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There's A Script Review Of Ron Moore's VIRTUALITY Online...

Man.... by fishpillow	Jul 7th, 2008 08:48:24 PM
...I got a baaaad feeling about this.
He doesn't give any big spoilers. by fiester	Jul 7th, 2008 08:55:17 PM
He says there's one but doesn't give it away. I dunno...this sounds gimmicky and one-note. Remember the rash of virtual reality shows that came out im the late '90s? They all sucked. TV is already virtual reality enough.
Gotta agree... by rassmguy	Jul 7th, 2008 09:01:39 PM
...this sounds pretty stupid.
Looks good by SanityKaos	Jul 7th, 2008 09:03:57 PM
Sounded dumb at first, but the more I hear about it the better it gets
Sweet by Charlie Murphy	Jul 7th, 2008 09:28:22 PM
i'm excited.
Sounds great to me by flickchick85	Jul 7th, 2008 09:43:42 PM
This is one of those things that sounds like it could be either REALLY stupid or really great, depending on whose hands it's in. But it's in Ron Moore's hands, so that sends it in the "really great" direction for me.
Here's a tip, Ron. by Mostholy	Jul 7th, 2008 09:47:36 PM
Don't write yourself into a corner this time.
Denzel and Crowe team up Again! by BYOBkenobi	Jul 7th, 2008 10:07:06 PM
Those two are like Wilder and Pryor!
This is a remake of this movie called Alien Intruder with Scoggi by Stormwatcher	Jul 7th, 2008 10:09:46 PM
Starts with that guy from celebrity rehab and Grease shooting himself in the mouth as Gougar Scoggins eggs him on. Then Billy Dee Williams recruits some guys from prison to salvage the spacship and they all get to live in soft core porn virtual reality where the virtual chicks get killed by Scoggins who ends up banging then killing each of them. Maybe this is a remake.
I wonder if this ties into the end of BSG by Razorback	Jul 7th, 2008 10:18:32 PM
I could see this being a complement to BSG and that, if allowed to continue until its end, the show will lead us to the exodus of the human race from Earth.
you beat me to the Denzel/Crowe gag! by Maniaq	Jul 7th, 2008 10:23:23 PM
maybe I can just mention Brian De Palma and be done with it
Sounds OK if there's no studio meddling. by Stereotypical Evil Archer	Jul 7th, 2008 10:31:35 PM

