nosaer,
Regarding your “03 September” posting above; I just noticed the significance of your name. Interesting.

Saw the movie. Then re-read the short story - in Golden Apples From the Sun. I think if they just let Bradbury be Bradbury and not special effects the thing to death, it would have had a greater impact on the audience.

However, if you are looking for an action movie with lots of loud noises and chase sceens, in other words, just like every other current movie that hollywoood turns out, this one is ok and will satisfy your lust for that sort of thing. They completely missed the irony of the original story, the subtle changes that occur when the hunters return to the present, such as the spelling of the company's name on the wall. It just too much to ask holywood to understand how irony works. There are too many people who make (or made) their careers from special effects, so that any movie that wants to get made will have to have the usual assorted crashes and such. I thought the first half of the movie was done pretty well, but the second half, which was never in the short story, is of the usual genre aimed at the teenyboppers who are brainwashed to expect their nerve endings to quiver from the bombardment of sight and sound.

I can only hope that seeing the movie will inspire some young fan, as yet not familiar with Bradbury in print, to go and READ THE SHORT STORY!

Note: also posted this on the old site

Just for fun. Has anyone noticed the similarity between the look of Ben Kingsley’s character and a group of characters in a certain very popular 1950’s science fiction film?
They were quite good at using Interoceters.

This Island Earth? One of my all time favorites. Still good to day.

I too love "This Island Earth". When I get to see "Thunder", I'll look for an enlarged superorbital ridge on Ben Kingsly!

quote:

Originally posted by patrask:
...I thought the first half of the movie was done pretty well, but the second half, which was never in the short story, is of the usual genre aimed at the teenyboppers...

patrask,

does this mean that if you were to leave the theatre halfway through, you would have seen a good short-film version of Ray's story? If so, maybe true Bradbury fans should conspire to do exactly that, making their exit the minute the dead butterfly is found!

(Alas, I live in the UK, and don't expect to see the movie for many months, if at all. No doubt it will appear on DVD soon, but from the mixed reviews I don't know that I would want to pay good money for it.)

...then this:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2125476/?nav=ais

Ambivalent!?

fjp451,

Thanks for the link. I rather enjoyed the analysis. Some may be offended but those of us who admire Bradbury, despite his flaws, might find this piece a fair criticism of his work. Certainly a better take on the man than that gosh-awful review in the WaPo for his book of essays.

Best,

Pete

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:

quote:

Originally posted by patrask:
...I thought the first half of the movie was done pretty well, but the second half, which was never in the short story, is of the usual genre aimed at the teenyboppers...

patrask,

does this mean that if you were to leave the theatre halfway through, you would have seen a good short-film version of Ray's story? If so, maybe true Bradbury fans should conspire to do exactly that, making their exit the minute the dead butterfly is found!

(Alas, I live in the UK, and don't expect to see the movie for many months, if at all. No doubt it will appear on DVD soon, but from the mixed reviews I don't know that I would want to pay good money for it.)

Unfortunately, you will have to wade through the standard special effects and chase sceens to finally get the butterfly, a little like an adventure game with the characters going from one place to the next looking for "Something that was brought back into the present - the butterfly" There is no irony in the way the folks return to the present, only an immediate sense of massive changes still in progress. What do we expect from the guy who did Timecop?

...or Outland!

I just became aware of a Lucius Shepard review of the “A Sound of Thunder” movie in the recent issue of “Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine”. He seems to be fair about the film and sympathetic and respectful of Ray. The following link will take you to the original publication of the piece back in September.

http://www.electricstory.com/reviews/review.aspx?title=new/soundofthunder

Looks like the DVD is out on March 28th. Amazon is now taking orders, but given the one review they have of it, I can't imagine anyone bothering to order it.

I think I shall wait for the "buy it used for $0.99" option to appear...

I enjoyed this movie. I went to see it when I was in NYC with some friends during the summer and, especially surprising when you look at the dismal grosses, the theater was PACKED. It wasn't great, wasn't really worthy of Ray, but it was a good time at the movies. I recomed a rental when it comes out on DVD, but not worth buying.

Awful. Just terrible. I'm usually pretty forgiving of cheesy movies, but it wasn't the cheese factor that killed it for me. It was the terrible plot which made no sense.