JELEINEN Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Finally finished watching Macross Zero last night (been trying to catch up on my anime watching lately), and it struck me that the story very much resembles Arthur C. Clarke's "The Sentinel" and 2001: A Space Oddesy (the latter being an expanded re-working of the former). For those unfamiliar with the premise behind this short story and novel, basically aliens visit Earth in the distant past and meddle with our development then go away, leaving behind an artifact for us to discover once we reach a certain point of development (space travel, to be specific). The biggest twist on the story in M0 is that the artifact in question is apparently meant to knock us back down if we're still a war-like people once we achieve space travel (obviously the Proto-Culture weren't very good at practicing what they preached). The other thing that struck me is the use of Clarke's Law in the show. This law states that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." All the mystic mumbo-jumbo is just over technology, which is sufficiently advanced enough to not only appear like magic to the primitive Mayans, but to many of the modern humans as well. I thought it was well played by Mr. Kawamori (in spite of him slipping in some of his whacked out ideas on ecology). Anyone else pick up on this stuff? Anything to add or something I might have missed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Yup, I definately agree. Especially with how Sara & Shin pulled a David Bowman at the end, dissapearing into the stars for parts unknown. Of course with this comparison brought up, do you suppose they'll re-appear in a future sequel to help along with another evolutionary step? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowlightman Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Kawamori has stated in interviews that he's a big Stanley Kubrick fan, so similarities between Macross and 2001 aren't really surprising. Macross Plus had a lot of visual homages/influences to the 2001 movie, mostly in the Sharon Apple concert on Eden and with Sharon's red eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vespaeda Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Wow! Hearing this about Mac0, I especially would like to see the series now, as i am a big A.C. Clarke fan myself. Great exposition, JELEINEN. I noticed in another thread on the Indian Ocean tsunami(that got locked), someone mentioned that they believed the legendary author, Mr. Clarke, had passed away several years ago. He is actually alive and well, living in Sri Lanka, and had given a commentary on the disaster from his perspective and the well being of his household and estate crew(read it on MSN'S Cosmic Blog). Arthur Clarke also had been dealing w/Michael Moore over the use of the title "Fahrenheit 9/11" in court. Hope I haven't strayed off topic. I envison Arthur C. Clarke to look very much like his aged character Harry Seldon from the "Foundation" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gui Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Anyone else pick up on this stuff? Anything to add or something I might have missed? Weren't all these points (or almost) already present into SDF? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polidread Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 now that youve mentioned it.... i think there are strong similarities too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 (edited) I envison Arthur C. Clarke to look very much like his aged character Harry Seldonfrom the "Foundation" I suspect that if he read this, Sir Arthur would be very amused... "The Foundation" was written by Arthur C. Clarkes good friend Issac Asimov (I believe Asimov once dedicated a speech with the words "from the Worlds second greatest science writer to the Worlds second greatest science fiction writer... " ) , though given the friendly rivalry between the two its possible Asimov had Clarke in mind... Edited January 6, 2005 by F-ZeroOne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Fokker Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Wow! Now this is interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Anyone else pick up on this stuff? It is definitely a strong theme in Zero... