'The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress' Coming To the Big Screen 331
HughPickens.com writes: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Twentieth Century Fox recently picked up the movie rights to The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, based on the classic sci-fi book by Robert A. Heinlein. It will retitled as Uprising. Heinlein's 1966 sci-fi novel centers on a lunar colony's revolt against rule from Earth, and the book popularized the acronym TANSTAAFL (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch), a central, libertarian theme. The novel was nominated for the 1966 Nebula award (honoring the best sci-fi and fantasy work in the U.S.) and won the Hugo Award for best science fiction novel in 1967. An adaptation has been attempted twice before — by DreamWorks, which had a script by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and by Phoenix Pictures, with Harry Potter producer David Heyman attached — but both languished and the rights reverted to Heinlein's estate. Brian Singer, who previously directed X-Men: Days of Future Past, will adapt the screenplay and reportedly direct. Several of Heinlein's works have been adapted for the big and small screen, including the 1953 film Project Moonbase, the 1994 TV miniseries Red Planet, the 1994 film The Puppet Masters, the 2014 film Predestination, and — very loosely — the 1997 film Starship Troopers.
There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:5, Insightful)
Predestination was a "decent' attempt at "All you Zombies" and was very watchable.
All the other attempts kind of sucked out loud with a bamboo umbrella.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:5, Insightful)
All I know is, I'm praying "...please don't fuck it up as bad as you did Starship Troopers..."
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:4, Interesting)
Starship Troopers was bad. Very bad. While Puppet Masters was bad, too -- it had at least Donald Sutherland. I could picture him as the "Old Man" easily and I could almost imagine a script that didn't suck.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:4, Insightful)
Starship Troopers was more an ironic paraphrasing of the book than literally following the book.
I actually come to realize that if you follow a book literally then it may not make a good movie.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:5, Informative)
The Starship Troopers movie doesn't much resemble the book because it wasn't based on the book. No, literally, it was a totally standalone work that was written from the ground up as terrible B-movie schlock, and someone pointed out that it had a passing resemblance...so they licensed the name for marketing, changed a couple characters and locations, that's it. Heinlein's estate didn't care that it was completely different because he's dead and it's free money.
The original title was Bug Hunt at Outpost Nine.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh my God, I can't believe you morons still believe that.
Verhoeven was fucking with you.
This is the man who made RoboCop and Total Recall. The writer of Starship Troopers, Edward Neumeier, also wrote RoboCop.
Bug Hunt at Outpost Nine is a working title. A lot of movies like that have working titles. It helps keep them secret when they're in production.
Do you honestly think they weren't aware of one of the most famous science fiction novels that bore a striking similarity to the movie they had written, which was itself a satire of fascism and war propaganda?
Verhoeven may not have actually finished the novel, you don't need to, it's pretty boring, all hopping around in power armor and nuking skinnies and bugs after you get past the parts they directly lifted. But Neumeier is a writer who is into science fiction, do you honestly think he had never heard of Starship Troopers? That it was all coincidence? If so, you Heinlein fanboys are as dim-witted as the characters.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:5, Insightful)
Verhoeven completely misunderstood the book, was the thing, and made a parody of it. What he missed, what Heinlein's reader's often miss, is that Heinlein doesn't write utopias. None of his books are some imagining of an ideal society. The point of Starship Troopers was to explore in depth what life would be like in a militaristic/fascist society from the point of view of someone who knew nothing else. It was subtle and powerful as a result: the point-of-view characters are fully adapted to their society, and don't point out all the ways it's batshit crazy. Heinlein trusts the reader to make that call, to see how easily people get used to even such a harsh society and accept it as normal, if that's all you know.
Verhoeven missed all of that, saw it as an endorsement of the society in the book, and parodied it, turning the really interesting point the book was making into trite anvilicious crap.
Moon is the same - exploring an ultra-libertarian society in the same detail, in the same way from the point of view of people adapted to it. I expect the same Hollywood treatment: making a satire of it since they see the society as unwanted, not realizing it wasn't an endorsement in the first place but a critique.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Verhoeven missed all of that, saw it as an endorsement of the society in the book, and parodied it, turning the really interesting point the book was making into trite anvilicious crap.
