Review by Art Schmidt
One of the latest of fantasy pulp novels from Wizards of the Coast, owners of the Dungeons & Dragons brand of games and fiction, the Stone of Tymora
Originally published as three separate novellas (The Stowaway
Tag Archive: Art Schmidt
To get to borg.com’s first anniversary it actually took us 366 days because of the leap year. And what a year it has been!
So what do we have to show for 366 daily posts–our attempt to keep you up to date on what is going on in science fiction, fantasy, and entertainment news?
Jason McClain and Elizabeth C. Bunce
We interviewed some great people, like DC Comics artists Freddie Williams and Mikel Janin, writers Sharon Shinn and Jai Nitz, and Star Trek insider Penny Juday. In our “Sneak preview” series we reviewed the pilots for new TV series ABC’s New Girl and NBC’s Awake before they were broadcast on TV. We gave you our take on several opening weekend screenings of a big year in movies from Cowboys & Aliens to Green Lantern, from the last Harry Potter film to Daniel Radcliffe’s first big adult role in The Woman in Black, to the day of Marvel Comics movies that led up to the U.S. premiere of The Avengers. We shared the first images released of The Hobbit and Total Recall. We reviewed new books and classic sci-fi books in our “Retro reviews,” from Philip K. Dick, Ian Fleming, Michael Crichton, Rex Stout, Ernest Cline, and Richard Stark, and several non-fiction books about the “behind the scenes” of movies. We covered Comic-Con International, Wondercon, Planet Comicon, Free Comic Book Day and the early release party for Avengers vs. X-Men. We reviewed dozens of new comic book series, from Morning Glories to Terry Moore’s Rachel Rising and a whole slew of DC’s New 52 reboot, as well as Marvel Comics’ limited series events. Along with that we’ve kept tabs on our (and hopefully your) favorite things like Doctor Who, Star Trek, Walking Dead, Peter Jackson, baseball, Community, Benedict Cumberbatch, the Syfy Channel, USA Network, James Bond, Batman and Green Arrow. We’ve posted lots of original comic art to get an eye on the creative process of the artist, and we loved discussing genre costumes, including the latest news about incredible screen-used prop and costume auctions. We’ve also taken a closer look at science fiction movies with our “Anatomy of science fiction” series, featuring iconic images, and the evolution of space suits in film. And to give you ideas for movie watching from the archives, we provided our “favorites” and “best of” series, revealing our recommendations for overlooked TV series, Halloween flicks, favorite fantasy films, best adaptations, favorite characters, and best art of Alex Ross and Frank Cho. We’ve profiled favorite genre stars like David Warner, John Carpenter and Mark Sheppard. We’ve reviewed new compact discs from some of our favorite celebrities, Hugh Laurie and Zoey Deschanel, as well as new fantasy video games. And finally, we’ve talked about borgs from every sci-fi franchise out there, and even how borg technology as cutting edge science affects humans in real life.
Art Schmidt and CJ Bunce
We think we like what you’d like, so we’ve tried to help you get the most out of entertainment by recommending to you the best sci-fi, fantasy and entertainment out there.
A personal thanks to professional writers Elizabeth C. Bunce (fantasy author, intrepid TV reviewer and fangirl), Jason McClain (Hollywood columnist and master of myriad musings) and Art Schmidt (diehard genre fan and fantasy realm connoisseur) for their great contributions and getting us more than 250,000 site visits and hundreds of positive feedback comments in only our first year.
Thanks for reading! Year 2 begins tomorrow…
C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com
By Art Schmidt
Marvel Studios’ newest and boldest superhero movie yet, The Avengers premiered on Friday in North America. To celebrate the superhero team-up movie five years in the making, AMC Theaters nationwide offered an all-day Ultimate Marvel Marathon in select venues, previewed here last week, showing all five previous Marvel Studios super heroes movies, in order, leading up to the midnight premier of The Avengers: Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger. I reviewed the movie Saturday here at borg.com, but now I want to share the most excellent movie-going experience I had at the Ultimate Marvel Marathon.
I had been to AMC special events before; they carry the Fathom Events series, including the excellent Lost panel I attended prior to the series finale. I had also previously attended their all-day screening of the extended versions of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was discussed here at borg.com. So I knew AMC would do this event right, but even I had no idea how Mighty it would be.
Early Thursday afternoon, the theatre was packed and there were tons of fans sporting their hero gear, many throwing props to their favorite heroes from both within the Marvel and DC universes and without (one guy sitting near me had on an Archer T-shirt, which I thought was hilarious. Several fans were wearing Justice League gear, like silent cries for DC to follow in Marvel’s footsteps and begin work on a similar movie featuring their favorite DC characters. There were several good costumes floating around, including a convincing Tony Stark in party tux and a great home-made Thor outfit which drew lots of cameras. The folks at the AMC 30 Theater I attended the event at had things well planned out. Marathoners had lanyards and special 3D glasses provided, and a limited supply of a free special issue of The Avengers comic book. There were activities planned including trivia in between each movie and select prizes for the correct answers (posters, additional 3D glasses, and masks).
Before the showing of the first movie, Iron Man, the AMC hostess took a favorite character survey among the “Big Four” Avengers (the ones who have had their own movies thus far) and though it was close between Captain America and Iron Man, Tony Stark pulled it out during the second round of voting.
When the lights dimmed, the surprises were far from over. Before each of the five movies leading up to The Avengers premier, there were short “debriefings” shown featuring none other than our favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Phil Coulson. He provided brief reviews of the movies’ main characters, personalities, and the circumstances leading up to them becoming involved in The Avengers Initiative. Before Iron Man, Coulson did a very funny bit throwing out a copy of Tony Stark’s own description of himself (in a very thick binder), and then showing Coulson’s own single-page description which was entirely inked over, being heavily redacted by the government.
There were very big cheers when each movie started, and huge laughs during all of the funny scenes in every movie. The crowd was loud and raucous, and the carnival atmosphere was everything I had anticipated and more. It was like being in the middle of a gigantic, six-hundred person nerd love-in, and everyone was loving it. When Stark announced “I am Iron Man” at the end of the initial movie, you couldn’t hear yourself think over the huge cheers.
When Nick Fury came in for his first cameo at the end, the theater filled with an unexpected electricity his final words: “I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative.” That scene took on a whole new meaning for the assembled crowd of fans, and the cheers were deafening.
Throughout the showings of the movies, there were big cheers at the first appearance of each of our beloved heroes, and Marvel-ous applause every time a Stan Lee cameo occurred. When the Hulk kicked a heavily souped-up Captain Emil Blonksy into the tree in response to the “Is that all you’ve got?” the crowd roared the loudest it had thus far. And things only got better.
The folks at AMC posted pictures on their Facebook page throughout the day and evening which fans happily scanned through on their smart phones in between shows. The great crowd even made Iron Man 2 enjoyable, with lots of applause and laughs especially at the expense of Justin Hammer, played with gleeful scumbaggery by Sam Rockwell.
The last three films, Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers were all shown in 3D. Agent Coulson’s debrief prior to Thor ended with the instruction: “The time has come to put on your S.H.I.E.L.D.-supplied enhanced eyewear for three-dimensional presentation”. Big laughs at that one, like good little Junior Agents, we all did exactly as we were told.
The movie Thor actually played a bit more corny against the others, or perhaps kitschy is the right term, when viewed along with the other films, especially the little New Mexico (?) town that never quite looks or feels quite real (as compared to Asgard, which was incredibly well-conceived and heavily detailed).
And thanks to free refills for large drinks and popcorns, the lines were never short at the concession stands all day long (nor for the bathrooms!)
The debrief prior to Captain America contained more humor, with Coulson beaming like a little kid as he shared with the audience that Captain America was his favorite hero. “I have all of his trading cards,” he nearly gushed, before quickly regaining his composure and asserting, “But enough about me.” Little did we know that this bit would play directly into the plot of The Avengers.
Just before the premiere of the main event, at midnight the AMC folks led the entire audience in singing “Happy Birthday” to an audience member who was turning 21 at midnight. The song was accompanied by huge cheers and applause, and I know we made that guy’s day.
And then the main event started, and it was a great present for us all, birthdays or not. AMC did this event right, a great movie event for movie lovers, and I’ll be sure to be on the lookout for future events such as this.
(Photos copyright AMC Theaters 2012, reprinted from their Facebook page)
Review by Art Schmidt
Overall this is probably one of the best Marvel Studios has produced thus far. Despite the multitude of heroes and personalities on the screen, which could have easily lent itself to a convoluted, overly-busy and confusing plot, the movie sails right along with only a few minor bumps in dialogue or story. The tight script by director Joss Whedon manages to bring out the individual personality of each character, as well as showcasing each ones strengths and, in most cases, their weaknesses, without anything feeling like it was shoe-horned in the middle of a scene or duct-taped onto the end of a conversation. It all flows exceedingly well, to both Whedon and Zek Penn‘s credit.
