Nope.
Influences for star trek
- Thread starter Capt.Kirk
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"Hyperdrive" has been around since at least the 1930s - much of the detail in Forbidden Planet is itself lifted from sf pulp fiction of the 30s and 40s. Roddenberry probably read enough of that stuff to know that what he was lifting from FP could not be claimed as original or unique to it by the folks at MGM.
PI think it is interesting how wide the scope and pageant is for written SF, yet how relatively incestuos and narrow SF has turned out to be on the screen. I know it is, in part, for budgetary and practical reasons, and there are the Outliers (Avatar, The Matrix Trilogy, Titanic, LotR Trilogy, and the like). However, a great deal of screen sci fi is as what many of you say above and before; remnants of former civilizations, adversarial contact with other species, terror and destruction at the unknown, screen operas of good triumphing over evil. Nothing wrong with it, but I wonder if it to do with least common denominator and/or going with what works. How cool it would be to see Ringworld or the Heechee or Trantor and Hari Seldon on the Screen. Red, Blue and Green Mars, the life of Lazarus Long, and so many others we all could name. Yes with elements of the above-mentioned regarding screen sci fi, but with so much more.
And before you are tempted to comment negatively, could you have imagined Skynet or T-1000's or Neo or Optimus or any of the Superheroes or the Enterprise or any of what we have seen, back when you were reading comics or Asimov or Heinlein or Bova or Pohl, etc., anywhere but in your head?
My point is, I wish we could see SF of a vastly more epic and fresh flavor, on screen, like what we see in our mind's eye...
And before you are tempted to comment negatively, could you have imagined Skynet or T-1000's or Neo or Optimus or any of the Superheroes or the Enterprise or any of what we have seen, back when you were reading comics or Asimov or Heinlein or Bova or Pohl, etc., anywhere but in your head?
My point is, I wish we could see SF of a vastly more epic and fresh flavor, on screen, like what we see in our mind's eye...
Well, they keep trying to adapt Dune, and we're getting Childhood's End on Syfy soon . . . .
But, yes, there are lots of great books and stories waiting to be adapted.
The problem here, I think, is twofold: First, there are only so many archetypal plots and characters to go around, even in science fiction. Second, network executives don't like taking risks, especially when it comes to presenting more thinking and less flash-bang action.
Disclaimer: I was a literature major in a former life, and I was unfamiliar with most science fiction until I was introduced to Trek. Hence, you may or may not consider my observations to be unduly general in nature.
Yes, Greg, you are correct, and I do have to acknowledge my own impatience, as well as pushing my own preferences and "vision"...maybe that is another example of what makes this whole Thing so cool!
Oh, I think you have plenty of "vision" to offer, My Lady, even if you are not at depth with Sci Fi. "Epic" exists in other genre, as well...
Yes, Greg, you are correct, and I do have to acknowledge my own impatience, as well as pushing my own preferences and "vision"...maybe that is another example of what makes this whole Thing so cool!
Oh, I think you have plenty of "vision" to offer, My Lady, even if you are not at depth with Sci Fi. "Epic" exists in other genre, as well...
(faintly alarmed) I'm not looking to write an epic, DarkLight/HIjol. That is very much out of my stars, given that writing a 60K novella on top of working my full-time job required two years, two months, and a great deal of forbearance on the part of my friends and relatives.
But I would like to see a psychological-thriller take on Trek. Odo's investigations during DS9 barely scratched the surface, IMO. I wonder what a locked-room mystery with a believable human villain in TOS would look like. And I'm not talking about a pale imitation of "Wolf in the Fold" or "Court Martial," either. In the first instance, the villain wasn't human, strictly speaking. And in the second instance, the dead man wasn't really dead!
Am I heretical, or whatever the Trek equivalent may be, to suggest such a crossover?
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Yes, Greg, you are correct, and I do have to acknowledge my own impatience, as well as pushing my own preferences and "vision"...maybe that is another example of what makes this whole Thing so cool!
Oh, I think you have plenty of "vision" to offer, My Lady, even if you are not at depth with Sci Fi. "Epic" exists in other genre, as well...
(faintly alarmed) I'm not looking to write an epic, DarkLight/HIjol. That is very much out of my stars, given that writing a 60K novella on top of working my full-time job required two years, two months, and a great deal of forbearance on the part of my friends and relatives.