Look, I'm not going to claim that Troopers was a good movie in any way really, but you totally failed at watching it. The propaganda scenes made it quite clear that Verhoeven was not providing an "endorsement" of such a society.
Verhoeven is a perfectly bright guy, he's smarter than you in that he knows that explosions and tits sell pictures both to execs and audiences. Total Recall was the film that convinced me that he knew what he was doing. Get the basic ideas down in the picture, and get the big twist/r
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:5, Insightful)
You mis-read me. Verhoeven saw the book as an endorsement of the society in the book, and parodied it in his movie, since he saw it as such an awful book. Verhoeven has said as much in interviews.
Re: (Score:3)
All of that meant that he completely missed the story in the book itself. It would be like telling the story of the Lord of the Rings from the viewpoint of Sauron and making it very sympathetic to his viewpoint too, portraying Gandalf as a stupid idiot sent to torment him. I could use other examples, but at least Peter Jackson was a fan of the Tolkein books. Verhoeven hated the political philosophies of Heinlein and didn't even really bother trying to finish the book itself before finishing the screenpla
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
That's actually why the movie was done as a parody. Trying to play the book straight would result in something that looks an awful lot like a fascist propaganda film.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:5, Insightful)
Regardless, a movie about Starship Troopers that doesn't include power armor isn't a proper re-telling of the story.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:5, Insightful)
There is one way of looking at the movie in relation to the book that actually sort of makes sense. For all of the criticism leveled at Heinlein for being too militaristic or even "fascistic", the society he describes is basically a multicultural libertarian utopia: people of all nationalities seem to be relatively happy and well-off, the government is relatively minimal, and the federal service is open to absolutely anyone (even cripples). And that's precisely the problem - utopian ideals rarely turn out well in practice. Actually, the even more specific problem is that Heinlein assumes the society would basically be run by people like him. Verhoeven's version, although it badly misrepresents what the book actually says, is probably a more realistic vision of how such a society would turn out.
That said, I'd still love to see an adaptation that plays it straight. Or at least gets the mobile infantry right, complete with orbital drops and mechanized armor.
Re: (Score:2)
Heinlein also used the basic income model in many of his stories. Its not all libertarian, its a balance between a social safety net and libertarian capitalism.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:4, Informative)
Many of his books also featured communal living, with many people living together and freely sharing resources, and even sharing sexual partners. Usually this was not part of the main plot, but just happened to be the way the characters were living.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:5, Insightful)
Heinlein's thoughts were so far above the cookie cutter "isms" as to be on a different plane altogether.
Re: (Score:3)
The Number of the Beast is a horrible introduction to Heinlein, and is sort of the last in a long line of books about Lazarus Long. It purposely went into a fictional tangent of multiverses where literally anything could happen, and it was written as though it could. It was basically written for the hardcore fans of his other books to tie together multiple characters and wrap up dangling storylines as a capstone book to his entire collection. It would be like watching a TV series final episode that has b
Re: (Score:3)
I'm not remembering pedophilia; would you care to elucidate?
Not all libertarians against safety net ... (Score:4, Interesting)
Heinlein also used the basic income model in many of his stories. Its not all libertarian, its a balance between a social safety net and libertarian capitalism.
Not all libertarians are against a safety net and basic services like police, fire/rescue and the military. Its more about keeping gov't to an absolute minimum. To match, limit and scale gov't to a clear definable needs, not to have gov't engage in "well meaning" wants.
Re: (Score:3)
I'm using the term "libertarian" only in the most general sense - not the Tea Party/Ayn Rand versions. It's an imperfect term to describe him, but I have a hard time thinking of another that works better, since none of the established political groupings occupies a similar niche.
Re: (Score:2)
Fascism largely a creation of director Verhoeven (Score:5, Insightful)
As you point out the book is quite different. I would like to emphasize that the book is quite clear that federal service is not necessarily military service. That the federal service required hardship and a risk of severe bodily injury or death, for example construction in harsh environments (asteroids, space, etc). In fascism the military and combat is held above all else, mere laborers even doing hazardous construction would never be considered to have equivalent service.
