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Monday, June 23, 2008
2001 a Space Odyssey
2001 - Stanley Kubrick & Arthur C. Clarke's 1968 Masterpiece "The most dazzling Visual Happenings in the History of the Motion Picture" Time Magazine.
1968 Movie based on the short story "The Sentinel" by Arthur C. Clarke Adapted from Arthur C. Clarke's Immortal Science Fiction story, The Sentinel , 2001, a Space Odyssey is maybe the most internationally recognized Science Fiction movie of all time. Scientifically seemingly accurate when it comes to presenting Space Technology displayed in the film as a credible possibility for new inventions in the future. The film does not have a "Hollywood Kitsch" applied to it at all, and none of the corny turns that are normally found in the plots of many Hollywood blockbuster movies. Download/Buy 2001, a Space Oddity now! The seriosity of this Movie is sometimes even a slight heavy burden to carry whilst watching. No light-hearted sillines is to be found in this movie at all. An almost documentary like silence is present in some scenes, with long takes of just a person silently doing something permeating the general clinical ambience of this film. Opening Scene 2001 A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey
This Movie is a science fiction film directed in 1968 by Stanley Kubrick. written by StanleyKubrick and author of the bestseling Science Fiction Novel, Arthur C. Clarke. The film intends to confront various elements of human evolution, along with the topics of technology, artificial intelligence, and extraterrestrial life on other worlds and in space itself. The film is highly acclaimed for its scientific realism, responsible for having pioneered in the are of special movie effects, 2001 a Space Odyssey's ambiguous and often surreal imagery,and minimal use of dialogue, stand out as the main attraction of this movie instead of the normal use of traditional narrative techniques. Download/Buy 2001, a Space Oddity now!
Review form;
As the film was released, this movie recieved rather mixed reviews, whereas in the present day, 2001, a Space Odyssey, is recognized by both critics and movie-goers as one of the greatest movies ever made, and maybe the best science fiction movie ever.
In 2002, "Sight & Sound" critic poll gave 2001 a Space Odyssey a Top Ten ranking in the category of "Best Films of all time. Nominated for 4 different Academy Awards, the movie recieved the Oscar for best Visual Effects. In 1991, the movie was designated as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress. It was also selected for preservation in their National Film Registry.
A Masterpiece of Scenery and Special Visual Effects.
Interior scene design with Refined Ettiquette - 2001 has a perfect design theme throughout the movie, paying utmost attention to the finest detail, whether it be shape, colour or texture. Angular Camera perspectives are used to give a feel of expansiveness and sterility.
Above; this scene conveys the vertigo of being in zero gravity in space. the amount of attention to detail in both design of scenery and camera placement is phenomenal!
A kind of "soft padding" is applied to the look and feel of everything in the transport shuttle. The clinical sterility of the spacious interior scenery is accentuated with camera perspectives and lobg obtuse curves hanging in the outer frames of the camera takes.
Astounding visual effects were applied, some of which were decades ahead of their time. The Space scenes, along with Bowman's landing on Saturn are absolutely staggering.Breathtaking in their beauty, most scenes are accompanied by classical music, which lend a kind of "dance of the hippopotamus", sloth-like movement to the (implied by the camera) massive space staion in foreground and ever receding moons and planets in the background. The effect of great size and distance in the vaccuum of space is successfully attained in this masterpiece by Stanley Kubrick
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Science Fiction Writers - Fathers of Sci-Fi Movies
Science Fiction writers of the 19th and 20th Century have played a massive part in the shaping of the thousands of Blockbuster Sci-Fi Movie Hits that we have had the pleasure of enjoying over the decades; Some of the most influential Authors, and their works are listed below. Philip K. Dick Philip K. Dick was responsible for inspiring the Mega Scifi movie (for me the best Science Fiction Movie of all time), Blade Runner, with his book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep". Ultimately, an Animated Film was released of his Ultra Schizo-Paranoid Futuristic Drugscene novel, A Scanner Darkly.
Blade Runner was one of Ridley Scott's Great masterpiece productions. Using a plot based on the novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", by Philip Dick, the film is set in a near distant future where superior-to-human androids are bred genetically to work in the offworld mining Colonies in the asteroid belt.The Replicants are forbidden to set foot on Earth.A group of rebel Replicants, of the "nexus 6" variety (the latest strain, who have been inserted with synthetic "memories", in order to avoid the previously inevitable effect that the Replicant would develop personality crises due to confused feelings about his/her identity.
The Film uses impressive visual effects including for the time the movie was made, some extremely original and convincing futuristic vehicles capable of incredible aerial manoevers.
These vehicles were designed by a series of world class science fiction comic artists and illustrators, such as moebius (Jean Giraud) and Syd Mead
Below Pic: Hover Cars ascending the levels of the City of L.A. in the film "Blade runner"
Blade Runner is a 1982 American cyberpunk film, directed by Ridley Scott. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. The film stars Harrison Ford and features Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmet Walsh, and Daryl Hannah.
