Scifi Channel to Make Ringworld Miniseries 431
Snaller writes "The Sci Fi Channel has listed its programming for the upcomming year, it includes the Farscape miniseries already mentioned by Slashdot, it also includes a miniseries based the legendary scifi story by Larry Niven: Ringworld. In the far future 4 travelers crash on a ring around a sun in a distant system. Shall be interesting to see how they depict the Puppeteers."
And Earthsea, too! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:And Earthsea, too! (Score:2, Informative)
Outstanding! (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Outstanding! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Outstanding! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Outstanding! (Score:2)
[troll] Well, maybe they'll actually read "Ringworld" before they start filming. (Unlike Dune.) [/troll]
Re:Just as well. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Just as well. (Score:3, Interesting)
And, while I appreciated the Sci-Fi Channel's rendition of the novel, particularly that they more or less stuck to the story, the sets all had a very Star Trek feeling to them. In scenes that were supposed to be out in the open desert, it was obvious that they were
Interesting... (Score:2, Informative)
I'm looking forward to this series!
Re:Interesting... (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, of course, the mass comes from dismantling a jovian or two -- Jupiter has 318 Earth masses.
PLEASE, (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:PLEASE, (Score:2)
Shall be interesting to see how they depict the... (Score:5, Funny)
Well, do you remember a few years ago? George Lucas made a movie called Episode One. Well they're thinking of using the actor who played Jar-Jar...
Re:Shall be interesting to see how they depict the (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Shall be interesting to see how they depict the (Score:3, Funny)
my response: Scream and leap.
OB Simpsons Quote. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Shall be interesting to see how they depict the (Score:2)
Don't blame Jar-Jar on the actor. He played a part he was paid to play, he didn't design the offensive character or write the inane dialogue.
Re:Shall be interesting to see how they depict the (Score:5, Funny)
Of course, all of this could be the result of George Lucas being a mere caricature of a good screenwriter.
Re:What about African Canadians? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Shall be interesting to see how they depict the (Score:3, Insightful)
Well if I was Jamaican I'd probably want to kill George Lucas for sticking that accent on him.
Why the Hell did I go and see that film? Does anyone remember 'Acting?'
Re:Shall be interesting to see how they depict the (Score:5, Insightful)
Not to rehash a years-old argument (how did you miss it?), but Jar-Jar reminded some viewers of how Jamaicans and African Americans have been caricatured in popular entertainment (e.g. loping, dim-witted, exaggerated mouths, speaking pidgin English). Some of the other aliens in SW:TPM were bore some resemblance to racial stereotypes as well (e.g. the trade federation reps =~ Chinese, Anakin's master Watto =~ Jewish), leading to some spirited debates about the subject.
Re:Shall be interesting to see how they depict the (Score:2, Funny)
About time. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:About time. (Score:3, Insightful)
Crap.. It's on SciFi channel. Damn you FCC!!! I WANT MY NIVEN-ESQUE SEX!!!!
Glad they waited! (Score:5, Informative)
I've been hoping for this movie since I read the book in 1989.
I'm glad they waited until now, though, because I'm old enough to actually be in it.
Well, old enough to audition for it, anyway.
Re:Glad they waited! (Score:2)
Re:Glad they waited! (Score:2)
Re:Glad they waited! (Score:4, Funny)
Is there something you're not telling us?
Keanu Reeve as Louis (Score:4, Funny)
Thanks for solving the speculation of who gets to play Louis. Keanu Reeves will get the part.
Just imagine "Shadow square wire: Wo."
Re:Keanu Reeve as Louis (Score:3, Interesting)
He may be over 200, but due to the spice treatments (NOT DUNE SPICE, this spice mearly reverses/stops the aging process) he looks about 25-35. He is also very good at solving problems.
What I really want to know, is how they are going to portray the Kzin "Speaker to Animals" (I can't remember his original title). I hope they have the Jim Henson company make him a giant mupet or something similar. A CG Kzin wouldn't look very good at all.
As to what a Pier
Re:Glad they waited! (Score:2)
That's the cool thing about being an actor, is that you envision yourself in these roles.
Re:About time. (Score:2)
Wanna see a puppeteer? (Score:5, Interesting)
http://students.biology.lsa.umich.edu/bio208_11
The image is taken from this book, which is definitely teh awesome:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0
You missed the best Puppeteer image: (Score:5, Interesting)
Apparently, a pair of ostriches. But.... maybe not.
Re:You missed the best Puppeteer image: (Score:3, Funny)
Probably good inspiration for the 3D modelers who make the model for the series.
Unless of course it's animatronic.... Hehe, a Henson's Puppeteer.... I'm so witty.
Sweet! (Score:2)
Re:Sweet! (Score:4, Funny)
Why, what's wrong with alien sex?
