for scrambling
messages)
SE -- "Special Edition"
SFX -- "Special Effects"
TPTB -- "The Powers That Be"
VFX -- "Visual Effects"
YMMV -- "your mileage may vary"
wrt -- "with respect to" or "with regard to"
b. SF Specific
ACC -- "Arthur C. Clarke"
AI -- "Artificial Intelligence"
B5 -- "Babylon Five"
BR -- "Blade Runner" (see DADOES)
BTTF -- "Back to the Future"
CE3K -- "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"
D&D -- "Dungeons & Dragons"
DADOES -- "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
P. K. Dick novel, basis for Blade Runner
EMP -- "Electromagnetic Pulse"
FTL -- "Faster Than Light"
ID4 -- "Independence Day"
LiS -- "Lost in Space"
LOTR -- "Lord of the Rings"
MST3K -- "Mystery Science Theatre 3000"
ObSF -- "Obligatory Science Fiction reference"
POTA -- "Planet of the Apes"
RAH -- "Robert Anson Heinlein"
RASF -- "rec.arts.sf.written"
RASFM -- "rec.arts.sf.movies"
RPG -- "Role Playing Game" (like Dungeons & Dragons)
STL -- "Slower Than Light"
ST: TAS -- "Star Trek: The Animated Series"
ST: TNG -- "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
ST: TOS -- "Star Trek: The Original Series"
T2 -- "Terminator 2: Judgment Day"
TNG -- "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
TOS -- "The Original Series" (referring to original TV
shows)
2. Anime; what is it?
"Anime" is the name given to Japanese animated films. Examples include
AKIRA, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, GHOST IN THE SHELL, and hundreds more.
Since they are largely sf/fantasy films, anime is not strictly
off-topic for rec.arts.sf.movies, but there are anime newsgroups
devoted specifically to the art form.
3. Can the X beat the Y?
--where X and Y are mighty ships or alien
races from different space opera movies/series.
These kinds of discussions are fairly pointless.
Please keep them off the net.
4. Exposure to vacuum (and helmet lights)
"In OUTLAND and TOTAL RECALL, people exposed to vacuum promptly
explode. In 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, a few seconds' exposure to vacuum
doesn't bother one at all. Which is right?"
This hasn't occurred in real life, but there have been experiments
where animals, or parts of a person's body, were exposed to vacuum;
these experiments happened before any of these films were made. 2001
was right; OUTLAND and TOTAL RECALL ignored the known facts. A full
discussion of this can be found in the sci.space FAQL. (Someone also
mentioned that in OUTLAND Connery wears a spacesuit that leaves some
parts of his arm uncovered. Somone else mentioned that the lights on
Connery's spacesuit are *inside* the glass faceplate, making it
extremely unclear how he was able to see where he was going.
J. Clarke added, "I recall [that] an ongoing problem with movies
involving space suits is getting adequate lighting on the actor's
face. One solution to the problem is to put lights inside the helmet--
this method was also used on the original Battlestar Galactica TV
series IIRC." Jack Bohn responded, "The old BSG did have lights a
round the face of the helmet, but they had no glass faceplate to cause
reflections. (That's how one cheap old sf movie did it, with no glass
in the helmets and hope the audience didn't notice.))
Many science-related SF questions are discussed in the
rec.arts.sf.science newsgroup. The FAQ can be found at:
http://people.netscape.com/treitel/rass/qdfaq.html
5. Frequent subjects
Some subjects have been discussed numerous times in this group. Please
consider carefully before starting discussions on these topics.
a. Casting your favorite book as a movie.
b. The Ten Best SF Movies
c. What SF books would make good movies and, conversely,
why SF movies from books are usually not very good.
6. Isaac Asimov movies
Several of Asimov's stories and novels have been turned into films and
TV shows.
a. "Bicentennial Man"
A faithful adaptation was released in 1999, starring Robin
Williams.
b. THE CAVES OF STEEL & THE NAKED SUN
Along with a number of other Asimov stories and books, the Lije
Bailey and R. Daneel Olivaw books were filmed by the BBC as TV
movies in the late 1960s.
c. FOUNDATION
It is rumored that all of the Foundation novels are in
development as either films or miniseries. Holding
one's breath is not recommended.
d. "I, Robot"
"I, Robot" itself was never filmed, although Harlan Ellison did
write a famous script, available in book form. There are no
plans to film this script. There was a film released in the
summer of 2004 with that title, but it was written independently
of Asimov's book, and then later a few Asimovian touches were
added to tie it in to the book.
e. Light Years
LIGHT YEARS is not strictly an Asimov film, but rather an
animated French film he helped adapt to English.
f. "Nightfall"
NIGHTFALL was made into a ponderous film in 1988 and an even
worse film in 2000 (also known as PITCH BLACK).
g. "The Ugly Little Boy"
A made-for-TV short movie (for the Canadian series "Tales Dark
and Dangerous") was made in 1979 by Barry Morse (Prof. Bergman
of SPACE: 1999).