The film depicts a dystopian Los Angeles in November 2019 in which genetically manufactured beings called replicants ? visually indistinguishable from adult humans ? are used for dangerous and degrading work in Earth's "off-world colonies". Following a small replicant uprising, replicants become illegal on Earth and specialist police called "blade runners" are trained to hunt down and "retire" (kill) escaped replicants on Earth. The plot focuses on a brutal and cunning group of replicants hiding in Los Angeles and the semi-retired blade runner, Rick Deckard (Ford), who reluctantly agrees to take on one more assignment.
Blade Runner initially polarized critics: some were displeased with the pacing, while others enjoyed its thematic complexity. The film performed poorly in North American theaters. Despite the box office failure of the film, it has since become a cult classic.Blade Runner has been hailed for its production design, depicting a "retrofitted" future. The film is credited with prefiguring important concerns of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, such as overpopulation, globalization, climate change and genetic engineering. It remains a leading example of the neo-noir genre.Blade Runner brought author Philip K. Dick to the attention of Hollywood, and several more films have since been based on his work. Ridley Scott regards Blade Runner as "probably" his most complete and personal film. In 1993, Blade Runner was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2007, the American Film Institute named it the 97th greatest American film of all time in the 10th Anniversary edition of its 100 years... 100 Movies list. Blade Runner - The Final Cut
Seven versions of the film have been created, for various markets, and as a result of controversial changes made by film executives. A rushed Director's Cut was released in 1992 after a strong response to workprint screenings. This, in conjunction with its popularity as a video rental, made it one of the first films released on DVD, resulting in a basic disc with mediocre video and audio quality. In late 2007 Warner Bros. released in theater and DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray the 25th anniversary long-awaited digitally remastered definitive Final Cut by Scott.
Production The original screenplay by Hampton Fancher was based on Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which was optioned in 1977 after an unsuccessful previous attempt.Producer Michael Deeley became interested in Fancher's draft and convinced director Ridley Scott to use it to create his first American film. Scott had previously declined the project, but after leaving the slow production of Dune, wanted a faster-paced project to take his mind off his older brother's recent death.He joined the project on February 21, 1980, and managed to push up the promised financing from Filmways from $13 million to $15 million. Fancher's script focused more on environmental issues and less on issues of humanity and faith, which weighed heavily in the novel. Scott wanted changes. Fancher found a cinema treatment by William S. Burroughs for Alan E. Nourse's novel The Bladerunner (1974), entitled Blade Runner (a movie). Scott liked the name so Deeley obtained the rights to the titles. Eventually he hired David Peoples to rewrite the script, and Fancher left the job on December 21, 1980 over the issue, although he later returned to contribute additional rewrites.
Having invested over $2.5 million in pre-production, as the date of commencement of principal photography neared, Filmways withdrew financial backing. In ten days, Deeley secured $21.5 million in financing through a three way deal between The Ladd Company (through Warner Bros.), the Hong Kong-based producer Sir Run Run Shaw, and Tandem Productions.
Philip K. Dick became concerned that no one had informed him about the film's production which added to his distrust of Hollywood. After Dick criticized an early version of the script in an article in the Los Angeles Select TV Guide, the studio sent Dick the David Peoples rewrite.Although Dick died shortly before the film's release, he was pleased after viewing a twenty-minute special effects test reel, enthusing afterward to Ridley that it looked exactly as he had imagined it. The motion picture was dedicated to Dick.
A superb Music Soundtrack was comissioned to be Composed from Electronic Music Master, Vangelis.The ambient atmospheres generated by Vangelis' rythmic sounds fit perfectly to the visual effects and scenes of the Movie.
Blade Runner has numerous and deep similarities to Fritz Lang's Metropolis, including a built up urban environment, in which the wealthy literally live above the workers, dominated by a huge building?the Stadtkrone Tower in Metropolis and the Tyrell Building in Blade Runner. Special effects supervisor David Dryer used stills from Metropolis when lining up Blade Runner's miniature building shots.
Ridley Scott credits Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks and the French science fiction comic magazine Métal Hurlant (Heavy Metal), to which the artist Moebius contributed, as stylistic mood sources. He also drew on the landscape of "Hong Kong on a very bad day" and the industrial landscape of his one-time home in the North East of England.Scott hired as his conceptual artist Syd Mead, who, like Scott, was influenced by Métal Hurlant. Moebius was offered the opportunity to assist in the pre-production of Blade Runner, but he declined so that he could work on René Laloux's animated film Les Maîtres du temps, a decision he later regretted. Lawrence G. Paull (production designer) and David Snyder (art director) realized Scott's and Mead's sketches. Douglas Trumbull and Richard Yuricich supervised the special effects for the film. Principal photography of Blade Runner began on March 9, 1981 and ended four months later.
