Ridley Scott Returns to Sci-Fi with 'The Forever War'
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Say what you like about the collected works of Mr. Ridley Scott, but when this man sets out to make a science fiction film ... good things happen. The always-busy director has only done two sci-fi films, but those ones are called Blade Runner and A L I E N. Since Blade Runner in 1982, Scott has kept busy with big hits (like Gladiator) and big misses (like this past weekend's Body of Lies) -- but it looks like the man is heading back into the speculative realm once he's done with that crazy Nottingham project.According to Variety, Scott will direct an adaptation of Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, which the filmmaker wanted to make a long time ago, but there were all sorts of rights issues involving FX genius Richard Edlund, who "bought" the book right when it was published. For his part, Ridley Scott seems enthused: "I first pursued 'Forever War' 25 years ago, and the book has only grown more timely and relevant since ... It's a science-fiction epic, a bit of 'The Odyssey' by way of 'Blade Runner,' built upon a brilliant, disorienting premise."
That premise isn't laid out all that well in Variety, so for that we'll look to Amazon: OK, so I was going to paste the whole breakdown, but here's my interpretation: It's the future and mankind is at war with the Taurans, only we use ships that allow its crew members to age really slowly, so when this one guy comes back home and cannot adjust to the 1-to-27-year ratio, he keeps signing back up for battle after battle. Or something close to that. Clearly I need to get this book. (More info here, but watch out for spoilers.)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-13-2008 @ 1:48PM
Jason said...
I've read this book and it's sequel several times. I've been hoping someone would eventually turn it into a film. The story is about a guy who enlists in a war with an alien race. Relativity means that for the soldiers to travel to the battleground, they must use ships that basically slow down time in transit from their perspective. After each tour he returns to a world less and less like his own, until it becomes entirely unrecognizable.
It's a brilliant story, Haldeman's best.
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10-13-2008 @ 2:17PM
Peter Hall said...
I sure hope Ridley Scott's recent shortcomings have been due to lack of passion for the source material and nothing else, otherwise this pristine sci-fi classic is doomed for mediocrity.
Or doomed to a Vegas pool of how long before Scott leaves the project all together...
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10-13-2008 @ 3:13PM
colby said...
Saw 'Body of Lies' yesterday. Pretty good, but I was hoping it would be better. Of course, I had super-huge expectations going in. Thought it would be just a little more "action-y".
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10-13-2008 @ 5:35PM
Maria Stahl said...
I love that book. I don't want anyone to make a film of it, for fear it will be ruined, but if anybody can do it, it's Ridley Scott.
Jason's summary of the plot is a good one.
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10-13-2008 @ 11:03PM
E-Rock said...
is that James Franco?
(I know its not, but it looks like him)
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10-15-2008 @ 7:19PM
RIFRAF said...
Doubt, that's one of the paperback covers for FW. IT's been out for years. Anyhow, I'm a huge Haldeman fan. I've pretty much read all his books and this one still is one of my favorites.
10-13-2008 @ 11:10PM
Peter Martin said...
Joe Haldeman was a Vietnam vet, and the book, published in 1975, had plenty of clear allusions to Vietnam, while drawing on the underlying forces that continually propel mankind into war.
It also postulated an entirely coed armed force, complete with assigned bunk mates, so the sexual aspect could add another dimension to a movie version. In some ways the novel is kind of a liberal answer book to 'Starship Troopers,' Robert Heinlein's rather romantic, he-man, conservative novel of military conflict and citizen duties.
Obviously a lot depends on the script, but the potential is certainly there for Scott to mine new territory.
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