OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

The Travesty That Is "I, Robot"

POSTED BY: MOHRSTOUTBEARD
UPDATED: Thursday, January 13, 2005 15:24
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 5219
PAGE 1 of 1

Saturday, January 1, 2005 10:09 PM

MOHRSTOUTBEARD


Tonight, I once again found myself leafing through Harlan Ellison's screenplay for "I, Robot." I have read it twice before, and it breaks my heart that it might never be made into a film.

I will preface this with the admission that I have not seen, nor do I plan to see, the recent movie with Will Smith. Why? Because it's not "I, Robot." It's called "Hardwired." Borrowing some character names and the Three Laws of Robotics doesn't make it "I, Robot." Susan Calvin is not a young hottie, damn it.

Suffice to say, I present to you Harlan's introductory essay to his screenplay adaptation of Issac Asimov's classic stories. I present it to you, humble readers, as further proof that "I, Robot" was at best a wasted opportunity and at worst nothing less than a travesty:

Quote:

ME 'N' ISSAC AT THE MOVIES
A Brief Memoir Of Citizen Calvin
by Harlan Ellison

My heart bleeds like a rock when I have the dream. I always cry; or if I'm in public, I pretend it's an allergy that's making me get all choked up. This dream. . .I never have it at night, asleep. It always comes to me when I'm off-guard, when I'm awake but my mind is elsewhere. A daydream, a looking-off-through-the-air. . .unmanned, disarmed, fit to be bushwhacked.

In the daydream, the daymare, Issac and I are in a movie theater. We're sitting side-by-side, watching this movie. This movie, this screenplay you have in front of you, the one it took a year of my creative life to write, this movie that Issac liked so much. Issac and I, we're sitting there watching I, Robot.

It's a terrible daydream, and I come out of it shaking my head trying to get the pictures out of the darkness where I play them over and over in the Cinerama dome of my memory. Issac really liked this screenplay a lot, and Warner Bros. studios never made the motion picture, and now Issac is dead and will never see it, and I keep having this awful, damned daydream in which we sit together enjoying what might have been. And it doesn't matter if I have the daydream a hundred times, I cannot keep myself from crying when I wrench out of that theater of memory. Like Issac's dear Janet, Robyn, and Stan, and all the rest of us who won't see him again, it is impossible for me to convey the pain that seems somehow to never go away completely, a pain that we willingly endure because it serves to bring him back at the memory's behest; in my case, there in the movie theater.

After several rewrites of the first draft, I sent the final to Issac early in August 1978. He wrote me on the 18th, "I picked up the completed manuscript a little after 10 PM last night just to glance through it and see what changes you made. I began reading word for word and, with bedtime at 11, I was done at 12:30 AM with Janet reasoning with me that I need my sleep.

"It's terrific, Harlan. I asked you in my letter of 9 March to make it 'the first really adult, complex, worhtwhile science fiction movie ever made' and you've done it. You've put your own frame around four of my stories, kept the stories mine in essence and in much detail, made the frame your very own (with a skill and imagination I could never even dream of matching) and yet kept it in the spirit of I, Robot also. In particular, you kept Susan Calvin my Susan Calvin and that is wonderful."

I quote from that letter - a letter that went on much longer and enthused even more than what I've set down here - even the parts that are embarassingly self-serving, because it is imperative to me that anyone who picks up this book understands that this is not one of those work-for-hire afterthought books that capitalize on Issac's name, or the work he did that made his reputation. This is no succubus expansion of a short story, or a twiddle that springboards from a "treatment" Issac may have sold to some merchandiser. It is a novel-for-the-screen that was written by me, with Issac's seed-quartet of stories and the living shadow of Susan Calvin as sun and rain that brought forth an entirely different creative work. I quote Issac's affection for that new work, because he gave me what I needed to do the job, and he loved me enough to trust me and let me go my way, and I gave him something he admired in return for that love and trust. And I need the reader to know this is truly the end-result of a friendship that lasted more than forty years.

