"The war started when people accepted the idiotic principle that peace could be maintained by arranging to defend themselves with weapons they couldn't possibly use without committing suicide."
- On the Beach (1959)
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Sci-Fi Wisdom of the Week
award-winning creator of Enter The House Between and author of 32 books including Horror Films FAQ (2013), Horror Films of the 1990s (2011), Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), TV Year (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007), Mercy in Her Eyes: The Films of Mira Nair (2006),, Best in Show: The Films of Christopher Guest and Company (2004), The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi (2004), An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith (2002), The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film & Television (2004), Exploring Space:1999 (1997), An Analytical Guide to TV's Battlestar Galactica (1998), Terror Television (2001), Space:1999 - The Forsaken (2003) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002).
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Last year at around this time (or a month earlier, perhaps), I posted galleries of cinematic and TV spaceships from the 1970s, 1980s, 1... -
The robots of the 1950s cinema were generally imposing, huge, terrifying, and of humanoid build. If you encountered these metal men,...
I've never seen this - though I attribute that largely I think to the fact that I -have- read it.
ReplyDeleteThat's not a negative, per se. It was an intense, bleak reading. One of those things that's at once powerful, and sufficient on one visit. Perhaps there's a point to things in that.
Which I suppose is the long way of saying : awesome quote there.
Hi woodchuckgod:
ReplyDeleteThank you for the excellent comment on this quote from "On the Beach."
I'll be reviewing the film version here soon (in the next week or so, I hope...) as part of my continuing look at post-apocalyptic film. I'm kind of dreading watching the (great) movie again because the book and movie are indeed so darn bleak. Very upsetting stuff...but brilliant stuff top. So I absolutely understand what you mean about one visit to the material as being "sufficient."
Great comment,
JKM
I've only read the novel once,but have seen the film many times. Looking forward to your review. Great quote, also.
ReplyDeleteHi jdigriz:
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment regarding "On The Beach" and this great line of dialogue.
I've always thought the film was terrific...but man, incredibly sad. I'm hoping to have the review up in the next week.
All my best,
JKM