Early on, many questioned Whedon’s ability to transform from a televised series format where he’s had his greatest critical and commercial successes with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Dollhouse, to the big screen, despite having written stories and/or screenplays for several films including Toy Story, Alien: Resurrection, and Serenity. Well, The Avengers have assembled for what is currently Earth’s Mightiest Movie, and Whedon has answered all of those critics with a guttural roar heard all across America yesterday:
“Joss SMASH!”
Smash, indeed. It appears some records are about to be smashed, judging by the movie’s world-wide tallies and first-day numbers in the United States.
In fact, it may very well be Whedon’s experience with television’s shorter episodic format that enabled the director to write such crisp, fast-paced exchanges between the characters, expressing multiple points of view in relatively short conversations without feeling pithy or trite. Of particular note is a scene mid-way through the movie, as the Team wrestles with each other’s hidden objectives and priorities, trying to make sense of how they can possibly agree on even one thing, much less begin to work together. S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury’s agenda is questioned, as is Thor’s long-term plans for his captive brother Loki, played again with devilish delight by Tom Hiddleston. Steve Rogers (a.k.a Captain America) questions Tony Stark’s patriotism, and Bruce Banner tries to remain out of the fray altogether, because in reality he doesn’t trust any of them. And it is Banner who aptly frames the team’s troubles with the quip showcased in the previews: “We’re not a team… we’re a time bomb.”
Of particular note is newcomer Mark Ruffalo, taking up the role of Bruce Banner formerly portrayed by not one but three other actors, the fairly straight-forward scientist on the run character (“David” Banner) that Bill Bixby gave us in the seventies TV series, the brooding scientist with the weight of the world on his shoulders as portrayed by Eric Bana in Ang Lee’s The Hulk, and the mousy, sensitive fugitive we were shown by Edward Norton.
Ruffalo gives us a character more true to the Banner of the comics, nerdy and analyzing, shy around people and reluctant to get involved, with much hand wringing and avoiding eye contact, even when the camera isn’t squarely on him.
The Hulk himself, finally, comes into his own in an odd way, with hints that Banner now has at least a tiny bit of control over the beast. The CGI Hulk is a rare cinematic treat, fun to watch, exhilarating with his combat acrobatics and both vicious and funny to behold in all his rage. He definitely grabs both some of the movies best action sequences and its funniest sight gags. Whereas many studios anymore give away the best parts of their movies in the previews in an attempt to trick an audience into the seats, The Avengers saves the best stuff for the theater, and I won’t be so callous as to spoil one single juicy bit of it here. I will say that when Banner tells his “big secret” to Black Widow and the rest of the team during the finale, it drew some the biggest cheers of the night.
Although now in an apparently steady relationship with Pepper Potts, played in a few brief scenes by Gwyneth Paltrow with the warmth and grace she brings to every role, Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark is at his most self-centered and narcissistic throughout the entire film. Which of course is to say at his most fun, especially for the audience. His cooler-than-thou attitude grates against almost every other member of the “team,” and much of the early in-fighting amongst the team is either attributed to, or enflamed by, Stark’s ingratiating self-importance. Again, to the audience’s delight.
Despite the excess of charisma, Iron Man does not end up leading the team, of course. That honor goes to Captain America, although next to the high-flying and alien-smashing abilities of the other “big three,” the star-spangled man in blue tights seems, as times, a bit under-powered. But the Captain’s confidence and, ultimately, loyalty to his teammates is what brings out his leadership skills, and the others end up swallowing their pride and prejudices and looking to him as their quarterback, their general, their Captain.
Chris Evans does a skillful job of maintaining Cap’s Boy Scout innocence amidst the highly experienced and jaded folks around him, even when faced with deadly threats and other-worldly beings. Steve just pitches in and helps, whether it’s assisting Iron Man in getting a rotor repaired, sneaking around S.H.I.E.L.D.’s vaults to uncover their secrets, or directing New York’s finest to execute their duty to protect and serve.
“Why should I take orders from you?” one veteran police sergeant asks dubiously. The response is pure popcorn delight.
Chris Helmsworth recites Thor’s Olde English dialogue with clarity and ease, and though at times you can almost see the words in your head in the fancy font used in the comics, it rolls off of his tongue naturally. The God of Thunder actually feels more real in this movie than in his own, partially because the other heroes bring him down to Earth a bit (no pun intended), but also because of the balancing effect of the Hulk.
As Black Widow, Scarlett Johansson has enough to do and gets plenty of screen time, even discounting the shots of her character walking away from the camera, but compared to those who have super-natural (or super high-tech) abilities, her martial arts and weapons skills seem flashy but inadequate. As one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s top operatives, however, she in right in the mix and given some tough assignments, like dealing with Banner / Hulk and figuring out how to ultimately stop the bad guys at the end.
Hawkeye suffers from a similar fate (played by Jeremy Renner), although his trick arrows do bring some surprises and satisfying butt-kicking moments. His arsenal isn’t as tricked-out as in the comics, but his skill comes across (especially when he’s eyeing his targets a full forty or fifty degrees from where he’s aiming his bow) and his automated quiver is a fairly neat addition to the Avenger’s arsenal.
Samuel L. Jackson has been playing Nick Fury with his own unique brand of quiet cool through almost all of the Marvel movies leading up the this, and I was looking forward to seeing him in some action sequences in The Avengers. Though Fury does unleash some on a few bad guys, his role is mostly as the S.H.I.E.L.D. administrator and liaison to those in power calling the real shots. Too bad, maybe next time.
All in all, the movie aims to please and hits the mark dead-on, with tons of thrills, laughs, great action sequences, characters who sound intelligent and a story that makes sense. Usually with superhero movies, you’re lucky to get any three of those things and call your money fairly spent. Well, Joss Whedon and company have assembled the entire team and anyone who enjoys action / adventure movies should walk away with a huge grin on their face.
Be sure to wait until after the credits for a great nugget! I won’t give it away, but it is unlike any of the others Marvel has planted at the end of the movies leading up to this one. And joyously so!
By Art Schmidt
Boy, hunting bounties through the galaxy is thirsty work. But it’s satisfying, like a hot shower on a winter day. Of course, you have to keep returning to the bitter, cold world, but hey, at least your hair looks nice. Am I right?
Being a Bounty Hunter in Star Wars: The Old Republic has been a blast. Since the game launched just over three months ago, I’ve been planet-hopping fairly nearly non-stop, and the game does not disappoint. There have been two major updates (i.e. New Content) in these first few months, with the promise of regular content adds continuing. Each class in the game has its own storyline, and in my case I’ve played several. I think the Bounty Hunter is the class I’ve had the most fun with so far.
Why, you ask? Well, let me see if I can explain…
Of all the cantinas, in all the settlements, on all the planets in the galaxy, all I could find was this dive.
From the time I first arrived on Hutta, I knew this was the kind of life I had always wanted. No more punching keyboards and time-clocks for me! No more PTA meetings, no more neighborhood barbeques, no more meals that weren’t deep fried or baked in marinara, no more fresh breath. I was going to dedicate every waking hour that I could to being the best bounty hunter I could be.
This loser was planning to skip out on the Hutts. But the Hutts don’t like skipping. It doesn’t agree with their BMIs.
After running errands for the Hutts and taking out a few small-time bullies, I got my first real assignment. Some guy was trying to escape the planet and his gambling debts to the Hutts, and they were none too happy with him. So I settled the score on their behalf. Once I had established myself as a world-class bounty hunter (in one corner of Hutta, at least), I was on my way to joining the Great Hunt, the annual galaxy-wide competition among elite bounty hunters. It’s winner-take-all, and by take all I mean you have to kill not only the folks on the bounty list, but also your competition. Talk about full contact!
I take all my holo-calls in miniature. It reminds me I’m better than everyone else.
Once I had established my credentials (and pocketed a bunch of credits), I finally got my ticket punched for the Great Hunt. Hike-two Hutt sponsored me in the Great Hunt, and I was accepted into the contest, but not before my trainers were killed by a cheating Mandalorian slimeball who wanted to win the Great Hunt himself. All that was left of my team was the techie Mako. She was the least experienced of the team (besides me), but she was easy on the eyes and handy with kolto, so I let her tag along.
Imp shuttles are cheap and available to anyone. Just like my loyalty.
I hopped aboard a shuttle for the Imperial fleet Space Port where I was hoping to learn a few new tricks and make a reputation for myself. Also, I didn’t have my own spaceship yet, and all of the cheapest shuttles connected through Fleet, so I really didn’t have a choice. Mako complained about having to ride in my lap on account of I could only afford one seat, but I’m saving up for a shiny new blaster I’ve had my eye on.
Dromund Kaas had a sun once, but the Emperor thought it was spying on him and banished it.
