I\u2019m cheating here.\u00a0 I really don\u2019t have some authoritative answer but I\u2019m interested in opinions.\u00a0 I mean I have my own but I\u2019d like to hear from you readers.\u00a0 I guess I\u2019m trying to separate what people want to see filmed from what they think would film best.\u00a0 For instance, someone might love the book Stranger in a Strange Land but think that it wouldn\u2019t translate to the screen at all.\u00a0 And conversely you might not care for a book but recognize that it would make an amazing visual spectacle.\u00a0 So that\u2019s the challenge.\u00a0 What you pick could be your favorite sf book but only if you think that it would be a terrific movie.<\/p>\n
So, to be fair I\u2019ll have to pick a book and tell why the movie version would be phenomenal.\u00a0 Hmmmm.<\/p>\n
Alright, so I\u2019ll pick a controversial book; Heinlein\u2019s \u201cStarship Troopers.\u201d\u00a0 And I\u2019ll say why.\u00a0 I\u2019m basing my opinion on the 1997 film directed by Paul Verhoeven.\u00a0 Verhoeven made the movie to be an ironic send-up of what he considered a fascist state.\u00a0 So, he was mocking the military that makes up the whole story.\u00a0 And yet, despite this hostile take on Heinlein\u2019s book, the film is a staggeringly vivid visual spectacle.\u00a0 The vistas of battle on planet and in space are remarkable even though this movie used CGI effects that are several decades out of date.\u00a0 So, I try to imagine what could be done if someone who liked the story and the world it envisions wrote and directed it.\u00a0 I think it could be amazing.<\/p>\n
Now let me add that I don\u2019t think this would happen in a million years.\u00a0 Woke Hollywood has no interest in a pro-military sf war movie.\u00a0 Ever since Vietnam they\u2019ve made more than ten anti-war movies for every pro-military one.\u00a0 But since I\u2019m not asking, \u201cwhat\u2019s the movie most likely to be made,\u201d I feel I can select the story that I favor regardless of its chances of actually appearing on the screen.\u00a0 I think of the visual showing Buenos Aires being obliterated from space by the Bugs and I think of what the emotional impact of that scene would be.\u00a0 And if the Rico character were presented as intended, I think it would be a sympathetic one for the male portion of the audience.\u00a0 Of course, the jury is still out on whether I would keep the communal male\/female shower facilities that Verhoeven introduced into his film.\u00a0 It has its advantages and disadvantages as a cinematic device.\u00a0 But I would demand that the movie stay as close to Heinlein\u2019s book as possible.<\/p>\n
So come on everybody, pick the story that is perfect for the big screen and give your reasons why you think so.\u00a0 And I won\u2019t restrict this by the book\u2019s age.\u00a0 It could be Frankenstein, War of the Worlds or anything else.\u00a0 Even if it\u2019s already been filmed several times, say why a new version would work.\u00a0 But for pity\u2019s sake don\u2019t give me a woke book.\u00a0 My stomach isn\u2019t as strong as it used to be.<\/p>\n