Re:Fascism largely a creation of director Verhoeve (Score:5, Interesting)
The accusation of fascism wasn't just Verhoeven, though - many others have made the same complaint (again, I think it's unfair, but it is a widespread view). Heinlein was clearly bothered enough by some of the reactions to his book that he wrote an entire essay defending himself and clarifying what he meant (I think it's in the collection Expanded Universe). One of the key points was that fascism tends to involve universal conscription - his "federal service" was absolutely voluntary.
Re: (Score:2)
A very great many people are stupid. Old news at 11.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:4, Interesting)
I love Heinlein. But, one cannot take some of his ideas too seriously.
I agree; I think Starship Troopers is one of the greatest works of science fiction, and it has influenced the way I think about participation in government, but it's important to recognize the inherent flaws of the premise (and to place it in the proper context of his other, sometimes nuttier, writing). A lot of his work was intended to provoke, not present a blueprint for an ideal society.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The director of Starship Troopers didn't read more than two chapters of the book, and had no intention of a faithful adaptation. With any luck, the people involved might actually read the book and manage to get past the premise that the Earth can't make enough food to feed itself and therefore the Moon must be farmed.
Re: (Score:3)
I never got that impression. The moon was a self sustaining colony that trades with Earth. I don't recall any notion that the Earth was dependant on them for food.
but it has also been a good 25 or 30 years since I read it, so there is that.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:4, Informative)
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:5, Insightful)
Trade with Earth was bleeding them of water and would eventually lead to the colony's collapse.
They could probably have been self-sufficient if they hadn't been forced to send grain to Earth. But being a bunch of transportees and convicts, they didn't get a say in the matter.
Good luck explaining the finer points of a closed-cycle ecology, economics and politics in a 2-hour movie.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:4, Interesting)
the war worshiping jingoistic crap that it is. :)
that just about describes every single Heinlein novel. He was a frustrated Naval officer wannabe who grew up in a very racist, sexist, nationalistic time.
The amazing thing that I find about his writing that in spite of all that, he was one of the very first writers who wrote openly about interracial relationships, who put women into strong positions (although never of leadership, except in Starship Troopers), and basically was years ahead of his time.
I sincerely hope they don't fuck up The Moon is a Harsh Mistress anywhere nearly as bad as every other Heinlein adaptation.
But changing the title from "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" to "Uprising" does not bode well; the book is not about an "Uprising" but about how a society develops when the rules of normal society are removed. The actual "uprising" in the book is almost a by-product and not a central theme.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
I would love to see "Friday" or "Job: A Comedy of Justice" made in to movies.
Re: (Score:2)
two votes for Friday. No selective editing, though. :)
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
He was very frustrated and distraught at having to leave the Navy. The Navy was his first career choice and he did not want to leave. He felt that he could have contributed much more had he been allowed to stay in the Navy.
I was not being contemptuous; I was being truthful.
Re: (Score:3)
He was very frustrated and distraught at having to leave the Navy.
He didn't leave entirely... during WWII he worked at the Pentagon [stackexchange.com] with Isaac Asimov, John Campbell, and a couple of other prominent authors on top-secret (at the time) projects involving quite a bit of technology development (including what would eventually become high-altitude pressure suits, if that gives you an idea).
Dude even broke Navy protocol and hired smart women to the team, as he managed the projects under his care.
If I remember right, he retained his rank at the time.
Re: (Score:2)
? Must be different from when I was an officer. Never heard that. Interesting.
Re: (Score:3)
"Wannabe" is also a negative term that connotes one lacks the ability. It sounds pretty contemptuous! Maybe not what you meant, but that's how I interpreted it as well.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:4, Insightful)
I agree. Wannabe certainly sounds to me like he was never commissioned or in any way successful. Heinlein wasn't a wannabe naval officer, he *was* a commissioned naval officer.
You could say he was a wannabe captain or admiral, perhaps, but "wannabe" implies he didn't have it in him to be either of those things and there is no evidence that he lacked the ability to have an otherwise long and successful career, especially on the eve of WWII. Being forced out for a legitimate medical reason does not indicate that he was a failed officer in the way that the term implies.
So yeah, not a very good way to put it. "Frustrated" in his attempt to have a full naval career, is what I might say if I actually believed that his frustrations were being acted out in his fiction. Which I don't.
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:4, Insightful)
But changing the title from "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" to "Uprising" does not bode well; the book is not about an "Uprising" but about how a society develops when the rules of normal society are removed. The actual "uprising" in the book is almost a by-product and not a central theme.