The Great Hunt is run out from Dromund Kaas, the Imperial home world. It’s rainy and gloomy most of the time, like the Imps who run the place. But they’ve got plenty of credits to spend, and they don’t shy away from hiring the right kind of hammer to nail down their problems. I like hammers. I had to bag three high-level bounties on Dromund Kaas to get past the first round.
I framed this one and sent it home to mom. Now she won’t return my holo-calls.
But I was feeling pretty good about my chances. I felt so good, in fact, that I pulled the ears off a gundark. The bounties were spread all over the planet, and without my own personal speeder it was difficult getting around. Luckily Mako is good at navigating, and I’m good at shooting things, so we make a good team.
Mako says I never take her anywhere nice. Look how my blaster fire reflects off that waterfall! That’s romantic, baby!
Halfway through the last bounty, Mako did start complaining that she hated Dromund Kaas and she wanted to leave. Leave? This planet wasn’t paradise, but the credits were rolling in, and my reputation was almost tangible. And it so happens there were plenty of Republic spies around for me to keep in business. She just doesn’t appreciate me.
Well, with my bounties bagged and my credits in hand, it was time to swipe one of my targets’ starships and blow this Popsicle stand. Hey, he wasn’t using it anymore…
I’m pretty sure I can download the flight manual for this ship off the holonet...
Next target was a sneaky smuggler as famous for ditching Republic customs officials as he was for double-crossing the Imps. Apparently he double-crossed the wrong Sith Lord and landed himself on my target list. His mistake.
The Imps have a ray shield covering their entire base on Balmorra. Rumor is it’s to keep the civilians in.
The trail led me to Balmorra, a dusty rock-strewn backwater engulfed in a civil war where the Imps were trying to help the rebels overthrow their government. And guess who was helping the government? You guessed it, the Republic. Man, these guys should just go to war already. On second thought, that might mean less creds for me. Scratch that thought.
Republic Cruisers look much smaller up in space...
While I was hunting down my prize, some Sith wannabe offered me a pile of credits to infiltrate the nearby Republic ship yards and steal the plans for a prototype starfighter, while rigging the goody-goodies prototype craft with explosives. I didn’t care for the way she kept breathing through that big mask on her face, but hey, credits are credits. Besides, she used my three favorite words in the same sentence: explosives, steal, and credits. Even Mako agreed it would be easy money.
I think that ship’s name was Apollo, or something...
It was.
While doing the Imps dirty work for them and reaping a large pile of credits, we were able to sniff out the bounty we had on Balmorra, and take out our competition along the way. Once his head was claimed, we took a shuttle back to the spaceport and prepared to get our next assignment in the Great Hunt.
Imperial shuttle craft. They’re boxy, but safe.
On the way back to Dromund Kaas, we encountered some Republic patrol craft, but they were no match for my D-5 Mantis. I call her Trixie, but only when Mako isn’t in the room. Mako’s the jealous type, and unfortunately I’ve got a lot to be jealous of. What can I say? Everyone has their cross to bear…
Hey, watch out for that astero- Oops, never mind.
Trixie and I made short work of those pesky Talon fighters. Talon, yeah right. I de-clawed them one after the other.
Next stop was Nar Shaddaa, and believe me, never will you find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Well, actually I hear there is one, but I haven’t seen it. Plus, Nar Shaddaa has two things that other place doesn’t: neon and air conditioning. I’m thinking of buying a timeshare here.
It’s like Sin City, only on the whole planet, so there’s nowhere to wash your hands.
Again, the Imps needed some expert assistance in blowing some stuff up. I think it was a Republic-something, but I could be wrong. The credits, however, were so right. Plus, we bounced in and out of so many cantinas I got to finish my World Adrenal Tour. I got a free T-shirt!
All your secret Republic base are belong to us!
I didn’t stay on Nar Shaddaa long, though. I couldn’t bear the thought of blowing up too much of it, and every time I walked into a Cantina or a massage parlor credits kept leaping out of my pocket. Once the bottom line starts to drop, it’s time to hunt somewhere else! Also, Mako kept nagging me, something about my eyes always crossing, so we finished up there pretty quickly, claimed our bounty, and moved on to Tatooine.
Darth Anus here wanted me to polish his boots, so I told him to stand in a pile of bantha poo-doo. I didn’t know lightsabers could be thrown with such accuracy!
Tatooine. What a dump. A hot, sweaty, sandy pit that I couldn’t believe anyone lived in. I mean, what kind of people are going to come from this place? Certainly no one who will ever be of any importance. Our prey here was a slippery double-dealing merchant and scoundrel who went by many names. I called him Reward Worthington. He was certainly difficult to catch up to! He gave Mako and me the slip not once but twice before we finally cornered him as he was about to jump onto his ship.
When we found him, he begged for his life, but in a cool, hip kind of way. He had proven to be rather resourceful, so I let him join my crew under an assumed name and took some of his DNA to prove I’d bagged him for the bounty. No one was the wiser, and I got a clever new crewman. I’ll have to remember to keep him away from the hyperdrive controls. And my personal safe.
I had to purchase Mako a new wardrobe so she didn’t melt in the heat. I spared every expense.
One other upside to Tatooine, besides the new crewman: Mako was able to get a good tan. With my profits from the bounties and other work I did on that sandpile, I was able to purchase a shiny new green speeder. I think it’s called Ubrikkian Striker. I’m going to call mine Slave 1/2. Don’t ask me why, I just like the name.
I left everything on Tatooine just as I found it: in the dust!
Claiming that last bounty made me the winner of the Great Hunt! There was much fanfare! There were many credits! There was crying and weeping! I’m glad my mother wasn’t there to see me.
So the first hundred days in The Old Republic has been a blast. Let’s see if the next couple hundred can stay just as interesting…
By Art Schmidt
For my top five list of stories I’d like to see turned into motion pictures, I have tried to be somewhat realistic. Some of my favorite stories, whether novels or games or comic books, I have left off as just being beyond realization. The wish of their being turned into a movie is, in itself, a fantasy, due to various factors.
For instance, since I was a teenager, I’ve been dying for someone to make a movie from Grand Poobah Dungeon Master Gary Gygax’s original storyline thread from the first D&D modules: “The Village of Hommlet” modules (T1-T4), the Slaver series (modules A1-A4), the “Against the Giants” series (modules G1-G3), and the “Drow of the Underdark” series (modules D1-D3 & module Q1 “Queen of the Demonweb Pits”). Of course, this would be for the die-hard gaming geeks almost exclusively, and at twelve modules (adventures) it would be difficult to pack into a motion picture trilogy or quintology (!), even if anyone would be so crazy as to provide the funding for it.
I’m stoked for a movie adaptation of Ernest Cline’s recent novel, Ready Player One, but I’m not including it because it’s already in pre-production at Warner Bros. No need to wish for that which is likely to already happen. Then there’s the Wheel of Time series, which isn’t quite over. The final book, currently titled A Memory of Light, is scheduled to be published in January of 2013. And as the fifteen-volume series will clock in at an estimated 11,000 pages, it could never conceivably be condensed down to make any real sense in a few motion pictures.
Trivia: A series of three books is called a trilogy. A series of five books is called a quintology. A series of seven books is called a heptalogy. What is a series of fourteen books called?
Answer: Too damned long!
Note: No offense to Robert Jordan, may he rest in peace, the series is great, but it could have probably ended after eight or ten novels. I really enjoyed the first ten Wheel of Time books! And all of your Conan novels were great, too!
So, too, would I love to hear of a big screen adaptation of some of R.A. Salvatore’s Drizzt Do’urden novels, especially the Icewind Dale Trilogy, but alas, it is not to be. I could name some Star Wars and Conan novels that I’d like to see adapted, but those subjects have already been masterfully done on the big screen, so there is no use wasting our time.
Same goes for the less well-known but equally awesome Deathgate Cycle heptalogy from the great fantasy team of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Too many books in the series (few of which really stand entirely on their own), and likely too hardcore (i.e. small) of a fan base. Anyhow, the powers that be (being in power, as they are), would most likely take a run at Dragonlance (ho-hum) before considering Deathgate. Too bad.
In the “slightly unrealistic” column, however, I have included the Elric of Melnibone saga in my list, despite the main character being an anti-hero and thus a difficult win for a motion picture, even with the hard-core fantasy crowd. Strangely enough, this may be the one wish that I am granted (read more in my Elric entry, below).
A lot of fantasy, I know. I’m a fantasy kind of guy. There are a lot of good horror, sci-fi, and other fiction out there crying to be made into films, but really, we get a lot of good stuff from those genres already. But there is a dearth of good fantasy films out there, and they come along so rarely; The Fellowship of the Ring came out over ten years ago, after all.
Man, I’m getting old. Somebody please make a couple of these before I croak.