In 2006 Ridley Scott was asked "Who's the biggest pain in the arse you've ever worked with?" He replied: "It's got to be Harrison?he'll forgive me because now I get on with him. Now he's become charming. But he knows a lot, that's the problem. When we worked together it was my first film up and I was the new kid on the block. But we made a good movie." Ford said of Scott in 2000: "I admire his work. We had a bad patch there, and I?m over it." More recently in 2006, Ford reflected on the production of the film saying: "What I remember more than anything else when I see Blade Runner is not the 50 nights of shooting in the rain, but the voiceover...I was still obliged to work for these clowns that came in writing one bad voiceover after another." Ridley Scott confirmed in the summer 2007 issue of Total Film that Harrison Ford has contributed to the Blade Runner Special Edition DVD, having already done his interviews. "Harrison's fully on board", said Scott.
A Scanner Darkly
A Scanner Darkly is an Adult Science Fiction Movie adapted from Philip K. Dick's book of the same name.
The semi-autobiographical story was set in a dystopian Orange County, California in the then-future of June 1994. The book includes an extensive portrayal of drug culture and drug use.
The Philip K. Dick Award is presented annually for distinguished science fiction books published for the first time in the United States as a paperback original.
The Philip K. Dick Award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society. The sponsoring convention is Norwescon (the Northwest Science Fiction Society).
The protagonist is Bob Arctor, member of a household of drop-out drug-users, who is also living a parallel life as Agent Fred, an undercover police agent assigned to spy on Arctor's household. Arctor/Fred shields his true identity from those in the drug subculture and, ironically, from the police themselves. (The requirement that narcotics agents remain anonymous, to avoid collusion and other forms of corruption, becomes a critical plot point late in the book.) While supposedly only posing as a drug user, Arctor becomes addicted to Substance D (also referred to as Slow Death, Death or D), a powerful psychoactive drug derived from a small blue flowering plant , Clerodendrum ugandense. An ongoing conflict is Arctor's love for Donna, a drug dealer through whom he intends to identify high-level dealers of Substance D. Arctor's persistent use of the drug, which causes the two hemispheres of the brain to function independently, or "compete", produces the strange scenario in which Arctor and Agent Fred do not realize they are the same person. Incapable of combining what each persona knows, Fred begins spying on himself, Arctor, more passionately. Through a series of drug and psychological tests, Arctor's superiors at work discover that his addiction has made him incapable of performing his job as a narcotics agent. Donna takes Arctor to "New-Path", a rehabilitation clinic, just as Arctor begins to experience the symptoms of Substance D withdrawal. It is revealed that Donna has been a narcotics agent all along, working as part of a police operation to infiltrate New-Path and determine its funding source. Unknowingly, Arctor has been selected to penetrate the secretive organization.
As part of the rehab program, Arctor is renamed "Bruce" and forced to participate in cruel group-dynamic games intended to break the will of the patients. The story ends with Bruce working at a New-Path farming commune, where he is suffering from a serious neurocognitive deficit after withdrawing from Substance D. Although considered by his handlers to be nothing more than a walking shell of a man, "Bruce" manages to spot rows of blue flowers growing hidden among rows of corn; and realizes the blue flowers are the source of Substance D. The book ends with Bruce hiding a flower in his shoe to give to his "friends" - undercover police agents posing as recovering addicts at the Los Angeles New-Path facility - on Thanksgiving.
In the novel, use of Substance D over an extended period can cause the user's consciousness to separate into two distinct parts. The drug also appears to facilitate the inducement of shared delusions, manifesting as folie à deux. The source of Substance D remains a mystery throughout most of the novel, though various theories are proposed. It is speculated that Substance D is imported from the U.S.S.R. as a Communist scheme to destroy American resistance to Communism; that it was sent to Earth by aliens intent on either enlightening mankind or reducing humans to a zombie-like slave race; that it is involved in a government or corporate plot. At the end of the book, we find out that Substance D is an organic substance, derived from little blue flowers that are grown on large plantations, hidden between rows of corn as cover. Ironically, the drug is harvested by the brainwashed inmates of Substance D drug rehabilitation centers who are suffering from neurocognitive deficits as a result of their drug addiction.
The title is a reference to a passage in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 13, which states:
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
The book's protagonist is required to view clips of his life on a "scanner", a holographic recorder/projector. In Chapter 13 of the book, the protagonist muses that he has seen his life with a scanner, but came no closer to properly perceiving his life than St Paul with his primitive mirror (or "glass"). True understanding, he suggests, will come only when "death" is defeated. Buy A Scanner Darkly Now The initials of Scanner Darkly are also the initials of Substance D, which the characters refer to as Slow Death, Substance Death, or even Simply D.
In Chapter Eleven of the novel, the novel's central character, Bob Arctor / Fred / Bruce, thinks to himself:
What does a scanner see? I mean, really see? Into the head? Down into the heart? Does a passive infrared scanner ? see into me ? into us ? clearly or darkly? I hope it does see clearly, because I can't any longer these days see into myself. I see only murk. Murk outside; murk inside. I hope, for everyone's sake, the scanners do better. Because if the scanner sees only darkly, the way I myself do, then we are cursed, cursed again and like we have been continually, and we'll wind up dead this way, knowing very little and getting that little fragment wrong too.