This is the movie that Issac loved. I'll never really sit beside him to see it, except in that troubling daydream; but if it gets made, well, then a piece of Issac will live on. The piece he created called Susan Calvin.

The life of Citizen Calvin. The record of a wonderful year of hard work I spent at the movies with my friend Issac Asimov, who first dreamed of metal men and a remarkable woman.

This one's for you, pal.



I edited it out a huge hunk of the essay, being the history of the failed attempts to get Harlan Ellison's script to the screen. If you're really interested, go out and pick up the novel; it's only 10 bucks on Amazon, and it's worth every penny. And if you don't have a copy yet, pick up the original novel while you're at it.

"You've just gotta go ahead and change the captain of your brainship, because he's drunk at the wheel."

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, January 2, 2005 4:44 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.


I've also read Ellison's screenplay, and have not given up hope that it would someday be produced, but with the irony that is Hollywood it would probably end up being titled "Hardwired."

I had not intended to see the Will Smith film either, but did so out of respect for Alan Tudyck, who personally asked us here to not pre-judge it.

I wish I had never read that thread now, so that I would not have gone to see the film. You are right, it was a travesty, possibly even worse that Starship Troopers.




wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, January 2, 2005 6:04 AM

CHRONICTHEHEDGEHOG


Personally, I enjoyed I, Robot. I don't care if it wasn't based on the book because it never said it was. Just because a movie and a book share the same title doesn't mean they have to be the same. If it said 'based on' I'd be more inclined to agree with you, I've spent far too long discussing the changes made to Faramir in LoTR because they're supposed to be based on the books. However, the same cannot be said of I, Robot.

Give the movie a chance, just ignore the title. It's a fun movie, it's not the cleverest movie ever made and it's not anything like the book but it's what it set out to be, a fun popcorn flick.



check out my WIP firefly roleplay system at www.estador.co.uk/firefly

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, January 2, 2005 8:47 AM

FIREFLYPASSENGER


<>

And Alan did an excellent job with Sonny.

If it were titled anything else you wouldn't have that much of a problem with it. I enjoyed the movie. I am not going to say it was the best movie or my favorite but definitely worth watching and recommending.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, January 2, 2005 8:47 AM

FIREFLYPASSENGER


<>

And Alan did an excellent job with Sonny.

If it were titled anything else you wouldn't have that much of a problem with it. I enjoyed the movie. I am not going to say it was the best movie or my favorite but definitely worth watching and recommending.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, January 2, 2005 9:08 AM

MONTANAGIRL


This may be a dumb question, but wasn't Harlan Ellison involved with B5 as a conceptual consultant (or something)? The name is very familiar.

Packer fans welcome.
All others tolerated.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, January 2, 2005 9:20 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.


Ellison is primarily known as a writer of short stories, in the science fiction and fantasy genres as well as horror and mainstream themes, and his career began in the mid-50s.

He has also written for quite a few television shows, including The Outer Limits (original and revived series), The Man From UNCLE, and the original Star Trek ("The City on the Edge of Forever"). His two scripts for the original Outer Limits ("Soldier" and "Demon With a Glass Hand") have been acknowledged to have been an inspiration for James Cameron's creation of The Terminator. He was "conceptual consultant" on B5 and he was also story editor on the mid-80s revival of The Twilight Zone.

Honestly, it is hard for me to judge I, Robot on its own since I admire the work of Asimov so much. It is hard to say if I would have liked it if I was not aware of the history of the story and the screenplay that originally was not based on Asimov's work. The fact that they took advantage of his name and the title, then produced a story which had so little to do with either is what upset me the most.




wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, January 2, 2005 9:24 AM

ZOL


When Books make it to the Big Screen, everybody always makes comparisons.

Look to the movie as an extension to the universe with a possible retelling of some of the elements within - You`ve got to ask yourself about one the greatest sci-fi film `Bladerunner` from a relatively unknown book `Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?` (I say relatively because many people had not heard or read this book before the movie came out, but many now have, and what they`ve found is that it is different.

