Author Topic: The Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Spy, and Superhero Genre (Read 517369 times)

kevindavis007 · « **Reply #2100 on:** February 14, 2019, 09:12:53 pm »

Quote from: Smokin Joe on February 14, 2019, 08:23:10 pm

One of the things I really loved about The Expanse is that the science conforms with physics, for the most part. Objects in space don't fly like jets in atmosphere, but move according to force vectors without any aerodynamic effects. Watching them flip the ship in a fight instead of fly in some half circle, evacuating atmosphere and suiting up for a fight using kinetic weapons, all made sense. Finally!

That plus they don't show the UN in a positive light.

InHeavenThereIsNoBeer · « **Reply #2101 on:** February 14, 2019, 09:26:20 pm »

Quote from: Smokin Joe on February 14, 2019, 08:23:10 pm

One of the things I really loved about The Expanse is that the science conforms with physics, for the most part. Objects in space don't fly like jets in atmosphere, but move according to force vectors without any aerodynamic effects. Watching them flip the ship in a fight instead of fly in some half circle, evacuating atmosphere and suiting up for a fight using kinetic weapons, all made sense. Finally!

I read some pretty good SF awhile back. Two fleets square off against each other and take positions. Then there's several weeks of acceleration. Finally, they launch missles -- by computer because the timing is too precise for a human. Repeat as necessary. Probably wouldn't make for very entertaining TV, but I enjoyed thinking about it.

Smokin Joe · « **Reply #2102 on:** February 14, 2019, 09:29:42 pm »

Quote from: Ghost Bear on February 14, 2019, 09:04:56 pm

The Starfuries in Babylon 5 acted that way in the mid-90s.

Sorry...

Yep. I liked that series, too. Most movies in between (and shows) were not that way.

Ghost Bear · « **Reply #2103 on:** February 14, 2019, 09:31:20 pm »

Quote from: Smokin Joe on February 14, 2019, 09:29:42 pm

Yep. I liked that series, too. Most movies in between (and shows) were not that way.

Yes, that's true.

kevindavis007 · « **Reply #2104 on:** February 21, 2019, 04:19:59 pm »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29_gA_GDGvE

Free Vulcan · « **Reply #2105 on:** February 22, 2019, 08:31:04 pm »

Streaming the first season of The Umbrella Academy on Netflix. Not too bad, kinda Harry Potter meets Pulp Fiction.

kevindavis007 · « **Reply #2106 on:** February 24, 2019, 07:28:30 pm »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtGqjxECVe8

verga · « **Reply #2107 on:** February 25, 2019, 05:43:41 am »

Quote from: kevindavis on February 24, 2019, 07:28:30 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtGqjxECVe8

WOW! got hooked on this and I can't believe it is the final season

240B · « **Reply #2108 on:** February 25, 2019, 07:11:10 am »

AP video is advertising The Expanse. Rumor says Season 4 will air in September this year on Amazon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEZFz9Hv9V4

kevindavis007 · « **Reply #2109 on:** February 25, 2019, 07:56:53 am »

Quote from: verga on February 25, 2019, 05:43:41 am

WOW! got hooked on this and I can't believe it is the final season

I'm not surprised. A show like this four seasons is good enough. Last season was good. It was also sad (seeing the Statute of Liberty being blown up, The Liberty Bell being melted, etc..)

Snarknado · « **Reply #2110 on:** February 25, 2019, 08:24:36 am »

Quote from: kevindavis on February 25, 2019, 07:56:53 am

I'm not surprised. A show like this four seasons is good enough. Last season was good. It was also sad (seeing the Statute of Liberty being blown up, The Liberty Bell being melted, etc..)

I haven't watched yet. The novel was barely enough material for a short movie so I couldn't figure out how they were getting multiple TV seasons out of it...

Sanguine · « **Reply #2111 on:** February 25, 2019, 09:23:00 am »

Quote from: verga on February 25, 2019, 05:43:41 am

WOW! got hooked on this and I can't believe it is the final season

Same here!

EdJames · « **Reply #2112 on:** February 25, 2019, 09:31:01 am »

I am early in Season 2 so I am happy to have a lot of episodes left to view.

verga · « **Reply #2113 on:** February 25, 2019, 10:07:04 am »

Quote from: kevindavis on February 25, 2019, 07:56:53 am

I'm not surprised. A show like this four seasons is good enough. Last season was good. It was also sad (seeing the Statute of Liberty being blown up, The Liberty Bell being melted, etc..)

The thing that hooked me is just how plausible the alternate history is. Minor changes in various events could have resulted in this outcome.

kevindavis007 · « **Reply #2114 on:** February 25, 2019, 01:22:29 pm »

Quote from: verga on February 25, 2019, 10:07:04 am

The thing that hooked me is just how plausible the alternate history is. Minor changes in various events could have resulted in this outcome.

I know what you mean. I think in this verse, FDR got shot.

Machiavelli · « **Reply #2115 on:** February 25, 2019, 01:43:36 pm »

Quote from: kevindavis on February 24, 2019, 07:28:30 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtGqjxECVe8

I know the book won the Hugo but I couldn't get through it. I didn't find it dense but I did find it uninteresting. I haven't seen the series.

