Cool Near Future Films...that would go well with Traveller

[Supplement Four]

Stories set in the near future, or maybe post apocalypse, that would make for good settings for a Traveller game. I'm thinking "CT rules", of course, but I'm sure other versions of Traveller may apply as well.

What immediately comes to mind are two movies that I loved. I think they'd make for an awesome universe in which to game. CT rules would be pefect:

Children of Men
Babylon AD

Or maybe, adds some more populous bad-guys in there:

28 Days Later
28 Weeks Later

More contemporary movies, like:

Next
Deja Vu

Or, how about some PKD?:

Minority Report
Imposter

The obvious post apocalyptic choices:

Mad Max
Road Warrior
Beyond Thunderdome

Or, maybe some classics, like:

Soylent Green
The Omega Man

Any of these would make for a neat background, given a good GM with a good story, for a multi-session game, or even a campaign set against the backdrop of that world.

 

[kafka47]

Whilst, I disagree with you regarding the Apes...although, I do think they are entertaining movies just not SF. Not sure how to class them. But, as they got older they were more and more hack jobs but that does not defer from making them cult classics.

Anyhow, back to the thread at hand...

Outland
Alien
Space 1999
Doctor Who Pertwee or parts of Eccleson/Tennant era
The Starlost - although more Metaphorsis Alpha
2010
Buck Rogers in the 25th century (certain episodes only)

I am constantly amazed how good SF was in the 1970s and how Star Wars & Star Trek** did destroy much of it. I can only hope that the people who write for Traveller can watch some of these classics and get inspired again.

**Don't get me wrong there are some great moment in ST & SW it just is not very good Science Fiction but excellent Space Fantasy. More based upon the Pulp Era rather than true Science Fiction which was coming to age in the 1970s.

 

[Zowy]

Something is Wrong on Saturn 5
5th Element
Red Dwarf
2001 a Space Odyssey
Blade Runner
Outland

 

[far-trader]

Many come to mind, the problem being of course they are all well known. So as soon as you start running a scenario based on a cool film the players will all see it and...

a) Start critiquing the movie and discussing the other works of the writers, directors, actors and such

b) Start critiquing the ref on their interpretation of said source

c) Start engaging in "Script Embellished" Role-Playing... via one liners like "I'll be bach."

d) ...and so on

Much better to work up your own ideas, or at the very least take the time to file off all the serial numbers before trying to drop the players into Escape From Mithras or Pitch Dark

 

[Supplement Four]

Whilst, I disagree with you regarding the Apes...although, I do think they are entertaining movies just not SF.

Wow. Not science fiction? Astronauts test Einestein's theories of Relativity and Time Dilation and such and go so far into the future that another species is in control of the Earth....that's not science fiction?

**Don't get me wrong there are some great moment in ST & SW it just is not very good Science Fiction but excellent Space Fantasy.

I'd agree with you on SW. That's Space Opera. But, Trek deals with a lot of science fiction topics. It's very science fiction.


I'm curious...what's your definition of science fiction?

 

[Supplement Four]

Many come to mind, the problem being of course they are all well known. So as soon as you start running a scenario based on a cool film the players will all see it and...

a) Start critiquing the movie and discussing the other works of the writers, directors, actors and such

b) Start critiquing the ref on their interpretation of said source

c) Start engaging in "Script Embellished" Role-Playing... via one liners like "I'll be bach."

d) ...and so on

Much better to work up your own ideas, or at the very least take the time to file off all the serial numbers before trying to drop the players into Escape From Mithras or Pitch Dark

Can't agree with you here, Dan. Yes, any original GM setting might be good...if the idea, setting, and implementation are, indeed, good.

What got me thinking about this, though, was the first few minutes of Soylent Green. I haven't seen that film in years and only remember the highlights. (I'll rewatch it soon.)

What I thought was interesting (again, I need to re-watch the film) was that the universe is over crowded New York. 40 million people there. Food is a problem. 50% unemployment. Crime has got to be high in these desperate times. Dystopia.

The cop (Charlton Heston) and the "police book" (Edward G. Robinson) seem to work unlike what you'd expect. Typical, in this type of universe, I'd expect this large, SS-like, jackbooted police force. But, instead, Heston's character seems to operate more like a bounty hunter. So does Robinson. They seem to operate as independents rather than members of some cohesive department (as we normally think of the police).

