Progenitors (inspiration and source material)

[Inferno]

Inspiration and Source Material:

Inspiration: Jack Vance, Robert E. Howard, Jack Kirby, Thundarr the Barbarian, Gamma World, Planet of the Apes, Doctor Who, comic books, Saturday morning cartoons, and other sci-fi pop culture of the late 20th century.

Maybe we can talk about this stuff here?

Planet of the Apes (1968)

Lost Worlds

Bugs Bunny

Doctor Who

Cyborgs

Dungeons and Dragons

Star Trek

Kaiju

Michael Moorcock

Alien

Apocalypse Plagues

Thundarr the Barbarian

Westworld (1973)

Blade Runner

Land of the Lost (1974)

They Live

The Matrix

The Thing / Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Lovecraft

[Inferno]

Planet of the Apes (1968)



Peter Graham famously said, “The Golden Age of science fiction is twelve.”

When I was a kid, Thundarr the Barbarian, zombie apocalypses, Mad Max, and the original Planet of the Apes loomed large over my imagination. Probably because of the frightening, exciting idea of civilization ending.

I enjoy Planet of the Apes as much now as I did then. The Rod Serling gags and plot twists, the inverted society, the mighty Heston as a black-hearted cynic, man's civilization cast in ruin, and that incredible soundtrack. Just give a listen:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAJBnEk ... qKt0XyvCPV
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TguwOU0 ... PV&index=7
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9xZaJM ... qKt0XyvCPV

It's easily one of my top ten sci-fi films of all time. How about you?

[ravenn4544]

Well, speaking of impactful:

This is one of the things I remember (sometimes horrifically) from my early days on saturday afternoons (after the cartoons and WWE was over!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF5oNqw-L3A Channel 48 was one of the 5 or so channels we got (3,6,10,12,17,29, and 48). woo!

Speaking of wrestling, HBO has an Andre the Giant special on which is good. He was and is the man .

Dr. Who would play on Saturday afternoons also which would run about 2-3hrs or so. I'd watch that before heading out to shovel horse manure (5 bucks/stall i think).

D&D cartoon of course, which seemed to not always be on reliably each week at 11am. Would be hugely disappointed over my honey nut cheerios or Trix if it wasn't on .

Top sci-fi movies? Gotta think about that one!

[Inferno]

That hand reaching out from the grave was aired on Saturday afternoons?
Local stations had some of the most interesting programming back then.

The D&D cartoon was pretty spotty in my region too. And would often show reruns when it did air. I wonder if network censors were worried about the D&D 'satanic' backlash at the time?

[wolfpack]

One of my favorite scifi movies I don't hear mentioned much was Logans Run.

[Inferno]

I love Logan's Run. For me, dystopic future sci-fi is right up there with post-apocalyptic sci-fi. Maybe for the same reasons.

I just watched it again last year. I forget what network it was on, but Sundance channel is airing it at midnight on 4/28.

[wolfpack]

some newer movies i liked were The Road and children of men , both was pretty dark.

[Inferno]

Yeah. I liked those movies too. The book, The Road was incredible. Won the Pulitzer. By the same writer of No Country For Old Men. I was a relatively new dad the first time I read The Road and when I finished it, I turned the book over in my hands and started it again from the beginning. It hurt so good.

[ChubbyPixie]

I never read any Jack Vance until about 5 years ago (Dying Earth) and was BLOWN AWAY. So very, very good.

Never played Gamma World until this year’s GaryCon. Loved it. (I was a beetle man with an explosive, paralyzing gas attack. I died because it turns out berserk robots don’t care about paralyzing gas attacks. Who knew??)

The best Sci Fi movie for me was Blade Runner. Somehow I never managed to see all of Logan’s Run. Would always just catch bits and pieces of it. Planet of the Apes at the matinée was the best. I distinctly remember not “getting” the whole Statue of Liberty thing the first time. (Genius —-> )

Does Flash Gordon count? There is no better SF soundtrack.

[wolfpack]

I never read any Jack Vance until about 5 years ago (Dying Earth) and was BLOWN AWAY. So very, very good.

Never played Gamma World until this year’s GaryCon. Loved it. (I was a beetle man with an explosive, paralyzing gas attack. I died because it turns out berserk robots don’t care about paralyzing gas attacks. Who knew??)

The best Sci Fi movie for me was Blade Runner. Somehow I never managed to see all of Logan’s Run. Would always just catch bits and pieces of it. Planet of the Apes at the matinée was the best. I distinctly remember not “getting” the whole Statue of Liberty thing the first time. (Genius —-> )

Does Flash Gordon count? There is no better SF soundtrack.

ah yes Flash Gordon the movie from the 80's was great. I'll never forget the scene where he had to stick his hand in the tree stump.

