Will Smith: The Acceptable Face of Asimov?
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I was browsing through my local Waterstones with Offspring 2.0 the other day looking for some good reads for Wife 1.0 when I noticed a proliferation of books in the Asimov section. I have read most of Asimov’s books over the years but actually own very few (1 to be precise). Time to rectify that oversight, I thought and started leafing through. All the Foundation series was there sporting new covers, then I picked up a copy of I, Robot. With horror I saw Will Smith’s features scowling back at me. What was a second rate actor from a third rate adaptation doing on the cover of a first rate book? Maybe this is how the publishers thought they could sell more copies. I, Robot will be staying off my shelf until I can find a second hand copy with the original cover.
For your sad delectation, here is the new cover:
[url=http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0586025324.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg]Click HERE to see the new cover[/url]What’s next? Rock Hudson selling The Martian Chronicles? Ouch, does that make me sound old? What about Robin Williams on the cover of The Bicentennial Man?
I agree, it really is an awful thing to look at when you head into the Sci fi section of a book store.
I have just spent the rest of the morning in a quiet room listening to the Firefly theme tune, sandwiched between life-size posters of Zev and Xev. I feel sooo much better now. 😉
Never particularly thrilled with a book being sold to a new audience based on a bad film intrepretation.
The only one I’ve been able to really forgive is, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
The Blade Runner cover is ok, since A.) Harrison Ford
and B.) as an adaptation to screen, it was a great movie – though missing half the book.Phil is hard to adapt to screen, though the ideas seem to be translated able, hence, Minority Report, Total Recall, Paycheck…et all…I am afraid, as I’ve said elsewhere, about what will happen with Linklater’s version of Scanner Darkly….
Not saying its right but on a marketing standpoint it works, to get ppl to want to read the book from which the movie came from the cover often times has the movie poster on it so that it helps ppl out in finding the correct or original source.
You know the phase….judging book by….ya its true, those that aren’t heavy readers hear from friends that so and so book was better than the movie (which to date in my eyes is every movie done from a book) will see the same pic from the movie poster on the book and know thats the correct source.
Again its sad but true in these times. The only way around this is to place the book cover as the movie poster….but I highly doubt that will ever happen as to the fact companies want the star shown on it!….sigh
Forgive them, asimov, for they know not what they do.
I’m certain Asimov is up in Heaven looking down at Will Smith in great shock and saying “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent”.
If anyone actually READ Issac’s memoir they would know he detested the Frankenstein Robot idea and didn’t write action stories.
“Asimov received HIV-infected blood during heart bypass surgery in 1983. His death in 1992 was from AIDS-related complications, although his widow kept this secret for over a decade after his death.”
I just found out!! If not for the internet, i wouldn’t have known.
What a crying shame!
Crying! Crying! Crying!
The movie version of I, Robot fills me with righteous fury. Asimov is probbably my favorite author, and the pathetic interpertation of his work by hollywood pisses me off to no end.
I never heard the AIDs thing though…. weird.
[quote=”czinzar”]The movie version of I, Robot fills me with righteous fury. Asimov is probbably my favorite author, and the pathetic interpertation of his work by hollywood pisses me off to no end.
I never heard the AIDs thing though…. weird.[/quote]
I have written a review of great fury and angst elsewhere on this site of this movie. This movie is the diametrical opposite of everything Issac believed in.
The thing that is worse than that is that the “fans” don’t even know it. A read of “I, Asimov” is in order.
My review is here at: [url=http://www.sadgeezer.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=769]My review of I Robot film (in the Reviews Section)[/url]
Forgive them, Asimov, for they know not what they do.
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Hollywood Revisionism and Issac Asimov:I punched up my “I, Robot” review and put it on my new blog. Also, I wrote another Essay about Asimov and the “Frankenstein Complex” called “The Frankenstein War”. The links to MovieTV stuff are here:
http://blademoviestv.blogspot.com/
I’m not really finished with the topic. As I was writing about the future of A.I. I realized how vast the subject is and how it’s hard to come to any conclusion yet. As far as the empty vacuum of Hollywood that is more or less a dead issue in regard to scifi. It just remains to finish the autopsy.
But for society, maybe Asimov ws right, maybe he was wrong. It remains to be seen if Humans and A.I. can live in peace…Could that day come that a genuine A.I. be created!I’m keeping a blog based on scifi or futurist issues including movie, book, tv,political and social commentaries. Check out my “Top Ten People I’d like to be for a Day”. 😉
[quote=”kokopelli”]I’m keeping a blog based on scifi or futurist issues including movie, book, tv,political and social commentaries. Check out my “Top Ten People I’d like to be for a Day”. 😉
http://hagakureblade.blogspot.com/%5B/quote%5D
No, no… you can only pic one. See this post 😀 [url=http://www.sadgeezer.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=4841&highlight=leap&sid=69383d449dac714ab09befa9b5b832df]Leaping[/url]
[quote=”thefrey”][quote=”kokopelli”]I’m keeping a blog based on scifi or futurist issues including movie, book, tv,political and social commentaries. Check out my “Top Ten People I’d like to be for a Day”. 😉
http://hagakureblade.blogspot.com/%5B/quote%5D
No, no… you can only pic one. See this post 😀 [url=http://www.sadgeezer.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=4841&highlight=leap&sid=69383d449dac714ab09befa9b5b832df]Leaping[/url][/quote]
Thanks Frey, I hadn’t seen that. I’ll post a choice there. Mine is just a little different, there is no time travel, It is “Leaping” in present time, present day. And it is top ten choices even if I could only do it once, but, there’s nothing wrong with doing it ten times.
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