Other honorable mentions. I’d love to see something done with Gaiman’s Sandman series, but probably too difficult and definitely niche. Same goes for Marvel 1601, one of my favorite graphic novels (also Gaiman). But niche. The books of Michael Crichton have been done (and done, and done) as they are so interesting and have such strong plotlines, but my favorite novel of his is one of his non-fiction works, Travels. He chronicles some of his real-life travels had some great insights into his own life from them. But again, probably too tight of an audience for something like that.
Neuromancer would totally rock, but the conventional wisdom is that cyberpunk is way over. I’m no good at conventional wisdom, though. Maybe it’s so over that it’s ready to be hip again? Disco and bell bottoms keep coming back, after all. On second thought, maybe not.
Anyway, on with the real list.
#5 – The Gaean Trilogy (Titan, Wizard and Demon) from John Varley
A mix of fantasy and sci-fi, this is the first thing I thought of when I saw Avatar. And I wasn’t alone. Space farers explore a foreign planet where magic seems to happen in nature, strange creatures abound, and some of them are intelligent/sentient. Then humans come along and really muck it all up. That’s the Gaean Trilogy’s premise (not the plot) in a nutshell.
Of course, there is much more to it than that. There are far more significant differences between these novels and the movie Avatar than there are broad similarities. The combination of sci-fi and fantasy is what would make this appealing, and the titanides and eventual revelation of the Gaea intelligence (and what follows) would make for a great movie.
#4 – Fallout: New Vegas (video game)
My favorite game in recent years (besides Star Wars: The Old Republic, which I’m itching to play even now while writing this), FNV was a great game because of the amazing, engrossing storyline.
In a nutshell:
In the late twenty-first century, America and China fight a prolonged war over resources that ends with a nuclear exchange. The nuclear warheads and subsequent fallout kills most everyone except a chosen few who retreat to underground ‘vaults’ to ride out the Earth’s recovery from global fallout (hence the title of the series). Life as we know it ends.
Some two hundred years later, people begin to emerge from the vaults, and find some still living humans, along with irradiated creatures, mutants, and all sorts of crazy stuff living in the burnt-out shells of our former civilization. Las Vegas was spared from direct nuclear attack by the defenses of wealthy industrialist and casino owner, as was the nearby Hoover Dam. People died, but the core of the Strip survived (what irony).
A lone traveler enters the area, gets shot in the head and buried, but survives and is nursed back to health, although with amnesia from the wound. He sets about trying to learn about himself and his assailants, and in the process discovers that Las Vegas (dubbed “New Vegas” by the current residents) is being contested over by a growing civilization from California (the New California Republic, or NCR), an army of brutal slave-owning tribals calling themselves Caesar’s Legion, and the wealthy citizen who kept Vegas from annihilation (or is it him?) who runs New Vegas with an army of killer robots and calls himself Mr. House.
The story is compelling, and locations are fantastic, the inhabitants are diverse and interesting, and there are stories aplenty for the traveler to encounter and deal with on his way to the game’s climactic battle between these competing forces over who will control Hoover Dam, the one source of electricity and life-giving water amidst a world of death and dust.
A great movie that would make. We’ve seen shades of this with The Book of Eli (a great movie, but more of a morality tale than a straight-forward action/adventure flick) and The Road (a great example of how really good books can be terrible movies), but nothing like the tale spun in New Vegas.
#3 – The Elric of Melnibone novels by Michael Moorcock
An island of anemic sorcerer kings who rule the world. A savage world of monsters and heroes who strive daily to survive. Magic that allows people to cross into other dimensions and sail through space to other planets. Stormbringer. What an absolutely epic fantasy movie that would make!
Of course, the main problem is that Elric is an anti-hero. In fact, Elric is the very embodiment of the modern-day anti-hero. He’s not a nice guy. He’s not even rough-around-the-edges-but-basically-moral-in-an-immoral-world (like Conan) kind of guy. He’s a self-important, selfish, power-hungry elitist. At times, he’s a murder, though he does begin to show some humanity and regret after a while. But he has a goal, and purpose, and oh, the adventures he has, the places he goes, and the things he sees! All fantastic, and all while wielding what can easily be called the most powerful magical sword in all of fantasy (save perhaps for Shieldbreaker from Fred Saberhagen’s Swords novels, but I digress…)
I would absolutely love to sit in a theatre and watch the albino sorcerer-king travel the planes swinging the Black Sword of legend. Ever since I saw Conan the Barbarian, I have longed for someone to make movies out of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Elric saga. One down, one to go.
Apparently, I am a little late to the party on this one. Director/Producer brothers Chris Weitz (About a Boy, The Golden Compass) and Paul Weitz (American Pie, Little Fokkers) were reportedly in “pre-production” on a movie trilogy based on Moorcock’s dark, brooding novels about my second-favorite anti-hero (see #1, below, for my fave), but that project has been side-tracked and is lately talked about by the brothers in wistful terms of ‘someday’.
Here’s hoping that “someday” actually comes.
Side Note: I’m not 100% certain, but I believe “Pre-Production” is a fancy Hollywood term for people emailing and texting back and forth about great ideas for a movie, then meeting in coffee shops and chatting about how great it would be to make said movie, before moving on to work on real movies that are actually being made.
#2 – Justice League / The Dark Knight Returns
DC Comics is sitting on a goldmine, but they have had some trouble translating the shiny stuff in their mine into coin of the realm. The Batman movies of late being the obvious exception, DC Comics has not enjoyed the great success of Marvel in translating their characters to the big screen. Superman was ground-breaking back in the seventies, and the first couple of Batman movies of the late eighties / early nineties paved the way for what was to come. And then there is Batman Begins, The Dark Knight (of course), and this summer’s Dark Knight Rises.
But taking the long view, that’s maybe six or seven hit movies over a thirty year span. Not horrible, but not that great. But compare that with Marvel’s run in just the last twelve years, and you can pick twice that number of successful movies based on their characters. The X-Men movies (at least two of them), the Spiderman trilogy (again, at least two), The Fantastic Four, X-Men: First Class, and the movies leading up to and including this summer’s The Avengers (Ang Lee’s Hulk and Iron Man 2 notwithstanding).
I’m not bashing DC here, don’t get me wrong. Their characters are iconic, to say the least. And maybe they don’t value movies as much as Marvel does, which is fine. There is certainly more money to be made in movies, but money isn’t everything; no movie is better than a bad movie, when the protection of a brand is essential to the company’s success.
But DC has such a wealth of great story that it’s hard to fathom that there hasn’t been more translation from the inked page to the lighted screen. Just imagine this movie trilogy, my friends…
The Justice League – A movie centering on the core of the League, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Arrow and the Flash (possibly also Hawkman and/or the Martian Manhunter, depending on the ability to introduce the movie-going public at large to these characters), coming together to form the group to thwart Prometheus along the lines of Justice League: A Cry for Justice, except using the central characters rather than a competing alliance / ideology, with internal group conflict as to how to deal with the situation as would be natural. Prometheus is murdering foreign superheroes, then planning to destroy cities of the League’s superheroes (maybe limit it to three key cities, rather than the sprawling destruction in the mag). After being defeated he negotiates his escape, proving he’s not bluffing by detonating one bomb as in the book. In this adaptation, Superman is the negotiator and Batman (along with Green Arrow) wanting to make him pay no matter what. End with the Green Arrow scene (no spoiler here), with the barest hint that Batman helped him (but didn’t necessarily know what he was going to do).
The Justice League: Legion of Doom – The League battles the formation of the Legion of Doom. The Legion is forming along the lines of the backstory from the Justice series in 2005-2006, with Brainiac (and Lex Luthor) fooling even his fellow baddies and planning to get the League to wipe out his ‘competitors’ of evil. But unlike in Justice, their motivations are to take over the American government (as depicted in Miller’s The Dark Knight Strikes Again). The League wins the apparent victory against the facade, but Brainiac and Lex succeed behind the scenes with their real master plan. At the very end, the League is disgraced and talks of disbanding. Superman is called away on an emergency he won’t discuss… (Lex has Kandor and is going to blackmail him, but don’t reveal that until the last movie in the trilogy).
The Justice League Returns – The movie everyone wants, Superman vs. Batman, pull out all of the stops. This movie would basically blend The Dark Knight Returns with a little bit of The Dark Knight Strikes Again, blending the emancipation of Batman’s fellow Leaguers a-la DKSA into the main storyline of DKR (yes, it might be sacrilegious, but this is Hollywood we’re talking about). The Justice League disbanded after their failure in The Legion of Doom, and Brainiac and Lex have taken over America and put a computer President in place. With Kandor held hostage, they have forced Superman to help capture or banish the other League members (similar to the backstory of DKSA and DKR both: “Diana returned to her people; Hal left for the stars…” Leave Shazam out, he makes things too complicated). This bit could be the prologue to the movie itself (before credits). Batman is the bitter retiree in DKR and follows that storyline back from retirement to defeat the Mutants gang and/or the return of Two-Face, then sets about freeing his fellow Leaguers (DKSA), which leads to the confrontation with Superman as the puppet of the Braniac/Lex regime (weak not from the DKR nuclear missile but from the faux ‘catastrophes’ that Brainiac/Lex cook up for him in DKSA; the asteroid, the volcano in Hawaii, etc.) along with Batman’s fellow Leaguers (similar to Green Arrow in DKR, but with Hal Jordan and Barry Allen also assisting as in DKSA). No Kara, though, and no Dick Grayson craziness, and take out all of the future media “super babes” hype and whatnots.
