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Alternate Universes, Renegade Space Pirates, And A Madman Bent On Destroying A World?? Bring It On!!

I take exception to that remark by Lone_Wolf_McQuaalude	Apr 1st, 2008 09:15:09 AM
'Ice Pirates' was awesome, just awesome
Stupid steampunk B.S.... by Kid Z	Apr 1st, 2008 09:16:41 AM
...they'll at least capture the fat goth chick demographic.
Why does this sound like an April Fools prank? by bobinnova	Apr 1st, 2008 09:19:09 AM

"We're overdue for a really cool space movie." by cutest_of_borg	Apr 1st, 2008 09:19:23 AM
Um...Star Trek IS coming next summer, ya know. I'm sure THAT will be the definitive "space movie."
There's a surprise by thefrood	Apr 1st, 2008 09:22:07 AM
2 posts in and already someone's slagging an idea they know very little about. Is it any wonder we keep getting re-makes and sequels when potentially interesting ideas, picked up by quality directors are immediately pissed on by "fan-boys". Fans of what exactly? All I hear round here is bitching.
Piltdown... by Kid Z	Apr 1st, 2008 09:32:58 AM
...not to mention the purveyors of moldy, motheaten old clothes and used Bauhaus CDs.
ICE PIRATES! by travis-dane	Apr 1st, 2008 09:33:18 AM
Hilarious movie!
Frood, not saying it's necessarily a bad idea... by Kid Z	Apr 1st, 2008 09:35:54 AM
... just a silly one that Hollywood will eff up even further.
Reminds me of... by DocPazuzu	Apr 1st, 2008 09:36:39 AM
...that cool RPG from the late 1980s called Space: 1889 where the European colonial powers compete for their stake in the solar system. It was completely mad, with steam-powered spaceships, muskets and other awesome stuff. I approve.
Tank Girl? by john truckosaur	Apr 1st, 2008 09:45:31 AM
Water scarcity is clearly an awesome premise for a film.
Cool!! by waldo	Apr 1st, 2008 09:46:03 AM
Ice Pirates is a forgotten classic! o.k. maybe not, but it is a pretty funny movie. Robert Urich R.I.P.
Ice Pirates! by kafka07	Apr 1st, 2008 09:50:04 AM
look out for the space herpes!
Kid Z by thefrood	Apr 1st, 2008 09:52:23 AM
Optimism brother. Let's enjoy the possibility of it being great before they screw it up. Sorry... I just got finished watching the US versus John Lennon and it let the hippy out of me.
Everything sounds like an April Fool's prank by SilentP	Apr 1st, 2008 09:57:30 AM
It's April Fool's Day.
Steampunk rules... by RogueWarrior65	Apr 1st, 2008 10:02:36 AM
We've spent too many years on the floating battleship in space look and feel. Give me more Jules Verneian art direction.
SOLARBABIES WAS GENIUS by kgerm	Apr 1st, 2008 10:07:05 AM
Jamie Gertz and Lukas Haas at their best. Or not. But still the guiltiest of pleasures.
As long as the rocket ships look like rockets! by Stereotypical Evil Archer	Apr 1st, 2008 10:11:05 AM

Sounds Golden Compassy by rev_skarekroe	Apr 1st, 2008 10:20:06 AM
'Course I didn't read Golden Compass OR this story, so what do I know?
Bombay by Steve_Dooku	Apr 1st, 2008 10:23:25 AM
Why did they change the name of the city from Bombay to Mumbai? Did it just track better? Was there a contest?
Alternate timelines? by Monkey Butler	Apr 1st, 2008 10:24:51 AM
I never understood the point of having films set in "an alternate Elizabethan age" or "a time when the Industrial Revolution never happened" or whatever. It seems to me that it just confuses the point of what you're making, and makes everyone pay more attention to the art design than the rest of the film. Really, what's the difference between a story where mankind has been in space since Newton and a story set 500 years in the future where mankind has been in space since the 20th century? If the point of the story is being in space (as opposed to the Newton bit) why confuse the issue?
"The ships got herpies." by Therealumlaut	Apr 1st, 2008 10:27:31 AM