240B · « **Reply #2116 on:** February 25, 2019, 02:04:12 pm »

Try Mr. Robot. It is dense but it is not boring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U94litUpZuc&t=32s

kevindavis007 · « **Reply #2117 on:** February 25, 2019, 03:08:28 pm »

Quote from: Machiavelli on February 25, 2019, 01:43:36 pm

I know the book won the Hugo but I couldn't get through it. I didn't find it dense but I did find it uninteresting. I haven't seen the series.

I didn't read the book (maybe I should have), but I think the TV Show is great.

Also, I haven't ready Phillip K Dick works. But I did the movies (Blade Runner and Total Recall) based on is books and I did see Electric Dreams. That was a hit or miss.

InHeavenThereIsNoBeer · « **Reply #2118 on:** February 25, 2019, 04:07:53 pm »

I'm not a big fan of Dick.

I don't know how many times I've watched Blade Runner. Not sure what it's about, I think maybe a guy goes to eat some noodles? Never stayed awake long enough to really get into it.

Did like Minority Report though.

Ghost Bear · « **Reply #2119 on:** February 25, 2019, 04:18:31 pm »

Quote from: Machiavelli on February 25, 2019, 01:43:36 pm

I know the book won the Hugo but I couldn't get through it. I didn't find it dense but I did find it uninteresting. I haven't seen the series.

I didn't think that I would like the series either. The topic doesn't really interest me, and in general I haven't liked the Phillip K. Dick stories that I've read (I have not read the book the series is based on). So, I only started watching the series about a month ago, when I decided to watch the first episode on a whim, while doing something else. It drew me in so much with the story telling that when I got home that night I watched it again with my spouse, and we've both been catching up on the series since then. We're currently about halfway through the third season.

A word of warning if you're looking for an immediate SF theme, though: the first season is mostly a spy thriller set in an alternate universe, with the setting being the only thing that's really "SF" about it. But that changes in the second season, as the notion of parallel worlds becomes more central to the plot. By the third season that concept seems to be driving the plot. So the "SF-ness" starts slow but builds as the series goes on. I'm very interested to see how they finish it up in the fourth season.

Snarknado · « **Reply #2120 on:** February 25, 2019, 04:44:07 pm »

I didn't have any trouble finishing the book, but compared to something like Expanse it just seemed kind of shallow - I'd maybe compare to Blake Crouch's Dark Matter. I don't consider the reading time wasted but it wouldn't be very high on my list of recommendations. I guess I'd have to say that Dick's genius wasn't in writing well-formed stories like, say, Bradbury, but in presenting more open-ended imaginative concepts that offered more opportunity for interpretation and adaptation. Though I doubt that was his intent at the time...

kevindavis007 · « **Reply #2121 on:** February 25, 2019, 04:52:28 pm »

Quote from: Snarknado on February 25, 2019, 04:44:07 pm

I didn't have any trouble finishing the book, but compared to something like Expanse it just seemed kind of shallow - I'd maybe compare to Blake Crouch's Dark Matter. I don't consider the reading time wasted but it wouldn't be very high on my list of recommendations. I guess I'd have to say that Dick's genius wasn't in writing well-formed stories like, say, Bradbury, but in presenting more open-ended imaginative concepts that offered more opportunity for interpretation and adaptation. Though I doubt that was his intent at the time...

PKD was an odd duck.

verga · « **Reply #2122 on:** February 25, 2019, 05:05:02 pm »

Quote from: Snarknado on February 25, 2019, 04:44:07 pm

I didn't have any trouble finishing the book, but compared to something like Expanse it just seemed kind of shallow - I'd maybe compare to Blake Crouch's Dark Matter. I don't consider the reading time wasted but it wouldn't be very high on my list of recommendations. I guess I'd have to say that Dick's genius wasn't in writing well-formed stories like, say, Bradbury, but in presenting more open-ended imaginative concepts that offered more opportunity for interpretation and adaptation. Though I doubt that was his intent at the time...

I have watched about half of the first season of "The Expanse" and just can't get into it. The plots seem contrived and plodding.

Snarknado · « **Reply #2123 on:** February 25, 2019, 09:20:59 pm »

Quote from: verga on February 25, 2019, 05:05:02 pm

I have watched about half of the first season of "The Expanse" and just can't get into it. The plots seem contrived and plodding.

I haven't watched any of it yet, I was only speaking of the books which IMO are far better than MITHC. Very few TV series or movies live up to their books, though Bosch and Justified were pretty good...

InHeavenThereIsNoBeer · « **Reply #2124 on:** February 25, 2019, 09:28:28 pm »

Quote from: verga on February 25, 2019, 05:05:02 pm

I have watched about half of the first season of "The Expanse" and just can't get into it. The plots seem contrived and plodding.

I didn't watch it because it was on syfy, but I kept hearing great things about it, so I came in during the second season. I really didn't see what people were so excited about. Then recently the DVR picked up the first season which I thought was much better. I wonder if people got into it and that tinted their opinion about season two.

I suspect something similar with Heinlein. I didn't read him until I was in my 30's, and wasn't all that impressed. But I can see that his kid's books would have appealed to me when I was much younger. I wonder if people view his later work more positively because they enjoyed the earlier stuff, building a positive disposition.