Philip K. Dick also gives the name of the species of the flower, which helps to show the relevant meaning of the story and the nature of both the drug and the character's struggle. The name is Mors ontologica, which translates as "ontological death", that is "death of being", or more loosely "the being of death itself".
The animated film A Scanner Darkly was authorized by Dick's estate. It was released in July 2006 and stars Keanu Reeves as Fred/Bob Arctor and Winona Ryder as Donna. Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson co-star as Arctor's drugged-out housemates. The film was directed by Richard Linklater, and the animation was directed by Bob Sabiston. The animation was accomplished via the process of rotoscoping using Bob Sabiston's own Rotoshop software, a process employed in Linklater's earlier movie, Waking Life. First shot in live-action, the footage was then painted over, with attention to stylistic consistency ? a lengthy undertaking that caused the film to miss its initial September 2005 release date by an entire year. Producers say some 1960s ?hip dialogue? was changed to make the movie more comprehensible to modern viewers, but that most of the original dialogue is intact. The film, like the novel, takes place in a near future setting; the trailer features the line, ?Seven years from now everything you do will be recorded.?
Scenes from the movie were used to create a graphic novel adaptation of the movie. An audio book of A Scanner Darkly, read by Paul Giamatti, was released in the summer of 2006.
Robert A Heinlein - Space Cadet & Starship Troopers
Robert Heinlein has not had too many of his authored works produced as Movies. Nevertheless, his influence on the interpretation and scenery of Modern Sci-Fi Movies is inmeasurable One of the grand masters of science fiction with Isaac Asimov, Brian W. Aldiss, Philip K. Dick and Arthur C. Clarke.
Writer:
1. "Masters of Science Fiction" (1 episode, 2007) - Jerry Was a Man (2007) TV episode (short story) 2. Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy (2000) (VG) (novel) ... aka Starship Troopers: The Game (USA: promotional title) 3. "Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles" (1999) TV series (unknown episodes) ... aka Starship Troopers: The Series (UK) 4. Starship Troopers (1997) (book) 5. The Puppet Masters (1994) (novel) ... aka Robert A. Heinlein's The Puppet Masters (USA: complete title) 6. "Red Planet" (1994) TV mini-series (novel) 7. Uchû no senshi (1989) (V) (novel) ... aka Starship Troopers 8. The Brain Eaters (1958) (novel "The Puppet Masters") (uncredited) 9. Project Moon Base (1953) (screenplay) (as Robert Heinlein) (story) (as Robert Heinlein) 10. "Out There" (3 episodes, 1951) The Green Hills of Earth (1951) TV episode (story) Misfit (1951) TV episode (story) Ordeal in Space (1951) TV episode (story) 11. "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet" (1950) TV series (unknown episodes) 12. Destination Moon (1950) (novel "Rocketship Galileo") (as R.A. Heinlein) (screenplay) (as R.A. Heinlein)
Arthur C Clarke's contribution to the Movie Industry's repertoire of Science Fiction Blockbusters is, of course, 2001, A Space Oddyssey. Arthur Clarke has been involved in a myriad of tv and Movie productions since the 1949, and even received an Oscar Award. Overview The first Venture into the world of Movie-making was with Stanley Kubrick, who directed the Movie 2001, a Space Odyssey The story for the film was taken from a short story by Sir Arthur, called "The Sentinel". Originally written in 1948, for submission to a short story competition being held by the British Broadcasting Company.
Heinlein produced fifty novels and collections of short stories during his career. Heinlein admired highly motivated men of action - like Howard Hawks in his movies - and attacked religious hypocrisy and corporate power games. His later works, in which his right-wing views mixed with fast-moving stories and fascination with with the paranormal, earned him the reputation of being a militarist, even a "fascist". However, a number of his books gained cult status among members of the counterculture.
"Furthermore, although a flaming liberal during the war, Heinlein became a rock-ribbed far-right conservative immediately afterward. This happened at just the time he changed wives from a liberal woman, Leslyn, to a rock-ribbed far-right conservative woman, Virginia... I used to brood about it in puzzlement (of course, I never would have dreamed of asking Heinlein - I'm sure he would have refused to answer, and would have done so with the uttermost hostility), and I did come to one conclusion. I would never marry anyone who did not generally agree with my political, social, and philosophical view of life." (from I, Asimov: A Memoir, 1994)
Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published (in abridged form) as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (October, November 1959, as "Starship Soldier") and published hardcover in 1959.
The first-person narrative is about a young Filipino soldier named Juan "Johnnie" Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry, a futuristic military unit equipped with powered armor. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an arachnoid species known as "the Bugs". Through Rico's eyes, Heinlein examines moral and philosophical aspects of suffrage, civic virtue, the necessities of war and capital punishment, and the nature of juvenile delinquency.[3]
Starship Troopers won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960. The novel has attracted controversy and criticism for its social and political themes, which some critics claim promote militarism. Starship Troopers has been adapted into several films and games, with the most widely known ? as well as the most controversial and criticized ? being the 1997 film by Paul Verhoeven.