Ok, I’m done geeking out. And I realize that the fanboys would cry FOUL (and worse) and this kind of hacked together plot from what may be their favorite series(es). Me? I’m not a purist, I just like good story. Perhaps that’s why I seem to be one of the small minority who absolutely loved both the Watchmen comics and the spectacular movie equally.
Hollywood can ‘just’ make DKR and I’d be ecstatic.
I know there was (is?) a JL movie in the works, announced as being in “pre-production” (oh, boy) last year by Warner Bros., but couldn’t find anything recent on the subject. Anyone have any fairly recent scoop on where that one is at? Still in pre-production? Man, those guys drink a lot of coffee.
#1 – The Chronicles of Amber novels from Roger Zelazny
This would make a great movie trilogy, no question. The great thing about this story and why it would translate to the big screen is the beginning: the hero is a seemingly normal human being on planet Earth in the current day. He awakes in a mental institution, not knowing how he got there, but it’s apparent he’s being kept sedated and held against his will. He escapes but has amnesia (I know, it’s a tired plot device, but here it absolutely works). He finds out he has a sister, goes to her home to investigate, and finds some things that are… weird. He confronts her, and then meets more family. And things get a bit weirder.
As his journey progresses, the audience learns things as the protagonist does; bit at a time, little by little, slowly building up this incredible picture of the hero as a long-lost prince of a magical kingdom in another dimension. Sound like a book for young adults? Hang on to your britches, cause it’s anything but. Don’t let the terms “long-lost prince” and “magical kingdom” fool you. This is hardcore fantasy at its absolute finest.
Once the hero, Corwin, loses his amnesia, he finds that he is a talented swordsman, a gifted military leader, and a cunning strategist. He’s also an able sorcerer and in line for his absent father’s throne. However, his family is currently vying against each other in cabals and alliances for the crown, and there are as many of them as there are books in the Wheel of Time series.
It has the fantasy swordplay of Conan (the original), the magical flair of The Matrix (if you haven’t read the books, it’s hard to explain that reference, but believe me, it’s apropos), the political in-fighting of A Game of Thrones, the gritty war drama of Braveheart and Platoon (again, the reference works, trust me) and the narrative genius of the multiple Hugo and Nebula award-winning author, Zelazny.
Yeah, it’s that good. At least to me. That’s why it makes the top of my list of stories I’d love to see made into movies.
Come back tomorrow, and Jason McClain will give us his take on adaptations and being true to the source material.
By C.J. Bunce
One of the Midwest’s best pop culture and comic book conventions was this past weekend, Planet Comicon, which has been Kansas City’s largest fan convention for more than a dozen years. The show seemed to be bursting from its seams this year with thousands of guests, and appears to be outgrowing its venue at the Overland Park International Trade Center.
The film and TV headliners for this year’s show included Edward James Olmos, best known to sci-fi fans for his role in Blade Runner and as Adama in the Battlestar Galactica reboot series. He signed autographs and took photos with fans both days of the show. Here he is with Erin Gray, who appeared with other actors from the 1979-1981 TV series Buck Rogers and the 25th Century:
Gray also appeared on an episode of the Syfy Channel’s Hollywood Treasure last year.
The other featured major guest from film and TV was Billy Dee Williams, best known as Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but also as Harvey Dent alongside Michael Keaton in the 1989 Batman film. His current work includes a stint on USA’s White Collar.
Billy Dee also appeared at the show both days. (I offered a woman in line $5 to say “Billy Dee, Billy Dee, Billy Dee!” when she finally met him but didn’t take me up on it. And it’s OK if you don’t get that reference).
Early Saturday morning legendary comic book artist Michael Golden is getting fueled up before embarking on a sketch of Green Arrow:
Green Arrow by Michael Golden. How cool is that?
Michael is known for his work on such titles like Marvel Comics series The ‘Nam, GI Joe Yearbook, Star Wars, and Micronauts. He is also the co-creator of the X-Men character Rogue.
I’ve been a fan of the different styles Mike Norton uses in his art for quite a while. Here he is signing one of his comic pages for the Green Arrow/Black Canary series, where he did the pencil work and comic book legend Bill Sienkiewicz provided the ink work:
Mike is working on a creator-owned project currently and has previously worked on Runaways, Gravity, the Young Justice animated series comic book. He was actively sketching pages for fans at the show and produced probably a dozen at least over the weekend, including this great image for me:
Unfortunately Bernie Wrightson wasn’t sketching at this year’s convention, but he was signing plenty of shirts and books for his Frankenstein book. Wrightson’s horror artwork goes back several decades, with his first published comic work with House of Mystery in 1969. He co-created Swamp Thing in 1971. His work has appeared in Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella, and Batman: The Cult. Here Wrightson is at a signing table with Freddie Williams II and his wife Kiki:
Freddie is well known for his work on his Robin series, and is currently one of the DC Comics top artists. We reviewed his and JT Krul’s Captain Atom series here at borg.com a few weeks ago. Freddie was busy creating sketches for fans and speaking on panels at the show.
Currently working on projects for Dynamite Comics, Bionic Man writer Phil Hester and Lone Ranger writer Ande Parks had pages of original artwork as well as copies of their books new and old that they were signing for fans, including a lot of low-priced original art from their run on the DC Comics Green Arrow series:
It’s great that these guys have tackled both the writing and illustration sides of comic book creation.
I got to catch up again with a couple well known Kansas City authors. Here, Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore, two of the best known authors of Star Trek novels, talk with fans at the show.
The NBC TV series Heroes co-creator Tim Sale was signing books and art at his booth:
Sales’ past work includes art in Batman: Dark Victory, Batman: The Long Halloween, Daredevil: Yellow, Hulk: Grey, Spider-Man: Blue and Superman For All Seasons. (What’s with these color titles, anyway?). His unique stylized paintings on Heroes featured into the plot of the series.
I spent time chatting with Rob B. Davis, currently providing illustrations for a Sherlock Holmes series and past artist for Malibu’s Deep Space Nine comic book series, writer Jai Nitz, who was juggling signing copies of his Kato and Tron: Betrayal series while moderating different comic book panels at the show, borg.com writer Art Schmidt, local writer Justin Cline manning the front of the convention, and Todd Aaron Smith, who sketched this great Black Canary image for me:
Smith had provided storyboards for Family Guy and other animation art for shows like South Park and various DC Comics and Marvel Comics TV series. Current Marvel Comics lead writer Jason Aaron could be found with some good lines of fans waiting to get copies of his various Hulk, Wolverine and X-men series signed:
The facility was packed wall to wall with plenty of booths selling everything from graphic novels to collectible action figures, original comic book art, and comic book back issues. Here, Elite Comics comic book store owner William Binderup appears to be raking in some cash from sales of comics at his booth:
Show producer Chris Jackson seemed pleased with the success of this year’s convention.
And of course there were plenty of cosplayers. Here a few Batman characters huddled for a photo:
But I think the best was this “Hello Kitty meets Stormtrooper” mash-up:
No doubt it would have been a far different Star Wars had Luke showed up to rescue the princess with this outfit.
By Art Schmidt
I have a few Honorable Mentions that I am going to list first, rather than sticking them at the end like after-thoughts. Since I didn’t include them in my actual Top Ten list, the least I can do is put them first so they aren’t entirely skipped over. These made my initial rough list but, for one reason or another, just didn’t make the final cut: Heavy Metal, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Dragonslayer, Shrek, Time Bandits & The Wizard of Oz. (Note: Starting at number one, since #10 is the ‘top’ of my list)
#1 – The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
A favorite of my youth, and one of the Ray Harryhausen classics. Dynamation doesn’t hold a candle to the powers of today’s CGI engines, but in its day it ruled the cineplex, at least as far as fantasy went. Sinbad’s voyage across the seas to find the Fountain of Destiny was fun and exhilarating and awesome in its day.
Of course, this is more a sentimental favorite than a real ‘All-time Top Ten’ winner, but it works for me. And of course, there was Caroline Munro…
#2 – Willow
“The power to control the world is in which finger?” the High Aldwin asks the young apprentice hopefuls, holding out his hand.
“I was going to say my own,” Willow later admits, after first choosing poorly.
“That is the correct answer!” Billy Barty’s High Aldwin exclaims. “You lack faith in yourself.”
