We continue here with
more info about Solar
Sci-Fi type space space movies.
Upcoming
movies are listed below. New movies of all genres
are continually being proposed, developed, made
and distributed.
Many concepts never make
it past the "proposed" stage. This
is epecially the case with Sci-Fi movies since
there are innumerable sci-fi books on which
movies can be proposed. However, getting the
right script written and then finding the right
director and actors are all difficult tasks.
We'll try to keep up-to-date
on space films in the various stages of development.
Several space related
movies have been made in the Imax
format. Spectacular rocket launches and views
from the shuttle are ideal for the large screen
and up-close presentations.
Coming
Attractions
Man
Conquers Space
This film will rely heavily on sophisticated computer
aided graphics to provide in super realistic detail
an alternative space history based on the vision of
Wernher Von Braun and Chesley
Bonestell for the future of space exploration
as depicted in their famous series of articles in Collier's
Magazine in 1952.
The film is being developed as if it were a documentary
in 1969 that is looking back on the accomplishments
of the space program including the first landing on
the Moon in 1963 and on Mars in 1968.
The Australian firm Surfaces
Rendered, led by David Sander, is using advanced
3D graphics and animation techniques to create the film...more
in Solar
SciFi
Nov.13, 2004 update: Dissatisfied with a short
version, David Sander decided to pursue a longer, more
elaborate film. The What's
New postings indicate progress has been made. See
the latest film
stills and a 4 minute film
clip shown at a sci-fi meeting in July 2003.
However, there were also lots of problems including
a disk crash that destroyed a considerable amount of
development work.
Gravity
Director Alfonso
Cuaron (e.g. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban) is developing this big budget 3D film about
a female astronaut stranded on a space station after
her companions are killed by the impact of satellite
debris. Angelina Jolie withdrew from the project and
the lead role was offered to Natalie
Portman, who played Padmé
in the second Star Wars trilogy. The movie is expected
to come out in the 2012 time frame.
Star City Will Smith's production company Overbrook Entertainment
began planning back in 1998 to make this film based
Bryan Burrough's book Dragonfly:
NASA and the Crisis aboard Mir.
Can't find any info on the status of the project, however,
as of June 2002, so it has probably been dropped.
The book described the many dramatic events that occured
during the time that astronauts were aboard Mir such
as a fire and a collision and near catastrophic lost
of air pressure. There were also many cultural and communications
difficulties between the Americans and Russians. If
done well, the basis of a very good movie is there.
Space.com-
Mir Movie Back on Course - Aug.25.1999
Chrome
Timothy Hines Pendragon
Movies
"A live action science fiction fantasy motion picture
about a future society of slave robots, the dark forces
that oppress them and a legendary robot hero that rises
up to bring justice and freedom to the world. "
Some elements of the story include space settings.
Other
space related films in earlystages of development (i.e. most will probably never
reach the screen)
Strange
Frame - This project started out aiming to become
an animated TV series. It has since evolved into a
film project. Many entertainment industry notables
are helping out:
For a low budget indie film Strange Frame has an
incredible sci-fi cast. Actors doing voices include
Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Ferngully),
Claudia Black (Stargate SG1, Farscape), George Takei
(Star Trek, Heroes), Michael Dorn (Star Trek, Transformers),
Ron Glass (Barney Miller, Firefly, Serenity), Alan
Tudyk (Firefly, Serenity, Transformers), Juliet
Landau (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ed Wood), and
Claudia Christian (Babylon5)
Roger Waters gave them a Pink Floyd song because
the innovative combination of style and content
resonated with him.
Academy Award winner, Gary Rizzo (Inception, Titanic,
Star Wars, Dark Knight, and The Incredibles) is
doing the sound mix at Skywalker Ranch.
Baikonur - set for release in 2011, this
film, which is being made on site at the Russian/Kazakstan
spaceport facility, tells the story of a French
space tourist who suffers amnesia after a crash landing
“The capsule lands in the Kazakh steppe and is
found by this young boy because the rescue team
is late,” Director Viet Helmer told RT. “The young
boy takes the girl to his yurt because she is
in a coma. He tries to wake her and when she wakes
up, he tells her she’s his wife because she can’t
remember anything.”
Tom Hanks is leading an effort to develop a live-action
film based around the the Mattel action figure Major
Matt Mason which was a popular toy in the
1960s:
Good Luck, Mr Gorski - Another community
supported sci-fi space themed film is being made by
Allegra Huston, the youngest daughter of famous film
director, screenwriter and actor, John Huston:
Imax large format
films shown on huge surround screens first appeared
in the 1970s. The number of theatres and also the number
of films have steadily grown. The selection now includes
3-D versions seen with special glasses.
Space themes have been a favorite of the IMAX audiences.
The Air & Space Museum in Washington D.C. had one
of the earliest theatres and, along with other sponsors,
funded some of the space features. The shuttles have
been carrying IMAX cameras since the very first flight
and in the coming years the astronauts will record the
construction of the International Space Station.
Roving
Mars
The story of the rovers Spirit and Opportunity told
on the big IMAX screen.
Magnificent
Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D
" Presented And Narrated By Tom Hanks. This film
project, to be released in on Sept.23, 2005, will recreate
in 3-D the explorations of the Moon by the Apollo astronauts:
Short
videos (at collectSpace) with Tom Hanks, director
Mark Cowen, and Apollo astronaut David Scott that
give a "behind-the-scenes look at the making of the
new IMAX film Magnificent Desolation."