But I would like to see a psychological-thriller take on Trek. Odo's investigations during DS9 barely scratched the surface, IMO. I wonder what a locked-room mystery with a believable human villain in TOS would look like. And I'm not talking about a pale imitation of "Wolf in the Fold" or "Court Martial," either. In the first instance, the villain wasn't human, strictly speaking. And in the second instance, the dead man wasn't really dead!
Am I heretical, or whatever the Trek equivalent may be, to suggest such a crossover?
Oh, no, I was not suggesting that you would write an "Epic". I was referring to your "disclaimer" comment about not being steeped in Sci Fi. Your observations are certainly valuable, and there is plenty of "Epic" to go around in all genres.
I very much like your idea of a "Hitchcockian" (my word) Odo investigative thriller! See, you got Sci Fi chops spilling off the plate!
I do not find that idea heretical, at all.
Yes, Greg, you are correct, and I do have to acknowledge my own impatience, as well as pushing my own preferences and "vision"...maybe that is another example of what makes this whole Thing so cool!
Oh, I think you have plenty of "vision" to offer, My Lady, even if you are not at depth with Sci Fi. "Epic" exists in other genre, as well...
(faintly alarmed) I'm not looking to write an epic, DarkLight/HIjol. That is very much out of my stars, given that writing a 60K novella on top of working my full-time job required two years, two months, and a great deal of forbearance on the part of my friends and relatives.
But I would like to see a psychological-thriller take on Trek. Odo's investigations during DS9 barely scratched the surface, IMO. I wonder what a locked-room mystery with a believable human villain in TOS would look like. And I'm not talking about a pale imitation of "Wolf in the Fold" or "Court Martial," either. In the first instance, the villain wasn't human, strictly speaking. And in the second instance, the dead man wasn't really dead!
Am I heretical, or whatever the Trek equivalent may be, to suggest such a crossover?
Oh, no, I was not suggesting that you would write an "Epic". I was referring to your "disclaimer" comment about not being steeped in Sci Fi. Your observations are certainly valuable, "I'm general", as you say, and there is plenty of "Epic" to go around in all genres.
I very much like your idea of a "Hitchcockian" (my word) Odo investigative thriller! See, you got Sci Fi chops spilling off the plate!
I do not find that idea heretical 'tall!
If you'll indulge me a shameless plug, Foul Deeds Will Rise was my attempt at doing a STAR TREK murder mystery . . ..
Wait, Titanic is sci-fi? I haven't seen it, but assumed it was simply a historical romance from the advertising and feature articles.
Yes, Titanic could be an influence.
In a Trek episode, a starship hits an ice berg.....
Thank all three of you! Total Brain Fart on "Titanic"!And if you're too lazy to dig out your DVD, here's a youtube link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxQ9GG6hUDM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxQ9GG6hUDM
^ Well, the tilted text crawl really harkens back to the "Flash Gordon" serials of the 1930s, which were always an acknowledged influence on that other franchise.
See here, starting at 1:17:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckq4_YyiJLo
Someone up-thread asked if Roddenberry's experience as a police officer influenced his work on Star Trek. I think there is a more apparent influence from his military experience. Not to rag on the Abrams movies, but, in comparison, you can certainly tell which version of Trek had production staff who were actually familiar with military structure and procedure.
Kor
See here, starting at 1:17:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckq4_YyiJLo
Someone up-thread asked if Roddenberry's experience as a police officer influenced his work on Star Trek. I think there is a more apparent influence from his military experience. Not to rag on the Abrams movies, but, in comparison, you can certainly tell which version of Trek had production staff who were actually familiar with military structure and procedure.
Kor
Thank you, Kor. I knew that technique had been used for the opening credits of an old Bogart movie (High Sierra) but was unaware of the Flash Gordon connection. I'm sure I've seen some of Flash back during my misspent youth but either time has buried it or I was "under the lnfluence" of something or other at the time.
It's a fine line sometimes between plagiarism and homage, isn't it?
It's a fine line sometimes between plagiarism and homage, isn't it?
Yeah, I was gonna say. Early pulp sf had a lot of that stuff.
Brave Captain Jim and the loyal crew of the SS Space-Nautilus encounter the Weird World of Woo!!!
Or such-like.
"Hyperspace" goes back to the 1930s IIRC. Not sure when the term "hyperdrive" was first used. The earliest movie use I know of is Forbidden Planet. I think it appeared in some 1940s stories.
