Being Inspired by the Movies that Captured My Imagination

I once heard best-selling author CJ Cherryh that she was inspired to write her own stories when she was a child after her favorite series, Flash Gordon, ended. She wanted more, so began writing her own stories.

I’ve always loved sci fi movies.. Not Flash Gordon or 1950s B Movies or the Japanese Godzilla giant monster type, but movies like Planet of the Apes and Logan’s Run. Those captured my imagination in particular because they had a message… Okay, rather dystopic cautionary ones, which still haunt me. That makes me watch them again and again over the years, though the quality of the movies may not be up to, shall we say, my personal highest standard.

Planet of the Apes was successful enough to originally be five movies, an short-lived TV series and a shorter lived cartoon series, then two remakes. The original first film, of course, has it’s iconic scene, referenced in Mel Brook’s Spaceballs. The third and fourth films of the original series, however, are what elevate them in my mind. In some ways Planet of the Apes social commentary was perfect for its time and in many ways to me, still resonates today. I look back at Col. Taylor’s diverse spaceship crew in terms of having an African American and woman and am impressed, wondering if Star Trek helped advance that. The timing of a new light speed engine in 1972 wasn’t exactly plausible, but doesn’t hurt my enjoyment of the film and it’s satiric message, based on the novel by Pierre Boulle, encourages us to think about our world from an upside down perspective. One that is both cautionary and, I feel, humbling.

The more recent remake trilogy of films of Planet of the Apes I also think better answers the question of how the Apes could become so intelligent and the world theirs. The original series plot has always been problematic—particularly the return of the original space ship, which could not have been so easy to relaunch into space after being sunk. I keep asking myself how it would even have been possible technically. Well, plausibility doesn’t hurt my enjoying Escape From the Planet of the Apes, just my credulity of the plot. Things like that I have to chalk up these films’ age. Yet, I still like watching the original Apes films over any of the remakes.

Logan’s Run, on the other hand, which also suffers some credulity of plot issues for me, has always left the story teller and world builder in me wondering. The lack of multi-culturalism in those surviving, if deliberate, is horrifying. If merely Hollywood’s casting choices for what they deemed marketability, they missed overlooked an opportunity the Planet of the Apes didn’t. Overlooking that flaw in the film’s story, I’ve never been able to figure out how the society could be creating new technology in a world that seems a bit of an unsupervised children’s playground. For example, there’s no images of an schooling at all. I’m not even certain how they could fix anything and survive…

Both films have always inspired me, as have the questions they raise, particularly in the worldbuilding. In writing my most recent novel, Bigfoot is Not Your Friend, my satiric end of the world story, I play with the ideas that I think were missed in Logan’s Run. I guess, like a young CJ Cherryh, I began writing the stories I missed seeing more of to—stories of space freighters, mages and elves, trolls on a quest, children with less than ideal psychic powers, immigrating to Mars in steerage class… and the last knight errant on a distant planet, who may prove to be its only hope.

I do love science fiction—and fantasy, too. I hope they inspire generations of readers and those who just love movies…

Now, here are links to promos for science fiction and fantasy story giveaways that can take you away to such places and worlds:

Grounding a Mockingbird, prequel to Lessers Not Losers, is featured in Kindle Unlimited Young Adult Reads.

The Dragon's Curse, prequel to my Highmage’s Plight and Hands of the Highmage series, is featured in the The Fantastic Collection.

Last Knight, prequel to Knight of the Broken Table, is featured in the group promo Sci-Fi & Space Opera Giveaway. Knight of the Broken Table is featured in the Summer Sci Fi in Kindle Unlimited promo and on sale in Dragonriders & Shapeshifters Under $5.

Oh, and Apocalypse Knot is available for a few more days in Book Gathering Giveaway.

And, if you are interested in bargain books in these genres also check out Sci-Fi & Fantasy Bargains.

Dare to Believe,

D.H.