Solarbabies - good idea bad execution. by Yeti	Apr 1st, 2008 10:33:03 AM
Weren't they zipping around in rollar skates too?
Because, Monkey Butler... by DocPazuzu	Apr 1st, 2008 10:35:07 AM
...it's COOL.
Space Pirates?! by tvspace	Apr 1st, 2008 10:52:01 AM
Sorry, this just isn't my cup of tea. Unless we can get an update to Serenity my interest is swashbuckling space adventurers is done.
Nah by CuervoJones	Apr 1st, 2008 10:57:24 AM
Next candidate, please.
Monkey Butler by TroutMaskReplicant	Apr 1st, 2008 11:05:14 AM
Interesting point, I was just considering the problem recently of alternative universes in film. They really work better in novels, comics/graphic fiction and occasionally in TV because you have the space to go into detail. But of course, why ignore set design and background detail? Would anyone have gone to see Star Wars if it had been played out like Dogville and people had to use their imagination?
sounds like possibilities.. by RoseBuddy	Apr 1st, 2008 11:17:29 AM
with 200 mil for Larklight.Let's hope. And I get tired of it, when Science Fiction fanboys scream nitpicking when things in the stories don't go EXACTLY like they're supposed to according to today's theories in physics and begin screaming PLOT DEVICE! PLOT DEVICE! Hate to break it to 'em, but Science Fiction's itself, is indeed a PLOT DEVICE.
This is why I hate April Fools by GodMars	Apr 1st, 2008 11:21:23 AM
Sometimes you just don't know what is real and what isn't. Hey, WTF doesn't John Adams have a talkback?
by Automaton Overlord	Apr 1st, 2008 11:40:21 AM
Solar Babies and Ice pirates are better than about 75% of the films that come out every year. That's not too bad really.
Rose Buddy by thefrood	Apr 1st, 2008 11:44:53 AM
"Science Fiction's itself, is indeed a PLOT DEVICE." Now that... is brilliant. Well done sir!
Aren't space pirates by their very nature renegades? by Fred	Apr 1st, 2008 12:03:12 PM
So renegade space pirates would be space cops or space hall monitors or space meter maids or something.
SAVE US BUCKAROO BANZAI!!! by alice 13	Apr 1st, 2008 12:16:03 PM
and remember, no matter where you go, there you are!
Ice Pirates was fucking AWESOME! by LargoJr	Apr 1st, 2008 12:16:06 PM
The ship has... Space Herpes... Jethro man... you're lookin BAD
Tank Girl by Bagheera	Apr 1st, 2008 12:30:05 PM
Showering in white powder=not hot
thefrood by RoseBuddy	Apr 1st, 2008 12:38:33 PM
TY. If, it is an April Fools joke....at least, I got that off my chest ;)
watch where you tread merrick . . . by cathartist	Apr 1st, 2008 12:50:10 PM
You just named two of my all time favorite guilty pleasures. I own both of those movies on VHS and they were a STAPLE of my childhood. Solarbabies and Ice Pirates are 80's B movie classics!
Read the book and its sequel by ilander66	Apr 1st, 2008 12:51:42 PM
and they are really good, very inventive even in a genre that can get quite tired. the books are full of really nice illustrations done in a victorian style. Hopefully one day someone like Zemeckis will do Reeves other book series that start with Mortal Engines which are amazing, but need that unlimited imagination / budget style that mo-cap is going for at the moment.
WTF Moment of the Year... by Kid Z	Apr 1st, 2008 01:46:12 PM
...Bauhaus reforms and releases its first new album in over 25 years... huh?!!?
Monkey Butler by FluffyUnbound	Apr 1st, 2008 01:57:20 PM
The only way I see it being justified if it's not really an alternate history, but an alternate cosmology. In other words, if the film is set in the solar system as it would exist if all the falsehoods that were believed about space in Newton's time were actually true. So instead of space being a vacuum, it's filled with ether, and so forth. There was a fun alternate cosmology novel called "Celestial Matters" which is set in a universe where the things the ancient Greeks thought about physics were actually true, and where a "space program" to reach the various spheres holding the planets is underway. That would make a fun Gilliamesque film.
OK, I just clicked the Amazon link and by FluffyUnbound	Apr 1st, 2008 01:59:30 PM
...apparently this IS an alternate cosmology, so it is in fact quite different than just having the space program start early.
Damn straight I remember Ice pirates and solarbabies! by theonecalledshoe	Apr 1st, 2008 02:03:54 PM
hi-yahh!!!
Firefly with the Sodden Nancy Tribe by buffywrestling	Apr 1st, 2008 02:27:50 PM
I say, I reckon!
Not familiar with the book, but this smells like by kabong	Apr 1st, 2008 04:28:04 PM
steampunk space pirate TEEEEEEEEEEEENS
Monkey Butler, I agree... by warghost	Apr 1st, 2008 04:38:29 PM
I don't think a movie maker should try to convince an audience that we're in the distant future, AND that we're following an alternate time line. It takes too long and too much effort to establish a substantial back story. It can't usually be done properly in a 2-hour long movie.
Ice Pirates kicks ass!! by finky089	Apr 1st, 2008 04:41:50 PM