Robert A. Heinlein was born in Butler, Missouri, into a family of seven children. He attended public school in Kansas City and graduated from Central High School in 1924. In 1929 he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and served in aircraft carriers and destroyers. During this period, he married Leslyn McDonald. In 1934 he was invalided out for tuberculosis. Heinlein started to study physics at the graduate school of U.C.L.A. He left the school without completing his studies and worked in odd jobs in mining and real estate without real success. At the age of thirty-two, he turned his hand to the writing science fiction. Heinlein's first published stories appeared in action-adventure pulp magazine Astounding Science Fiction in 1939. It was edited by John W. Campbell, who has been credited with moving science fiction toward its modern form. Under his influence writers started to examine how technology might affect the everyday life of ordinary people and society in general.
Heinlein never got over his navy discharge. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he tried to enlist but was rejected. During World War II years from 1943 Heinlein published no stories, but worked as an engineer at the Naval Air Experimental Station, Philadelphia. His first novel, ROCKET SHIP GALILEO (1947) paved way to childrens' science fiction. After divorce he married in 1948 Virginia Doris Gerstenfeld. From 1947 to 1959 Heinlein produced sixteen novels.
Heinlein's early works emphasized adventure and were aimed at young readers. In 1959 he received the Boys' Clubs of America Book Award. In these novels Heinlein avoided open didacticism, although his young protagonists learned lessons in courage, tolerance, and military virtues during the course of the story. Often Heinlein's male protagonist has to go through rites of passage - he meets a guru or somebody who has superior wisdom, and after a period of learning he has to earn his place in a group and prove his skills. CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY (1957), dedicated to Fritz Leiber, was actually Oliver Twist in space. In the story a young boy, Thorby, is bought from an inter-galactic slave market by a mysterious beggar, a benefactor, who later turns out to be a secret agent. Thorby learns to speak Finnish and after all kinds of adventures he turns out to be from a wealthy corporate family from the Earth.
In STARSHIP TROOPERS (1959) Heinlein showed his fascination with the glamour of high-tech weaponry. The book earned him again the prestigious Hugo Award. Starship Troopers first appeared in abridged form in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1959. The hero is Juan "Johnnie" Rico, a son of a wealthy merchant who has enlisted in the army to impress the beautiful Carmen. After tough training he joins Rasczack's Roughnecks to battle against the "Bugs", intelligent arthropods. Johnnie's mother is killed in a bombing, Carmen becomes a starship pilot, and their mutual friend Carl dies in a battle in Pluto. Heinlein's militaristic novel attacks corruption and distorted views of democracy - only those willing to sacrifice their lives for the state may govern and vote.
The social system of the Bugs represent "total communism", Heinlein's regular publisher, Scribner's refused to publish the book and it eventually appeared under the Putnam imprint. The film adaptation from 1997 played with the themes of fascism and militarism, but the comic book characters did not interest adult movie goers. "Whereas Heinlein's novel was punctuated by quotations from apocryphal books about warfare and social order, the movie has chosen to interpolate into the action a wearisome series of newscasts, media bulletins, and commercial advertisements. These interruptions serve no dramatic or satirical purpose whatsoever; they are merely annoying and, at best, sophomoric in their obvious humor." (from Novels into Film by John C. Tibbets and James M. Welsh, 1997)
From the late 1950s Heinlein started write expressly for adults and deal with such topics as cloning, incest, religion, free love and mysticism. Heinlein's religious views in direct opposition to the literal interpretation of biblical scripture: "The most preposterous notion that H. sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history."(from Time Enough for Love, 1973)
Heinlein's short stories were independent of one another but related in the author's 'Future History: 1951-2600' AD time line. Some of his characters periodically appear in different novels, among the Lazarus Long from METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN (1958). In TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE (1973) Lazarus has a number of sexual adventures, travels back in time, and has sex with his own mother. "A "pacifist male" is a contradiction in terms. Most self-described "pacifist" are not pacifist; they simple assume false colors. When the wind changes, they hoist the Jolly Roger." (from Time Enough for Love, 1973) The life of Maureen Johnson, Lazarus's mother, is dealt in TO SAIL BEYOND THE SUNSET (1987). Nearly all of Heinlein's work fit into a specific time period within this larger scheme. The idea was later imitated by several writers, with considerable success by Poul Anderson and Larry Niven. Also Isaac Asimov developed similar scheme, and claimed imaginative copyright on the imagined future.
