- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Titan Books Ltd (Oct 26 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1840233257
- ISBN-13: 978-1840233254
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.7 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 544 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,456,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
David Hughes' wonderfully readable The Greatest Sci-fi Movies Never Made is not only a fascinating insight into the machinations of the Hollywood production factory, but a true testament to Sci-fi's enduring popularity as a film genre among mainstream audiences. It's amazing how long many of these movies languished in "development hell" and even more amazing how long the people involved hung on, despite the fact that quite often it was perfectly obvious that the project was on its last legs. Movie buffs and Internet users will be familiar with a lot of the tales here which have now practically passed into Hollywood folklore. Using combinations of new interviews and press clippings, quotes and statements Hughes pieces together the development behind some truly major motion pictures which all fell foul of budget constraints, studio nerves or extensive rewrites. And he unearths some real gems about movies that came tantalisingly close to the big screen, only to fail at the last hurdle. There's James Cameron's take on Spider Man (now being filmed by Sam Raimi) that was caught up in years of wrangling over who owned the rights; the live action version of Thunderbirds which would have seen Lady Penelope taking on the villainous Hood in a fist fight and Steven Spielberg's SF horror Night Skies which eventually transformed into ET with a slightly more cuddly alien as its star. Superhero fans will delight in reading about the cheapo version of the Fantastic Four, shot in just under a month, as well as Batman director Tim Burton' s attempts to get Superman to fly again in the ill-fated Superman Lives. There's also contributions from Alien designer HR Giger and Harry Knowles, who runs the Aint-It-Cool movie news Web site, and several pages of rare illustrations from aborted SF movies. This is by far the most well-written and absorbing account of Hollywood's broken dreams and it's truly heartbreaking to read about some of the fantastic films that were so close to becoming reality. Hughes writes with energy and enthusiasm, resulting in a book that movie buffs and Sci-fi fans cannot afford to miss. --Jonathan Weir
From Publishers Weekly
It's a muted celebration and a "melancholy examination" of what might have been in movie buff David Hughes's (The Complete Kubrick) The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made. In brief, slap-happily titled chapters (Twin Freaks; Alienated; Lights, Cameron, No "Action!") Hughes explains David Lynch's difficulties with movie financing, how a Spielberg project called Night Skies became the genesis for both E.T. and Poltergeist and why the Six Million Dollar Man never made it to the silver screen. Illus.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
"In the early fifties, science fiction writer Alfred Bester published a four-part story entitled Tiger! Tiger! in the pages of Galaxy, the same respected magazine in which his first novel, The Demolished Man, had appeared serially a few years earlier." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
"In the early fifties, science fiction writer Alfred Bester published a four-part story entitled Tiger! Tiger! in the pages of Galaxy, the same respected magazine in which his first novel, The Demolished Man, had appeared serially a few years earlier." Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another brilliant book by David Hughes,
By Not American (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made (Paperback)
Well, Hughes has done it again. He has written a book that appeals to students of science fiction (of all types, not just films), movies, history, economics, you name it - and has made it completely entertaining and utterly un-putdownable at the same time. Fans of his earlier book on David Lynch will appreciate the chapter on Lynch's two "lost" movies, Ronnie Rocket and One Saliva Bubble.Also, even though this book is only a couple of years old, it is interesting to see what has happened with some of these projects. For instance, Spider Man and Terminator 3 have already been released, Thunderbirds and Alien vs Predator are being filmed right now (Jan 2004), and apparently I Am Legend and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy are being cast and actually being made (for sure this time!). I think this proves how fascinating this book is - with any other writing the fact that you are reading about Terminator 3 as a "dead" or "possible future" product would ruin the reading experience. With this book, though, it is still just as fascinating to see why the projects took so long to come to fruition. So if you have any interest in films, art history, behind the scenes Hollywood gossip, or just a fascinating read, pick up this book NOW. Then go on to read his David Lynch bio, and everything else this man has written. I GUARANTEE you won't be disappointed.
5.0 out of 5 stars
How Hollywood keeps on failing to make a good Sci - Fi movie,
By "prof_von_morgan" (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made (Paperback)
A must for all Sci-Fi and film fans (like myself!). I'd always wondered why some of the greatest Sci-Fi stories had never made it to the silver screen and why the one that had were often very disappointing; after reading this book, I now know why!!! Not only due to you get all the facts and figure regarding the featured "never made" movies, this book lets inside the hearts and mind of the people that tried their hardest to make these movies happen and the studio management idiots that stopped them! Like movies? Like Sci-Fi books? Want to know why your favourite stories never made it to celluloid? Read this book and find out!
3.0 out of 5 stars
This isn't a bad book, but...,
By
This review is from: The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made (Paperback)
This isn't a bad book, but it's namesake _The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made_ does a far better job at similar material. There is almost no overlap between the two books, despite the fact that the former book does cover a good deal of science fiction.Where I think this book fails most is its approach. It's spends a lot of time dealing with production notes on the movies that were made instead (for example, Alien3), instead of the movie that wasn't made (Aliens vs. Predator). Furthermore, it never gets to the key issue -- why would this particular unmade movie have been great? So, I'd recommend this book only as a follow-on if you've already read the "original".
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