Willow is one of those movies that just makes me smile. It’s funny and different and has quirky characters, but the fantasy element is strong and Val Kilmer (Top Gun, Heat, Wonderland), Warwick Davis (Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, the Harry Potter movies) and Joanne Whalley (Scandal, The Man Who Knew Too Little) are all great. Especially Kilmer. Davis’ Willow gives the movie its heart and soul; Kilmer’s Madmartigan gives it the proper excitement and humor.
What I like about Willow most is that it avoided all of the Conan rip-offs of the day. No muscle-bound hero, no comedic side-kicks, no supreme magical spell/artifact/being/weapon (unless you count Princess Elora herself). It was an honest tale in the tradition of J.R.R. Tolkien, about simple people trying to thwart evil.
#3 – The Frighteners
One of my favorite movies, The Frighteners is a little bit horror movie, little bit comedy, little bit fantasy, little bit love story, and a whole lot of cool rolled into one hundred-and-ten-minute roller coaster ride. Michael J. Fox (The Back to the Future movies, Family Ties, Spin City) is funny and believable as Frank Bannister, a self-proclaimed ‘psychic investigator’ who claims to be able to rid the living of the mischievous spirits of the dead, when in fact he’s a psychic con man who sends in the spirits to drum up business in the first place. Until he runs into the Grim Reaper, taking a deadly toll on the small coastal town Frank inhabits, at which point he begins to use his powers for good in an inhuman man-hunt.
Bannister’s ghost side-kicks are hilarious, the sight gags are funny, and the scary parts have the right amount of creep in them. The whole movie is fast-paced and fun, and while some bits of the storyline are fuzzy, it’s a blast right up until the end credits roll to the tune of ‘Don’t fear the reaper’.
#4 – Conan the Barbarian (1982)
This pick needs little explanation. I’m a life-long Conan fan; the Howard stories and novels, the Marvel comics, the movies, the ongoing novels by various authors, the Age of Conan MMO (though that was short-lived), and of course numerous toys and other stuff. And Conan the Barbarian is one of the pinnacles of barbarian culture there is. The original, that is, though the recent remake was a fairly decent movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hero, James Earl Jones’ villain, Mako’s gritty narration, and Sandahl Bergman’s fiery Valeria come together in what might have otherwise been a terrible movie. Many still think it is, but I beg to differ. Conan came forth in the era in-between Claymation and CGI, after Clash of the Titans but before Jurassic Park, but the effects were good enough.
#5 – Shrek 2
Disney was the king of all things animated for seventy years, and lately Pixar has ruled that roost. But Dreamworks Animation absolutely nailed the animated fantasy adventure with the Shrek series, and the best one by far is the second installment. This is one of the few sequels that surpassed the first. The clever twist on fairytale standards begun in Shrek goes crazy in the sequel, with Prince Charming, the Fairy Godmother, the frog turned prince (and then king), and the fairytale land Far, Far Away all getting a well-deserved skewering as Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and the whole troop make a joyous wreck of everyone else’s plans and schemes.
The tongue-in-cheek references are just the icing on the cake; Shrek 2 is a movie I can watch again and again and never get tired of seeing Pinocchio getting jiggy wit’ it chanting “I’m a real boy! I’m a real boy! I’m a…” *poof* “Awwwww…”
Color me tickled pink.
#6 – The Princess Bride
What can be said about The Princess Bride that hasn’t already been said? Nothing, nothing at all. Why do people love this movie so much? You mean, you don’t? Inconceivable! Ok, lemme ‘splain. No, there is no time. Lemme sum up:
It’s not a kissing book, but there is some of that in there. And the hero is not left-handed, but he is the dread Pirate Roberts. Sort of. But give him a break, he’s been mostly dead all day. And the other hero’s name is Inigo Montoya; someone killed his father, and they better prepare to die. You still don’t know what the story is about? Inconceivable! It’s about true love, of course. And perfect breasts. And having fun storming the castle.
Wow. That makes me want to watch the movie again. What’s that? You still don’t know how that movie is on my Top Ten list?
Inconceivable!
I know, I keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
#7 – Monty Python and the Holy Grail
I won’t bombard you with movie quotes from this one, the most quotable of all movies ever made, whether by the Python troop or not. Holy Grail is, quite simply, the Holy Grail of all comedies.
What is your favorite movie? The Holy Grail! No, wait, The Lord of the… AHHHH!!!!!!!
#8 – Sleepy Hollow
Tim Burton is a great director (Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland (2009)), and his ongoing collaboration with Johnny Depp (Donnie Brasco, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies) has given us some great fantasies over the years (did Edward Scissorhands really come out more than twenty years ago? Sheesh, I’m old…) To me, almost all of Burton’s work is great in its geeky, off-kilter, out-of-the-box way, but none shines like his take on Ichabod Crane. The plot elements from Washington Irving’s original story, the screenplay by Kevin Yagher and Andrew Kevin Walker, the atmosphere Burton creates, the innocent beauty portrayed by Christina Ricci, and the superb fish-out-of-water academic played by Depp, is a perfect storm of fantasy creativity.
The Headless Horseman is especially well-conceived, with Ray Park (The Phantom Menace, X-Men) performing the combat acrobatics and Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter, The Dead Zone, True Romance) giving ‘the Hessian’ ghoulish life when his head is in place. The curse, the old tree, the vengeful witch, the sleepy town, the foggy woods, they all come together in the perfect blend of fantasy, horror and, thanks to Depp, humor amidst the gore.
#9 – Excalibur
John Boorman’s masterpiece tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is my kind of fantasy movie. It’s dark, gritty and foreboding. It pulls no punches and doesn’t candy-coat. Arthur is the boy hero but he’s also fatally flawed, Merlin is the all-knowing but equally-flawed magician, and of course the relationship between Guinevere and Lancelot is passionate, compelling and tragic. Combat is harsh and cruel and down-in-the-mud filthy, and not many of my friends came away from that movie wanting to swing a sword for a living. Boorman’s hallmark was always his ability to set a mood, dark and deep, that grabs ahold of you and doesn’t let go. And Excalibur is all of that, and Boorman’s finest work.
“Good and evil,” Merlin says wisely. “There never is one without the other.” Indeed.
#10 – Raiders of the Lost Ark
Whose blood doesn’t start pumping faster at the rousing opening notes of the theme to Indiana Jones? Ok, I know what you’re thinking. You’re probably thinking “Wait a minute! This isn’t a fantasy film, at least not in the truest sense of the word.” But hang on, it does contain magic. At the very least it contained religious paranormalism, which is pretty darned close even if you don’t think of it as real ‘magic.’ But let’s not get into a debate about that, shall we? Inevitably, no minds would get changed and it would only spoil the mood.
Raiders was and still is one of the greatest classic adventure movies of all time (fantasy adventure movies, that is!). And besides, I could not allow myself to have a Top Ten Fantasy list without a Spielberg movie on it.
#11 – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Duh.
I assume that you wouldn’t be reading this article unless you were interested in fantasy movies yourself, so there should be no need to explain this at all. In fact, it almost goes without saying. As in I almost didn’t even list it, since almost any Fantasy Top Ten Movie list would in reality go up to an understood Eleven, and Eleven would be The Lord of the Rings.
But if you are aren’t a fantasy fan, reading this for some other reason (I have no idea what that might be), let me educate you as to why The Lord of the Rings is the most awesome fantasy ever. It’s the chicks. All those elven chicks running around in leather halter tops with bare midriffs, and the scenes where they make out with the heroes (that rules!). And all of the dragons, the ones rampaging across the skies and waylaying all those armies of trolls and skeletons, yeah, that’s what it was. And the big, strong hero guys in cool-looking armor on horseback with the huge magic swords cutting all of the bad guys’ heads off, those guys rule. Oh, and the awesome sorcerer combat scenes where the wizards are hurling fireballs and lightning bolts and vorpal bunny swarms at each other. These movies totally rock!
Of course, all those common tropes of hum-drum fantasy movies are not in LOTR, and that’s what makes it so awesome. Years ago, a friend of mine summed it up perfectly. “In most fantasy, the heroes are questing for all-powerful magic that’s central to their success and will make them famous. In The Lord of the Rings, the heroes are striving to destroy the great magic so they can return to their normal lives.” Fantastic.
Turn out the lights, this discussion is over.
(OK, not really, tomorrow… come back for ten more of our favorite fantasy movies).
By Art Schmidt
Season 2 of AMC’s series The Walking Dead aired its Season 2 finale on Sunday night, and as the final seconds of the show slipped away all too quickly, I heard a distinct shout of fanboy jubilation erupt across the world.
“Michonne!!!”
I know I said it aloud, and from the way my wife eyed me, I likely said it a bit too loudly. Almost as loud as I shouted ‘Ding-dong, Shane is dead!’ last week.
