Upcoming fantasy movies - spoilers strictly prohibited

jonesy · Oct 26, 2018

The Foundation series also has the slight adaptation problem in that, while there is a ton of scenery porn, there's practically no action in the traditional Hollywood-sense. Every plot is resolved by a scheme, not by action scenes. Pretty much all battles are off-screen and ultimately irrelevant to the plot.

I fear a Hollywood adaption might turn into something resembling the recent Valerian movie, which looked really pretty and had lots of cool action, but very little else.

Eltab · Oct 27, 2018

Tristissima said:
I have some concerns about Foundation Trilogy's themes and how they would interact with the current sociopolitical landscape of the US. I found a good chunk of the series technocratic and elitist in a way that I've become sensitized to as Silicon Valley girl, born and raised. I could see the origins of what seemed a very dehumanizing, caste-based, unassailable/unquestionable, hierarchical/power-over government model that had been argued by some of my more engineering-minded friends in Asimov's world creation.

li'l ol' crazy anarchist me worries about throwing narrative energy into an idea like "psychohistory" and Hari Seldon's almost-Nietzschean ability to predict and (vaguely) determine future events by means of his intellect and reason.

I may not have communicated well ~ my apologies if my point wasn't clear.

In order,

In a later novel (forget which one offhand) an individual proclaims, "I'm not just a data point, you can't predict me!" Cut scene to a Hidden Foundation lab where some scientists are looking at a blackboard full of equations and saying "What do you think he will do?" "Now, you know that a sample size of one zaps the math."
Foundation's themes ought to interact not-smoothly with American society from any point of time. The point was that most people needed to be guided for their own good. It would be enlightening if the movie(s) showed some of the real-life tools to manipulate peoples' actions and opinion - from the traditional Mob visit wearing brass knuckles -to- a company planning out an advertising campaign -to- Government-sponsored propaganda efforts.

Asimov eventually states (in the prequel, iirc) that the end result of the Foundation will not just be an era of peace and prosperity under a Restored Galactic Government, he also reveals that the goal of the Hidden Foundation was to have its members as the unified galaxy's natural ruling class. There is a wide-open door right there to have a debate over how well / poorly that idea works out, with examples. But it may bore most audiences until the hero makes a Dramatic Statement to summarize his position.

You seem to be doing all right at communicating. If what I say wasn't about what you meant, it most likely means I don't get it !

Scott DeWar · Oct 28, 2018

jonesy said:
The Foundation series also has the slight adaptation problem in that, while there is a ton of scenery porn, there's practically no action in the traditional Hollywood-sense. Every plot is resolved by a scheme, not by action scenes. Pretty much all battles are off-screen and ultimately irrelevant to the plot.

I fear a Hollywood adaption might turn into something resembling the recent Valerian movie, which looked really pretty and had lots of cool action, but very little else.

I have a strange itching in my memory about the foundation series. Man, that coma and sickness has me really messed up!

Hussar · Oct 29, 2018

Stephen Erikson's Malazan series would be cool

Jhaelen · Nov 6, 2018

Hussar said:
Stephen Erikson's Malazan series would be cool

I'm not sure you could turn that convoluted mess into a watchable tv show, to be honest. It's also very much over the top, so it would require pretty good and thus expensive special effects and likely be rated R, too.

Still, it would be nice, if they could pull it off, as that would relieve me from having to slog through all of the novels ;-)

Scott DeWar · Nov 6, 2018

Jhaelen said:
I'm not sure you could turn that convoluted mess into a watchable tv show, to be honest. It's also very much over the top, so it would require pretty good and thus expensive special effects and likely be rated R, too.

Still, it would be nice, if they could pull it off, as that would relieve me from having to slog through all of the novels ;-)

perhaps it could be a limited audience showing like on Netflix or showtime?

Morrus · Nov 6, 2018

Scott DeWar said:
perhaps it could be a limited audience showing like on Netflix or showtime?

At 150m households worldwide, I don’t think Netflix counts as a limited audience any more. In the last few years it’s grown into one of the most watched media outlets on the planet. Give it another few years, I reckon it will dwarf even the largest regular networks.

Hussar · Nov 8, 2018

Jhaelen said:
I'm not sure you could turn that convoluted mess into a watchable tv show, to be honest. It's also very much over the top, so it would require pretty good and thus expensive special effects and likely be rated R, too.

Still, it would be nice, if they could pull it off, as that would relieve me from having to slog through all of the novels ;-)

Well, the first one was meant to be a pitch for a movie. But, yeah, I get what you mean by convoluted. There are just so many different stories mashed into the one series. Fun, but, yeah, it does get to be a slog and I've completely ignored the later books after the last one in the series.

On the plus side, at least it's finished.

Jhaelen · Nov 9, 2018

Hussar said:
On the plus side, at least it's finished.

That's true.
IIRC, I stopped reading after the 4th novel 'House of Chains'. It's not that I disliked the novels, but it's really hard to get back into the story after a break.

Hussar · Nov 9, 2018

Jhaelen said:
That's true.
IIRC, I stopped reading after the 4th novel 'House of Chains'. It's not that I disliked the novels, but it's really hard to get back into the story after a break.

Honestly? I found it MUCH better on the reread. Makes a TON more sense when you can read them one after another.