7. Websites for further SF movie info
a. http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/SF-Index.html
b. http://scifimovies.about.com/movies/scifimovies/mbody.htm
c. http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~b2506017/
d. http://www.sfworld.onlinehome.de/
e. http://sflovers.rutgers.edu/SFRG/sfrgr.htm
f. http://doctorsf.free.fr/
g. http://www.filmsite.org/sci-fifilms.html
8. What movies are about X?
The following are not meant to be exhaustive lists, but rather
starting points. Many of these films and topics have been discussed
on RASFM.
a. Alien Invasion
THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS, EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS,
FINAL FANTASY, INDEPENDENCE DAY, INVASION OF THE BODY
SNATCHERS, THE THING, WAR OF THE WORLDS
b. Alternate History
FATHERLAND, SLIDING DOORS, WHITE MAN'S BURDEN, WINGS OF
HONNEAMISE
c. Artificial Intelligence
AI, BICENTENNIAL MAN, COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT, SHORT
CIRCUIT, TRON, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, WARGAMES
d. Cyberpunk
AKIRA, BLADE RUNNER, EXISTENZ, GHOST IN THE SHELL,
JOHNNY MNEMONIC, THE MATRIX
e. Cyborg
CIRCUITRY MAN, CYBORG, ROBOCOP, TERMINATOR
f. Dinosaurs
BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, GODZILLA, JURASSIC PARK, KING KONG,
THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, THE LOST WORLD, THE VALLEY OF GWANGI
g. ESP/Telepathy
SCANNERS, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED, WHAT WOMEN WANT
h. First Contact
THE ABYSS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, CONTACT,
ET: THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL, STARMAN, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
i. Genetic Engineering
EMBRYO, GATTACA, ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, JURASSIC PARK, SOLDIER
j. Killer asteroids/comets/planets
ARMAGEDDON, DEEP IMPACT, METEOR, WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE
k. Magical Realism
BARTON FINK, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, FIELD OF DREAMS, L.A. STORY,
LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?,
A PRICE ABOVE RUBIES, PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO
l. Mars/Martians
ANGRY RED PLANET, INVADERS FROM MARS, MARS ATTACKS,
MARTIANS GO HOME, MISSION TO MARS, RED PLANET,
ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS, WAR OF THE WORLDS
m. Post Apocalypse
A BOY AND HIS DOG, DAMNATION ALLEY, MAD MAX, NIGHT OF THE
COMET, THE OMEGA MAN, THE POSTMAN, 12 MONKEYS
n. Robots / Androids
BICENTENNIAL MAN, D.A.R.Y.L., IRON GIANT, RUNAWAY,
THE STEPFORD WIVES, WESTWORLD
o. Time Travel
BACK TO THE FUTURE, FINAL COUNTDOWN, PLANET OF THE APES,
THE TIME MACHINE, TIME AFTER TIME, 12 MONKEYS
p. Urban Fantasy
BRAZIL, THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, KAFKA,
REPO MAN
q. Virtual Reality
EXISTENZ, LAWNMOWER MAN, THE MATRIX, THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR,
TRON, VIRTUOSITY
Part 2: Specific Movies
1. ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION
a. What role did Jamie Lee Curtis play?
She played Buckaroo's mother in a flashback sequence. The
sequence was cut, and so does not appear in the final, release version.
b. Sequel
BUCKAROO BANZAI creator W.D. Richter has said he wants to make
a sequel, but was tied up in legal proceedings, unable to do so. As
of January 2001 a TV series is supposedly in the works, with Richter's involvement.
c. FAQ can be found at
http://www.figmentfly.com/bb/bbindex.shtml
2. AKIRA
Akira is an anime which has attained Blade Runner and 2001 cult
status. Based on part of the long-running manga (Japanese for "comic
book") by Katsuhiro Otomo, it was originally released in 1988, the
most expensive anime film until then. A restored version was
re-released in spring of 2001 to coincide with the special edition DVD
release.
