ewilen

I guess I've been around since June or July of 2003.

Yes, I do! Correction: No, I don't! I thought you were asking if I wanted to know where it came from.

Here's the Nanashi's entry: http://nanashi.macrossmecha.info/resrc/cat/aero/sf3a.html Info also at the Compendium. I like that second pic. Should be real easy to photoshop it onto a space background. (But no time right now...)

Thanks for those pics, wolfx.

Superduper find, Shawn!

Thanks for putting that together, Nanashi. One correction: I noticed that the page title is "Uraga Class Stealth Escort Battle Carrier".

Haven't read Dune. Saw a version of the movie. Although it was very uneven, and much of it was ludicrous, it definitely leaves an impression. The thing I remember really hating about it was the use of voiceovers to represent various characters' thoughts. Was this ever removed?

Okay, just remembered another one. (I'm skipping over stuff I know is adapted but which I don't particularly like. But I will mention parenthetically that I saw a TV version of Brave New World a while back and I sort of liked it even though it was kind of cheesy.) A Boy and His Dog was pretty good. Haven't read the short story. The movie was weird, and very dark. Probably had some problems plotwise. And I can't say I exactly enjoyed the ending (I'm a dog lover, but I'm not a misogynist). But it had integrity in its own sick way.

And don't forget: the Animeigo set is single-layer. So there's no extra compression in the Madman release, which is dual-layer. It's a great deal. Not that I regret buying the Animeigo set. (Then again, I "only" spent around $150 on it--plus a fair amount of trouble shopping and dealing with crappy sellers.)

Obviously, because they had forgotten all about RT until Toycom rediscovered the market for them.

About Robotech.com The whole "About US" section is about HG and its employees. And the bottom of every page on the size says "©1985-2004 Harmony Gold USA, Inc. All rights reserved". http://www.harmonygold.com/ says at the top right "Powered by Robotech.com". Both sites have the same IP address. According to WHOIS, both domain names are registered to Harmony Gold, USA.

GobotFool--thanks for the correction on 2001. I think I did know that the book was written concurrently with the movie, but I'd forgotten. And I was completely unaware of the short story. I just thought of another movie adaption--Planet of the Apes. The original, Charleton Heston version, which to me is an absolute classic. I've never read the book, though, and from what I've heard, very little of the novel actually made it to the screen. The "remake" (which really has nothing to do with the original movie, and probably just as little to do with the book) succeeded in not being boring, but that's about all. It had none of the depth of the original. Yet, the sequel just might redeem it. (There is a sequel planned, isn't there?) There's a lot about Ender's Game which I liked, but also much that I would toss, especially all the stuff about his siblings. Not sure I liked the epilogue, either. Wasn't it originally a short story? I think it could easily be done in a two-hour movie. Sort of a sci-fi Searching for Bobby Fisher/English private school drama. (Has anyone read The Compleet Molesworth? A very funny book, which nevertheless shares something of the atmosphere of Ender's Game.) An SST sequel is utterly pointless. Sounds as dumb as The Fly II. Oh, and as for suggestions of books worth adapting--I think Downbelow Station has much to recommend it for either a series or a movie, although I'm frankly not too crazy about the portrayal of the natives. They're just too loveable and innocent--like Ewokized Wookies. So I'd cut them or modify them severely.

I don't see what you're talking about, but I did notice that blueearth1981 was bidding up those items like crazy. One would suspect shilling, although blueearth1981 did win a couple of auctions at ridiculous prices. Not sure if he paid for them though--he's got a lot of negs. http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws1/eBayISAPI.dll?Mfc...3&all=1&rows=50 http://cgi2.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?...d=blueearth1981

HG was never able to successfully trademark "Veritech", possibly because other companies were already using the term. They did manage to register "Rick Hunter's Veritech Fighter" and "Miria's Veritech Fighter", but both marks were cancelled because they weren't renewed. HG also trademarked "Robotech"; that too was cancelled due to non-renewal in the 1992. HG filed a new application on "Robotech" in 1999, which was registered in 2001. Just go to http://www.uspto.gov/ and search on whatever term you like. You can also search by registrant to locate all the trademark filings by HG and BW. Edit: fixed the URL for the trademark office.