Re:Sweet! (Score:2)
was that sig intended to go with that post?
Re:Sweet! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Sweet! (Score:5, Funny)
dont worry. I am gathering that the 'Sci-Fi' channel is american so you wont see anything but precious precious violence.
*rocks back and forth, slowly carressing his sweet sweet gun*
Re:Sweet! (Score:2)
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG XD XD XD
Ringworld is my favorite book of all time. I can't wait.
Scifi may yet win me back as a viewer.
</giddy_fanboy>
Re:Sweet! (Score:5, Insightful)
True. Goodness knows that we shouldn't think of sex as part of normal human behavior, so it should never be depicted, nor even talked about in polite company, especially around the children (We MUST Protect the Children!). And then once we perfect in vitro fetilization and artificial gestation, there's no reason to have that disgusting sex whatsoever.
Re:Sweet! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Sweet! (Score:3, Interesting)
As for "weird sexual hangups", there is a (possibly apocryphal) tale about an early sex researcher who, when defining various sexual behaviors, categorized everything he personally did not like as "abnormal" or "perverted".
And just because they are "weird" doesn't mean they are "wrong".
Re:Sweet! (Score:4, Insightful)
I really liked the concepts presented in Ringworld, but the character interactions just seemed ... juvenille ... to me. Sorry if that runs counter to your own (well-reasoned, I'm sure) opinion.
If the sex scene contributes something to the story, by all means, include it. But if it's <pun>inserted</pun> only for shock value, then replace with with something clever that does further the plot.
Re:Sweet! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Sweet! (Score:3, Insightful)
Ender's game is already being made into a movie by the same people as XMen2!
There's no possible way I see that book being faithfully translated into film. Far too much of it is... 'unamerican'. At least unamerican film.
(*spoilers*)
Almost the entire book has the tone of a child/teen who's teased, taunted and manipulated how how that child/teen strikes back. I doubt God Fearing soccer moms will be interested in seeing or allowing others to see Columbine-like tragedy on planetary scale
Re:Sweet! (Score:3, Insightful)
I bet it's fun being his wife - having to put on a puppeteer costume before getting busy.
Not to be outdone... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not to be outdone... (Score:2)
Re:Not to be outdone... (Score:2)
Re:Not to be outdone... (Score:2)
TLC could do a spinoff 6 months later called "Trading Ringworm", followed by another spinoff called "While You've Got Ringworm".
Awesome! (Score:5, Funny)
Puppeteers? How about rish? (Score:2)
Re:Puppeteers? How about rish? (Score:2)
even better, The Screaming Brain (Score:4, Informative)
Come on, it's got Bruce Campbell. It must be good!
Even better-er, Witch Hunter Robin! (Score:3)
I wonder how well SciFi will handle WHR?
FIRE!
Cool... (Score:3, Interesting)
ALIEN APOCALYPSE: Another Bruce Campbell action fest, this time with Campbell playing a deep space explorer who returns to Earth years after leaving it, only to find the planet has been invaded by an alien race and mankind reduced to slaves. Campbell and his fellow astronauts try and mobilize a rebellion.
Aliens, an invasion and Bruce Campbell? They might aswell rename this 'Duke Nukem: The Movie'. Should be cool. (Tho knowing Sci-Fi
Re:Cool... (Score:2)
Been there. Done that.
Battlefield Earth [imdb.com]
Unoriginal (Score:3, Funny)
Halo vs Ringworld (Score:5, Funny)
Eh, close enough.
YEAH!! (Score:2)
Can't wait for some hot rishathra!!!
Think they'll get Jeri Ryan to play Halrloprillalar? Sexy!
Other Ripoff (Score:2, Funny)
C'mon, those Kzinti are obviously Kilrathi warmed over.
Re:Other Ripoff (Score:2)
That or my head is about to explode...
Re:Other Ripoff (Score:2)
Re:Other Ripoff (Score:2)
To be featured on new series - (Score:2)
Disclaimer at the beginning to turn away the lost Tolkien fans who tuned in by mistake.
Sponsored by "Whisk" : ring around the collar, ring around the collar
Zone of Ringworld occupied by muppet mushroom-lizard things [bbc.co.uk]
Which way will Louis Wu go? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Which way will Louis Wu go? (Score:2)
The original was OK, but (Score:4, Informative)
Ringworld Engineers was almost as good as the original, maybe, but Ringworld Throne was a huge disappointment. I'm not the only one who gave up on it halfway through. It's almost like Niven let somebody else write some of it, or decided to fuse unrelated plots into one book, or something equally horrid. Just stay away.
After reading (half of it), I'll probably never read another Niven again.
I'd ask for other book recommendations - but somehow the Slashdot structure isn't very suitable for recommending stuff (books, MP3 players, whatever) and rating it on a regular basis, so we have to make do with a roundup story once or twice a year.