I thought that a neat twist to the normal "futuristic cop" forumla. Instead of being a member of a traditional "police force", the cops are more freelance. They grab cases and turn them in for payment. Almost like a bunch of private detectives doing the police work in place of a traditional police force.

It even lends itself to the idea (in the movie) that humanity is dying. Society is breaking down. The once traditional police force, even, has been replaced by independent operators.

Neat.

And I thought...what a cool way to set a game. The players are these types of cops, competing for contracts.

It seems like it would lend itself well to role playing.

 

[far-trader]

Can't agree with you here, Dan...

Ah, but you have

What you described is a good piece of filing off the serial numbers.

Rather than just dropping the players into SG as random adventurers or citizens to find out "...it's people." it sounds like you'd probably ignore the movie plot and just run with a setting of bounty cops.

Sounds like a good game. And not without precedent. Not long ago fire-departments and fire-fighters operated similiarily in many cities. If you didn't have "insurance" and a plaque on the structure you just watched it burn.

 

[Supplement Four]

Ah, but you have

What you described is a good piece of filing off the serial numbers.

Rather than just dropping the players into SG as random adventurers or citizens to find out "...it's people." it sounds like you'd probably ignore the movie plot and just run with a setting of bounty cops..

But, hardly any rpg based on a license makes the players play the same characters and go through the same stories as the license the game is based upon.

Star Wars characters in the rpg aren't Luke and Leia, Han and Chewbaacca, tring to escape from the Death Star. No, you make your own character and do your own adventure.

The James Bond game, even though it used adventure modules based on the movies, would change the plot of those movies to make for a different experience when the player's agents (not James Bond) played through them.

If I ran a Solyent Green game, I'd have to let the cat out of the bag because the players already know. They know that Solyent Green is people.

At the end of the movie, its still a secret. The players could be the few that know....or maybe they have an interest (being paid, perhaps) in keeping the secret.

Either way, we'd grow the story, like most licensed rpgs do.

 

[mike wightman]

Silent Running

Soldier

Contact

Stargate (original film)

Independance Day

Deep Impact

Armageddon

 

[JcFalkenburg]

The cop (Charlton Heston) and the "police book" (Edward G. Robinson) seem to work unlike what you'd expect. Typical, in this type of universe, I'd expect this large, SS-like, jackbooted police force. But, instead, Heston's character seems to operate more like a bounty hunter. So does Robinson. They seem to operate as independents rather than members of some cohesive department (as we normally think of the police).

I thought that a neat twist to the normal "futuristic cop" forumla. Instead of being a member of a traditional "police force", the cops are more freelance. They grab cases and turn them in for payment. Almost like a bunch of private detectives doing the police work in place of a traditional police force.

It even lends itself to the idea (in the movie) that humanity is dying. Society is breaking down. The once traditional police force, even, has been replaced by independent operators.

Neat.

And I thought...what a cool way to set a game. The players are these types of cops, competing for contracts.

It seems like it would lend itself well to role playing.

Supplement four,
If would really Reccomend Harry Harrison's Make Room, Make Room The book on which soylent green was based. Its got a lot more of the procedural stuff in it you found so appealing, it also doesn't have the shock ending.

 

[saundby]

You might also blend in some other Harrison stuff that mixes well. Like the corporate government and anti-individualism of Rollerball (book and original movie), and perhaps...dare I say it...early Bolo. 8)

Or, you might add in elements from other ecological dystopia works, like Roberto Vacca's The Coming Dark Age and, of course, Ehrlich's The Population Bomb.

Perhaps some John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar or even David Brin's Earth. Maybe even some of the Earth of Niven's time travel stories like those in Flight of the Hortse, and included at the end of Rainbow Mars, where they're trying to recover lost species through time travel.

 

[ShapeShifter]

I second Blade Runner, and add Silent Running, Total Recall, Starship Troopers, 1970's Battlestar Galactica (these last two are probably far future and not NEAR future, but what the hell), Zardoz (just kidding! :rofl, Fahrenheit 451, Quintet...

I was recently thinking of watching Dark Crystal for the first time in 25+ years (whatever it's been...), and wondered casually if it could be modelled with CT, or if one should use AD&D instead.

