05-07-2009, 03:40 PM
Points taken Demetrius, well and fairly.
Indeed there are only so many basic plot lines, and yes, a well done Ben Hur could once again raise interest in ancient Rome. (Jasper will be kept busy explaining to one and all that the Roman Navy did not use slaves to row their ships.)
My question is why Ben Hur or Spartacus yet again? Yes, as John rightly points out, a re-make of a well know film brings with in a built in audience and may save you some PR money, but what a disappointment for the imagination.
Back in 1977 (before some of our members were born :oops: ) when Star Wars became a surprise hit, many of us thought that this would usher in a renaissance for Cinema Fantastic and we would see many of the great classics from Clark, Asimov, Heinlein, etc. on film. And indeed, we did see a few (a lot of Philip K Dick stories were made into films, some better than others) but what we mostly saw were rip offs of Star Wars. (Riddley Scot said that when he saw Star Wars he told his agent "I'm making the wrong films." and his next big hits were Alien and Blade Runner.)
We can hope that the New Ben Hur and Spartacus will be good (I just saw the last five minutes of The Last Legion -- what were they thinking?) but I would rather see the money and energy put into stories of ancient Greece and Rome we have not seen yet.
As for which writers will be remembered 50 years from now... Good question. I would guess Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five will still be read. Probably Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.... I would like to think TH White's The Once and Future King or Robert Graves I, Claudius would be, but they are already fading from popular view. Although portions of White's work have been filmed (Camelot, Sword in the Stone) no one has attempted the entire book -- I would rather see that than yet another Ben Hur. :|
Good question Demetrius.
:wink:
Narukami
Indeed there are only so many basic plot lines, and yes, a well done Ben Hur could once again raise interest in ancient Rome. (Jasper will be kept busy explaining to one and all that the Roman Navy did not use slaves to row their ships.)
My question is why Ben Hur or Spartacus yet again? Yes, as John rightly points out, a re-make of a well know film brings with in a built in audience and may save you some PR money, but what a disappointment for the imagination.
Back in 1977 (before some of our members were born :oops: ) when Star Wars became a surprise hit, many of us thought that this would usher in a renaissance for Cinema Fantastic and we would see many of the great classics from Clark, Asimov, Heinlein, etc. on film. And indeed, we did see a few (a lot of Philip K Dick stories were made into films, some better than others) but what we mostly saw were rip offs of Star Wars. (Riddley Scot said that when he saw Star Wars he told his agent "I'm making the wrong films." and his next big hits were Alien and Blade Runner.)
We can hope that the New Ben Hur and Spartacus will be good (I just saw the last five minutes of The Last Legion -- what were they thinking?) but I would rather see the money and energy put into stories of ancient Greece and Rome we have not seen yet.
As for which writers will be remembered 50 years from now... Good question. I would guess Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five will still be read. Probably Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.... I would like to think TH White's The Once and Future King or Robert Graves I, Claudius would be, but they are already fading from popular view. Although portions of White's work have been filmed (Camelot, Sword in the Stone) no one has attempted the entire book -- I would rather see that than yet another Ben Hur. :|
Good question Demetrius.
:wink:
Narukami
David Reinke
Burbank CA
Burbank CA
