Asimov Foundation

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The Old "Dune" was awful too !

I read foundation a while ago... I'll wait. I do like Villeneuve. I' did love Arrival.. even after many viewings.

I rather liked the old Dune, agree on Arrival.

Other SciFi movies I think were good adaptations

War of the Worlds (2005)
John Carpenters The Thing
The Martian
The first Star Wars installation though one could argue it wasn't really a book before it was a movie.

 

[maverickronin]

Jesus didn’t have a spaceship and a robot.

Heaven used to just be outer space before we discovered what was really up there.

 

[Tks]

Seems alright. Though I ain't going to Apple TV so, RIP me.

 

[Daverz]

Solaris = classic book + classic movie (i'm talking about the 1972 original here).

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/why-stanislaw-lem-hated-andrei-tarkovsky-solaris-adaptation/

 

[GeorgeWalk]

I have seen the character list and I am not impressed.

Plus the casting of Hari Seldon disagrees with me. Hari is thoughtful and scholarly, not sinister.

I disagree. I think Jared Harris is perfect as Harry Seldon. Jared was fantastic as the nuclear scientist in "Chernobyl". He will make a great Hari Seldon.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I disagree. I think Jared Harris is perfect as Harry Seldon. Jared was fantastic as the nuclear scientist in "Chernobyl". He will make a great Hari Seldon.

Yes, I agree. I didn't understand the objection to him in that role. I didn't get the idea Hari Seldon was sinister in the books. For anyone who hasn't watched the Chernobyl mini-series put it on your list and watch it.

Who else would fit as Hari Seldon? Maybe Sean Connery.

 

[Walter]

I enjoyed the Riverworld mini-series, although I know a lot of fans did not. Certainly not as good as the books, and it has been a long time since I watched it or read them, but I seem to remember it being a pretty faithful adaptation. Could be wrong, though.

Foundation is my all time favorite series, but it has been almost 50 years since I read them so I am not sure if I will even notice how the series diverges--unless they do indeed do something stupid like changing Sheldon into a sinister character. I haven't seen the trailer.

 

[JustAnandaDourEyedDude]

In 2015, the Syfy channel made and aired a 4-hour three-part miniseries adaptation of Clarke's 1953 novella "Childhood's End". I did not see it, but judging from its average rating of 6.9 from 11K viewers on IMDb, Syfy must have done a decent job with the mini-series. And yes, before SIY chimes in, I know that the aliens look like they stepped out of a Bible play, which is of course integral to Clarke's story.

Heinlein has 18 writing credits in his filmography on IMDb, though several are related to the Starship Troopers franchise. There was a Japanese movie adaptation of The Door Into Summer not that long ago. One of my favorite Heinlein short stories "All You Zombies" (at least when I was a teen; I have not read any variety of book-form fiction in well over three decades) was adapted into a movie "Predestination" that I have seen, and thought was reasonably well done.

Total Recall (1990) was another adaptation of Philip K. Dick's work that was imho more entertaining than the short story. Though it is does not even come close to Bladerunner as a movie. Bladerunner is in my top five sci-fi movies of all time, and is possibly my number one. Rollerball (1975) and Soylent Green are other examples of entertaining successful adaptations of sci-fi novels or short stories. Lifeforce is another entertaining if shlocky adaptation of a shlocky novel by Colin Wilson. The Omega Man (1971) was a successful movie adaptation of the Richard Matheson novel "I Am Legend". Logan's Run was another successful movie adaptation. Some of Michael Crichton's novels are more entertaining in movie form (Westworld? Jurassic Park?).

 

[voodooless]

Speaking of good adaptions, not really SciFi, but close enough: let's not forget last years Good Omens on Amazon from the novel by Prattchet and Gaiman. Sadly the upcoming Watchmen series seems to have fallen to the Woke croud

I'd also love to see a series on the Hyperion Cantos books by Dan Simmons. Or what about the Commonwealth series from Peter F. Hamilton?

Or if you're into cyberpunk a movie adaptation of The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi.

 

[JSmith]

Just to be clear, this is a TV series and not a film;

The series is scheduled to premiere with a two-episode release, then the remaining eight episodes will be released weekly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_(TV_series)



JSmith

 

[Blumlein 88]

Uh ..... not anymore. Jim

I somehow had forgotten Sir Connery had passed away. Mea Culpa!

Okay for something different an actor who has performed quite well in a variety of roles how about Zachary Quinto?

 

[danadam]

Yes, I agree. I didn't understand the objection to him in that role. I didn't get the idea Hari Seldon was sinister in the books.

I believe @bladerunner6 thinks the actor looks sinister, not Hari Seldon:

Plus the casting of Hari Seldon disagrees with me. Hari is thoughtful and scholarly, not sinister.

 

[bladerunner6]

I believe @bladerunner6 thinks the actor looks sinister, not Hari Seldon:

Exactly right- the actor seems sinister. Seldon is scholarly and genteel, although clever in formulating plans.

 

[Chagall]

I disagree. I think Jared Harris is perfect as Harry Seldon. Jared was fantastic as the nuclear scientist in "Chernobyl". He will make a great Hari Seldon.

Totally agree! Think the actor is spot on.

 

[bluefuzz]

It's probably 40 years since I read the Foundation series so I don't remember much about it. I do remember I was not particularly impressed. I think I preferred the Robot books but I'm not really a science fiction fan. Asimov's best stuff was his non-fiction work. I don't know how many times I read Asimov's guide to Science as a teenager.

I do have an AppleTV but I don't subscribe to their entertainment channel thing so I won't be watching.

 

[Neddy]

Sci-Fi fan fights!! I love the passion!
Jared Harris was also fairly sinister in The Expanse, IRCC.
So, I want to see someone turn That Hideous Strength into a movie - talk about topical....
But, a really well done Ringworld would be lovely...and long overdue.
Jeesh, Niven is 83 (and still kickin?) - I still think of him as a young man (like me!) with 'radical' ideas!
And, maybe, with modern 3D animation, the Known Space series, while we are at it??

 

[Tim Link]

I've been holding on to my Apple TV account just for this show. Hope it's good!

 

[Raindog123]

Michael Crichton's first - The Andromeda Strain - was turned into a decent flick in 1972. (And into a mini-series in 2008. )

And it was only better since, eg including The First Great Train Robbery (with Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland), Jurassic Park franchise, and Westworld.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Sci-Fi fan fights!! I love the passion!
Jared Harris was also fairly sinister in The Expanse, IRCC.
So, I want to see someone turn That Hideous Strength into a movie - talk about topical....
But, a really well done Ringworld would be lovely...and long overdue.
Jeesh, Niven is 83 (and still kickin?) - I still think of him as a young man (like me!) with 'radical' ideas!
And, maybe, with modern 3D animation, the Known Space series, while we are at it??

I thought it was interesting that engineering students form a con protest because Ringworld was unstable. Niven worked with them for a sequel Ringworld Engineers who set about fixing the broken design. Yeah done well Ringworld would make a great series I think.

Of course I always thought Freeman Dyson's idea of genetically engineered trees growing in comets to create a livable atmosphere ripe for a good SciFi book and even more so a movie or three.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_tree

 

[SIY]

In 2015, the Syfy channel made and aired a 4-hour three-part miniseries adaptation of Clarke's 1953 novella "Childhood's End". I did not see it...

I did, and regret it. This was, again, one of my absolute favorite novels, and the series managed to (by dumbing everything down) lose the interesting thinking that ran through the book. Lowest common denominator TV-making will definitely be helpful for IMDB ratings.