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

[Supplement Four]

Enemy Mine

What is it about Enemy Mine? I just love that film. It's low budget. It's quaint. It's got a 40's/50's scifi feel to it.

I was immediately interested in setting a game in that universe as soon as I saw the movie.



There are a few low budget scifi films that I think are gems. John Carpenter's They Live, is one of them. Carpenter's Starman is another. Even his Escape From New York. I love all three of those films.

Imposter, a Philip K. Dick story starring Gary Sinse is another one.

I'd have to throw Enemy Mine into the mix.

All great low budget scifi shows.

 

[Starviking]

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

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

Robinson Crusoe on Mars

Moon Zero Two is also just...groovey! IIRC it also got MST3K'd.

Green Slime is Japanese, I think.

Robinson Crusoe on Mars was a staple of my childhood. Probably still stands up well today.

 

[BlackBat242]

Another vote for Ice Pirates!

Just something about Pimp-Droids... :smirk::smirk:

 

[Ran Targas]

^ I know it has been mentioned before but I still think the most Traveller-esque film has to be OUTLAND with Sean Connery and Peter O'Boyle. Mega-corps, shotguns, shuttling STL between mining colonies and settlements; it doesn't get much better than that.

The next is ALIENS if only for the kick ass hardware and the third is now Firefly/Serenity.

When I want to introduce a new player to Traveller, these are the videos I hand them. If they still prefer Star Trek or Star Wars after, then I steer them toward another gaming system.

On the other hand, I just watched WALL-E and Hot Fuzz (my Netflix queue is nearing its bottom) and I have every intention of introducing a concept from each:

<< SPOILERS >>

1. From WALL-E I'm grabbing the lost liner full of obese, nearly immobile, continuously catered to passengers held captive by their robot servants.

And ...

2. From Hot Fuzz I'm going to build an entire adventure about a small colony that routinely eliminates those who don't conform with their sense of propriety. When the PC's arrive to meet a rather colorful business contact, they find the trail suddenly turn very cold.

 

[saundby]

Spoiler:

1. From WALL-E I'm grabbing the lost liner full of obese, nearly immobile, continuously catered to passengers held captive by their robot servants.

The idea of people being reduced to helplessness through modern technology is an old favorite. I enjoyed "The Revolt of the Pedestrians" by David H. Keller, M.D. I don't know if it's out in the 'net anywhere. It was in Amazing Stories originally, and appeared in some anthologies.

 

[kafka47]

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?

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?

Einestein? Don't you mean Einstein? For if they were testing Einestein...I don't know any of his relatives that those astronauts were making angry/testy? :smirk:

My definition of Science Fiction...would be akin to the definition to Hard SF. Trek is hard to quantify as large parts of Classic Trek have to be dismissed. TNG actually hired rocket scientists and other scientists to make the science work. However, every so often, they lapsed into fantasy. I think every other series also employed scientists with greater or lesser faithfulness to science.

 

[BlackBat242]

TNG actually hired rocket scientists and other scientists to make the science work.

Excuse me???

Every other week all they have to do to create some "theoretical, never-before-been-done" field/particle/wave is to just "reconfigure the circuits in the insert starring-subsystem-of-the-week"?

And all the "time warp/wormhole/multiple-universe-linking/recurring loop" episodes had a scientist vouching for their authenticity?


And I have some wonderful skiing slopes in Florida and ocean-front property in Arizona to sell you too.



The casualness of the "future tech is the solution to everything and can do undreampt-of things with only minor tweaks" was the least scientific & realistic part of TNG!

 

[Knightsky]

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),

The original short story that the movie Rollerball was based on ("Roller Ball Murder") was written by William Harrison, not Harry Harrison.

 

[kafka47]

Excuse me???

Every other week all they have to do to create some "theoretical, never-before-been-done" field/particle/wave is to just "reconfigure the circuits in the insert starring-subsystem-of-the-week"?

And all the "time warp/wormhole/multiple-universe-linking/recurring loop" episodes had a scientist vouching for their authenticity?


And I have some wonderful skiing slopes in Florida and ocean-front property in Arizona to sell you too.



The casualness of the "future tech is the solution to everything and can do undreampt-of things with only minor tweaks" was the least scientific & realistic part of TNG!

Funny that was not the story that I heard from Trekkers, not the most authoritative source, to be sure. However, hiring scientists does not mean that you need listen to them.

Heck, that is how I play Traveller, I am not above breaking a few laws of physics for a good time. What good Ref. other than EDG would be any different.