Re:The original was OK, but (Score:2)
I can't remember the title but there was a Niven novel set in a future arcology in LA - one of the worst pieces of dreck I've ever read. I had trouble believing that is was written by the same person.
Re:The original was OK, but (Score:3, Interesting)
I really loved his books The Legacy of Herot, and The Mote in God's Eye... but a couple of years later he wrote sequels to both that were just terrible. He undermined the stories of the originals and filled the sequels with mindless drivel.
That said, I highly reccomend the first book of both of those, and Lucifer's Hammer. All three of those books are imaginative, gripping, and well worth the read.
Naw - it'll crash into the sun (Score:2)
[SPOILERS] Questions... (Score:5, Interesting)
The original Ringworld book doesn't really end with a tense climax. It's a satisfying ending for a book, but I think it would fall a bit flat in a movie/miniseries.
Ringworld Engineers ends with a good fight scene, but including that would mean they'd have to explain Pak Protectors and a lot of other things. I don't think that much material can be adequately handled in a four-hour miniseries.
Ringworld Throne just wasn't very good at all, so let's not go there.
And how faithful will they be to the books? Will they have the "invulnerable" General Products hull? Will they have the Slaver shotgun? Will they include the Puppeteer Fleet of Worlds?
This has so much potential to be great or awful.
TheFrood
Re:[SPOILERS] Questions... (Score:3, Funny)
Nessus will be replaced by a sexy female alien. You will be able to tell she is an alien because she has a ridge on her forehead and very large breasts.
In an interesting plot twist, Louis Wu will be replaced by a cigar smoking, sexy female explorer.
The character of Teela Brown will be cut from this version entirely. Lucky her.
The Lying Bastard will be re
Re:[SPOILERS] Questions... (Score:4, Insightful)
In the sequel, Teela gets a brain and ends up ruling the place. just like the Scarecrow in the Oz sequels.
Representing the scale of the Ringworld. (Score:2, Interesting)
Don't forget you can see the Kzinti already on TV (Score:2)
Ringworld's Children (Score:4, Informative)
It trails the children of Teela Brown and Seeker (Who it turns out was also the product of a "Breeding for Luck" selecting breeding project.), and what happens to them. (Before Teela turns into a Protector, and also explains why Protector-Teela wanted to lose the fight with Louis Wu!
Oh bah, more retconning (Score:3, Insightful)
We know why Teela wanted to lose the fight. It was explained oerfectly well in Engineers. You know, when it actually happened.
Why do successful series always feel the need to go insert unneeded stories in the "gaps" between the same stories that made them successful? We don't need a day-to-day diary.
Following the events of Teela's children would be interesting, though.
Re:Ringworld's Children (Score:3, Insightful)
Concerned (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:TASP (Score:4, Funny)
Re:TASP (Score:4, Funny)
What happened to the Rama movie? (Score:2)
If they do it right, this would be an interesting project also. As long as they don't "hollywoodize" the project as they so often do.
(BTW, I'm glad they didn't hollywoodize the LOTR movies. If they had, they would have consolidated Sauron and Saruman into one character,
Re:NNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! (Score:2)
They can't possibly do John Varley worse than has already been done. Exhibit #1 [imdb.com], Exhibit #2 [imdb.com].
Who's up for Steel Beach?
Re:NNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! (Score:2)
Re:Surely there are better stories... (Score:2)
Ringworld is THE ULTIMATE SciFI in my opinion, and I bet many will back me up on that.
I'd say your brain is just to small to understand the book.
Re:Surely there are better stories... (Score:3, Informative)
Ringworld: Nebula Award 1970 (Best Novel), Hugo Award 1971 (Best Novel), Locus Award 1970 (Best Novel), and the Australian Ditmar 1972 (Best Novel).
The setting certainly was important and sparked conferences, debates and papers (including some thoughts from Freeman Dyson).
But the characters and civilizations certainly were deep, this was the first in-depth look at the Kzinti who became the centre of many later novels written by other authors. There have been a series of (
Re:Surely there are better stories... (Score:5, Insightful)
- We have a brave genius human (male, naturally) who solves the problems. Check.
- We have an attractive but ditzy girl for him. Check.
- We have some sex. Check.
- We have some fierce aliens. Cat people'll do. Check.
- We have some cowardly aliens. Check.
But wait! the twist!
- We have *another* attractive girl for him, and the first attractive girl goes off with someone else, hence giving brave genius male some more sex!
I'm not even going to *start* on Engineers and Throne - too many targets, too little time. If erotic furries is your thing, knock yourself out. Otherwise read something better.
Like Asimov and Clarke, Niven has a major failing as an author - he can come up with astounding technical details, and then wrap them with a story that's for shit. Niven's obviously done *amazing* research into stuff, and invented whole civilisations and past histories like Tolkein would be proud of, but the story (which basically means things happening to people and how people react) could be any trash novel from anywhere.