LONDO MOLARRRRRIIIII!!!!!! by zillabeast	Jul 7th, 2008 11:34:44 PM
Gimme some Narn and Centuri
Fired up by Cobbio	Jul 8th, 2008 09:11:03 AM
Michael Taylor has written some of the best "Battlestar Galactica" episodes over the last four seasons, so it doesn't surprise me that the "Virtuality" pilot script kicks ass. The multi-faceted drama Taylor and Moore often cook up, especially in science fiction environments, is wonderful. Many people will see virtual connections on a spaceship and think, "They stole that from The Matrix. God, why can't Hollywood find new material?" as they roll their eyes. Yeah, so a few movies about virtual reality have already defined the ENTIRE landscape, huh? Just like the few movies about spaceships in the 1950s defined THAT entire landscape, right? No room for, say, "Alien" or "Star Wars" to eniven the landscape years later? Hmm, I see. Virtual reality is always a compelling subject, as long as the story involving VR isn't a subject over character study (aka what Roland Emmerich does). Dramatizing how humans might interact with and utilize VR in a larger societal context is what engrosses people in the story. There are thousands and thousands of possibilities here, and I'm fired up to see the Berg-directed pilot.
Typical Ripoff & Rehash by nexxus7	Jul 8th, 2008 11:27:52 AM
I know this will sound like your typical "they ripped me off" but it's not. This reads like a combination of "Broken Angels" a novel by Richard Morgan (futuristic crew on a spaceship going into "Virtuality"-- yes "Virtuality" -- to pass the time on an 11-year voyage to another planet), and a novel that I wrote several years ago, which has been in the marketplace, about a rogue avatar/serial killer killing people in a virtual reality technology. While I don't think I have a strong enough case to challenge, maybe Mr. Morgan should be credited and compensated for the parts that are blatantly being taken from him and repackaged as original. The movie may be entertaining, it may be around for a hot minute. But in what seems to be a pattern for Moore (Star Trek, BSG), this is not original.
Reality show? Gee... by DanteS2005	Jul 8th, 2008 12:31:54 PM
What's that crap?
Reality show angle - bad by supertoyslast	Jul 8th, 2008 02:22:30 PM
I don't know how that can possibly be good. All the rest sounds fine. I'm not usually the type to think about the physics of a sci-fi show, but I'm going to anyway. Is the light speed barrier going to be breached in this series? Possibly, since I don't know how many stars you could reach sub-light speed. If they don't have a way of getting around the speed of light, then that reality show would be infuriating to watch. Only a few minutes' delay to start with but, upon the ship reaching this extraterrestrial world, viewers would be five years behind actual events. And the person they're supposed to put their confidence in, the psych officer, is also the producer of the TV show? That's just dumb.
nexxus7 by I Hope You Die	Jul 8th, 2008 02:59:07 PM
That's nothing. The concept for this show is exactly the same as I drawing I did when I was 7 that I only showed to my mother. Just goes to show you can't trust anyone in this biz.
Probably sublight by bellwether	Jul 8th, 2008 04:34:10 PM
Epsilon Eridani is 10.5 light years from Earth and the one-way trip is said to take 5 years ship-time. If the ship accelerates at one gravity for five light years (which would be convenient for the crew), then slows down at one gravity for the next five light years, it will reach a maximum velocity at turnaround of .988 c and elapsed time on Earth will be 12.3 years. After repeating the trip and returning to Earth the ships clocks will be running about 15 years behind. So you can make the figures add up without breaking relativity, you've just got to assume a truly astronomical power source and some method of protecting the ship from hitting interstellar gas and dust at relativistic velocities.
Let me see your drawing by nexxus7	Jul 8th, 2008 04:41:17 PM
Maybe I can rip it off. Fact is even with copyrighted material theft can run pretty rampant because the burden of proof is on the author of the original material. From the synopsis, it sounds like they are trying to cram in everything but the kitchen sink, Star Trek, Matrix, Reality TV, Soap Opera. There really seem to be only minor similarities with my novel, and maybe not even that (I earn mid 6 figures so I'm not a failed writer lacking the wherewithall to have my lawyer take on a copyright infringement case). So I ain't boo hooing about that. Had I not read Richard Morgan's book about a month ago I probably wouldn't have realized some of the blatant similarities. He wouldn't be the first author who found out about a movie or TV show and turned around and sued. Who knows they may have had the book in one hand and been writing their script with the other. My point is that Moore seems to be making a career of rebooting, revisioning and rehashing other people's work. I just happened to read Morgan's book, which is an okay read, but parts of it might have been copied--including the name of the technology (which by the way was also the name of a VR company back in the early 90s). Unless he is a consultant or has been in some way credited, I wouldn't be surprised to see him file a lawsuit.
Ugh. by kabong	Jul 8th, 2008 09:23:20 PM
Holodeck. Probably be like Eli Stone in space. As for BSG: get over it; it was no "hard science fiction." Is the entire US entertainment industry populated by idiots?
BSG was far harder by bellwether	Jul 9th, 2008 05:51:51 AM
...SF than you normally get on the tube. Compare it to something like Stargate.
A Philip K Dick book uses this idea too ... by Shan	Jul 9th, 2008 05:11:59 PM
... and that was back in the 1980's. So, as to when the idea was first used (using a virtual environment to live in while travelling in a long space journey), I don't know. It's probably actually quite an old one.

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