F/SF Films
Apr. 13th, 2013 10:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stoutfellowIn the past week or so, word has come down about film adaptations of topnotch F/SF work. SyFy is talking about doing TV-movies of Niven's Ringworld and Clarke's Childhood's End, and some filmmaker I've never heard of is proposing a series of films based on C. J. Cherryh's Morgaine books.
Ringworld I can see. The real star of the story is the Ringworld itself; the approach to the Ringworld, Fist-Of-God Mountain, and the eye storm make for magnificent spectacle, and if there's anything Hollywood does right, it's spectacle. Even SyFy ought to be able to do this right. Lots of CGI, of course, even at the beginning with Nessus and Speaker. It'll probably wind up as mind candy, but it should be good mind candy.
Childhood's End.... Unh-unh. The story is thoroughly disjointed, as far as characters are concerned; the only character who's present all through is Karellen, who is after all not even remotely human. Still, Karellen's first visible appearance, the visit to the Overlords' home world, and the final destruction of Earth could be done well. I don't really see this not being a fiasco, though.
The Morgaine books might be doable. I wonder whether they'll be able to capture the spectacle of it (any scene with Changeling, but most especially Morgaine's confrontation with the qhalur in Fires of Azeroth) and the subtleties of personality. Morgaine herself is such a complex character; showing why she is the way she is might be difficult. And how well will they catch the nuances of the scene in which she finally tells Vanye to braid his hair, and when he is unable to (because of his arm injury) offers to do it for him. That's a powerful scene, and hard to do. (I've envisioned a flashback to Vanye's childhood, when he learned the importance of the braid....)
I'm interested in all three of these endeavors. I'm not really that hopeful for any of them, though.
Ringworld I can see. The real star of the story is the Ringworld itself; the approach to the Ringworld, Fist-Of-God Mountain, and the eye storm make for magnificent spectacle, and if there's anything Hollywood does right, it's spectacle. Even SyFy ought to be able to do this right. Lots of CGI, of course, even at the beginning with Nessus and Speaker. It'll probably wind up as mind candy, but it should be good mind candy.
Childhood's End.... Unh-unh. The story is thoroughly disjointed, as far as characters are concerned; the only character who's present all through is Karellen, who is after all not even remotely human. Still, Karellen's first visible appearance, the visit to the Overlords' home world, and the final destruction of Earth could be done well. I don't really see this not being a fiasco, though.
The Morgaine books might be doable. I wonder whether they'll be able to capture the spectacle of it (any scene with Changeling, but most especially Morgaine's confrontation with the qhalur in Fires of Azeroth) and the subtleties of personality. Morgaine herself is such a complex character; showing why she is the way she is might be difficult. And how well will they catch the nuances of the scene in which she finally tells Vanye to braid his hair, and when he is unable to (because of his arm injury) offers to do it for him. That's a powerful scene, and hard to do. (I've envisioned a flashback to Vanye's childhood, when he learned the importance of the braid....)
I'm interested in all three of these endeavors. I'm not really that hopeful for any of them, though.