 

[atpollard]

I've liked when the story from a non-sci-fi setting gets bent into a space opera.

Start with a classic 'western' and relocate it to space ... Firefly/Serenity.

Start with 'Merlin' training a young boy to be a knight ... Star Wars.

I'm an old 'swashbuckler' fan. Start with the "The Black Shield of Falworth" and port it into the Traveller Nobility and you have the start of a heck of a Nobleman/Court adventure.

 

[RockViper]

Event Horizon: An interesting take on hyperspace/jump space

Supernova: The dangers of low berth

A short Synopsis from IMDB: Set in the 22nd century, when a battered salvage ship sends out adistress signal, the seasoned crew of the rescue hospital ship Nova-17responds. What they find is a black hole--that threatens to destroyboth ships--and a mysterious survivor whose body quickly mutates into amonstrous and deadly form

The Alien , and Predator Sagas, both present very good aliens to pit PCs against.

 

[Supplement Four]

Start with a classic 'western' and relocate it to space ... Firefly/Serenity.

I do love Firefly/Serenity, for the writing and for the acting (characters). But, I thought the western motif was waaaay too heavy handed.

I think that's why Firefly never took off. That, and Fox screwing with the original scheduling.

When I first saw Firefly, I was really turned off by the on-your-nose western-ness of it all. I wanted more like Battlestar (wagon train to the stars) or the cantina scene in Star Wars (just enough to remind one of a cantina in a western border town).

Firefly was too much. I kept watching and fell in love with the show despite my dislike of the heavy western stuff. But, I'm a scifi fan. I think it was too much for casual viewers.

They shoulda toned it down a bit.

You know, Honor Harrington reminds one of Horatio Hornblower without being too over the top, too on the nose.

Firefly needed to reign it in.

 

[spinwardpirate]

Forbidden Planet
Robinson Crusoe on Mars

 

[Trouble]

I love the computer at the start of Robinson Crusoe on Mars. The classic model 1.

 

[saundby]

I do love Firefly/Serenity, for the writing and for the acting (characters). But, I thought the western motif was waaaay too heavy handed.

I think that's why Firefly never took off. That, and Fox screwing with the original scheduling.

When I first saw Firefly, I was really turned off by the on-your-nose western-ness of it all. I wanted more like Battlestar (wagon train to the stars) or the cantina scene in Star Wars (just enough to remind one of a cantina in a western border town).

Firefly was too much. I kept watching and fell in love with the show despite my dislike of the heavy western stuff. But, I'm a scifi fan. I think it was too much for casual viewers.

They shoulda toned it down a bit.

You know, Honor Harrington reminds one of Horatio Hornblower without being too over the top, too on the nose.

Firefly needed to reign it in.

I agree, the western stuff was too heavy by far. I tried watching it twice when it was on the air originally, and couldn't take more than ten minutes of it either time. The music was part of the problem, the look and settings were the other part. I never even got as far as the characters.

We've just finished watching the DVD set (and will be watching Serenity this weekend), and I love the show now, but it took pushing through about four solid episodes before we were sold on the show, one of those episodes being the two hour pilot. That's a lot to expect of people. It would have been a lot easier if the western stuff had been toned down, and some of the artsy-fartsy shooting of some scenes with Anara.

By the time we watched the last episode, though, we were pretty upset that that was all there was. But we couldn't say "Gee, if we'd only known about the show when it was still on..." because we did, and it was only four years of subsequent hectoring by friends that convinced us to give it another chance.

We're awfully glad we did. But its the hardest time we've ever had getting to like a show.

 

[saundby]

Back to the Movies...

Space Hunter

Ice Pirates
Battle Beyond the Stars

 

[Darkhstarr]

Planet of the Vampires ( a 60's Italian SF horror film & inspiration for the alien ship & much of the atmosphere for Alien).

Moon Zero Two ( a really, really, lowbudget 70's SF western with James Olson as a 'belter' character running around in an Apollo LEM)

Forbidden Planet

Green Slime (another cheesy 60's Italian SF film, but fun if you want a monster flick).

Robinson Crusoe on Mars

Enemy Mine

Of, course having seen a few samurai flicks in the theatres in the early 60', they have an impact on lot of my storylines, even if they're not SF.