 Book to movie....why!, or I want my 2 hours of life back |
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 Feb 8 2007, 10:19 PM
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#1
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Target  Group: Members Posts: 21 Joined: 3-January 07 From: Glendale Heights, IL Member No.: 10,525  |
yes it's slow going at work right now. I saw one of the worst book to movie ever.
John Carpenter's Vampires base very, very loosely on John Steakley's Vampire$. I always thought this book would make a rocken SR story line. anyone else have any? Best Hagarzen |
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Feb 8 2007, 10:21 PM
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#2
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Great, I'm a Dragon... Group: Retired Admins Posts: 6,699 Joined: 8-October 03 From: North Germany Member No.: 5,698 |
Straight action games can be fun, yes. Maybe replace vampires with shedim, though.
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Feb 8 2007, 10:34 PM
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#3
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Target Group: Members Posts: 21 Joined: 3-January 07 From: Glendale Heights, IL Member No.: 10,525 |
okay what is a shedim??
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Feb 8 2007, 10:41 PM
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#4
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 548 Joined: 21-December 06 Member No.: 10,416 |
It is not your standard SR story, but Robert Heinlein had one about this school who's graduation exercise was to send the kids through a gate to another planet where they had to survive for a few weeks, but they end up stranded there for years. Add magic from SR, change the setting to a Metaplanes Quest, and you've got a story. Best line would be that it is a group initiatory quest that somehow went wrong with the questors on a very primitive plane and they must survive until the quest ends. Since canon says quests can seem to last for years but only take a few hours of real time, that takes care of the time issue.
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Feb 8 2007, 10:42 PM
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#5
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,174 Joined: 13-May 04 From: UCAS Member No.: 6,327 |
In response to Hagarzen's question about Shedim. This is a short and off the top of my head response, so there are probably a lot of accuracy gaps. Heh.
The shedim are introduced in the Wake of the Comet book, and also described in the Threats 2 book. They're spirits (entities, what have you) from the astral planes that inhabit dead vessels (bodies). Then they move on to do whatever their diabolical schemes are, such as increasing their numbers, draining folks of their lives, causing strife, etc... They're introduced as one of two types, the mindless ones (and you get the good old george romero types as they come alive in the morgues, cemetaries, museum displays), the other type are the intelligent ones that take the recently deceased (such as murder victims, accident victims, mages who are currently away astrally so their body is there for the taking), and they start up a 'normal' life. |
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Feb 8 2007, 11:16 PM
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#6
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,333 Joined: 19-August 06 From: Austin Member No.: 9,168 |
And yes, that was a god awful vampire movie.
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Feb 8 2007, 11:46 PM
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#7
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 184 Joined: 14-January 07 From: Zurich Orbital Member No.: 10,642 |
Not very many good vampire movies. Interview with the Vampire and Bram Stoker's Dracula are the only two recent (meaning post 1990) ones I can think of that were any good.
On the subject of storylines and metaplanes, I once sent a strongly religious mage on an metaplane quest to a plane that strongly resembled Heaven. They got caught up in the War and the initiate essentially had to make the choice between faith (or, more correctly, following Divine orders) and their own morality. I wasn't trying to poke fun at religion or anything, and it turned out to be one of my more successful sessions. |
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Feb 9 2007, 12:28 AM
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#8
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,379 Joined: 16-April 02 From: the LI shadows Member No.: 2,607 |
John Carpenter's Vampires may have been bad, but there's something worse: John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness.
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Feb 9 2007, 04:36 AM
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#9
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 870 Joined: 2-October 06 From: Athens Ga Member No.: 9,517 |
I liked Prince of Darkness. (I think) wasn't that the one with satan in a jar in the basement?
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Feb 9 2007, 02:29 PM
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#10
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 913 Joined: 26-August 05 From: Louisville, KY (Well, Memphis, IN technically but you won't know where that is.) Member No.: 7,626 |
Prince of Darkness was excellent for its release date. The effects were minimal but generally effective, if dated now. I particularly like the scientist who goes outside the church, falls under the sway of darkness, and falls apart into a pile of beetles.
The basic idea that Satan was an evil, extradimensional space alien (John Bigboote) and Jesus was a good extradimensional space alien (klaatu barada nicto!) who captured Satan in a containment system that is slowly, ever so slowly, falling apart and that the Catholic church is desperately trying to understand and maintain is genius. |
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Feb 9 2007, 03:13 PM
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#11
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 366 Joined: 9-August 06 From: Holiday Florida Member No.: 9,055 |
John Steakly wrote another book a long time ago called 'Armor' that was fantastic. It has a sort of 'Starship Troopers' (Book not movie) meme to it, but instead of focussing on political theory, its about the psychological effects of nigh endless fighting on a man.
Extremely well written! I had it recommended to me by my CO when I was in the Marines, and Im on my 6th copy of it cause I keep giving them away to freinds. |
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Feb 9 2007, 03:21 PM
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#12
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,333 Joined: 19-August 06 From: Austin Member No.: 9,168 |
Prince of Darkness is still the creepiest movie I've ever seen, simply because of the weird scratchy video tape panning around the church that was interspersed. It still gives me chills. Dusk till Dawn is a pretty good vampire movie. And I'm a big fan of Underworld, if you're interested in seeing the WoD on screen. |
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Feb 9 2007, 03:30 PM
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#13
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Genuine Artificial Intelligence Group: Members Posts: 4,019 Joined: 12-June 03 Member No.: 4,715 |
I enjoyed John Carpenter's Vampires.