3. ALIEN, ALIENS, etc.
a. Alien v. Predator
This movie was finally released in 2004. (Note:
there was an alien skull in the Predator ship in PREDATOR 2.
b. Names of ships
Many of the ship names come from Joseph Conrad, author of
HEART OF DARKNESS. Nostromo comes from the book NOSTROMO. It's the
name of the title character. Narcissus comes from the book NIGGER OF
THE NARCISSUS. Sulaco is a town in the book NOSTROMO.
c. More info available at the exhaustive Alien FAQ:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/movies/alien-faq/part1/
4. Back to the Future
a. What are all the cute gimmicks?
Apparently, the makers of these films (Stephen Spielberg and
Robert Zemeckis) did all kinds of cute things, playing with the names
of some of the characters and with issues of time travel. Some of
these are:
1.) The mall where Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) meets
Dr. Brown (Christopher Lloyd) for their time travel
experiment is called the Twin Pines Mall. Dr. Brown
comments that ol' farmer Peabody used to own all of
the land, and he grew pines there. When Marty goes
back in time, he runs over and knocks down a pine
tree. When he comes back to the mall at the end of
the film (BACK TO THE FUTURE) the sign at the mall
now identifies the mall as the Lone Pine Mall,
reflecting the fact that Marty had changed the
present (1985) by his trip to the past (1955).
2.) Farmer Peabody's son is named Sherman. Sherman
was the name of the little boy time traveler in one
segment of Jay Ward's cartoon show, "The Rocky &
Bullwinkle Show." The dog who owned his time machine
was named (surprise) Mr. Peabody.
3.) On Marty's return to 1985 at the end of Part III,
we see that the ravine where the railway dead-ended in
1885 was the Eastwood Ravine -- obviously named for
"Clint Eastwood", the name Marty had been using in
1885.
b. FAQ found at:
http://www.bttf.com/film_faq.htm
5. BLADERUNNER
a. Deckard a replicant?
Ridley Scott has confirmed that Deckard was a replicant.
(Someone points out Harrison Ford says he isn't. IMHO,
Scott's opinion outweighs Ford's.)
b. Possible sequel
Rumors of a sequel have persisted for years, but no film has
entered production. Scott wants to do one, Harrison Ford
refuses. There have been two novels written as sequels by
K. W. Jeter.
c. Further information/discussion available at the BLADERUNNER
FAQ:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/movies/bladerunner-faq/
posted monthly to rec.arts.movies.misc, alt.cult-movies,
alt.cyberpunk, and rec.arts.sf.movies by muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au
6. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
a. What does the title mean?
From the book by Anthony Burgess:
"'It's a book,' I said. 'It's a book what you are writing.' I
made the old goloss very coarse. 'I have always had the
strongest admiration for them as can write books.' Then I
looked at its top sheet, and there was the name - A CLOCKWORK
ORANGE - and I said: 'That's a fair gloopy title. Who ever
heard of a clockwork orange?' Then I read a malenky bit out
loud in a sort of very high preaching goloss: '- The attempt
to impose upon man, a creature of growth and capable of
sweetness, to ooze juicily at the last round the bearded lips
of God, to attempt to impose, I say, laws and conditions
appropriate to a mechanical creation, against this I raise
my sword-pen - '"
The derivation of the phrase is obsolete Cockney slang, and is
also a play on the Malaysian word for man, 'Orang'.
[Contributed by Matthew Ryder (mryder@iafrica.com)]
7. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE 3RD KIND
a. Original
Released in November 13, 1977, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE 3RD KIND
continued the trend for big-budget special effects science
fiction films started by STAR WARS earlier in the year.
Although dwarfed by the STAR WARS juggernaut, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
OF THE 3RD KIND became one of the highest-grossing films of
all time.
b. Different versions
Due to the enormous success of the film, Stephen Spielberg
convinced the studio to allow him to shoot scenes he didn't
have time to film before. The re-edited film Spielberg
called the "definitive version" was released in 1980 as
"CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE 3RD KIND: THE SPECIAL EDITION."
(The first time the SE appellation was used for any film.)
Many fans felt that CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE 3RD KIND: THE
SPECIAL EDITION was inferior to the original, and had to wait
years until the LD release when either version could be seen.
8. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
a. What is that famous phrase?
What Helen (Patricia Neal) says to Gort is, "Gort, Klaatu
barada nikto."
9. DUNE
a. David Lynch film -- Rumored 7-hour Director's Cut
As Jerry Boyajian explains (hopefully for the last time [but of
course it wasn't]):
There is *no* "director's cut" of DUNE of *any*
length. The existence of one is a complete myth.