Which adaptations of SF books or short stories have you liked? Preferably, adaptations of stuff you've read--and please say if you read it before or after seeing the movie. Personally, I love 2001, but I can't remember if I read the book before or after. I liked both versions of The Thing a lot, and I read the short story "Who Goes There" well before. As noted in another thread, I enjoyed Starship Troopers--again, well after reading the book--but I'm aware that puts me in a distinct minority. I enjoyed the Russian version (Tarkovsky directed) of Solaris. Haven't seen the Clooney version. I think I actually read (or skimmed) the book afterwards, but I'd already read a ton of Lem before seeing the movie. I also liked Total Recall & Blade Runner, but I haven't read the original Dick stories. Can't think of any others for the moment. Discuss. What's good adaptation material? What has to be done for an adaption? What do you think are good candidates that haven't been done?

Heh. It's been a looong time since I read the book. Been meaning to watch the Japanese anime version. But you won't, because TV sci-fi is all about RPG-inspired ensemble soap opera with a good dose of titillation thrown in. (Please prove me wrong.) I think I'll go start a thread on film adaptations of SF literature.

Mechafan: Correct. The question is whether HG was able to just go to a distributor middleman or if they have to work directly with Manga. The answer is: "Distribution of Manga videos and DVDs throughout the U.S. is handled through WEA." (WEA is Warner/Elektra/Atlantic Corporation.) So that should settle that. However, it's worth emphasizing that one of HG's main arguments against non-HG "Macross" stuff is that it infringes on their brand name (which they've now trademarked). By acting as a retailer of Macross Plus, they are essentially admitting that the title doesn't infringe on or "dilute" their "Macross" trademark. I'm not a lawyer, but that seems likely to weaken if not entirely destroy any case they might have against the release of Macross Zero. It might also weaken their case against the release of toys under the various Macross labels--though perhaps not as severely. Because of this, I think we're approaching closure. What I suspect is that some kind of understanding has been reached--as evidenced by the DYRL superposables announcement. Therefore, HG feels that it has nothing to lose on the intellectual property rights front by retailing a product they know will appeal to RT fans. It's another question whether promoting the non-Robotech sequels to Macross is good marketing. A lot depends on the terms of the deal. Personally, I doubt that anyone is going to get hooked on Macross Plus and then move on to Robotech. More likely the other way around--people who discover Macross Plus are going to seek out more "pure Macross" stuff, which will compete with RT for their entertainment dollars. So in my opinion HG would only be wise to promote M+ if either (1) they've gotten a slice of the other Macross properties, (2) they feel they've milked RT for all it's worth, or (3) they have no choice and Bandai/BW are coming into the US Macross market whether HG likes it or not.

I have to disagree. Verhooven took the concepts in the book and made them outlandish parodies of cold-war era fears of fascism. I think I said pretty much the same thing. The only difference is, I liked it. (And as I've said before, I think in some ways it's even more relevant post-911. PM me for explanation, argument, or insults--I don't want this discussion to get sidetracked.) Point is, love it or hate it, SST actually engages philosophical themes from the novel. It isn't just a phoned-in Hollywood FX-fest--which this thing gives every indication of being.

It's the scene where Misa catches Minmay and Hikaru in his room.

Insert DYRL between SDF Macross and FB 2012. http://macross.anime.net/production/animation_live_action/

TWDC, a workaround on Macs is to use an old version of flash. I can view the site okay if I use Netscape 4.8 with Flash 6.0 r29. Old versions of Flash are archived here. Old versons of Netscape are here.

And look at my sig if you have trouble viewing. (Don't just look at my post--there are others in the same thread that are useful.)

I liked SST. See, they changed a lot of stuff from the book, but once I got past the lack of powered suits, I thought it was a good movie. It was a radical change--the powered suit in many ways is as much a star of SST (the book) as the Valkyrie is of Macross. And the book was a pretty straight narrative that seemingly took itself seriously (or was taken seriously by most of its teenaged audience). The movie, on the other hand, is an over-the-top commentary on the ideas in the book, which leaves you you wondering about things like civic responsibility, militarism, and who the good guys really are. This I, Robot just looks like another action/conspiracy retread.

I read the short story collection decades ago, and this thing doesn't bear any resemblence to what I remember. Looks like they just took a few bare details and the name, and used them to make a completely ordinary, thoroughly cliched summer blockbuster.

Recasts, anyone? (Seems to be the standard followup to any mention of a "kit" around here....)