Space
Station 3D (2002 - 47min)
This 3-D movie was filmed in space and shows the construction
of the space station and life inside the station. Tom
Cruise is the narrator. It opened in the US in April
of 2002.
Apollo
13
Ron Howard's 35mm movie was converted for the really
big screen with the DMR (Digital Remastering at IMAX)
system. The DMR enlarges the 35mm frames to the huge
IMAX frame size while minimizing graininess and distortions.
Mission
to Mir(1997, 40min)
Footage of a Shuttle-Mir rendevous and docking. Includes
film of Star City and a Soyuz launch.
L5
- First City in Space (1996, 35min, 3D)
This feature differs from the usual documentary style
IMAX film. It presents a conventional story line set
on a huge space station (ala Gerard
O'Neill). Much of the film is computer generated.
It follows the story of small girl who is the first
human born in space.
Destiny
in Space (1994, 40min)
Special feature for the Air & Space Museum & Lockheed
Martin about the future of space exploration using film
taken from the shuttle.
Blue
Planet(1990, 42min)
The camera runs from earth orbit to the Serengeti in this
homage to earth's rich natural beauty. We see the earth
from space and from the ground in all its glory but also
see the ecological damage caused by humans. It also emphasizes
how the space perspective can be used to study and appreciate
the earth's fragile ecosystem. (Air&Space/Lockheed
Martin)
The
Dream is Alive (1985, 37min)
A presentation of the Air& Space Museum & Lockheed
Martin that included extensive footage of 3 shuttle missions
in 1984 during launch, the astronauts working in orbit
and on EVA's, and the landing.
Hail
Columbia!(1982, 36min) A record of the maiden voyage of the first shuttle's
trip to orbit.
Other info
Space
Junk 3D - depicts the growing problem of orbital
space debris
The film follows the final Shuttle mission to
the Hubble telescope, showing the repairs in action
and then displays some of the latest astronomical
shots from the orbital observatory.
Phil
Plait's Bad Astronomy Bad Movies Reviews of the astronomical and space technology
mistakes made in various sci-fi space movies past and
present.
IMDb
- Internet Movie Database Amazon.com's
database seems to include just about every movie ever
made. Gives plot synopsis, info on director, actors, and
technical details. Reviews available for some movies
GRAND
CENTRAL ROCKET
This site is dedicated to the art of rocket design in
pre-space age movies and science fiction. Provides photos
and descriptions of films from 1920s-1960s.
Cinefex Cinefex is a quarterly journal devoted to special
effects in movies and often carries articles on space
films.
Science/technical
accuracy in sci-fi movies The degree of scientific authenticity in sci-fi movies
varies widely, though most are bunched in the in-authentic
end of the spectrum.
a program of the National
Academy of Sciences that connects entertainment
industry professionals with top scientists and engineers
to create a synergy between accurate science and
engaging storylines in both film and TV programming.
Under
the Microscope section - scientists describe
their experiences with the film or TV show on
which they worked.
The Final Journey
The Russian director Yuri Kara attempted in the late 1990s
to create the first movie with scenes actually acted out
and filmed in space.
Russian movie actor Vladimir Steklov would have been
sent to the Mir space station where he would film parts
of this movie about a cosmonaut who refuses to return
to earth.
He discusses the nearly successful attempt to send
Steklov to Mir. However, the Russian space agency backed
out because it demaned full payment for the flight up
front rather than relying on the promise of profits
from the movie and sponsorships attracted by the flight.
SpaceViews: Space in the Movies - Archived
copies at SEDS The now inactive SpaceViews
online magazine provided synopses and reviews of space
related movies during the 1998-99 years.
Lester Novros: filmmaker and teacher who
made a number of space documenaries in the 60s and
70s, influenced Stanley Kubrick and George Lucus,
who took Novros's film course at USC..
First
World - a 25 minute short sci-fi film described
as follows:
The revelation of mankind on the eve of
the next space race to the Moon. Set in the year
2018, First World is an account of what NASA discovered
and covered up during the Apollo missions that is
now unraveling on a global scale on the eve of the
next space race to the Moon between China and the
United States.
AmazeFilms
:: Independent & Short Films - "AmazeFilms
produces and distributes independent films, short
films and the highly-acclaimed "Short Series," DVD
short film compilation series that features films
from the Academy Awards, Sundance Film Festival and
Cannes Film Festival. View film trailers and bios
online."
Prelinger
Archives > Futurism - archive.org offers a
selection of short films from the past such as this
collection of promotional films from worlds fairs
and other sources about the future.
MediaGrab!
- "media files from the web, Usenet and more".
... "use MediaGrab! to locate files by subject,
author, song name, band name, "..etc
LiveWire!
Broadcast! -" locates all types of streaming
multimedia on the Internet. The number of Internet
radio and TV stations increases every day. You can
now access them all in one convenient application."
Analog Science Fiction & Fact
Amazon: US
Analog Science Fiction and Fact contains compelling, hard-to-put-down
futuristic sci-fi stories and scientific features.
Sci-Fi Magazine
Amazon: US
What's hot in Sci-Fi movies, TV & games from the official Sci-Fi Channel
magazine.