If Stardust couldn't appease the masses by Detective_Fingerling	Apr 1st, 2008 04:50:09 PM
there is no way that this will. Stupid Victorian era. Go somewhere with your lace!
Remember when SKY CAPTAIN was the future of movies? by Drath	Apr 1st, 2008 05:11:35 PM
I guess it still is in it's way, but honestly movies that step outside of pre-existing franchises are not rewarded with big Box Office, and the suits hate that. Also I don't think retro-period-pieces in space are appreciated much by average movie-goers either (Serenity for example). But hey, give it a try. At worst, we get another let down turkey we'll just have to forget.
Sounds pretty shitty by JKrow21	Apr 1st, 2008 06:19:57 PM
Victorian era? Gay.
even tho its not made, the movie has made all the money its goin by ironic_name	Apr 1st, 2008 07:05:59 PM

Space 1889 by Mr Willi	Apr 1st, 2008 07:10:36 PM
There was a roleplaying game with this very same premise released back in the 80s. Still, cool idea, even if it was plagiarized...
Biggs Larklighter? by Napoleon Park	Apr 1st, 2008 07:36:25 PM
I thought he died on the attack on the Death Star.
Why not Ninja Space Pirates by messi	Apr 1st, 2008 08:55:51 PM
that would be awesome.
Steampunk is so fucking played out by jimmy_009	Apr 1st, 2008 10:36:14 PM
Enough of this bullshit, how about something ORIGINAL for once.
I'd rather c GRIMJACK or SPACE 1889 as films... by lynxpro	Apr 1st, 2008 11:00:32 PM
I'm sure I'm not alone in such sentiments.
...or live-action Thundarr the Barbarian... by lynxpro	Apr 1st, 2008 11:03:30 PM
...or a re-imagining of Yor that actually works.
I want a Discworld movie!!!! by Pouchstalker	Apr 1st, 2008 11:10:14 PM
Big budget and not made for tv. A planet that is a disc set upon the backs of 4 elephants atop a giant turtle.
how is steampunk played out, jimmy_009? by drave117	Apr 2nd, 2008 12:32:11 AM
Seriously! I want to know! Let me hear this gigantic list of the steampunk movies that are choking the film market. The closest I have ever seen to a steampunk movie is probably City of Lost Children, and that was over a decade ago. Sure, there are plenty of steampunk books and anime, but I would say as a film genre, it is woefully under-explored.
I remember Ice Pirates! by Maniaq	Apr 2nd, 2008 12:54:40 AM
for a moment there, I thought this was going to ba an adaptation of Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age", but this sounds ok too. For some reason I'm reminded of Battle Beyond the Stars, and that reminds me of George Peppard and that reminds me of the A-Team... Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?
The Prestige was a little bit steampunk by Gwai Lo	Apr 2nd, 2008 02:08:48 AM
Kinda
If the Prestige was a little bit steampunk by RokurGepta	Apr 2nd, 2008 04:02:18 AM
than so was the re-make of "The Time Machine"
I agree -- I don't get the whole "Victorian steampunk/alternate by Big Dumb Ape	Apr 2nd, 2008 04:06:46 AM
Generally speaking, I have to say I agree with Monkey Butler's post about alternate timeline stuff. Personally, I've never really gotten into any of it with the possible exception of some rare cases where it's centered around a strong "what if" scenario -- such as "What if Hitler had actually won WWII? What would the world be like today?" And even there, that's basically okay only because you aren't going TOO far back in history which allows people to get a grasp on things, it allows someone to more easily see what might have been because it touches on the very real world that they live in now. But when it comes to the sci-fi realm, I would agree