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Here’s a twist on the other historical movie question.
What is the episode from history that you would most like to be made into a movie? It can be about an event, a story, a person, or something else that you would love to see on the silver screen (we can assume a top notch director as well, such as Spielberg or Gibson, who would combine life, passion, intrigue, and a killer score to the film).
While there are going to be many such movies I would seriously enjoy, the first one I'll throw out there is the so-called "slave revolt" of 1741 in New York. Reason: it would have the necessary elements for a great movie - sketchy evidence that leads to an investigation, a prosecutor more intent on proving guilt than considering innocence, and paranoia that grips a town and crosses from racial bias to religious bias, until the accusations become so absurd the investigation ceases. All of this against the backdrop of colonial America. It's a sad but true story (a number of people are executed because of the conspiracy), and was a basis for protections of the accused in the Fourth Amendment.
Anyone other ideas?I may be beating a dead horse, but I don’t believe the true story of the horrors of Stalin and the GULAG have gotten any sort of due from Hollyweird. This is astounding considering the mountain of evidence (anecdotal, historical, and documentary) that exists to detail it in nearly every aspect. The reason it hasn’t gotten made is plain: Hollywood is inhabited mostly by anti-American ComSymps of the first degree.
Actually, you’re right – stories of Stalinist USSR ought to be told, as well as stories of Lenin. I believe the largest murders in the 20th Century – probably of all time – were committed under Stalin’s reign, and yet there has never been a movie made (as far as I’m aware) that has told this story. I don’t think it’s only because of political reasons, though; I think that the veil of Communism in Russia until 1991 probably hindered research and knowledge of at least some of the ongoings during Stalin’s time. But now is as good a time as any for the public to know the truth about life in the Soviet Union. While I appreciate some of the fine films made about the holocaust in Germany or Poland during WWII, it’s not the only story of mass political murder from the 20th Century.
If I were to make a movie it would be entitled: Disturbing the Imagination It would be about George Whitefield and his triumphal entry into Colonial America setting off the fires of the Great Awakening. 😀
Interesting question!
My answer would be a 'what if' style movie, such as 'what if Lincoln were not assasinated. How would history be different?'
I'm working on a screenplay now that asks a big 'what if' question. I'll keep you all posted and let you know what it is once the wheels are set in motion (financing, stars committed, distribution deal, etc.).“What if” style questions are interesting, and I’ve seen a few historical scenarios on television. They usually don’t make it to the big screen, perhaps because they have less attraction to wide audiences.
I would be they'd be especially good in book format.
What if Hitler didn't start the war against the USSR when he did and conquered Britain?
What if Spain's Armada had defeated England? (that's more of an academic exercise, though)
What if the South had won the Civil War? This is actually an interesting question. Would the South have merely forced the North to recognize the Confederate States of America and nothing more? Or would the South have occupied the North?