Screenplay writers owe a lot to wanting to earn a living by writing something fresh & then sometimes other people involved in producing the film decide on alterations (director procucers or execs and the like)

Judge the short stories on their own merrits & the film on another and keep them seperate. If you can do that, then you will appreciate both a lot more.

Zol.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, January 2, 2005 9:33 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.


I am also a huge Philip K. Dick fan, but in the case of Blade Runner, I think it is one of the very few instances of the film being superior to the book on which it was based.

I doubt if anyone is interested, but just in case you would like an ellaboration of some of my opinions, I have written reviews and essays on most everything mentioned in this thread so far:

http://templetongate.tripod.com/irobot.htm (Asimov's stories)

http://templetongate.tripod.com/robotfilm.htm (Ellison's screenplay)

http://templetongate.tripod.com/ellison.htm (Ellison's career)

http://templetongate.tripod.com/bladerunner.htm

http://templetongate.tripod.com/dick.htm (Philip K. Dick's career)






NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, January 2, 2005 11:30 AM

MOHRSTOUTBEARD


I can only assume that no one bothered to read the essay. I mean, what if someone in twenty or thirty years tried to capitalize on the amazing success of "Serenity" by taking the name of Firefly, but completely disregarded the characters and the soul of Joss' universe? Maybe then you'd give a damn.

Quote:

Originally posted by FireflyPassenger:
If it were titled anything else you wouldn't have that much of a problem with it.



Um, duh. That was my whole point. The reason I feel so strongly is because the Will Smith film is exactly what Harlan Ellison was referring to when he talked about "work-for-hire afterthought books that capitalize on Issac's name."

Ellison's script was the movie that Asimov wanted to see on the screen. Doesn't that matter at all? Oh, right, he's dead. Who gives a damn what he thought?

"You've just gotta go ahead and change the captain of your brainship, because he's drunk at the wheel."

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, January 2, 2005 12:02 PM

TIGER


I had the misfortune of seeing "I, Robot" last night, coincidentally, only a week after reading the original stories (again).

What a disaster. The movie is not like the book at all (but you can tell that from from the trailer), and neither is it in ANY WAY a good movie on it's own.

Why doesn't he use a shower curtain? Doesn't that make a mess of his bathroom? Why does he chase a robot just because it's carrying a purse? Does he tackle people running with purses? Why, oh why didn't the dead doctor simply TELL SPOONER ABOUT THE ROBOTS EVOLVING in his suicide message instead of leaving incomprehensible clues?

And I have to disagree with CHRONICTHEHEDGEHOG. Just becasue they say it was "inspired by" the book and not "based on" the book doesn't mean it isn't a blatant ripoff of material used for a creative abortion of a movie. The first thing on screen are Asimov's Three Laws, for god's sake.

I didn't know there was a screenplay out there by Harlan Ellison, so now I'm even more pissed that this movies exists.

Where'd you get it? I'd really like to see it.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, January 2, 2005 12:13 PM

MISGUIDED BY VOICES


Quote:

Originally posted by MohrStoutbeard:
Um, duh. That was my whole point. The reason I feel so strongly is because the Will Smith film is exactly what Harlan Ellison was referring to when he talked about "work-for-hire afterthought books that capitalize on Issac's name."

Ellison's script was the movie that Asimov wanted to see on the screen. Doesn't that matter at all? Oh, right, he's dead. Who gives a damn what he thought?



I speak here as a huge Ellison and Asimov fan; the film "I, Robot" likely got little, if any, extra box office from using the Asimov name and the allusion to the laws of robotics - I went to see the film Hardwired and thought that, bar the awful product placement that began the film, it was a more intelligent action film than most of what usually passes for a summer blockbuster.

As Ellison himself states, his I, Robot was an amalgam, as of course it had to be - I would love to read the screenplay so I could judge it, but the fact is that the screenplay was written in the late 70s and would not have been used in 2004 to make a film. Do I wish it had been made at the time? Yes.

