Has anyone here read This Island Earth?

[Orrex]

I'm betting that just about everyone has seen the 1955 film, either in its original form or as the target of mockery on MST3K, but has anyone read the novella from which it was adapted?

I have it in an anthology and finally got around to starting it a few days ago. My reading time is at a premium, so I've only been able to knock off a chapter or two at a sitting, but now I'm about 15 pages from finishing this very brief story.

Briefly stated, the film diverges profoundly from the novella. I was frankly stunned to see how different the two works are. I mean, we've all seen loose s/f adaptations (The Sentinel and Farewell to the Master, to name just two examples) but with This Island Earth it seems like the filmmakers read the first few pages and took a wild guess at the rest.

Has anyone else read it?


And just for fun, would anyone else care to offer other s/f films (classic or otherwise) that ultimately had little to do with their source material?

[YankeyMCC]

1. I hate to see this thread sink

Unfortunately I haven't read the novella or anything of that length that was made into a movie so I can't contribute right now - but this sounds like an interesting subject.

[Orrex]

2. Thanks for the kick!

I've finished it now, and I can say that the film is even differenter from the novella than I'd realized before.

In the course of reading it, I noticed that the Wiki article on it is vanishingly brief, while the film's write-up is more extensive. I might draft an article just so that the novella is represented as well.

[YankeyMCC]

3. "Enemy Mine"

I was at first just thinking of Novella length works but let me mention this example even though it's much longer. Well actually I suppose the "Enemy Mine" portion is a novella but it is part of a larger collection called the "Enemy Papers" by Barry Longyear.

I saw the movie when it first came out and enjoyed it, although some of it seemed hollywood predictable and the f/x were so/so, I felt there were enough moments and depth of characterization to make the film redeemable. The relationship between Davidge and Jerry came through well, the two combatants coming together to form a bond is a common and old enough theme but I thought the film, the actors did a good andn interesting job of it.

But I was only dimly aware the film was based on a novel.

Many, many years later I read the entire "Enemy Papers" collection and the depth and complexity of the overall story is a powerful and exciting story.

It's been a while since I've read the stories so I can't list details of the deviations between the Film and the Novella but the ending is quiet different none of the hollywood heroics and much less daring-do if you know what I mean. But the spirit is there unfortunately it not as deep as the novella because the film makers clearly had no intention of following the story through which covers a much larger scope - peace between peoples and a more complex and full set of characters and interesting relationships annd a much deeper relationship between Davidge and Jerry's decendantns.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Enemy_Papers

On Edit: Just found this in my bookmarks: http://www.sff.net/people/bblongyear/MoviesTheTruthRunDrac.html

[Orrex]

6. My anthology also includes Enemy Mine (SPOILERS)

I always found the movie a little disappointing, despite a lot of cool parts. IIRC, Davitch goes to the Drac homeworld and contacts Jerry's family, only to learn that Zammis has been institutionalized for demonstrating love for humans. To the Dracs in a time of all-out war, this is the worst possible aberation, so they're trying to rehabilitate him.

The leader of Jerry's family carries a great deal of influence in the society and manages to have Zammis freed, and (also IIRC) a number of Dracs return to the wilderness planet to live out their days.

That's as much as I recall, and it could easily be distorted. I'll need to check it out again.

But you're right--the film staged a big shoot-em-up rescue with Davitch saving Zammis from the miners/slavers, etc. The novella's ending was more intimate and more poignant.

[Forkboy]

4. The original version of The Thing differs a lot from the short story it's based on.

Carpenter's version was far closer. I love both versions, but for different reasons.

The original War of the Worlds was quite a bit different from the story as well.

I'm all Nyquiled out, so that's all I got off the top of my head. :)

[Orrex]

5. Great examples!

I read Who Goes There? some time in 2007, and I'd like to give it another look. One thing that really struck me is the fact that it was written before the discovery of DNA, yet the characters go to some length to explain the creature's mutability in terms that they understood.

In retrospect, it's a great example of science fiction pushing the boundary of the known, and the timing (just before DNA's discovery) is exquisite.

[Forkboy]

7. I finally tracked down Who Goes There in 2002, and the same thing jumped out at me as well.

I had read about the story and heard was pretty good in that regard, but I still half expected a typical b-grade sci-fi explanation for the creature mutating as it did, you know, maybe the typical radiation thing that mutated all the monsters in the 50's (bless their radioactive hearts!). I didn't expect it to be so close to actual science, science that was barely even in it's infancy. That's when sci-fi is at it's best to me.

[Greyskye]

8. I read the book YEARS before I saw the film

I have This Island Earth in hardcover - I haven't read it in years, but remember it being a full novel, not a novella. And when I went to Wiki to check, they have a pic of my copy of the book - I didn't realize I had a first edition:


I'm not even sure if I saw the entire movie. I loved the idea of the Interocitor at the time, even if now the idea of a room-filling video telephone is just a tad dated. :D But I loved the book! I think I was in my early teens when I read it for the first time. Come to think of it, my son would probably get a kick out of it. I'll have to dig it up tonight and put it in his 'to read' pile. After I reread it for old times sake, that is. :hi:

And the movie Interocitor looked nothing like the description in the book!

[Orrex]

9. I'm not sure which version of the story I have in my anthology

It's my understanding that there are indeed several canonical versions, and obviously yours predates mine. I'll check for a page-count and let you know.

You're right about the Interocitor--but how can you not love that goofy atom symbol on the one in the movie?

[Greyskye]

10. Mine is 220 pages

You should expand the wiki stub with the novella info - they don't mention it.

Hey atom symbols are futuristic, 'ya know? :rofl:

But their aliens are classic! I always wondered how the hell any critter with only a pincher for hands could even dress themselves?

[Orrex]

11. Laugh if you must, but...

That pincher-packing mutant scared the bejesus out of me when I was like seven or eight! And I wasn't too thrilled with Exeter's weirdo forehead, either!

[Orrex]

12. Here's the anthology I mentioned

Reel Future

Hell, even if it only contains one story of interest, the "used" price of $0.01 is hard to beat. I've found it to be a great read--I'd read several of the stories previously, but others were brand new to me.

Anyway, the anthology indicates that it includes the version of This Island Earth that was copyrighted in 1952, but it comes in at about 120 pages. Either your version and mine are using significantly different fonts, or I've got a seriously abridged version! I wish I could get a word count in some easy way. Maybe I'll count one page-worth and multiply...