Not sure that I agree - the main thing that moves the plot forward certainly is the revolution. You could argue that the revolution plot is just the scaffolding Heinlein uses for his speculation about society, but to be fair a huge amount of sci-fi could be described this way. The other thing that makes the revolution critical is that he uses it to showcase the way colonization efforts will eventually evolve - Earth will view colonists as dependent and incapable, but as soon as basic self-sufficiency is possible it will become very difficult to maintain control over determined inhabitants who are acclimated to the very different environment and accustomed to dealing with the challenges of space.
Re: (Score:3)
I think a lot of books would be better served with 4-8 hours of cinema instead of 2, which is ludicrous.
The problem is that books don't follow the "movie flow" (go 60 minutes into most movies and watch an action scene!), detailed, among many other places, here: http://www.davidbordwell.net/e... [davidbordwell.net]
Since books are written *to be books*, scenes have to be added to maintain the flow, or subtracted to maintain the flow. This is one reason why you'll see them power through or skip important scenes, giving you the i
Re:There might be hope for a decent adaptation (Score:5, Insightful)
Starship troopers is a fantastic movie.
You just have to acknowledge that it's a parody piece that (rightly) shits all over the source material for the war worshiping jingoistic crap that it is. :)
Did we read the same book? I took out of it that war is horrible, leaving the lucky ones dead and the unlucky ones in broken bodies and scarred souls, but still a necessary evil to allow the people back home to live peaceful, happy lives. It also implies that drafts are bad and the only soldiers should be volunteers who willingly measure the rewards vs the risk of dying/getting injured, realizing that their sacrifice benefits the whole. Remember that the general feeling of the cap troopers was that they would be happy if the war was over tomorrow and no one was ever forced into a capsule if they did not want to go, and they weren't even punished for doing so besides getting discharged.
Re: (Score:2)
Predestination was a "decent' attempt at "All you Zombies" and was very watchable.
All the other attempts kind of sucked out loud with a bamboo umbrella.
Pretty much. I really liked Predestination, loved that they kept the original time frame even though it led to some retro-futuristic anachronisms, and didn't begrudge them adding somewhat to the story. Did you notice that one of the characters was holding a copy of "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress"?
I hesitate to call *all* the others crap only because parts of "the puppet masters" were fairly close to the original material, if you see the story as occurring in the present day rather than near-future. What a
Re: (Score:3)
You're thinking of "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet."
Re: (Score:2)
I really enjoyed Predestination.
You were meant to.
I read that as "To Moon a Harsh Mistress" (Score:2, Flamebait)
But seriously, that's pretty fun. I hope they don't screw it up.
Re: (Score:2)
But seriously, that's pretty fun. I hope they don't screw it up.
I tried it but it wasn't that fun, my Mistress just said "What are you doing!? That's disgusting, pull your pants back up!", then she slapped me across the face and walked out -- she's quite harsh.
I Read All of Heinlein's Stuff (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
His later books got more than a little bizarre and disturbing. Strange things seem to happen to aging SF writers.
Re:I Read All of Heinlein's Stuff (Score:5, Insightful)
I think too many journeys through the Time Portal (aka Scotch Whiskey) really fries the old brain cells.
And once he really tried to think through cats and women he just lost it. Therein lies madness.
Re: (Score:2)
Heinlein wasn't the only one. Some of Philip Jose Farmer's later work had a pretty sexually bizarre bent
Re: (Score:3)
No, rishithra was in all four. :)
Chicks with fur and a prehensile tail is an interesting proposition; Just Exactly how far away from caucasian do you draw the line? :)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah, I second the poster who suggests rereading them again now... except honestly most just weren't THAT good.
nobody is going to confuse Heinlein with Ayn Rand when it comes to message versus storytelling.
Actually I disagree, several of his works had lengthy tangents of just Heinlein channeling message that really didn't connect to the story. Friday for one, Farnham's Freehold for another, Number of the Beast, I will fear no evil, all stand out as examples for me. Probably others... to sail beyond the sunset...etc.
I think Stranger in a Strange Land ... well the commentary on society in that one was
Re: (Score:2)
A lot of his work was good, and even his weaker stuff is still worth a read -- some neat stuff explored; but your definitely looking through a window into Heinlein's political, economic, and sexual ideology and it becomes apparent to the point of being an annoying distraction.