Among Heinlein's best known works is the pre-Hippie STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, published in 1961. A few years later it was adopted by the 'Peace and Love' generation. This work became the most successful science-fiction novel ever published. The protagonist is Valentine Michael Smith, a child of two members of the first expedition to Mars. He is born there and raised on by brillinatly advanced Martians after humans have died. A second Mars expedition discovers him and Michael comes to Earth without much knowledge of sex. He is shertered and educated by Jubal Harshaw, and old doctor, lawyer, and writer. Helped with psi powers he establishes a new religion and starts his transformation into a Messiah-figure. Michael is eventually killed by a mob, but his disciples, called "water brothers," continue his work. Again, like in many Heinlein's works, a small elite rises above the masses and show the way to future. Stranger in a Strange Land was one of the favorite books of the mass murderer Charles Manson. "When he started his "family" in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, Manson borrowed some of the terminology and ceremonies from the book. It is reported that his followers held water-sharing ceremonies as well as group sex orgies. He referred to his parole officer as "Roger Smith Jubal," after Jubal Harshaw, Mike's mentor. When Mary Theresa Brunner, one of Manson's followers, gave birth to a baby boy in 1968, Manson named the child Valentine Michael Manson." (from Chronology of Twentieth-Century History: Arts & Culture, volume II, ed. by Frank N. Magill, 1998)
GLORY ROAD (1963) has been decades one of Heinlein's most popular books, written in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs's Mars stories. The protagonist is Oscar Gordon who experiences a series of adventures with a beautiful woman, Star, and an old man, Rufo, who have their secrets. MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS (1966) was set in an exploited penal colony, Luna. All dissident and other unfits have been sent there and soon the best brains invents new forms of marriage due to shortage of women. The protagonist has an artificial left arm, or several of them for special purposes. In I WILL FEAR NO EVIL (1971) a dying tycoon, Johann Smith, has his brain transplanted into the body of Eunice, a young black woman. Johann has her body impregnated with his frozen sperm. CAT WHO WALKS THROUGH WALLS (1985) was about alternate histories and time travels. Colonel Colin Campbell, alias Senator Richard Johnson, alias doctor Richard Ames, is a warrior, philosopher, and wanderer, who saves the history and future of multiversum. Also Schrödinger's cat has an important role in the story.
Usually Heinlein spent some three months with his writing and travelled widely for the rest of the time. In 1973 he taught as James V. Forrestal Lecturer at the U.S. Naval Academy. He was awarded the first Grand Master Nebula in 1975. Heinlein was repeatedly voted as 'the best all-time author' in reader's polls held by the magazine Locus in 1973 and 1975. He died on May 8, 1988.
For further reading:World Authors 1900-1950, ed. by M. Seymour-Smith, A.C. Kimmes (1996); The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, ed. by John Clute, Peter Nicholls (1995); Robert A. Heinlein Cyclopedia by N.B.A. Downing (1989); Robert A. Heinlein by L. Stover (1987); Yesterday or Tomorrow? The Work of Robert A. Heinlein by R. Reginald (1984); Robert A. Heinlein by P. Nicholls (1982) Robert A. Heinlein by H.B. Franklin (1980); Robert A. Heinlein, ed. by J.D. Clander and M.H. Greenberg (1978); The Classic Years of Robert. A. Heinlein by G.E. Slusser (1977); Robert A. Heinlein by G.E. Slusser (1977): Heinlein in Dimensions by A. Panshin (1968) - Note: Heinlein's social Darwinist view - 'the survival of the fittiest' - is seen among others in his works The Puppet Masters (1951), Starship Troopers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. - For further information: The Heinlein Society
Selected works:
LIFE-LINE, 1939 (first short story) - Elämänlanka
THE DISCOVERY OF THE FUTURE, 1941 (address)
ROCKET SHIP GALILEO, 1947
OF WORLDS BEYOND, 1947 (with others)
BEYOND THIS HORIZON, 1948 - Yli-ihmisen aika
SPACE CADET, 1948 - basis for the television series 'Tom Corbett: Space Cadet' - Rakettilaivan kadetti
RED PLANET, 1949
SIXTH COLUMN, 1949 (reissued as THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW) - Seitsemän miehen sota
THE MAN WHO SOLD THE MOON, 1950 - Mies joka myi kuun
FARMER IN THE SKY, 1950
WALDO AND MAGIC, INC., 1950
screenplay: DESTINATION MOON, 1950 - based on Rocket Ship Galileo, with Rip Van Ronkel and James O´Hanlon
quote: Taken from the obituary of RAH, from the Obituaries column of the London Times on Wednesday 11th May.
It is reproduced verbatim and without permission. ROBERT HEINLEIN - Sci-fi writer and space mage
Robert Heinlein, who died in Carmel, California on May 8, at the age of 80, had been a dominating force in science fiction over a period of forty years. With his imaginative gifts and compelling power as a story-teller, Heinlein is in the direct tradition of H.G.Wells, whose influence on his work is clear. His anti-materialism has, in itself, been a formative influence on science fiction writing in the post-war period. Heinlein, who wrote 45 books, was the winner of an unprecedented four Hugo awards. The awards - which are given by a popular vote of science fiction fans for the best novel of the year - were given for _Double Star_ (1956), _Starship Troopers_ (1959), _Stranger in a Strange Land_ (1961), and _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ (1966). In 1975 he received the first grand master nebula award, given by the Science Fiction Writers of America for a lifelong contribution to the genre. Born in Butler, Missouri, Heinlein served in the US Navy for five years, but contracted pulmonary tuberculosis and was invalided out in 1934. He then did a variety of jobs, engineer, estate agent, and architect, to name a few, before devoting himself to writing.
