I might be coming for this too. Just waiting for an email from the organizers on whether our company is also able to make a speech. Never been to Orlando.. and it would be a great excuse to come over.
I agree with you that it is all about the money, but I still believe there are directors and producers who really do want to make a great movie. Orci is a joke - his scripts are thin. Taking a weak story and then bringing a blow-up-lots-of-stuff director like Bay in Transformers does generate $$$, because the average Joe is very impressed when they see something blow up, but it's really just Sci-fi fluff. The sad part is that there are so many really *good* Sci-fi films... when you see movies like Aliens and Terminator 2 and The Matrix, it shows how good movies can be. Sad that they ignore that and just go for the $$ at the expense of making a truly good film. The fact that on this thread, a bunch of people aren't exactly sure of what the plot line was, specifically, just shows how forgettable the movie is. Does anyone feel they identified with the characters much? Or were they on the edge of their seat during the movie? Did they get emotionally involved in the plot? Too bad... they need a writer with talent, and a producer who cares about making a really GOOD movie, and they can make some ST movies for the ages. It blows me away that on IMDB, this movie is rated higher than Terminator 2, Blade Runner, 2001, etc.... Oh, well... I've spend $10 on worse things. There will still be diamonds in the rough coming out on occasion - too bad this wasn't one of 'em.
Event Horizon was great Sci Fi there was a movie called Solaris I think, not the George Clooney one but it was about a mission to restart the Sun that was pretty good
Well, it was pretty stupid. Even the idea was horrible. More so than most SciFi, as it was trying to be serious.
I actually think that was one of the better of the movies. Sure, the plot was sort of cheesy and way too transparently whoring itself to the issue of the day, but there are a LOT of great scenes and lines in that movie. IMO it's the 2nd best next to Wrath of Khan... possibly tied with the first one for 2nd place.
I've read so much great SF, that it's hard to think of an SF film as being real SF. (Aside from the rare exceptions like "Soldier" or "Bellero Shield" or "Demon with a Glass Hand" episodes of the original Outer Limits.) "2001" seems like they lost their copy of the script about halfway through shooting. "Khan" was a good old fashioned adventure flick. But it did, in a way, go back to Roddenberry's original notion of Trek as a futuristic version of the Horatio Hornblower yarns. And you've no doubt heard the comparisons between "Forbidden Planet" and Shakespeare's "The Tempest". (Just as "Bellero Shield" is compared to MacBeth") "Serenity" was a good flick, but not because it was good SF, or even much of a story. It just had a good script and was well executed. I have to credit "The Puppet Masters" for a good attempt. They did a fine adaptation of the book at the start, but I checked my watch when viewing it: an hour and ten minutes into the film, they'd only covered about five of the twelve chapters. They really had to cut corners on the second half, to get to the end on time. Word has it that Tim Minear (one of the Firefly writers) has done a screenplay of "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress", and is shopping it around. But I shudder to think what Hollyweird would do to Heinlein's story. Most reviewers see it as a libertarian manifesto, but I saw it as Heinlein again challenging readers to think outside the box -- as he did with Starship Troopers ... (and look how badly Hollyweird misinterpreted that one). Especially with Heinlein's work, I'm reminded of the quote: "Make people think they're thinking, and they'll love you. Make people *really* think, and they'll hate you." I suspect that video SF is based on not wanting to antagonize audiences by making them think. Maybe Hollyweird ought to look up "Glory Road" for a plain old action/adventure/fantasy flick. (Although they'd probably have to skip the second half of the book.)
Writers explain gaps in story: http://darthmojo.wordpress.com/2009/05/14/trek-scribes-speak-complaints-addressed/