Perhaps when Lynch was cutting the film originally,
there existed such a cut, but if it isn't long gone
by now, it's most likely an untimed work print and
not in any sort of releasable form.
*IF* David Lynch were inclined, and *IF* Dino
DeLaurentiis were inclined (and *IF* his
organization wasn't bankrupt), and *IF* the scrap
footage is sitting in a vault somewhere, Lynch could
probably reconstruct his original cut, but all three
(or four) of those are mighty big "ifs".
No such cut exists on video, no such cut exists in any
final film print. [There is also no truth to the
rumor that there was a European version that was four
hours long. "in Germany, a small company has
published the 180-minute version of the original motion
picture." This is probably the TV version.]
There exists only one version of the film that's
longer than the original theatrical release, and that
was the expanded version made for television
syndication, and it's maybe fifty minutes longer than
the original. But it certainly can't be claimed to be
a "director's cut" because not only did Lynch not get
involved in cutting it, he disapproved of it so
thoroughly that he had his name removed as both
writer and director.
I have a large number of film reference books, both
genre-specific and general. I follow a number of film
and video magazines, and so forth. I've heard and
read detailed descriptions of different cuts of
various films including BLADE RUNNER, BRAZIL, LEGEND,
HIGHLANDER, et alia. I've read and heard first-hand
descriptions by people I know of such longer versions,
or I've seen listings for them as import laserdiscs.
But I've never heard nor read of any definite,
substantiated, unquestionable existence of a version
of DUNE, either in commercial release or floating
around in collectors' hands, that is longer than the
190-minute TV version.
As a matter of fact, the *only* place I've even heard
*rumors* of such a cut of DUNE has been here
on Usenet. [One says his rumor is of a 4-hour cut.]
I've heard other rumors (via people asking about it,
as did the person who started this thread) of 5-hour
versions, 7-hour versions, 9-hour versions, and in one
case, someone reported hearing about a 15-hour
version! [Herbert did apparently mention in an
interview that the first draft of the screenplay ran
about 14 hours, so that may be the source of this
mis-information.]
They are mythical. And until their existence is
documented, and not just a rumor that's floating
around the net, I will stand by that statement. [-jmb]
b. Telefilm
In 2000, the SciFi Channel broadcast a miniseries
based on Herbert's book. Fans and critics are again
divided as to whether the miniseries is a failure or
success, just as the original film polarized viewers.
10. FORBIDDEN PLANET
a. Original
Long considered one of the best science fiction films of all
time, MGM's 1956 FORBIDDEN PLANET is loosely based on
Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST. It sported the first appearance of
Robby the Robot, and featured an innovative and influential
electronic soundtrack by Louis and Bebe Barron. (The music is
described in the credits as "electronic tonalities"; apparently
the Barrons had a major set-to with traditional Hollywood
composers, and found themselves unable to call the soundtrack
"music" *plus* they were ruled not eligible for Oscar
consideration.) There is a novelization written (supposedly
simultaneously with the film by "W. J. Stuart" (supposedly a
pseudonym of Philip MacDonald).
b. Possible remake
Although a remake has been talked about, it has apparently been
shelved due to high production costs.
11. Heavy Metal
a. "Wasn't there supposed to be a sequel?"
A sequel to the 1981 animated film was released direct
to video in 2000.
12. The Last Starfighter
a. CGI forerunner
THE LAST STARFIGHTER was released in 1984, with effects by
Digital Productions.
Digital Productions was started by two guys working on TRON,
Gary Demos and John Whitney, Jr. They were disappointed that
TRON wasn't going to use as much CGI as originally planned.
They later did the effects for 2010, but were taken over by the
now bankrupt company Omnibus.
13. LATHE OF HEAVEN
LATHE OF HEAVEN is a PBS production based on the Ursula K. LeGuin
story of the same name. It was televised in 1980, then unavailable
for two decades due to legal wranglings. It was finally rebroadcast
and released on DVD and VHS in 2000. A remake was broadcast on A&E
September 2002.
14. LOGAN'S RUN
a. Original
Based on William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson's 1966
novel of the same name, LOGAN'S RUN details a society where
youth culture has taken over the world. In the 1976 film the
population is killed once they reach the age of 30; in the book
that age is 21.
The film was popular enough to spawn short-lived TV and comic
book series.