Plus, look at this way; if as a result of this film, even a few new people find Asimov, that's a plus. Also, because of Target, more people than ever may be seeing the name Harlan Ellison, and that may introduce them to his works.



"I threw up on your bed"

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, January 2, 2005 1:19 PM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.


Quote:

Originally posted by Tiger:
I didn't know there was a screenplay out there by Harlan Ellison, so now I'm even more pissed that this movie exists.

Where'd you get it? I'd really like to see it.


I got my copy many years ago from the Science Fiction Book Club but they no longer offer it. It has been recently reprinted and is available from amazon. There's a link to it on my review page for the book - http://templetongate.tripod.com/robotfilm.htm - or I'm sure you can get it from barnes and noble or whatever other online or brick-and-mortar book store you frequent. A search at ebay should also yield some results. Hope you find it, cause it is worth it.




wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, January 4, 2005 9:52 AM

ZEEK


I think the movie actually hurt the chances of people finding Asimov's works. I just saw the movie last week and thought it was horrible. The dialogue was just terrible and the action squences were pure cheese. At the end I said, "well now I know better than to waste my time reading that book". I doubt I'll change my mind either.

I've read one of Asimov's books before too. He's good but still a bit drawn out for my taste.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, January 4, 2005 10:12 AM

LINDLEY


I saw I, Robot in theaters.

Of course it isn't like the book. The book is a collection of short stories----you'd never see a movie based on such a collection.

That said, it was a decent action film, and not entirely inconsistent with Asimov's universe. It's not something I'm likely to go see again, but as a one-off, I enjoyed it.

Alan was great as Sonny, by the way.

Best theory I've heard regarding fitting this into Asimov's universe, is that the events of the movie triggered the Earther/Spacer philosophical divide with regards to Rs.

In regards to what Asimov I've read: All 7 original Foundation books, the two Bailey/Daneel books, and I, Robot itself. I haven't yet found time for the later Robot or Empire novels.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Tuesday, January 4, 2005 10:16 AM

CHRONICTHEHEDGEHOG


I'm not saying it wasn't using Asimov's ideas, I'm saying it never said it was the movie of the book.
You can't complain (well I suppose you can, but it seems odd) that it wasn't the same as the book when it never purported to be the plots from the book. You even concede that it was never put over as a direct translation, as the trailer never puts it over in that light. Would you complain if two rock albums had the same title and weren't the same songs?

The stuff you're complaining about seems strange too. Are you seriously saying one of the reasons you didn't like the movie was the fact that he doesn't use a shower curtain?? I mean seriously, that's not a reason to hate a movie.

Why does he chase the robot running with a purse.
He hates robots, he wants robots to be commiting crimes, it's how he thinks. It's the same as a racist cop chasing a black man down the street when he's running with a purse.

Does he tackle people running with purses? Probably if he was convinced they were stealing, yeah he would.

Why, oh why didn't the dead doctor simply TELL SPOONER ABOUT THE ROBOTS EVOLVING in his suicide message instead of leaving incomprehensible clues?
Um, the reason was the whole plot of the film, I can't see why you had a problem following it.

I'm not saying I, Robot was an amazing movie, it had far too many faults to be anything but a fun popcorn flick, but when a movie never intends to be more than a popcorn flick, when it is advertised as nothing more than a popcorn flick, why do people complain when it's not a popcorn flick?



check out my WIP firefly roleplay system at www.estador.co.uk/firefly

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Wednesday, January 5, 2005 9:11 AM

BOOKSWORD


Okay, I will admit.

I love Issac Assimovs work. Eversince I was a kid, when I first heard that Will ' big Willy styles' Smith was making I Robot.

Well I was less then happy.

Right royally pissed does come to mind.

Then I saw the film.

Honestly, I enjoyed it. Even considered getting the DVD to own.

Cold hard truth people is that without Will Smith it would have been a long time coming for an actual film.

Flaws.

Yup.

