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[ 14 posts ] |
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Pete
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 Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 11:02 am |
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Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 2:15 pm
Posts: 3341
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Ray
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 1:25 pm |
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Joined: Wed May 14, 2008 2:06 pm
Posts: 1041
Location: Portsmouth
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I haven't read the books but I am looking forward to the film. That doesn't mean I'll see it though - I tend to miss everything. 
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Pete
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:30 pm |
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Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 2:15 pm
Posts: 3341
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The trailer doesn't really excite me, and the idea seems very derivative (e.g. "Battle Royal", or "Running Man" for the YA demographic).
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Tony
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:51 pm |
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Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:13 pm
Posts: 868
Location: The Village
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Mike A
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:43 pm |
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Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:25 am
Posts: 619
Location: Sussex Coast
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I listened to the first 2 as audiobooks and read the 3rd (the local library didn't have it on audio). I thought it was quite well done, with good characters and some interesting ideas (though I agree it's not hard to find antecedents on the conceptual front). I thought the biggest weakness was the prose - very flat, bland writing in general, and lacking in vivid description.
I suspect the movie will lose a lot - for a start (and predictably) they've made the female protagonist far too pretty (she's not at all like that in the book).
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Mike A
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:54 pm |
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Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:25 am
Posts: 619
Location: Sussex Coast
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BTW, it's worth noting that the idea of "Reality TV to the death" is a pretty old one in written SF, far predating Running Man and suchlike - e.g. Robert Sheckley's The Prize of Peril (1960) and Frank Roberts' It Could Be You (1964).
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Roy
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:05 pm |
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Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 3:11 pm
Posts: 2122
Location: Cheshire, UK
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In arenas its even older.
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Tony
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:39 pm |
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Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:13 pm
Posts: 868
Location: The Village
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Movies have kept pace with SF lit, though... starting with campy sci-fi 10th Victim (based on Sheckley's book) in 1965, and Peter Watkins' Punishment Park in 1970s, but - in a way - it all dates back to 1930s' Most Dangerous Game.
I do think the whole subgenre of death-TV and killer-sports is fascinating because of its variations, from Rollerball, and Altman's Quintet, to Tavernier's Deathwatch, and Westworld. Perhaps's nothing could be as bad or schlocky as Turkey Shoot..?
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Roy
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Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:07 am |
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Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 3:11 pm
Posts: 2122
Location: Cheshire, UK
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Does Westworld count? I thought that was a result of a computer glitch not a deliberate attempt at killing people for entertainment.
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Ray
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Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:54 am |
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Joined: Wed May 14, 2008 2:06 pm
Posts: 1041
Location: Portsmouth
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I'd heard the same about the prose, which is why I didn't get around to reading them. As for films, I'm a little less picky (I'm only comitting to a couple of hours after all).
As for originality, well, if I was only to watch films with original concepts, what on earth would I ever see???
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Mike A
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Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:20 pm |
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Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:25 am
Posts: 619
Location: Sussex Coast
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Westworld is Jurassic Park, just with robots instead of dinosaurs. Michael Crichton was so clever he could steal from himself! 
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StevePalmer
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Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:38 am |
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Westworld is an amazing film.
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Ian H
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 2:42 pm |
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Joined: Wed Jun 09, 2010 10:24 pm
Posts: 296
Location: Scotland
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Rolnikov
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 5:20 pm |
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Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2009 12:05 pm
Posts: 443
Location: Birmingham
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Yes, I quite enjoyed it. It's not really very much like Battle Royale in execution, though obviously the plot is similiar. The first half hour or so reminded me much more strongly of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery.
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