Nolan wrote two sequels to the original, titled LOGAN'S WORLD
and LOGAN'S SEARCH, both of which have been optioned for films.
b. Possible remake
Author Nolan had said that a remake is in the works for a 2002
release, with Skip Woods writing and directing. Nolan had
said that the remake would remain more faithful to his novel
than the original film. [Of course, they said that about the
new PLANET OF THE APES as well. And as of July 2003, this
appears to be dead. -ecl]
15. LORD OF THE RINGS
a. Animated versions
The animated LORD OF THE RINGS by Ralph Bakshi covers only the
first half of the trilogy. Bakshi did not make the second
half. There was a completely independently produced animation
of THE RETURN OF THE KING by Rankin/Bass who also did an
animation of THE HOBBIT.
(Someone notes that Tolkien deplored the fact that the "Lord
of the Rings" is considered a trilogy. That's as may be, but
I'm afraid we're stuck with the terminology.)
b. Live action version
Peter Jackson, a writer-director who made the cult favorite
DEAD ALIVE as well as other genre films including THE
FRIGHTENERS, has filmed this as THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING,
THE TWO TOWERS, and THE RETURN OF THE KING.
The official website for the Jackson films is
http://www.lordoftherings.net/
16. MAD MAX
a. "Why was the American version dubbed?"
It was felt at the time (1979), that American audiences
wouldn't accept Australian accents. According to one story,
Mel Gibson dubbed himself using an American accent. US
distributor Sam Arkoff's biography states that Mel didn't
participate.
b. "Where can I get an undubbed version?"
A special edition DVD was released in late 2001, which had
the original soundtrack on it.
c. Sequels
Two sequels have been made, MAD MAX II (titled "THE ROAD
WARRIOR" in the US) and MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME. A fourth
film is rumored to be in the works, but Mel Gibson has
publicly stated that he has no interest in reprising his role
as Max.
d. FAQ
http://www.madmaxmovies.com/
17. METROPOLIS
a. Different versions
The original 210-minute release version of METROPOLIS no longer
exists. All existing versions are different, with wildly
different runtimes.
The three major versions are the 1984 Georgio Moroder tinted
version, the 1995 one by Filmmuseum Munich, and the 2001
theatrical release. .
In 2001, an anime movie was made based on the manga of
Osamu TEZUKA (author of ASTRO BOY et al.). This is best
described as an updating of the story.
b. Music of
METROPOLIS was originally a silent film, released in 1927. A
score written by Gottried Huppertz was to be played along with
it by an in-theatre orchestra.
Musician Georgio Moroder commissioned a pop and techno
soundtrack for his version.
c. Further info can be found at
http://geocities.datacellar.net/Area51/5555/
http://www.uow.edu.au/~morgan/Metroa.html
18. PLANET OF THE APES
a. Original
The original film was loosely based on Pierre Boulle's novel of
the same name (which was also known as MONKEY PLANET) and
released in February 1968. It was so popular that it spawned
four sequels and two television series (one animated and one
live-action).
b. Remake
After years of false starts, one with Arnold Schwarzenegger
attached, Tim Burton made a remake of the original PLANET OF
THE APES, released 27 July 27 2001. Although it was termed a
"reimagining" rather than a remake, that was mostly a marketing
gimmick.
c. "Was Leo on Earth the whole time?"
No. There were two planets in the film. The first one (which
is the one most people are referring to when they say "The
Planet of the Apes") had three moons and different
continents. At the end, Leo approaches Earth and his
computer displays North and South America.
d. "What's up with that ending?"
No one knows, apparently not even the filmmakers. Burton
claims that the ending is logical, but one of the film's
producers says it isn't supposed to make sense. The most
reasonable explanation given so far is that Leo traveled
not only through space and time, but also to a parallel
universe.
e. "Will there be a sequel to the remake?"
Tim Burton says he won't do one, but that doesn't mean there
won't be.
f. "How did Boulle's book end?"
Hero Ulysse Merou pilots his spaceship back to Earth from Soron
(the Planet of the Apes) and lands at Orly airport. A truck
approaches and it is revealed that the driver is a gorilla.
Thus, what happened on Soron (the ape servants overthrew their
human masters) has happened on Earth.
The story is found adrift in a bottle in space and read by a
vacationing couple, Jinn and Phyllis, who are revealed at the
end to be chimpanzees. Jinn scoffs at the notion that a
human could be intelligent, let alone write a story.
19. PREDATOR
a. What story is it based on?
PREDATOR is a science fictional retelling of the classic
Richard Connell short story "The Most Dangerous Game."
Connell's archetypal 1924 story is about a big game hunter
who has grown tired of hunting animals and decides to hunt
"the most dangerous game" -- man. It is one of the most
filmed stories ever written.