(I’ll save the spoilers until the end)
To start, let’s go back one week before the finale. The climax from last week’s episode was Shane’s double-death. His half-baked plan to get rid of Rick unraveled and although he had the chance to off his former friend, Rick got the upper-hand and knifed him in the gut. Then Shane re-animated (!) and Rick’s son Carl overcame his man crush on the bastard (seeing a shambling zombie coming to eat your intestines will do that to a kid) and Carl put Shane down for good, his first kill of any kind in the show.
Afterward, for every online post echoing my sentiments (Ding-dong, Shane is dead!), there was one decrying the drastic mistake the show’s producers had made in killing off what they claim was the show’s greatest source of struggle and drama. That is the struggle for the soul of the group between Rick, the thoughtful moralist, and Shane, the ruthless survivalist. I never liked Shane, even the few times he was able to justify his self-centered motivations. Killing innocent people to stay alive is no way to live, regardless of the circumstances. And his obsession with Lori and Carl was unhealthy for everyone. Admittedly, it did make for some good drama, and perhaps the writers will need to work a bit harder to continue the great story-telling they’ve accomplished over two short seasons.
But that was never the deal-breaker between me and Shane. Not really. And although I’ve read the comics and was happy with his very early demise in them, it wasn’t really that, either. He died in the comics, he lived in the TV series, no biggie. I’m glad the two are different; otherwise I probably wouldn’t enjoy the show very much. No, Shane bothered me for a different reason, and shortly before he was killed last week, I finally put my finger on it.
They couldn’t leave. Herschel’s farm was a great place to find and explore, but they’ve been there waaay too long. The group needed to move on, even if not in the way they did in the comics (and boy, was the finale different, huzzah!) No, somehow the turmoil between Rick and Shane had to be resolved before they could leave the farm. It just had to. No way could they leave, when the split leadership wanted to go in different directions, take on different goals, and treat its members differently. Shane’s survival was blocking the storyline from progressing forward.
Maybe that was just how it felt, but to me that’s how it was. Shane was a story bottleneck, and he had to be ‘resolved’. And bless his black little heart, he wasn’t going to turn over a new leaf (as much as he claimed to be able to do so), he was never, ever going to accept Rick as the leader, and he wasn’t going to budge from that farm, no sir. In a way, his self-centered ‘survival of the fittest’ mantra was as short-sighted as Herschel’s ‘keep on keepin’ on’ belief. Both thought they could command the farm and its environs to keep them safe from the outside world, and both were wrong. Dead wrong.
So I’m glad that Shane is gone, aside even from my dislike of the character. Now the group can leave the farm and move on to bigger and better things.
Side Note: Shane actor John Bernthal is starring in The Walking Dead developer Frank Darabont’s new television series L.A. Noir, and I wish him all the best! It’s his great acting that made Shane credible and gave the character such a deep impact. In a lesser actor’s hands, Shane Walsh would have been a stereotypical loud-mouthed jerk and dragged the show down. Good luck in L.A. John! L.A. Noir is being developed for TNT based on the novel by John Buntin.
So with Shane dead and a herd of walkers shambling toward the farm, the penultimate episode left us hanging from the proverbial cliff, dangling by one hand and hoping that the season finale would come along like a knight in shining armor and rescue us from both our breathless expectations and our fear of disappointment.
And boy, did it.
The finale was everything a fan of any television series could ask for. Well, it could have been two hours long, but that’s really just picking nits.
It was exciting and revelatory and hopeful and well-written and gruesome in all the right ways. Producer Robert Kirkman had promised character deaths in the season finale, and while none were as surprising as the previous episodes’ offing of both Shane and Dale (Oh, Dale! Oh, why Dale?!?), the episode certainly did not disappoint.
Ok, I’m done with the non-spoiler portion of this article; here come the GOODS!!!
I’m glad in particular about the exit of Herschel’s son-in-law (?) Jimmy, who never said two words in two episodes and was always in the background waiting to be told what to do in any given situation. The character was a can of walker spam all season long.
And I’m glad T-Dog survived as well. It’s bothered me all season that he hasn’t had more to do or say, and hopefully he’ll have more of an active role in the group in Season 3. His scene with Lori in the truck, while short, was great and shows the ongoing turmoil with the daily choices all of the characters in this upside-down world are forced to make again and again. Long live the T!
Same for Daryl, though of course there was no real chance of him being killed off. For one thing, I’m convinced that Daryl could kill ten walkers with his bare hands, using only one finger for each. I hope that with the exits of Shane and Dale, both of these characters have more up-front time in episodes to come.
And speaking of episodes to come, how about the fade-out shot of the area surrounding the group, with the large ‘facility’ in the background? Fans of the comics will know what it is, but I won’t spoil it for non-readers here. Suffice to say, that’s where the group is headed, and there is all sorts of interesting stuff awaiting them when they get there.
And then there’s Michonne. She’s the bad-ass character every fan of the comic series has been waiting for, the figure in the hooded robe. Michonne finally slipped in like a ghost and announced herself with a near-silent swish of her samurai blade, saving Andrea in the process.
But of all the big ‘reveals’ (as they are called) in this episode, the departure from the farm, the appearance of Michonne, the glimpse of the large ‘facility’ where Season 3 will take them, I think the most important and interesting piece from the finale is Rick’s speech at the end, in the little encampment “Beside the Dying Fire” (the title of the episode).
Full of regret at being betrayed by and then having to kill his best friend Shane, wracked by the frustration of losing people to walkers even in the relative safety of Herschel’s farm, frightened of the desperate situation the group suddenly finds itself in, and bitter about the apparent rebuke of his own wife, Rick blows up. He never asked to be the leader of the group, a point he’s made more than once in the past, but people keep looking to him for leadership. But when things go poorly, he gets the disappointed looks and feels the whispered judgments of everyone around him, his wife and son included.
As next season unfolds, it is likely that Rick’s speech will prove not only to be a critical turning point for the show, with his declaration that “if you choose to stay, this isn’t a democracy anymore!” It will also be the highlight of the first two seasons, a definitive climax for the first chapter in this awesome, complicated, engrossing story. Rick tried to keep the peace, tried to give everyone a voice, and tried to mend every broken fence he came across. And from almost everyone, the only thing he’s gotten in return is grief for the less-than-perfect outcomes and second-guesses at most of his decisions. Rick Grimes tried to live in the past, as did everyone else. Much as Herschel tried to mold the environment of the farm into an echo of the former world, so too did Rick try to mold the group into a democracy despite the fall of any discernible civilization around them.
Finally, fed up with trying to do things the old world way, Rick is adapting to the new world around him at last. In a way, some of Shane’s constant rambling about the necessities of this walker world have rubbed off on him, though not in the way Shane had always hoped. Rick still values the lives of the group members, and he still wants to keep them all safe, unlike Shane. However, similar to Shane, Rick no longer values the group’s individual opinions on the best way to get that done.
“Maybe you people can do better without me,” Rick snarls while gesturing with a loaded pistol. “Go ahead. There’s the door. Send me a postcard.”
LOVE IT!!!
I think the most support for Rick’s new attitude came from the most unlikely but perhaps most appropriate member of the group. When Carol asks Daryl “Does this sound right to you?” Daryl’s mumbled response sums everything up entirely.
“Rick’s always done right by me.”
The rest of the group should sit up and pay attention. Daryl, the most level-headed and best suited of everyone to survive in this new walker world, Shane and Rick included, is right on the money.
And so was the Season 2 finale. Bravo!
By Art Schmidt
What a simple question.
Borgeditor: Hey, I’m asking all of the staff to write something about their five characters? Are you in?
Me a Week Ago: Sure, that sounds great! What could be easier and more fun?
Then, fast forward to Me Last Night: Wow, this is hard as hell. Who are my favorites? Today? Yesterday? When I was a kid? Why are they my favorite? What makes them tick? What makes me tick?
Needless to say, it’s been a struggle. I normally think about something a long time before I ever write one word. A story, an article, a review, whatever it is. I dream about it and cogitate on it and mull it over in my head for days or weeks before I ever put a single word to paper. I normally sit down in front of my portable imagination recording machine (otherwise known as a laptop) with most of what I want to say already outlined in my mind.
As of this writing, I am sitting here with next to nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true, but I have a hell of a lot less than I normally do. Every time I scan my bookshelves, my DVD/BD collection, or my DVR favorites list, I come up with a handful of great characters that I somehow missed during the previous evenings’ preview. Hard, hard, hard.
But it’s time to fish or cut bait, and I ain’t about wasting bait. And this is good bait, this ‘Five Character’ idea. It’s certainly made me think a whole lot, about a whole lot, for a whole lot longer than I normally do. And so without further procrastination, here’s my Top Five Favorite Characters.
5. I’ll start with more of a character type (and sliding toward an actual actor), than a specific character. And that’s Han Solo / Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford). Yes, I know, that’s kind of breaking the rules. But then, that’s what Han and Indy were all about, right? Bend the rules, live by your own code of morality, and as long as you’re crusade is just, damn the torpedoes. And no one could have played these guys with as much success as Harrison Ford. Admit it, even if you’re not a Star Wars fan, you liked Han. Especially in the original Star Wars, where he shot Greedo first. (Damn, I promised myself I wouldn’t go there, again. Sorry.) And Indiana is obviously one of the most well-known and beloved characters in film. Other characters fit into this archetype: Batman, obviously, and John McClane being among the most popular.