But surprisingly instead of a Men in black vs Hostile Robots we get a pretty decent story about humanity, conspiricys, greed and mostly about what consists a soul.

True, no real surprises who the bad guy is but the reasoning is pretty sound. Just doing what you made me to do.

Also Smith gave a decent performance of a man on the edge, instead of cocky know it all. However the psychoanylyst had me worried. I thought that the big secret was that she was a robot cause she acted like it.

In the end it had a decent mix of thrill, sci-fi and characters to make it pleasing.

Perfect, no. But a decent homage and thats a lot better considering how truly terrible it could have been.

(( Wild wild West ))

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Wednesday, January 5, 2005 9:39 AM

TRAGICSTORY


I have to chime in and say that I liked I, Robot. Of course I could also put the title out of my mind when I watched it.

I would have been much more upset had they taken the book and tried to sleek the short stories into a movie.

As for making a buck on Issac, someone had to have sold them the rights to use his name and book.


Besides if you want terrible book to films, just think how pissed Willam Shakespeare would be if he found the crap that his name was tagged to.

-----------
"Societies are supported by human activity, therefore they are constantly threatened by the human facts of self-intrest and stupidity." --Peter Berger

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, January 13, 2005 2:27 PM

AX


I'm going to start this by saying that I feel really sorry for Ellison. This is clearly something that means a great deal to him, and for good reason. In a way, his story is heartbreaking and a perfect example of the problems I have with Hollywood. To those saying that "I,Robot" was just a popcorn flick, I would argue that "I, Robot" was never meant to be a "popcorn" action flick.

That said, what did I think of the movie. Well, suprisingly, I liked it. Yeah it changed a lot, and I feel even more sorry for what was done to the character of Calvin after reading what she meant to Assimov. But at the same time there's this sequence in the middle of the film where Calvin is about to 'kill' the robot. This sequence asks great questions about what it means to have a soul, and what it means to be a robot. It's one of those scenes that is always stuck someplace in my head, even long after I've forgotten the rest of the movie it's there. It's an intellegen scene, and the driving force behind it feels like Assimov. For just this scene I forgive a lot of the movies shortfalls.

"Time keeps moving on. Every beat of her heart tells me that. Every beat of her heart takes me away from this moment. I love each beat, but I dread it in the deepest of my soul. Because nothing is forever, and her heart is telling me that."

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, January 13, 2005 3:24 PM

SNIPER


Personally, I really enjoyed I, Robot, which surprised the hell out of me. The visuals were stunning and the story had some intelligence to it. However, I think that they should have named it something else. It's not like I, Robot in many ways, although there are some scenes that are like some stories, but not many. Hardwired probably would have been a good title for it.

It is a shame that they didn't use the original screenplay. Maybe someday.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

YOUR OPTIONS

NEW POSTS TODAY

USERPOST DATE

OTHER TOPICS

DISCUSSIONS
Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
Sat, March 23, 2024 18:09 - 7 posts
Video Games to movie and tv series and other Cartoon / video game adaptions
Thu, March 7, 2024 14:26 - 42 posts
Favourite martial arts film of all time-
Wed, March 6, 2024 15:02 - 54 posts
PLANETES
Tue, March 5, 2024 14:22 - 51 posts
Shogun, non scifi series
Tue, March 5, 2024 13:20 - 4 posts
What Good Sci-Fi am I missing?
Mon, March 4, 2024 14:10 - 53 posts
Binge-worthy?
Mon, February 12, 2024 11:35 - 126 posts
Are There New TV Shows This Fall You Must See?
Sat, December 30, 2023 18:29 - 95 posts
The Expanse
Wed, December 20, 2023 18:06 - 27 posts
What Films Do You Want To See In 2023?
Thu, November 30, 2023 20:31 - 36 posts
Finding realistic sci-fi disappointing
Thu, October 5, 2023 12:04 - 42 posts
Worst Sci-Fi Ever.
Wed, October 4, 2023 17:51 - 158 posts

FFF.NET SOCIAL