[Some dispute this, because the hunter isn't human. I tend to
be on the side that says it's basically the same story.]
20. Quatermass films
a. "What are the various Quatermass films and the names they
go under?"
Nigel Kneale wrote three television Quatermass plays for the
BBC in the 50's. Each one was more popular than the previous
one. The last one was so popular that churches had to change
their hours because people were staying home to watch the
play. Each of the three involved the adventures of British
rocket scientist Bernard Quatermass foiling an unusual sort of
invasion from outer space. Each was in six 40-minute episodes
shown one a week. Hammer Films took the three stories and
adapted each into a film. Each was renamed in the U.S.
BBC Play Film Title U.S. Retitling of film
THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT
THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT
THE CREEPING UNKNOWN
QUATERMASS II
QUATERMASS II
ENEMY FROM SPACE
QUATERMASS AND THE PIT
QUATERMASS AND THE PIT
FIVE MILLION YEARS TO
EARTH
The last, as far as I can tell, invented the concept of uplift
that David Brin has been using to great advantage. The last
film, in my opinion, is the best science fiction film ever
made, richer in ideas than most science fiction novels I have
read. Incidentally, the "Xperiment" was an invented word to
emphasize that the film had gotten the X-certificate.
[Doug Tricarico's (trike@cinci.rr.com) note: ISLAND OF LOST
SOULS (1933) based on H. G. Wells' ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU is a
contender for first film using the idea now called "uplift."]
In the late 70's Nigel Kneale was convinced to do one final
Quatermass TV play and did THE QUATERMASS CONCLUSION. This
time it was not adapted into a film but the play was edited
into a feature-length story of the same name. It went
directly to video and is available in this country.
Each of the plays was published in paperback and in their
original editions are quite valuable. They were reissued
about the time of the last TV play in the late 70's along
with a novelization of "Quatermass Conclusion." There was
also an episode of "The Goon Show" (great British radio comedy
series starring Harry Secomb, Spike Milligan, and Peter
Sellers) entitled "The Scarlet Capsule" which lampooned the
play "Quatermass and the Pit."
Of the stories there is no common agreement as to whether
QUATERMASS II or QUATERMASS AND THE PIT is better, but I
generally rank QUATERMASS AND THE PIT (a.k.a. FIVE MILLION
YEARS TO EARTH) as being one of the best science fiction
films ever made. Recently the original TV-play has become
narrowly available in this country. I would claim that the
play is even a little better than the film made from it. It
is a little slower at three hours, but in the film the
explanation at the end is a little terse and hard to follow.
Things are better explained in the play.
Actors who have played Quatermass:
QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT (1953): Reginald Tate
QUATERMASS II (1955): John Robinson
QUATERMASS AND THE PIT (1958): Andre Morell
QUATERMASS XPERIMENT (1955, us: THE CREEPING UNKNOWN):
Brian Donlevy
QUATERMASS II (1957, us: ENEMY FROM SPACE): Brian Donlevy
QUATERMASS AND THE PIT (1968, us: FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH):
Andrew Kier
THE QUATERMASS CONCLUSION (1980): John Mills
QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT (2005): Jason Flemyng
Also
THE GOON SHOW: THE SCARLET CAPSULE (1959): Harry Secombe as
Prof. Ned Quatermess. (Loosely based on QUATERMASS AND THE
PIT, but for the Goons it is amazingly faithful to the story.
Kneale loved it.)
[This part contributed by Mark R. Leeper (mleeper@optonline.net).]
21. ROLLERBALL
a. Original
The original 1975 film is based on a short story by William
Harrison called "The Rollerball Murders." Harrison wrote the
screenplay himself, and the film was directed by Norman
Jewison.
James Caan once mentioned in an interview that the stuntmen
enjoyed playing Rollerball so much they didn't want the track
disassembled when shooting was finished.
b. Remake
The remake was filmed in Canada by director John McTiernan
(PREDATOR). It was released early in 2002.
22. STAR TREK
a. Trek newsgroup
There is a hierarchy for STAR TREK, rec.arts.startrek. If you
have access to netnews, use it for discussions about any STAR
TREK subject (old series, new series, movies, novels, etc.).
If you are absolutely sure you cannot access the startrek
newsgroups, and you *must* post to rec.arts.sf.movies, include
the phrase "Star Trek" in the subject line.
Do not post flames about people violating this guideline. Use
e-mail to request they follow it. It's likely that this person
is reading rec.arts.sf.movies via a gateway and has no access
to netnews or rec.arts.startrek.
b. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
"What are the two minutes of new footage on the STAR TREK VI:
THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY videocassette?"
