Movies and Film Writing Sample 2 - Kapolei, HI

The Top Ten Sci-Fi Movies Not Yet Made

Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror films routinely mop up at the box office. These genres, and especially sci-fi, are about ideas more than characters - they allow the viewer to leave the humdrum of the everyday and step completely into another world. That's the best case scenario at least - like Star Wars, Alien, or Bladerunner. Yet some of the best sci-fi stories in literature have been overlooked, in favor of mindnumbing and derivative sequels, or barely strung together sequences of thought deprived action.

Part of the problem has been technology. Until recently, filmmakers couldn't show the scope and scale of a sprawling space opera, or the anatomy of something truly alien. With the current state of computer animation however, there's hardly any idea left that can't be rendered. Another part of the problem is licensing. Some stories have been orbiting the Hollywood option merry-go-round for decades. Getting a film into production (let alone getting a script adaptation) is an act of love. Often being stranger than others, sci-fi films have an extra hurdle to jump on the journey from story to screen.

The biggest part of the problem may simply be lack of exposure. There are thousands great novels and short stories that could be adapted to film, many begging for it. The sci-fi genre still languishes as the ugly sister of "real" mainstream literature. Even within geek culture, many of the best stories have been forgotten.

On the off chance that a mega producer or two might see this, I've compiled a list of some of the best sci-fi stories that deserve a film adaptation. Actually, I wanted to have many more, but I whittled it down to ten.

10. Billenium - J. G. Ballard - Billenium is a short story about overpopulation, and we've seen that concept before with Soylent Green, but what makes this special is the gentle humor and subtle tragedy in the story. People are packed into tiny apartments like clowns in a clown car, and when one man discovers an old, forgotten room, he feels intensely lonely living in the comparatively vast space.  The Ballard novels Crash (not the recent film of the same title), and now High-Rise have been adapted (High-Rise is still in production), and Ballard has also found fame through his memoir, Empire of the Sun.

9. Neuromancer - William Gibson - Neuromancer is the definitive cyberpunk novel and explores the desire to transcend the flesh. It resonates on several culturally relevant levels, from religion to information addiction. The complex, literary story might be hard to adapt, but done well it would be  a nice counterpoint to the Matrix series.

8. The Sheep Look Up - John Brunner - How can you go wrong with a title like that? The Sheep Look Up is a classic dystopian novel of ecological collapse, a topic touched on before, but more plausibly and more humanely with Sheep.

7. The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson - Stephenson writes sprawling, complex plots and characters, but the Diamond Age might just be his most imaginative, idea centered novel. It revolves around stunning nanotechonological advancements that invite a visual adaptation - and who can resist the eccentricity of robotic horse travel?

6. Rock Rats - Ben Bova - Part of a long series about exploration of the other planets in the solar system, this hard sci-fi novel is set in the asteroid belt. Hard sci-fi is too seldom adapted to film and this entire series could make a great franchise for an intrepid studio.

5. Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson - Robinson's trilogy, Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars, is a cult favorite among space exploration advocates (a very special form of highly opinionated geek). The series is highly political, and has a built-in base of faithful who are sure to pack theatres.

4. Foundation - Isaac Asimov - I, Robot may be the most recognized Asimov novel, but Foundation and it's bevy of sequels form a sweeping future history packed with great characters and a fast, thoughtful plot. It's an engaging and addictive series.

3. The Forever War - Joe Haldeman -The Forever War is the definitive sci-fi military novel. Written by a Vietnam vet, it truly captures the heart rending nature of war and it's pyschological impact.  A movie that isn't about any historical war allows many concepts about war to be explored in the abstract without arrousing controversy.

2. Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey - There have been dragons aplenty in theatres in recent years, so it's a bit mystifying that Anne McCaffrey's wonderful Pern series, of which Dragonflight is the first, hasn't been adapted to film. This might seem like a retread of so many fantasy stories, but McCaffrey has a truly fresh approach: the dragons have been genetically engineered for use on an alien planet.

1. Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein - Some would argue that Stranger in a Strange Land isn't Heinlein's best, but that's like saying Romeo and Juliet isn't as good as Hamlet.  Most of Heinlein's works are a rip to read - he was the master of the unexpected plot. Stranger is a story about love, in all it's levels, in all it's complications. It isn't to everyone's taste (there's some group lovin' goin' on), but it's an important part of the sci-fi cannon and truly deserves an adaptation.