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Space Opera Movie/TV tie-ins
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Space Opera Movie/TV Tie-Ins *GUIDELINES*
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I could mention the countless times BBC's Blake's 7 has been rumoured to be coming back to the screen, only for it to never, ever happen. Best space opera ever.
I notice a lot of the smaller cable and live-streaming startups are aiming to revive some of these great old series that have existing cult followings, which is actually pretty smart. There's nothing like having a ready-made audience. It might happen for Babylon 5 as it has a huge cult following still. And with the popularity of Dr. Who, maybe Blakes 7 will make it as well (never watched that one, but I just scoped out IMBD and it looked pretty cool).
The problem with remakes, as I see it, is unless the showrunner is someone who knows the original property backwards, forwards, sideways, and up an down, then more often than not it falls flat on its face.Nine times out of ten, the show is just being remade to fill a gap in the schedules, and everything that made it such a success originally gets stripped away and you're left with something that's just as bland and samey as everything else.
I think JMS is hoping to get someone to back him based on Star Trek and Star Wars being ramped back into gear lately. What's so great about this news from JMS, though, is that he will be in the driver's seat for sure. This is his baby. B5 was his magnum opus, really. I think he wants to take one more shot at seeing it go big or maybe at just finishing out some stories in that universe that are still important to him. He's been through the ringer with B5 and he knows about getting screwed by his partners with what went down with Crusade and Legends. I don't think he would have put this out there unless it had legs, and he as much said if it didn't get any, he would put them on himself.
Watching my B5 DVDs lately, I'm noticing that there are a lot of artifacts and glitches that pop up. B5 will never get a cleaned up Blu Ray treatment, though, as I suspect it was not shot in 35mm and that the effects were probably generated for SD broadcast and that's it. Even more importantly, it's really expensive to re-do these things, and I don't know anyone could rightly expect sales to match the production price tag.
So, ST:TNG got the Blu treatment (and, who knows, if they're smart they'll do DS9 next), even little Firefly and Farscape got Blu releases--even Red Dwarf released couple things in the last couple of years!--Star Trek got a reboot with lots of lens flare, and Star Wars is about to be given the Disney treatment. B5 can break off a chunk of that action. Who would have thought Guardians of the Galaxy, with a raccoon and a tree, would have turned out to be so great?
Someone will bite on B5, or JMS will bring it out for everyone to see anyway. I think he's been waiting and planning for this for a long time, setting up how the rights fell to him and waiting for an opportune moment to pull out another rebooted sci fi franchise for someone to make some money on while he gets a chance to tell another story in his created universe.
So, while I agree that the BBC will likely never actually bring back Blake's 7, I have a little more hope that B5 will make it to the big screen, and that it won't get wrecked in the process.
Probably.
Robert wrote: "Yeah! More Red Dwarf confirmed!...Excellent! After the silly Bladerunner-esque 'special' I expected series ten to suck, but actually quite enjoyed it...
Steph wrote: "I could mention the countless times BBC's Blake's 7 has been rumoured to be coming back to the screen, only for it to never, ever happen. Best space opera ever."I've always wished it would show up on my local PBS station.
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http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2014/10...
I have to agree with Brin's opinion that what we need is some HOPEFUL sci-fi space based fiction and movies. I'm sick of dystopia. I miss Stargate SG-1 :-( It was always so hopeful with a can-do attitude.
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Me too.
Yep, something with a bit of upbeats would be lovely.
[*sniffles*][*wipes eyes*]
I miss Stargate SG-1!!!
We own all ten seasons on DVD... The whole family misses SG-1!
There were rumors of a third Stargate movie, but then it never happened :-(
Hi folks. I have some Christmas-prezzie Amazon vouchers to spend and I'm eyeing up various boxsets. I've already got Farscape, Firefly and Blake's 7. I watched the odd episode of Stargate SG-1 and never got into it; the same goes for the Star Trek spin-offs. I confess I've never seen anything of Babylon 5 (I'm not sure why). Any recommendations?
We've loved the remake of Battlestar Galactica. It can be a bit graphic/adult in content, but it's (IMO) a great reimagining.We also have the original series as well. The precursor, Caprica was also good, but sadly never went beyond the first series.
I second Battlestar Galactica (the reboot). It's a drama ... set in space. Real high-quality stuff.
Binge watched Caprica on NetFlix. Wish there had been more than one season. I liked it!