He sold his first story to the publication, _Astounding Science Fiction_, in 1939, and contributed material to the magazine over the next few years. His first novel, _Rocket Ship Galileo_ (1947), set him on his way with the reading public, and his short story "The Man who Sold the Moon", was the basis for the film made in 1950 by George Powell, _Destination Moon_. Throughout the next twenty years Heinlein was prolific. Best-known among his output is _Stranger in a Strange Land_ which, with its alien hero, Valentine Smith, and its optimistic message, holding out the possibility of universal amity, became something of a "hippie bible" in the 1960s. Indeed, Heinlein's reputation as a space mage stood so high that in 1969 he was invited to be guest commentator alongside CBS's Walter Cronkite, during the Apollo 11 mission which put man on the moon. To the end Heinlein retained the libertarian notions on which he had been brought up, and believed that governments had no business to be meddling in the lives of individuals. Paradoxically, perhaps, he held the discipline of military life in some awe, and in his fiction, at least, had little time for incompetence or self pity. He leaves his widow, Virginia as it was assumed that they had studied the instruction spool. The last of the ship's spin had been removed some days before. Matt curled himself into a ball, floating free, and spread open the front of his suit. It was an unhandy process; he found shortly that he was trying to get both legs down one legs of the suit. He backed out and tried again. This time the big fishbowl flopped forward into the opening. Most of the section were already in their suits. The instructor swam over to Matt and looked at him sharply. "You've passed your free-fall basic?" "Yes," Matt answered miserably. "It's hard to believe. You handle yourself like a turtle on its back. Here. " The instructor helped Matt to tuck in, much as if he were dressing a baby in a snow suit. Matt blushed. The instructor ran through the check-off list -- tank pressure, suit pressure, rocket fuel charge, suit oxygen, blood oxygen (measured by a photoelectric gadget clipped to the earlobe) and finally each suit's walky-talky unit. Then he herded them into the airlock.
From SPACE CADET by Robert Heinlein (1948)
The instructor ordered his group to "Suit up" without preliminary,
Space Cadet
Tom Corbett,Space Cadet was based on characters in Robert Heinlein's juvenile novel - SPACE CADET published in 1948.
Arthur C. Clarke is the author of the short story that inspired Stanley Kubrick's 1968 science fiction Blockbuster "2001, a Space Odyssey". Overview Date of Birth: 16 December 1917, Minehead, Somerset, England, UK more Date of Death:19 March 2008, Colombo, Sri Lanka (respiratory problems) Mini Biography: Arthur C. Clarke was born in the seaside town of Minehead, Somerset, England... more Trivia: Received Hugo Awards for his novels "Rendezvous with Rama" and "The Fountains... Awards: Nominated for Oscar.
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE (16 December 1917?19 March 2008) was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, most famous for the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, written in collaboration with director Stanley Kubrick, a collaboration which led also to the film of the same name; and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World.
Clarke served in the Royal Air Force as a radar instructor and technician from 1941-1946, proposed satellite communication systems in 1945 which won him the Franklin Institute Stuart Ballantine Gold Medal in 1963 and a nomination in 1994 for a Nobel Prize, and 1999 for literature , and became the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1947-1950 and again in 1953. Later, he helped fight for the preservation of lowland gorillas. He won the UNESCO-Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science in 1961.
Clarke was knighted in 1998. He emigrated to Sri Lanka in 1956 largely to pursue his interest in scuba diving, and lived there until his death. ( Info source: Wikipedia)
The first Venture into the world of Movie-making was with Stanley Kubrick, who directed the Movie 2001, a Space Odyssey Overview Date of Birth: 16 December 1917, Minehead, Somerset, England, UK more Date of Death:19 March 2008, Colombo, Sri Lanka (respiratory problems). The first Venture into the world of Movie-making was with Stanley Kubrick, who directed the Movie 2001, a Space Odyssey The story for the film was taken from a short story by Sir Arthur, called "The Sentinel". Originally written in 1948, for submission to a short story competition being held by the British Broadcasting Company.Clarke was supposed to write the original screenplay for the film, but he tired of it, and it was decided to write a completely new novel to be adapted for the film.Strange to note is, that as Clarke was in progress of writing the novel, the screnplay was written simultaneously! Sir Arthur is said to have had an influential hand in the extremely moving and ethic questioning scene from 2001 where the character Bowman shuts down the ship's intelligent on-board computer consciousness (HAL), slowly removing the separate modules of HAL's interface unit per unit.As he does this, HAL's awareness and powers of communicating slowly disintegrate into illogical entropy. As HAL finally comes to his point of extinction, he is heard singing the song "Daisy Bell". The song "Daisy Bell" was chosen by Sir Arthur Clarke as a nostalgic inspiration of the time he heard a Vocoder "voice synthesizer/recorder) synthesize Daisy bell in a demonstration by physicist John Larry Kelly whilst visiting his friend John Pierce at the Bell Labs Murray Hill Facility. The demonstration had impressed Clarke so much that he insisted to Kubrick that it be used. The effect of this scene on me personally was rather devastating, leaving me with a bunch of questions about the difference between souls, and consciousness.