Good questions.Hello!I would love to see a biographical film made of the incredible life of Nikola Tesla.More info on Tesla In 1931, Tesla is honored by being on the cover of Time Magazine, and received congratulations from more than 70 pioneers in science and engineering including Einstein... In 1943, Tesla dies penniless, a lonely man at 87 in room 3327 in the Hotel New Yorker, his only remaining friends the pigeons he fed in the park. In 1944, Tesla was finally awarded the Patent for Radio. The US Supreme Court confirms that Marconi?s patents infringed Tesla's.A far greater inventor than Edison, he was employed by Edison for a while, and turned into Edison's greatest nemesis. Edison lost the contract to provide energy to the Chicago World's Fair to Tesla, and never forgave him. When Tesla wired his AC wiring throughout the exhibition, Edison refused him the use of Edison's light bulb - so virtually overnight, Tesla reinvented the light bulb without infringing any Edison patents.One of the most important inventions of Nikola Tesla was was the electrical transmitter. Shortly after leaving his Colorado research facility and returning to New York, Tesla began construction of an gigantic version of this invention, to be known as The Wardenclyffe Tower. Constructed between 1900-1905, the tower stood 187 ft into the air, with a 68 ft. metal dome. The purpose of the tower was to transmit wireless messages across the Atlantic. Tesla believed this to be a simple procedure, and later confirmed through experimentation, that the Earth conducts electricity naturally, much like a metal ball. Tesla hypothesized that Earth could be charged from a single location and energy could be safely extracted from any other point on the globe's surface. The Earth could be pumped with electricity and anyone on its surface could remove it by simply placing a wire into the ground. This energy could be withdrawn in unlimited amounts for unlimited uses, free for all the world's people! Financier J.P. Morgan footed the bill until he realized the main purpose of the project was to provide free energy to the entire globe. He was upset that he couldn't run this energy through a meter and charge for it. The Wardenclyffe Tower was never completed. Morgan refused Tesla the funds necessary to complete construction, and finding alternate financing proved impossible. The Tower at Wardenclyffe was later dismantled under F.B.I. supervision. As supremely successful as all Teslas's projects were, when he said this could power the world, it is not illogical to give him credence. See the Tesla Wardenclyffe ProjectThe successful demonstrations of the effect he was harnessing was done several times. The most noteworthy was his almost total destruction of the Colorado power station. He began bouncing power waves through the Earth, where they echoed and were continually reinforced until the energy rebounding through the Planet was quite substantial. Substantial enough to accidently fry the Turbines in the Colorado Department of Energy.http://prometheus.al.ru/phisik/wireless.htm
WMLambert, have you seen the post I made on Tesla's Death Ray? It was really fascinating when I found out about that, and during his day the rate of scientific advancement (well in theory, at least) was quite astounding, so it's not surprising that we see the emergence of science fiction developing after that time period. Yes, Telsa is an interesting figure.
Phidippides, no… I haven't come across your post on Tesla. (Note: this is my second post )I would like to see it, so I'll do a search for Tesla and see what comes up.As for Tesla and his "Death Ray," please take notice of his many experiments that sent energy rebounding through the earth. It has been alleged that the USSR took his process and perfected it into a weapon. Since he was able to destroy his own turbines he designed for the Colorado Power plant, it is not unbelievable. I can't look around and see anything that Tesla didn't have an impact on. Almost everything is based on AC current, and his fingerprints are all over our lives today. If Westinghouse hadn't renegfed on their handshale agreement with him, he wouldn't have died a pauper.One of the more fascinating things about Tesla was a statement he once made. He said his inventions come him to him fully finished and "float in space" in front of him, partially blinding him, until he writes them down
I agree with the Tesla movie. I read a fascinating book on him a while back that truly showed how much he meant to the world of electicity. I don't think he gets enough credit for his work.
As for Phidippides' “What if?” films – that has in the past two decades grown into a huge genre, in its own right, branching out of general science fiction. Turtledove has authored dozens of these works, and even famous non-writers have worked with ghostwriters in this genre. Re: the Two Georges, by Richard Dreyfuss and Harry Turtledove.The novels of 1632 by Eric Flint and David Weber, and half a hundred other Baen writers, are "What if?" novels. Basically - What if Machina Deus aliens with no other point in the story but to play silly games, swap a great swatch of modern American people and land with an equivalent swatch of Central European land in 1632. All of the books so far have been on the Americans in Germany - but I'm waiting for one that paints the story of the oldtimers in the U.S.
Something about the war of 1812 and the war with mexico. Also I know some people had problems with them (Gettysberg and Gods and generals) But I would like to see them finish off that trilogy with the last full measure.
Oh yea, and lets make a movie about custer that is actually accurate, one that doesnt deify him or make him out to be the devil himself. But I guess hollywood cant make a movie with out putting thier own spin on things.
Something about the war of 1812 and the war with mexico. Also I know some people had problems with them (Gettysberg and Gods and generals) But I would like to see them finish off that trilogy with the last full measure.
I read that Last Full Measure won't be made - at least anytime soon - because of the poor showing of the last one. Ted Turner has apparently given up on it.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279111/board/nest/33424282