According to Jerry Boyajian:
There are a couple of very minor bits, but the two
significant (and related) additions are:
--The details of the proposed operation to rescue Kirk
and McCoy from the Klingons, presented by Col. West
(played by Rene Auberjenois) in the President's
office. In the theatrical release, this is completely
missing, though the easel with the plan diagrams on it
seems to mysteriously appear out of nowhere.
The second is a spoiler, so it is rot-13'ed:
--Gur eriryngvba gung gur Xyvatba nffnffva ng Xuvgbzre
jnf npghnyyl Jrfg va qvfthvfr.
Susan K. O'Fearna also suggests that in the arrest
scene, they show Kirk being cuffed, then show him
being cuffed again be a part of the extra two minutes.
c. When's the next STAR TREK film?
STAR TREK X: NEMESIS was released fall 2002.
There are no plans for another film at this time.
23. STAR WARS
a. Original film
The original STAR WARS film was released on May 25, 1977. At
that time it was known only as "STAR WARS." The new title,
"STAR WARS IV: A NEW HOPE" was added during the film's
re-release in 1981. The original film played continuously for
more than a year, becoming the highest-grossing film of all
time.
The sequels have always had numbers. Only STAR WARS was
retitled.
b. New STAR WARS films
"When is George Lucas going to make more STAR WARS films?"
"What will they be about?"
There are groups under the rec.arts.sf.starwars hierarchy that
exist to discuss this, and a FAQ for new STAR WARS films
posted there. However, briefly:
The first installment of a prequel-trilogy, STAR WARS EPISODE
I: THE PHANTOM MENACE,was released in the US on 19 May 1999.
STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES was released in the
US on 16 May 2002, and Episode III is scheduled for a
similar release date in 2005.
A digitally remastered SPECIAL EDITION of EPISODES IV-VI
containing additional footage was released in 1997 to mark the
20th anniversary of the first STAR WARS film.
THE PHANTOM MENACE was released on DVD in 16 October 2001.
ATTACK OF THE CLONES will be released on DVD in 2003.
Lots of books, comics and other stories that have been released
are supposedly *not* directly related to the new films. These
were additional merchandising items and George Lucas has said
that he will not take into account the continuity created by
these tie-in products.
c. Official website:
http://www.starwars.com/
24. STARSHIP TROOPERS
More than almost any other film, STARSHIP TROOPERS has engendered the
most invective and the most vigorous arguments. Be prepared for a
possible flame war when discussing this film.
Most fans of Robert Heinlein's book deplore the changes made by
screenwriter Edward Neumeier and director Paul Verhoeven. Despite how
one feels about the changes made to the story, the book's message and
themes were changed substantially and the characters were sanitized and
dumbed-down to cartoon-like aspects, reduced mostly to eye candy
a. Why didn't the film have the Power Armor the book had?
The official explanation is that showing the combat suits as
Heinlein envisioned them would be too expensive. This reason
is generally not accepted, since it would have been no more
expensive to CGI the power armor than it was to create the
bugs themselves. It is more likely that the changes in the
story dictated that the power armor no longer be used.
A 2004 sequel, STARSHIP TROOPERS 2: HERO OF THE FEDERATION was
released direct to video.
25. THE TERMINATOR
a. Harlan Ellison's credit/lawsuit
"Why is there an acknowledgment to Harlan Ellison in the
credits of THE TERMINATOR?" or "Doesn't THE TERMINATOR have
the same plot as a TWILIGHT ZONE episode?"
(The following answer is taken from a posting by Jerry
Boyajian.)
Ellison filed suit against the studio claiming that THE
TERMINATOR was plagiarized from his two teleplays for THE OUTER
LIMITS. One was "Soldier" (based on a short story he written
years before), in which a soldier is zapped from a future war
zone into the present and causes all sorts of problems. In
addition to basic plot similarities, the scenes of the future
in THE TERMINATOR are very similar in look and feel to those in
"Soldier".
The other teleplay was "Demon With a Glass Hand", in which a
lone man with a glass-and-computer-chips hand and a woman he
meets up with are on the run from some unknown enemy. He has
amnesia and doesn't know a thing about who he is, or why he's
in his current situation. Eventually, he finds out that he's
from the future and was sent to the present on a mission to
save the human race.
Separately, I feel that THE TERMINATOR is a legitimate
variation on the ideas presented in Ellison's stories.