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerwalker Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Wow! Hearing this about Mac0, I especially would like to see the series now, as i am a big A.C. Clarke fan myself. Great exposition, JELEINEN. I noticed in another thread on the Indian Ocean tsunami(that got locked), someone mentioned that they believed the legendary author, Mr. Clarke, had passed away several years ago. He is actually alive and well, living in Sri Lanka, and had given a commentary on the disaster from his perspective and the well being of his household and estate crew(read it on MSN'S Cosmic Blog). Arthur Clarke also had been dealing w/Michael Moore over the use of the title "Fahrenheit 9/11" in court. Hope I haven't strayed off topic. I envison Arthur C. Clarke to look very much like his aged character Harry Seldon from the "Foundation" Is this trolling? Seems so, you are mixing science fiction authors without even thinking what you are writing!! First, as was stated above, Isaac Asimov wrote Foundation. Second: Fahrenheit 451 was written by Ray Bradbury and he is mad about Moore using a simmilar title for his film. I had the same impression about M0 and Clarke!!. Thanks Jeileinen for bring this up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Togo Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Is this trolling? Seems so, If you think that's trolling, you are as misinformed as he is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewilen Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 I wouldn't be surprised if Clarke/2001 was an influence, but the idea of ancient aliens influencing human evolution and/or being the basis of human religion/myth is widespread in SF, and may predate 2001. There is also the Erich von Daniken "Chariots of the Gods" theory, which is generally laughed at in archeology but makes good science fiction. Let's see: Chariots of the Gods? 1968 Clarke's (Third) Law 1973 The Sentinel 1948/1951 (Read it here!) 2001 (movie/book) 1968 Does a Bee Care? (short story by Asimov) 1957 Demon with a Glass Hand (teleplay by Harlan Ellison) 1963 Quatermass and the Pit (teleplay later remade as a movie) 1958 Hmmm. Well, so far, Clarke's short story is the earliest, and M0 does show more similarities to 2001 than most of the others, but I think there's some von Daniken (or even Stargate) in there, too. I also see similarities (in the way humanity is "tested") with The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and to an extent "Silly Asses" (short story by Asimov, 1958). The overall plot, with two power-hungry factions fighting over an ancient weapon, only to miss the Big Picture of the fate of humanity, is also similar to Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and shows up in some of the Miyazaki's other films, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vespaeda Posted January 11, 2005 Share Posted January 11, 2005 As Yoda said of Ben Kenobi not finding Kamino...."How embarrassing!" I have to admit I am MANY years removed from reading any of these works, and unfortunately, the joy I received from these author's work has really gotten quite muddled in my memory. I have succumbed to that state causing such fearful speculation in so many children through the ages..."Will I become a dottering, old fool like my parents?!?" Please forgive my errors all, I was actually just caught up in the thought of how great that Mr. Clarke is still alive and fairly well, and frequently issuing commentary on contemporary human society. Even when I typed the bit about "Fahrenheit 451"="...9/11", my brain was giving the alarm that I was getting something very wrong, although I'll admit my brain was telling me it was authored by Kurt Vonnegut [in the voice of Teddy from movie "A.I."]: "I.. AM NOT A TROLL!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerwalker Posted January 12, 2005 Share Posted January 12, 2005 As Yoda said of Ben Kenobi not finding Kamino...."How embarrassing!" I have to admit I am MANY years removed from reading any of these works, and unfortunately, the joy I received from these author's work has really gotten quite muddled in my memory. I have succumbed to that state causing such fearful speculation in so many children through the ages..."Will I become a dottering, old fool like my parents?!?" Please forgive my errors all, I was actually just caught up in the thought of how great that Mr. Clarke is still alive and fairly well, and frequently issuing commentary on contemporary human society. Even when I typed the bit about "Fahrenheit 451"="...9/11", my brain was giving the alarm that I was getting something very wrong, although I'll admit my brain was telling me it was authored by Kurt Vonnegut [in the voice of Teddy from movie "A.I."]: "I.. AM NOT A TROLL!" I'm deeply sorry for calling you a Troll. As you had a science fiction authors confussion that day I was also sufferig a very bad mood day. I was convinced that your post was a joke or some sort of very soft trolling (as Duke said, actual hard trolling is something different!!) Just remember another Clarke's thing related to Macross that was discussed some time ago: The helmets used in Macross share similiarities with those from Kubrick's 2001 movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
platypiman247 Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 I always wondered why, during the training scenes from M0 episode 2, Focker kept on calling Shin 'Gomer Piles' and threatening to rip out his eyes and skullf@#& him. Shins helmet would also look ten times cooler with 'Born to Kill' written on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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