with FluffyUnbound, too. Unless it's something set IN another universe, a true alternate cosmology, what's the point other than saying "Ooh! Wouldn't it be cool if today's airplanes were designed by Victorian era engineers? Wouldn't that make for cool looking shit?" Well, here's a news flash for you: there are sound SCIENTIFIC reasons and principles for WHY things DO look the way that they do NOW as opposed to 100 fucking years ago when things operated by steam and held together by giant oversized rivets. There are sound reasons why history DID go the way it did. It wasn't a fluke, airplanes evolved (and thus looked) the way that they did for actual technological reasons pertinent to the time they were constructed. I mean for crying out loud, just think about applying that notion to most things in life. Hey! Wouldn't it be cool if the women of today dressed in clothing designed by Victorian era fashion designers? Hmm, I tell you what -- go ask your wife or girlfriend how she'd feel about that. How she'd like putting on a corset every day, even if it was made from the lighter manufactured material of today. They'd say "Fuck you" pretty fast and...much like the analogy to planes...they'd be grateful that clothing, that the world, evolved the way that it did. But, hey, I guess since it is science fiction to each his own. But the idea of a wooden boat with sails that can now fly because it has Victorian steampunk or Titanic-like smoke stacks mounted in the rear doesn't make me think "Cool!" or make me say "Boy, if only!" -- instead it just makes me look and say "What the fuck is THAT thing? What moron actually believes that would fly?"
ever read books by Author Harry Turtledove by RokurGepta	Apr 2nd, 2008 04:34:49 AM
he's all about alternative timelines
This sounds less like an alternate timeline than fantasy. by rbatty024	Apr 2nd, 2008 06:10:21 AM
This doesn't sound so much like an alternate timeline book like Harry Turtledove or PKD's Man in the High Castle, but rather sounds more like fantasy set in the Victorian age rather than medieval times. Lord of the Rings is basically medieval themed so it makes sense to do something similar in Victorian times. The difference seems to hinge on the fact that alternate history is concerned with what is possible, while fantasy doesn't care about possibilities, it's more concerned with created a new world, even if that world shares a few things in common with ours.
my favorite Harry Turtledove book is... by RokurGepta	Apr 2nd, 2008 06:30:48 AM
The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump I wish that would be made into a film
If it's as 'good' as Elizabeth: The Golden Age by metaluna	Apr 2nd, 2008 07:35:33 AM
no thanks.
Good point Metaluna... by rbatty024	Apr 2nd, 2008 07:54:28 AM
Elizabeth: The Golden Age was such a step backwards. She didn't even seem like the same character from the first film. The dialogue was atrocious. What a disappointment. Hopefully he'll redeem himself with this one.
re: Harry Turtledove... by lynxpro	Apr 2nd, 2008 09:53:19 PM
Why the frak can't I find the book that he wrote with Richard Dreyfuss (sic) where the American Revolution was averted? I remember when it came out in hardcopy, but I don't think I've ever seen it in paperback.
The Two Georges by Pouchstalker	Apr 2nd, 2008 10:52:27 PM
Steam powered cars and airship travel.

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Alternate Universes, Renegade Space Pirates, And A Madman Bent On Destroying A World?? Bring It On!!

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