Blade Runner, eh? I had thought of that one. Whilst, it does appear in many of my characterizations of Hi Pop Industrial Worlds...I have never got around to running a campaign/adventure around it. It is just to dense to adequately convey in an adventure.

 

[Darkhstarr]

Could be right about Green Slime. I haven't seen the film in about 20 odd years. Keep looking for.

Speaking of Japanese films. I vaguely remember a Japanese SF movie or TV show based off the first Edmond Hamilton Starwolf novel. Saw it twice back in the good old early days of the SF channel.

Moon Zero Two is also just...groovey! IIRC it also got MST3K'd.

Green Slime is Japanese, I think.

Robinson Crusoe on Mars was a staple of my childhood. Probably still stands up well today.

 

[Darkhstarr]

Yeah, Enemy Mine is really great. Makes me think of Gordy Dickson or Keith Laumer.

I did forget the original pilot of Lost in Space, one of the main reasons I bought the first season box set. No Doctor Smith, just Space Family Robinson against the planet, with just a hint of an alien presence to be revealed at a later date. Though admittedly the first dozen or so episodes were pretty good.

What is it about Enemy Mine? I just love that film. It's low budget. It's quaint. It's got a 40's/50's scifi feel to it.

I was immediately interested in setting a game in that universe as soon as I saw the movie.



There are a few low budget scifi films that I think are gems. John Carpenter's They Live, is one of them. Carpenter's Starman is another. Even his Escape From New York. I love all three of those films.

Imposter, a Philip K. Dick story starring Gary Sinse is another one.

I'd have to throw Enemy Mine into the mix.

All great low budget scifi shows.

 

[mhensley]

here's a great non-scifi movie for traveller mercs- The Wild Geese

 

[spinwardpirate]

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

I have vivid memories of seeing that in the theater as a kid. The scene with the skeletal remains of the brother in the vacc suit played in my head while running Traveller, that's for sure.

Anybody mention City Beneath the Sea? That would work for your 100% hydro adventuring. And hey, it's got the Flying Sub in it! You can't get more Traveller-y than that!

 

[SuperGamera]

Many good examples already stated, but here are a couple more:

Pitch Black - put these critters on a planet with Chamax. When it's too cold at night for the Chamax, these come out...

Cowboy Bebop - takes a lot of the same elements Firefly drew from, and would probably fit in with Traveller pretty well.

 

[beowulf2044]

There's a black-and-white German television production from the 1960's called 'Raumpatrouille' that has a great look to it. I took several images I was able to cull from the net and used them for representations of Scout Service uniforms, vacc suits and weapons.

 

[saundby]

There's a black-and-white German television production from the 1960's called 'Raumpatrouille' that has a great look to it. I took several images I was able to cull from the net and used them for representations of Scout Service uniforms, vacc suits and weapons.

Oh, man does that bring back a lost memory! I saw maybe two episodes of this show way, way back, and had totally forgotten about it.

They got me right from the lead in. Relying on vague memory here, something like "Was heute wie ein Maerchen klingt, wird morgen Wirklichkeit. Hier ist ein Maerchen von ubermorgen." I.e. "What sounds like a fairy tale today, becomes fact tomorrow. Here is a fairy tale from beyond tomorrow."

I loved the look of that show. Pure 60's, as I recall. I bet it looks like a real period piece today.

I don't suppose it's on DVD? Stretching further, perhaps a zoneless or zone 1 DVD (I can play zone 2, it's just a pain and it's not the best player in the house.)

 

[spinwardpirate]

Pitch Black - put these critters on a planet with Chamax. When it's too cold at night for the Chamax, these come out...

Wow... how did we miss listing that?!?! Classic! I think I played out that crash scene in the beginning a couple dozen times!

How about... Black Hole. Ok, not the greatest story, acting, etc., I'll agree, but the exteriors shots of the ships are inspiring.

 

[far-trader]

Many good examples already stated, but here are a couple more:

Pitch Black...

Wow... how did we miss listing that?!?!

Missed it? Not exactly

(from page 1)

Many come to mind...

...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

 

[beowulf2044]

Raumpatrouille: I was able to get a VHS copy of episode #1 on eBay. There's also a lot of video posted on YouTube. You just can't beat that 'the future isn't what it used to be' of these things.

There's also a series of Italian Sci Fi movies from 'Anthony Dawson', the best known of which is The Wild, Wild Planet. Zero-G effects done as 'fly-by-wire' and ray guns that were actually blow torches (felt sorry for the extras that were shot by those things).