However, taken together, it would seem as if James Cameron got
the idea from Ellison's stories, in which case, Ellison is
owed something. At any rate, as the story goes, the studio
was going to fight the suit, but in preparing their defense,
they found out from someone in the production crew that
Cameron had quipped on the set about how he'd "ripped off a
couple of OUTER LIMITS episodes". At that point, they
decided to settle out of court, giving Ellison some
undisclosed amount of money and inserting the credit.
(Thomas Pluck (pluck@andromeda.rutgers.edu) adds the
following:)
You left out one important thing with the Ellison/Cameron suit;
the concept of Skynet, the military supercomputer that sees all
humanity as the enemy, was taken from Ellison's short story "I
Have No Mouth and I Must Scream," collected in the book of the
same name and various other SF anthologies. Ellison's computer
called itself AM, and it kept five people alive to torture for
all eternity because it hated its creators so much. The two
OUTER LIMITS scripts plus that short story are half or more of
the TERMINATOR plot.
[Many think the above should not be included. I have no
opinion. -ecl]
b. Sequels
A movie sequel, called TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (popularly
know as "T2") was released in 1991.
A 3-D amusement park ride with filmed portions starring Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Edward Furlong was also made by James
Cameron for Universal Studios.
TERMINATOR 3 was released June 2003 release, with
Schwarzenegger reprising his roles, but without Furlong's
or Cameron's involvement.
c. FAQ
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/movies/terminator-faq/
26. TRON
a. Original
TRON was originally released in 1982, to lackluster box office.
It was the first big-budget film to combine live action and
computer animation, but very little of the film is actually
CGI. (See THE LAST STARFIGHTER.)
b. Possible sequel
A sequel has been talked about for years, possibly called
"TRON 2.0." Currently the script is under revision. Jeff
Bridges is reportedly interested in reprising his role as
Flynn.
27. 12 MONKEYS
a. What film was it based on?
Although Terry Gilliam claims to have never seen it,
screenwriters David & Janet Peoples based 12 MONKEYS on an
unusual French film called "La Jetee."
"La Jetee" is a 29-minute film by Chris Marker. It is unusual
in that it mostly uses a series of still photographs to tell
its story. (Well, all movies do, but in this case, each still
is on the screen more than 1/24 second.)
b. What did the ending mean?
This is subject to plenty of debate, but the enigmatic phrase
"I'm in insurance" could mean that the woman is also from the
future (she certainly looks like her future self) or it could
be a coincidence that she's immune to the virus. The first
theory is the more likely, given her resemblance to her future
self.
28. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
a. "Which came first, the film or the novel?"
Director Stanley Kubrick and author Arthur C. Clarke worked on
the film and novel concurrently. The project was based on
Clarke's short story "The Sentinel."
b. "What about the relationship between HAL (the computer) and
IBM?" (If you add 1 to each letter in HAL you get IBM.)
According to Clarke, this relationship is entirely accidental.
In fact, he claims that if he had been aware of it, he would
have chosen a different name for his computer. (HAL stands for
Heuristic ALgorithmic.)
c. "Wasn't 2001 filmed in Cinerama?"
Although 2001 was advertised as being filmed in Cinerama, it
wasn't. Only seven films were made using the three-camera
Cinerama process, the most famous being HOW THE WEST WAS WON.
By the time 2001 was made, the Cinerama brand name had been
bought and sold a number of times and meant nothing. It was
shown on some Cinerama screens, hence the confusion, but the
brand existed solely as a marquee draw because of the name
recognition. 2001 was filmed in Super Panavision 70.
d. Sequel
2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT, based on Clarke's novel 2010:
ODYSSEY TWO, was released in 1984. See TRON and THE LAST
STARFIGHTER for more information.
Although Clarke has written other novels as sequels to the
original, there are currently no plans to film any of them.
29. WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT
a. Who gave voice to the seductive Jessica Rabbit?
This is sort of a trick question, because there are *two*
voices. Kathleen Turner provided the speaking voice, and Amy
Irving did the singing.
b. Sequel?
Gary K. Wolf wrote a sequel to his original novel WHO CENSORED
ROGER RABBIT?, called WHO P-P-PLUGGED ROGER RABBIT, but no
movie sequel is currently in the works.
c. Other films
Roger Rabbit and Co. have appeared in three other (short)
cartoons: "Tummy Trouble," "Roller-Coaster Rabbit," and
"Trail Mix-Up."
====================================================================
(Contributions for addition to this FAQL gratefully appreciated.
Suggestions for things *I* should write to add to this FAQL are not so
gratefully appreciated.)
====================================================================
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