[Inferno]

Yeah, Blade Runner was great. In reviewing this, I see most of my favorite sci-fi movies are really horror movies too. But Blade Runner was a film noir detective story.

I even enjoyed the new one, 2049, on a lot of levels. They did a pretty good job, considering the high expectations they had to deal with.

[wolfpack]

Mad max was great even though it was pre-apocalypse it was still dystopian and depicted society on the edge of collapse. I would put it with other scifi movies

[Inferno]

I never read any Jack Vance until about 5 years ago (Dying Earth) and was BLOWN AWAY. So very, very good.

Yeah. I was amazed to discover that the D&D approach to magic, where spells evaporate from your memory as you cast them, came directly from Vance.

[SpinwardMarch]

I have a shed full of old SF books, mostly before 2003, when we moved. Lots of the classic SF writers. My favorites are still Zelazny's Amber series (1st set only), and Andre Norton's Witch World book. I read Jack Vance as an intro to playing in a Numenera game.

I admit to not seeing many classic SF movies, they didn't interest me at the time. I did see the “original” Star Wars movies when they came out.

I was in college when D&D/AD&D and Traveller came out.

[Inferno]

I've always wanted to run a game inspired by the first Amber book. The PCs wake up in a hospital on modern day earth with amnesia. They slowly piece together that they are in fact banished royalty of an interdimensional kingdom. Either that, or they're mad and hallucinating it all.

[Inferno]

Mad max was great even though it was pre-apocalypse it was still dystopian and depicted society on the edge of collapse. I would put it with other scifi movies

You're right. I conflate Road Warrior and Thunderdome with Mad Max. It/They inspired my old gaming group so much we played (the very math-heavy) Car Wars by Steve Jackson and homebrewed our own RPG campaign set in a Car Wars/ Road Warrior world. Fun times.

[Starbeard]

Planet of the Apes (1968)

…and that incredible soundtrack. Just give a listen:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAJBnEk ... qKt0XyvCPV
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TguwOU0 ... PV&index=7
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9xZaJM ... qKt0XyvCPV

It's easily one of my top ten sci-fi films of all time. How about you?

Jerry Goldsmith's score is fantastic. I usually only have music running during an RPG session if it's on Roll20 (for whatever reason it feels awkward without some background noise when it's online), and PotA is one of the soundtracks I'll throw on.

He's one of the best of his generation, and was the other half of the sci-fi sound alongside John Williams. Logan's Run, Outland, Alien, Damnation Alley, Explorers, Total Recall, Gremlins, and Poltergeist were all his. I think his experience writing for westerns, war movies, gritty dramas and hardboiled action really came together for the PotA scores.

Outland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhXgMb0Njek
Damnation Alley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idBcn9B3EXI
Logan's Run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a_lOcavDwI
Alien: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ftsJoR ... 5flNwpm62b
Explorers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-K9N_mF-hk
And of course, his crowning achievement, Star Trek The Motion Picture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzHw3W_7Ft8

[ChubbyPixie]

Mad max was great even though it was pre-apocalypse it was still dystopian and depicted society on the edge of collapse. I would put it with other scifi movies

You're right. I conflate Road Warrior and Thunderdome with Mad Max. It/They inspired my old gaming group so much we played (the very math-heavy) Car Wars by Steve Jackson and homebrewed our own RPG campaign set in a Car Wars/ Road Warrior world. Fun times.

Car Wars! I still have my copy - been toting it around since the mid 80s...

[Inferno]

I think his experience writing for westerns, war movies, gritty dramas and hardboiled action really came together for the PotA scores.

Completely agree. But I see PotA as his crowning achievement, maybe because I've always loved James Horner's score for Wrath of Khan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCpYqWAIwFA

It was our go-to soundtrack for all tense Star Trek RPG ship encounters.

[Starbeard]

I think his experience writing for westerns, war movies, gritty dramas and hardboiled action really came together for the PotA scores.

Completely agree. But I see PotA as his crowning achievement, maybe because I've always loved James Horner's score for Wrath of Khan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCpYqWAIwFA

It was our go-to soundtrack for all tense Star Trek RPG ship encounters.

The Wrath of Khan score is fantastic. For a long time I wrote off James Horner as a poor man's clone of Williams & Goldsmith, but I've learned better since then and now I put him right up at the top with the other two.