Grab.
Somehow Niven seems tame after Heinlein... (Score:3, Interesting)
Legit Gripe! Re:Surely there are better stories... (Score:4, Interesting)
This guy brings up a legitimate point. I don't think he deserves to be modded "troll."
I loved Ringworld back in the day; it was one of the first grown-up genre SF novels I read, and I flipped head over heels for it and Niven's other stuff. I read it and the other "Known Space" books many times.
Now, I wonder what the heck I was thinking. It's heavy on sense-of-wonder, but there really is not much to the story.
The setting itself turns out to be kind of shabby: Niven had to add all sorts of kludgy patches to keep the poor Ringworld together and viable. If your aim is to create lots of secure living space, you are far better off building lots of self-contained space habitats.
Looking back, I suspect I was blown away by the Big Thingness of it, and the intricate background material that added versimilitude. I know more about people now, and more about science and engineering too. Ringworld just doesn't cut it for me any more.
Before I'm accused of having "too small a mind" to appreciate it, go read another book I first read way back when but still respect: Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker.
That non-novel fictional future history is utterly lacking in interesting characters, but dang, talk about scale! Talk about scope! Star Maker details the rise and fall of galactic civilizations over a span of billions of years. There are battles involving mobile planets and nova bombs. Dozens of bizzare races. Water-filled artificial worlds full of aquatic sapients linked together with webs of nervous tissue. The good guys have something like the Prime Directive. Their big ultimate project runs so long that it is threatened by the heat death of the universe.
And, hey! This Stapledon guy? He INVENTED the Dyson Sphere . . . go ask Freeman Dyson*. The far-future super-civilizations in the book use enveloping spheres to gather every bit of sunlight from the few remaining stars.
Stefan
* Or, if you don't have his email address, go read Disturbing the Universe, where he directly credits Star Maker for the "sphere" idea.
Re:i read this when i was 10 years old (Score:2)
Oops, wrong book! You read "Integral Trees" (Score:2)
Ringworld is about a huge ring the size of a planetary orbit around a star, with people living on the inside of it. If you haven't read it, I suggest you do if you liked Integral Trees. Just don't read the last one in the series-- it's awful. The rest are fantastic.
Re:i read this when i was 10 years old (Score:2)
Re:i read this when i was 10 years old (Score:2)
I'm sure that the spysics made no sense but it was a cool story anyway.
I saw this show when i was 10 years old (Score:5, Funny)
This was like a show I saw when I was ten years old. There was this family living in a flying saucer. They had two robots: a tall gold one and a short one like a trash can. There was a Doctor, who always said "Dammit Jim" and insulted the robots all the time. They were running from bad silver robots with red eyes who were trying to kill them. Wish I could remember the name of that show.
Is that the same smoking guy? (Score:2)
Other Good Quotes (Score:5, Informative)
Louis Wu, I found your challenge verbose. In challenging a kzin, a simple scream of rage is sufficient. You scream and you leap.
--Speaker-to-Animals, "Ringworld"
Other good quotes (almost all of which belong to Speaker-to-Animals/Chmee):
If you can heat some bourbon, I can drink it. If you cannot heat it, I can still drink it.
--Speaker-to-Animals, "Ringworld"
Exercise is wonderful. I could sit and watch it all day.
--Louis Wu, "Ringworld"
A docile kzin. You sought to produce a docile kzin, Nessus. If you think you have produced a docile kzin, come and rejoin us.
--Speaker-to-Animals, "Ringworld'
It does not disturb me to play a god. It disturbs me to play a god badly.
--Speaker-to-Animals, "Ringworld"
To kidnap a kzin is probably a mistake.
--Chmeee, "The Ringworld Engineers"
Scars are like memories. We do not have them removed.
--Chmeee, "The Ringworld Engineers"
Hindmost: The easy way to find out is to accelerate until something happens.
Louis: I do not believe I heard a Pierson's puppeteer say that.
--"The Ringworld Engineers"
Chmeee: With such a weapon I could boil the Earth to vapor.
Louis Wu: Shut up.
Chmeee: It was a natural thought, Louis.
--"The Ringworld Engineers"
Chmeee: Furthermore, they [kzinti] of the Map of Earth have fulfilled an ancient daydream of my people.
Louis: Oh?
Chmeee: Conquering Earth, you idiot.
--"The Ringworld Engineers"
BAD IDEA! Re:Screw the puppeteers (Score:3, Funny)
Yes, the two mouths with prehensile lips suggest all sorts of kinky possibilities, but if you make a "home run" you might end up with a hungry puppeteer larva inside of you, and man, you just know that that's not going to be a fun pregnancy.
Stefan