Twice.
SFSignal has started a meme – The Top 48 Sci-Fi Film Adaptations.
Fred Kiesche (of the Signal and Texas Best Grok) tagged me.
Mike Glyer of File 770 tagged me too.
Does that mean I have to tag ten other people, or can I still get by with only five?
Is it possible to get tagged twice, or does one tag cancel out the other tag? Anyway. I’m honored by all this tagging and pass the honor on below.
Here’s the instructions for the meme-spreading:
Here’s my list:
- Jurassic Park
- War of the Worlds
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park
- I, Robot
- Contact
- Congo
- Cocoon
- The Stepford Wives
- The Time Machine
- Starship Troopers
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
- K-PAX
- 2010
- The Running Man
- Sphere
- The Mothman Prophecies
- Dreamcatcher
- Blade Runner(Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)
- Dune
- The Island of Dr. Moreau
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers
- The Iron Giant(The Iron Man)
- Battlefield Earth*
- The Incredible Shrinking Woman
- Fire in the Sky
- Altered States
- Timeline
- The Postman
- Freejack(Immortality, Inc.)
- Solaris
- Memoirs of an Invisible Man
- The Thing(Who Goes There?)
- The Thirteenth Floor
- Lifeforce(Space Vampires)
- Deadly Friend
- The Puppet Masters
- 1984
- A Scanner Darkly
- Creator
- Monkey Shines
- Solo(Weapon)
- The Handmaid’s Tale
- Communion
- Carnosaur
- From Beyond
- Nightflyers
- Watchers
- Body Snatchers
*not science fiction because it’s Hubbard
I added the following: an underlined entry is NOT SF
And the editorializing on Hubbard was not included in the original. Just my (considered) opinion.
I have no italics because I finish reading whatever I’ve started – with literally one exception, and I’m not even going to foist the title of that horrible experience on you.
Opinions of the above stories?
Jurassic Park – ok – can’t stand Crichton’s overbearing anti-scientism
WotW – great, wonderful, Herbert George Rocks
I, Robot – Ike does this kind of thing best
Contact – Sagan rocks. Most people missed the message at the end of the book: there are always more questions and our job is to keep on asking them
Congo – meh
Stepford Wive – ok
The Time Machine – my man HGW again
Starship Troopers – all time fave. If you start yapping about militarism and neo-fascism again I’m gonna hit you, hard.
HHGTTG – meh. Sorry, I know people love this one, but I think Harrison and Russell do funny far better than Adams could ever hope to
2010 – decent sequel, Clarke’s done better: hey, why isn’t The Sentinel in this list?
Running Man – hate King, hate Bachman; you’ll get no reasonable consideration out of me on this one
Sphere – slow, dry, stupid, derivative, obvious and a waste of time
Dreamcatcher – forgettable
Blade Runner – PK Dick is brilliant. End of story, period, the end.
Dune – there was a time when I wanted all blue eyes. First two novellas, excellent, everything else, mostly suitable for doorstops
Island of Dr. Moreau – HG, you’re hogging the limelight
Invasion of the Body David BrinSnatchers – Finney is good
Iron Giant – wonderful
Altered States – meh. drugs are cool but, meh
Timeline – Crichton’s try at time travel. predictable
The Postman – Brin rocks
Freejack – meh
Solaris – Lem rocks big time
Memoirs – meh
Who Goes There – one of Campbell’s best ever
Puppet Masters – RAH again. Just re-read it (unexpergated version), which is a clue
1984 – Orwell rocks
A Scanner Darkly – PKD again. Uber rocks
Communion – Streiber is a nutball
Watchers – ok
Body Snatchers isn’t this a double entry?
I tag:
If I’m responsible for tagging another five, it’s gonna take a while.
I’m afraid if I were to perpetuate this meme, I’d only embarrass myself, since I’ve only read four of those books: Contact, Dune, Communion, and Battlefield Earth (which IS science fiction, even if Hubbard was a whacko).
Of course there’s a lot on that list I wouldn’t be even remotely interested in reading, anyway. Why would I read something called Carnosaur? Sounds like a Sci-Fi Channel original. Nightflyers? Deadly Friend? The Thirteenth Floor? Isn’t that horror? Where did they dig up some of this stuff?
You’ll never catch me reading King again; I can’t stand his dull writing style. Nor will I be found reading Crichton, for the same reason you mentioned, his anti-scientific slant, and his boring ideas in general.
>*not science fiction because it’s Hubbard
LOL
My score: 14. I’ve written it up, but will not be passing it on, as to get five I’d have to merge internet identities which will confuse some of my friends.