But why? The films were fun and amazingly entertaining, especially back before CGI and $100 million budgets. The stories were engrossing, the action was breathtaking, you cared about the characters, and everyone came away smiling. Han and Indy were a big part of that, perhaps more than people usually acknowledge. One of my favorite quotes from an actor (and there are endless quotes from self-important actors clouding the ether out there) is from the normally down-to-earth, personable Harrison Ford:
“I think what a lot of action movies lose these days, especially the ones that deal with fantasy, is you stop caring at some point because you’ve lost human scale. With the CGI, suddenly there’s a thousand enemies instead of six – the army goes off into the horizon. You don’t need that. The audience loses its relationship with the threat on the screen. That’s something that’s consistently happening and it makes these movies like video games and that’s a soulless enterprise. It’s all kinetics without emotion. I don’t have time for that.”
An action hero that understands the power and necessity of the emotional connection between a character and the audience. I love it. And no characters bring that to bear on the big screen like Doctor Jones and Captain Solo.
4. Othyisar Du’Morde – Who? I know, probably no one reading this knows who this character is or what piece of fiction he is from. Well, this is a bit self-serving, and you’ll have to forgive me for that. Othyisar is a character I created myself, and who has only seen print one time. If you have no interest in reading a short bit about this arch-mage from the Forgotten Realms, by all means skip ahead to #3 and forget I even listed this guy. If you forgive me for listing him, I’ll forgive you for skipping him. We’re square.
Othyisar is my favorite ‘character’ from the days of my youth, playing RPGs (read: Dungeons and Dragons) and computer games endlessly, before marriage and kids and profession all took priority over my free time. If I created a character who was a wizard of any kind, he was named Othyisar. If you ever encountered an ‘Othyisar’ in Norrath or Azeroth, or in The Old Republic, it was me. 
So it’s no surprise that my first published article featured Othyisar Du’Morde. It was for the ‘Arcane Lore’ feature of Dragon Magazine issue #203, and it was my first paid gig as a writer. The following year at Gen Con, I got my copy autographed by the three guys who did the cover for the issue, artists Tim Bradstreet and Fred Fields, as well as the model who posed for the cover (hey, he was standing there at the booth with the artists, and I didn’t want to be rude). And in that same issue, the folks at publisher TSR reviewed a little video game that had just came out and was taking the world by storm, called Doom, which is one of my favorite games of all time. All reason enough for Othy to be one of my favorite characters. But it got better.
Years later, in a different State and a different place in life, I was chatting with a new co-worker and, after much hesitation, he asked me ‘Is this you?’ and showed me issue #203 online. In quiet “we shouldn’t be talking about this at work” tones, I admitted that it was me, and he proceeded to gush to me how his gaming group ran a long adventure based not only on the contents of my article, but also with the Othyisar character and the little background piece I had written. He said it was one of his favorite adventures (I know, he was probably just being nice, but indulge me). Wow, that was one of the coolest moments ever.
It’s amazing to find that you can view PDFs of this (and other) back issues of Dragon Magazine here. If you’re curious and want to check it out. But no pressure. Just sayin’. And no, I don’t get a nickel if you click on the link.
3. Mr. White – At the time, Quentin Tarantino was unknown, Sundance was a quaint little film festival where artsy films made by non-European directors were showcased, and Hollywood’s ‘independent’ film-makers hobnobbed in the snow and sun. Then came Reservoir Dogs and in a blaze of unapologetic gunfire and stylish F-bombs the place was turned upside-down. The movie centers on four main characters, all members of a criminal gang brought together to pull off a major heist. Given anonymous names by their leader to maintain secrecy and minimize his liability, the story follows the lives of the four main members of the gang: Mr. White, the unacknowledged leader played with brilliant ruthlessness by Harvey Keitel; Mr. Orange, the in-over-his-head undercover cop played by Tim Roth; Mr. Blonde, the unhinged crazy killer given life with gleeful abandon by Michael Madsen; and the skinny, twitchy Mr. Pink, played by the always scene-stealing Steve Buscemi.
Mr. White is a master criminal, a bad guy, and a cop killer. No argument there, and no apologies; he’s not one of my favorite characters because I admire or even like him. He’s my favorite ‘Love to Hate’ character, more so than Darth Vader or Elric of Melnibone, because the performance by Keitel is so top-notch, and the character so likable when he needs to be, but ruthless and evil when he wants to be. Mr. White is the epitome of the gun-toting thief, loyal one moment, then sticking a gun in his comrade’s face the next. He alternately hefts drinks and guns with the same zeal. You can argue that the glue in this story is Mr. Orange, but for me, Keitel’s character holds Reservoir Dogs together and makes it just as much a thrill ride today as when it came out.
And you have to admit, he’s got a cool-sounding name.
2. Dream of the Endless – Otherwise known as The Sandman, Dream is the central character in Neil Giaman’s award-winning and world-renowned comic book series of the 90s. He is one of The Endless, who control the destinies and lives of all mortal creatures in the universe. His realm is The Dreaming, and he is alternately the benign King of Dreams or Morpheus, the bringer of nightmares.
Gaiman’s character is an endless conundrum, never really a clear-cut hero or villain. And the stories are as deep and intellectually satisfying as anything in print. Dream confronts his adversaries the same way we approach life; uncertain, unsure, with imagination and help from friends, at times alone and in the best way he knows how. Part of the character’s allure is that he’s both a mystery and an open book. The Dreaming gives him the ability to create things out of thin air, partially illusion but at times also very real, things that can directly affect the lives (and deaths) of mortals in the real world.
Amidst his Endless brothers and sisters, Dream is the introvert, the thinker, the recluse. He’s hesitant to interfere in the lives of people, despite his stations’ often demand of it. His dream powers are the super power everyone wants, even if they don’t know it: the ability to create something out of nothing, to weave dreams into reality, and to travel anywhere, at any time, he chooses.
The series ran in the early to mid-nineties, and has been collected in multiple editions of paperback graphic novels ever since. My two favorite collections, or story arcs as the author Neil Gaiman refers to them, are ‘A Game of You’ and ‘The Kindly Ones’, both of which reflect both the breadth of Gaiman’s story-telling ability and the best (and worst), of the Sandman character. In short, his humanity.
1. Prince Corwin of Amber – My favorite character of fiction is Prince Corwin, hands down. Why, you ask? Well, I could give you a bunch of reasons (and I will in a bit), I could go into a mini-review of the books themselves (the five original brilliant novels, followed by five less-worthy ‘sequels’), and wax poetic about how Roger Zelazny created what could be perhaps one of the very few real contenders against The Lord of the Rings for best fantasy series of all-time. I could go on and on, but really, it boils down to one thing.
Prince Corwin kicks ass. Plain and simple.
Zelazny’s masterpiece The Chronicles of Amber is the saga of the ruling family of Amber, the magical kingdom of which all other worlds are but shadows, including Earth. In by far the best use of amnesia as a plot device, the story opens as Corwin awakes in a mental institution and subsequently escapes, lying, fighting, and sneaking his way through a dangerous landscape of monsters and villainous relatives, where he doesn’t really know who anyone is but his instincts tell him enough to be wary. He’s clever, he’s strong, and he’s decisive. He knows what he wants, and he works hard to get it. He gives others a fair shake, but if they cross him he doesn’t hesitate to let them know it, with words or steel. Corwin is a modern-day update to the Conan archetype (one of my favorite characters who didn’t make the ‘Final Five’ cut), but unlike Conan, Corwin is a little more down-to-earth, a little more accessible, a little more human. He’s fallible and can be beaten; he eventually comes out on top, but at times only after years of torture and toil.
Corwin cemented the blueprint that was used for DC Comics The Warlord (another favorite I had to cut out of my list) and countless other fantasy heros who had access to both guns and swords, heroes thrown into bad circumstances and had to make the best of it. The latest incarnation, in the movies anyway, will be Edgar Rice Burrough’s second-most-popular hero John Carter of Mars, from the Barsoom series, thanks to Disney’s upcoming epic adventure based on the character. But even then, Corwin is still the epitome of that archetype.
One of thirteen siblings, all scheming to hold their father Oberon’s abandoned throne, Corwin is not the best at anything; his brother Eric is older and smarter, his brother Benedict is a better swordsman, his brother Gerard is stronger, sister Fiona is an unmatched sorceress, and on and on. But Corwin is perhaps the amalgam of all of them, the ‘Jack of All Trades’, good at everything and more well-balanced than the others.
And did I mention that he kicks ass?
Come back tomorrow for Elizabeth C. Bunce’s five favorite characters.