The thing that stood out for me re-reading Mistress recently was that Heinlein was an utter troglodyte about gender roles. He was progressive for his time, but his treatment of women really stands out, and not in a good way, when reading his books with a modern sensibility.
Re: (Score:2)
The problem there is critiquing old art with modern social mores. By that token, we ought to dismiss every classic odalisque ever painted as blatant sexual objectification. It is unfair to unmoor art from its context and judge it from an alien one.
Re: (Score:3)
Not really.
Yes, its important to consider the context classical works were written from. The Flintstones for example or Huck Finn... etc. The various racial and gender issues in them can and should be attributed to values from 1880 or 1960 respectively.
We should of course, bear in mind that Heinlein is writing from the 40s through the 80s and need to keep that in focus, but they are not the background canvas that his works rest on he... he brings the social conventions to the forefront propses that we look
Re: (Score:3)
Heinlein did make a great story around an idea in many cases - often seasoned with some bites at the contemporary society when the books were written.
But if anything I would like to see a movie or a series of the book "Citizen of the Galaxy".
Re: (Score:2)
His writing was certainly libertarian in nature varing from basically none to extreme. That said, his stories were always written well enough that you often don't realize/care about his politics bleeding int the pages.
His tendencies are more about frontier self-sufficience and the use of one's own (naturally brilliant though often fluke) ability to survive extrodinary situations. The formula generally works because his stories are written to play well against this formula while still being quite enjoyable (
Uprising? (Score:5, Insightful)
I suspect I'm much more likely to go and watch a film called "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" than one called "Uprising".
Re:Uprising? (Score:5, Insightful)
Starting off by fucking with the title tells me they have no interest in actually bringing the book to the screen, which is a real pisser, because it's one of my favorite books and it would make a great movie.
Re: (Score:2)
I can't imagine why they would change it. Especially to something so bland.
Re: (Score:2)
Perhaps with the term "Mistress" in the title, they were worried that people would confuse it with the 50 Shades genre.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's too many words to fit on a Marquee, and takes too long to say to the ticket vendor. By the time you say "One for The Man who went up a hill and came down a Mountain", the ticket agent has already given you your ticket, change, and is halfway through serving the next person in line.
But I did actually see that film. Making life easy for the marquee layout is clearly not the same thing as making money.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, but now that '50 Shades of Grey' is out, can you imagine what the producers would have wanted to do with a title like that?
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, but now that '50 Shades of Grey' is out, can you imagine what the producers would have wanted to do with a title like that?
How about : "Pantone PMS 400-447 and a Couple More"
http://www.promosyon.us/Panton... [promosyon.us]
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
... (ala Starship Troopers *spit* ...)
Are you a Corner Gas [youtube.com] fan, by any chance.
Mixed Feelings (Score:3)
If they do this right it could be an awesome movie, but I'm afraid they will do all the stupid things Hollywood always does when they "adapt" a book for a movie. Like dumb it down, oversimplify the plot and leave out key plot elements, throw in lots of action scenes that weren't originally in the story and then tack on a fake happy ending for Mike,
Re:Mixed Feelings? Try "Terror". (Score:3)
The obvious problem is that the story takes place over a multi-month or year-long period, which never comes across well in a movie. This would need a miniseries to do it justice.
Re: (Score:2)
[In no particular order] - ever seen a little thing called Gone With the Wind? Lawrence of Arabia? Doctor Zhivago?
One of my favorite all time SF novels... (Score:3)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I am so exited. This will be great. (Score:4, Funny)
What could go wrong? Remember the movie version of Brin's The Postman?
The first five pages of the book and then a remake of Water World.
I robot movie was more honest than the book (Score:2)
The book glosses over how computers and robots takeover society and how (relatively) bloodless it would be.
However it is still a coup d'tat "For our own good". The computer in the movie follows the same zeroth law reasoning but with less subtlety.
Re: (Score:2)
There are two things wrong with Starship Troopers the movie. 1. It follows the book in only the most superfluous way. 2. It's a shitty movie with shitty acting and a shitty script. Better if they had just named it something else and I wouldn't have cared. Now I hate the motherfuckers involved.