FILMOGRAPHY Writer: 1. Rendezvous with Rama (2009) (announced) (novel) 2. Rendezvous with Rama (2003) (V) (novel) 3. The Colours of Infinity (1995) (TV) (writer) 4. Trapped in Space (1994) (short story "Breaking Strain") 5. Arthur C. Clarke: Before 2001 (1993) (V) (co-writer) 6. "The Twilight Zone" (1 episode, 1985) ... aka The New Twilight Zone (Australia) - Night of the Meek/But Can She Type?/The Star (1985) TV episode (segment "The Star") 7. 2010 (1984) (novel) ... aka 2010: The Year We Make Contact 8. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (screenplay) (story "The Sentinel") (uncredited) 9. "Tales of Tomorrow" (1 episode, 1952) - All the Time in the World (1952) TV episode (writer) 10. "Captain Video and His Video Rangers" (1949) TV series (unknown episodes) ... aka Captain Video (USA)
Actor:
1. 2010 (1984) (uncredited) .... Man on Park Bench ... aka 2010: The Year We Make Contact 2. Baddegama (1980) .... Leonard Woolf ... aka Village in the Jungle (International: English title)
Art Department:
1. "Captain Video and His Video Rangers" (1949) TV series (set designer) (unknown episodes) ... aka Captain Video (USA)
Thanks:
1. "Nova ScienceNow" (special thanks) (4 episodes, 2007) - Aging (2007) TV episode (special thanks) - Maya (2007) TV episode (special thanks) - Profile: Bonnie Bassler (2007) TV episode (special thanks) - Space Elevator (2007) TV episode (special thanks) 2. 2001: The Making of a Myth (2001) (TV) (thanks) (as Sir Arthur C. Clarke)
Self: 1. Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001 (2007) (V) .... Himself 2. We Love 'The Sky at Night' (2007) (TV) .... Himself 3. 50 Terrible Predictions (2005) (TV) (as Arthur C. Clarke) (also as Sir Arthur C. Clarke) .... Himself 4. "The Sky at Night" .... Himself (1 episode, 2003) - Mars, the Next Frontier (2003) TV episode .... Himself 5. To Mars by A-Bomb: The Secret History of Project Orion (2003) (TV) .... Himself 6. The 73rd Annual Academy Awards (2001) (TV) (as Sir Arthur C. Clarke) .... Himself - Co-Presenter: Best Original Screenplay 7. Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001) .... Himself 8. "Letadlo" .... Himself (1 episode, 2001) - Episode dated 24 January 2001 (2001) TV episode .... Himself 9. 2001: The Making of a Myth (2001) (TV) 10. 2001: HAL's Legacy (2001) (TV) .... Himself 11. Arthur C. Clarke: The Man Who Saw the Future (1997) (TV) .... Arthur C Clarke 12. "The Works" .... Himself (1 episode, 1997) - The Man Who Saw the Future (1997) TV episode .... Himself 13. Rama (1996) (VG) (uncredited) .... Himself 14. "This Is Your Life" .... Himself (1 episode, 1995) - Arthur C. Clarke (1995) TV episode .... Himself 15. The Colours of Infinity (1995) (TV) .... Himself 16. Without Warning (1994) (TV) .... Himself 17. "Mysterious Universe" (1994) TV series .... Himself - Host 18. Arthur C. Clarke: Before 2001 (1993) (V) .... Himself 19. Brave New Worlds: The Science Fiction Phenomenon (1993) (TV) .... Himself 20. God, the Universe and Everything Else (1988) (V) .... Himself 21. "World of Strange Powers" (1985) TV series .... Himself - Host ... aka Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers (USA: complete title) 22. 2010: The Odyssey Continues (1984) (uncredited) .... Himself 23. "Mysterious World" .... Host (1 episode, 1980) ... aka Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World (UK: complete title) - The Journey Begins (1980) TV episode .... Host
Other Works: Appears in three astronomy documentaries by Mark Moidel of Space Viz Productions. They include, "Contact: The Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence" (1995); "Odyssey of Survival" (1998); and "Planetary Defense" (2007). The latter work, "Mark Moidel's - Plantary Defense" was nominated for a "2008 Arthur Clarke Award" in the UK. The "Arthur's" as they are known, are recognized as the "Oscars®" in British Space Achievements. Fellow nominees in 2008 included Ron Howard's "In the Shadow of the Moon"; Sir Richard Branson and Professor Stephen Hawking.
Download/Buy 2001, a Space Oddity now!
This Movie is a science fiction film directed in 1968 by Stanley Kubrick.
Interior scene design with Refined Ettiquette - 2001 has a perfect design theme throughout the movie, paying utmost attention to the finest detail, whether it be shape, colour or texture. Angular Camera perspectives are used to give a feel of expansiveness and sterility.
Above; this scene conveys the vertigo of being in zero gravity in space.
A kind of "soft padding" is applied to the look and feel of everything in the transport shuttle.
Astounding visual effects were applied, some of which were decades ahead of their time.
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