I'm not saying it was good, just that it was fun. |
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Feb 9 2007, 03:36 PM
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#14
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 184 Joined: 14-January 07 From: Zurich Orbital Member No.: 10,642 |
Ugh, don't say that. Underworld may have borrowed heavily from the WOD, but it is so far removed. If you want the feel of the WOD, yeah, see the FIRST Underworld (IMHO the 2nd one was little more than a vampire splatterfest with only one scene worth watching). But as to WOD society and politics and such, you're out of luck. |
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Feb 9 2007, 03:53 PM
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#15
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,333 Joined: 19-August 06 From: Austin Member No.: 9,168 |
It had factions, sybaritic vampires that were more interested in their arcane political games that anything in the world outside, clear Generations, and even a number of references to Clans and Princes. I'm willing to call it WoD. But yes, only the first one. Hell, they call Michael an abomination at one point, after they realized he was a werewolf bitten by a vampire. ;) Selene is a Brujah. Craven is a Ventrue. The blonde wanna-be queen is a Toreador. It all falls in to place. ;) |
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Feb 9 2007, 04:25 PM
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#16
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 913 Joined: 26-August 05 From: Louisville, KY (Well, Memphis, IN technically but you won't know where that is.) Member No.: 7,626 |
Yeah, Felix was great. I forgot that he wrote both Armor and and Vampire$. If you liked Armor, read John Ringo's Legacy of the Alldenata series. (Hymn before Battle, Gust Front, Dance with the Devil, and Hell's Faire) I'm not quite as fond of the follow-on novels, Cally's War was flat IMO and Watch on the Rhine was good but lacking something, but they are still decent stuff. Full on power armor combat, with a completely justified reason for mixing it up quasi-infantry fashion rather than air-campaigns. |
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Feb 9 2007, 07:15 PM
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#17
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,174 Joined: 13-May 04 From: UCAS Member No.: 6,327 |
If you visit John Steakly's website, you'll see a sneak peek at his sequel to Armor, just a couple of pages he wrote.
Another series to read in a similar vein is Old Man's War and Ghost Brigade. |
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Feb 9 2007, 07:27 PM
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#18
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 184 Joined: 14-January 07 From: Zurich Orbital Member No.: 10,642 |
Give me Starship Troopers any day.
'Course, right now Robert Jordan's latest (and last) is at the top of my "must have" list. |
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Feb 9 2007, 07:48 PM
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#19
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Target Group: Members Posts: 21 Joined: 3-January 07 From: Glendale Heights, IL Member No.: 10,525 |
as long as it's the book "Starship Troopers" not the crappy movie
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Feb 9 2007, 07:55 PM
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#20
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 548 Joined: 21-December 06 Member No.: 10,416 |
Starship Troopers (the novel) was great. The political theory was very interesting, too. Armor was OK. Another one I liked was the Dirigent Mercenry Corps series by Rick Shelley. It is an infantry series in the future. That could be translated into one of the bigger merc outfits in SR, just add magical healing in place of the nanobots everyone had in their system. Have to add cyberware too. It would make an interesting movie series building from a cadet officer tagging along with a squad to regimental commander.
Team Yankee and 38 North Yankee are also good, the first being war in Western Europe against the Russians and the second in Korea against the North Koreans. Both have good descriptions of mixed unit and infantry combat. Gotta love the included maps that make the battlefield clear in your mind. |
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Feb 9 2007, 08:02 PM
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#21
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 184 Joined: 14-January 07 From: Zurich Orbital Member No.: 10,642 |
You know me better than that. The movie (both of them) was tripe. Might have to look into Dirigent, sounds interesting enough and it's either that or read Bourne Ultimatum again. |
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Feb 9 2007, 09:52 PM
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#22
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 548 Joined: 21-December 06 Member No.: 10,416 |
I'll tell you a little about the Dirigent series. It is in the future where humanity is spreading through the stars. Though there are three major factions, large armies are rare because most of the colonies are too small to maintain more than a constabulary force. That is where the mercenary companies come in. The story follows a man who left Earth because he wanted to be a soldier, but they was going to be forced to be a policeman of sorts, really a headcracker that kept the masses in line. So he goes to Dirigent become a mercenary soldier. He is accepted, goes through basic and because of his training on Earth is made an officer cadet. They stay cadets until they prove themselves in combat. Its not a bad series, but I have differences of opinion with the author. Mostly little things like unit organization, the short range of rocket launchers and things like that. Still, that doesn't distract from the story. |
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Feb 9 2007, 09:59 PM
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#23
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 184 Joined: 14-January 07 From: Zurich Orbital Member No.: 10,642 |
Considering I know next to nothing about any of that anyway, I don't think it'll be a problem ;) Thanks, I'll definitly look it up. Blades on the other hand.... |
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Feb 9 2007, 11:39 PM
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#24
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,150 Joined: 19-December 05 From: Rhein-Ruhr Megaplex Member No.: 8,081 |
The best part in Starship Troopers were those propagandistic news snippets.
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Feb 10 2007, 03:42 AM
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#25
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Chicago Survivor Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 5,079 Joined: 28-January 04 From: Canton, GA Member No.: 6,033 |
Starship Troopers the book, rocked.
Armor, Rocked. The Engine is God and Jack Crowe is his prophet |
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