Confidence is low, I repeat confidence is low (Score:4, Insightful)
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress is an interesting, thoughtful story.
Hollywood doesn't do interesting and thoughtful.
QED
I'd be much more confident if this was being done in England or Scandinavia (cf Real Humans [imdb.com]).
...laura
Re: (Score:2)
You're ignoring Liam Neeson's thoughtful and nuanced performance in "Taken 3".
Re: (Score:2)
I've got to admit that Liam has style. I liked Rob Roy a lot.
Also, a great Jimmy Webb song (Score:2)
Check this stunning version from avant garde guitarist Bill Frisell, jazz pianist Fred Hersch and Renee Fleming (yes, the opera singer).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
I'll be shocked if it isn't awful (Score:2)
We can predict that:
- The libertarian theme will be inverted by the writers and directors. The actual message will be something entirely different from what Heinlein said, wrote, and believed.
- There will be product placement, somehow. Just, somehow. If Will Smith can pimp shoes in I, Robot, and Captain Kirk can pimp Nokia in a post-nuclear-apocalyptic, post-capitalistic, post-currency society, then somehow they will ruin that aspect as well.
- They already changed the title. There's zero chance it w
I was going to say (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The first movie originated from an unrelated script (about fighting space spiders). They later got rights to Starship Troopers and basically retrofit the character names and a few other things into the story.
Re: (Score:2)
No, the film is *bad* satire. (Score:5, Insightful)
In the movie, the instructor throws a knife through the recruit's hand, and says, "Hard to push a button now, eh?"
I get that the movie is satire. I even get that there's a lot in the book that can be fairly satirized. The problem is, the movie is lazy, unfair, incompetent satire.
Re: (Score:2)
The puppy housetraining in the book was a flashback to his Moral Philosophy teacher explaining why the old civilzation collapsed (namely, because parents stopped spanking their children). Apparently, the "scientfiically verifiable theory of morals" (exact phrase from the book) proves that the way to keep society from collapsing is through corporal punishment in schools and public flogging, just like there is NO way to housetrain a puppy without hitting it.
Re: (Score:2)
No, what it attempts to prove is that an arbitrary transition based on age from "slap on the wrist" as punishment for a particular crime to "execution" for the same crime is insane.
Do try to keep in mind when the book was written, and how
Re: (Score:2)
I took the book as satire of the military, maybe I read something into the book that wasn't there. I did however see the movie before reading the book, so it is possible that colored my views.
There were sequels to starship troopers as well, and they had a totally different tone.
Re: (Score:2)
If you mean a couple of completely unknown movies, those were not sequels. Those were lazy cash-in attempts with no talent.
Heinlein said that (Score:3)
the book was an homage to non-commissioned officers. The movie pretty much misses that aspect of the story.
Re: (Score:2)
The movie pretty much misses that aspect of the story.
It misses pretty much every aspect of the movie. They are even referred to as "cap troopers" when there isn't a single capsule in the entire movie.
Re: (Score:2)
"We are a hedge, please move along."
Rise of Libertarianism (Re:Heinlein sucks) (Score:3, Informative)
10-20 years ago Libertarians were smiled at and politely dismissed with a shrug. These days Statists on /. and elsewhere assault us with their comments, signatures, and mod-points. And Heinlein — whether or not he was a Libertarian himself [mises.org] — did push many people into Libertarianism.
It certainly is not popular among the lunch-recipients...
He is right up there with Azimov and Clark with numerous Hugo and other awards to his name (includi
Haters gonna hate (Re: Rise of Libertarianism) (Score:2)
Please, don't hate.
Re: (Score:2)
"Starship Troopers the movie was lots of fun, but had very little to do with the book."
Reading the book recently, I can tell you that besides dropping the other aliens and turning the "highly trained soldiers of discression with pocket nukes when things go south" into jarheads, the book is story-wise pretty close to the book.
The huge distinction of the two was that the book takes itself seriously, and does a very good job at reinforcing the case for why their society took the course of events that they did.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Good for Heinlein and Pohl (Gateway-wasnt that going to be on TV?) and Andy Weir (The Martian). Too bad there is nothing on the radar for the more lengthy series like Ringworld or Asimov's Foundation.
Be careful what you wish for [darkhorizons.com].