The problem with Caprica was it started out a bit slow (pacing wise) and combined too many Heinlein-esque alternate social issues at once. For a hardcore sci-fi fan familiar with those issues it wasn't a stumbling block, but I think it (with the pacing) made the show hard to get into for a non-core sci-fi fan. I wish they'd picked one 'alternate' issue (I preferred the assassin-with-a-loving-husband because it felt 'real') to another (that whole polyamory storyline always felt forced to me, as if it was something the producers had read in a book, unlike Neelix in Voyager who was always like, yeah, ho-hum, I've got a dozen wives and co-husbands and co-children). It was too bad because the story started to pick up pace and feel less forced just as they killed it.
Anna wrote: "I second Battlestar Galactica (the reboot). It's a drama ... set in space. Real high-quality stuff."Hmm... I'll check it out. I saw the original series when it aired in the UK all those years ago but missed the remake.
The original was campy and corny (but I still loved it) in that 1970's style. The reboot is a lot darker (and better acted).
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I also really like the quote from Uri Aviv: “Over the years science fiction has inspired the exploration of space and cyberspace and was first to imagine the robot, cyborg, clone and technological singularity. All of these are "mere byproducts" to the real focus of science fiction -- society -- communities, relationships, individuals -- how we transform, mutate and evolve through science and how we use and abuse technology. Science fiction creators imagine the un-imaginable and explore the impossible, they perform huge scale gedankenexperiments and by doing so they give birth to our future, for giving shape to the impossible today, gives shape to the every-day of tomorrow.”
Betsy wrote: "...All of these are "mere byproducts" to the real focus of science fiction -- society -- communities, relationships, individuals -- how we transform, mutate and evolve through science and how we use and abuse technology..."Couldn't agree more. I did end up buying Battlestar Galactica and have just started watching season three. I thought the mini series and season one weren't anything special, but season two had me hooked. And the original Apollo is in it!
SyFy is adapting The expanse series by James SA Corey for broadcast later this year. It's been described as "Game of Thrones in space" but we will see. I'm starting to get a little worried because the principal shooting is complete but there is no official release date for the series yet.
Don't worry first season will be in December and already they have green light for second seasonhttp://seriable.com/the-expanse-renew...
Anna wrote: "The original was campy and corny (but I still loved it) in that 1970's style. The reboot is a lot darker (and better acted)."I liked the original, not the reboot of Battlestar Galactica. But then, I also liked Buck Rogers.
Mad wrote: "SyFy is adapting The expanse series by James SA Corey for broadcast later this year. It's been described as "Game of Thrones in space" but we will see. I'm starting to get a little worried becaus..."
I'm looking forward to this.
A big screen B5 movie would be awesome! I know there is no way to feasibly bring back the original cast in their original roles, but seeing the scope of B5 on the big screen would be fantastic. I hope it happens.
MadProfessah wrote: "SyFy is adapting The expanse series by James SA Corey for broadcast later this year. It's been described as "Game of Thrones in space" but we will see. Game of Thrones in space? Granted, I've never read the SOIAF series, but I don't really see the similarities to the Expanse series...Or is this just the media's new buzz word for "Huge, epic thing?"
Jadetyger wrote: "MadProfessah wrote: "SyFy is adapting The expanse series by James SA Corey for broadcast later this year. It's been described as "Game of Thrones in space" but we will see. Game of Thrones in sp..."
It's entertainment journalists being lazy with their descriptors. Expanse is only like GoT in that they are both a book series.
Expanse should be better compared to Battlestar Galactica for the people who refuse to read and only watch television. Both of those are set in space, both are space operas, both have huge story lines that are politically complicated.
Expanse had some of the thing I like about GOT (the political backstabbing and whatnot). But yes, I think BSG is a more apt comparision. I will qualify this by saying I only read the first Expanse novel.
Not exactly on topic, but I thought the group would enjoy this (found it on FB).
*Squeeeeee!!!!*I just learned that James Cameron is making sequels -- four of them -- to Avatar. Yay :-)
Wish the Avatar sequels were a little closer together. But hey, it's James Cameron...I'll wait.
i was about to say, "i'm shocked nobody is mentioning lost in space and how it got canceled", but then i noticed this group hasn't been active since 2017. :p
[*Like 'Episode VII' ... SQUEE!!!*]
Or ... perhaps you'd like to lament about a favorite show past, which has had its run on television or the big screen, but still lives on in fandom with book tie-ins, video games, comic books and graphic novels, even some well-written fanfiction!
[*Farscape ... oh how I miss thee ... SG1, BSG, DS9, and of course Voyager...*]
Use this folder to open new threads announcing you have heard of an upcoming movie or television series based on a Space Opera novel, or new space opera tie-ins based upon a favorite movie or television series. Community members can then go to that folder to discuss it, keep each other apprised of the latest news and gossip, and compare notes about how the script might be shaping up versus the original book.