Mechwarrior

[Chris Cevlar (Kevlar)]

Dean, <BR>This coming of age cliche better be a freakin' joke or you're going to have a whole lot of disappointed and angry Mechwarrior fans. Don't make MW go down in cinematic flames like Final Fantasy did by creating your own plotline. Stick with the good stuff like in the books. Try something like the Chaos March or the early Clan Wars. Start with the invention of the mech and jump to "present day" surprise clan invasion of the Free Rasalhague Republic, breif history of inner sphere after that. Something that catches Mechwarrior as a story and not some nightmarish past. The cartoons were bad enough. MW doesn't need another black mark on it's record. Please do the MW world a favor. I'm not here to tell you how to "do" a movie but I know what will work for this movie. I've been waiting for this movie and dying for someone to stand up and take it. Look to Micro$oft's(SIC) work on Mechwarrior 4. They have made a wonderful model for the battles...almost perfect (almost b/c they're MS afterall). I hope I'm sensing something of a "coming of age shocker" here. Peacful until something doesn't work out and bad stuff happens...I hope, if that's the road you take. I hope all goes better than it sounds. <BR>a VERY concerned fan, <BR>Chris C.

[Will Finch (Shetan)]

Chris, you probably don't have to concern yourself that much. I mean has Dean made any movies that weren't good up to and including excellent? Heck no. Without exception, they are all way above par and I'm sure Mech won't be any different. More Co.'s should HIRE DEAN!

[Lord of the Pants (F_U_N_G_U_S)]

IMO, I think the ending of the movie should be the start of the Clan Wars. It would leave it open perfectly for a sequel.

[Will Finch (Shetan)]

Absoluteley!

[Chris Cevlar (Kevlar)]

I'm just worried b/c Mechwarrior has taken it's blows (cartoon series, FASA dying, MS taking over games) and I just want the real story intact and not something brand new. Oh and Will, Eight Legged Freaks. ;P Wasn't that one of his? :D Really I dont know. I don't pay attention to things like that. <BR> <BR>Mechwarrior w/o mechs is just Warrior and The movie The Warrior just sounds like...pain. Something about a weird Chinese dancing....freaky deaky fighter dude.

[Dean Devlin (Devlin)]

I can't promise that every Mechwarrior fan will like what we do with the movie. You never can tell. But, so you know, I'm developing this with Jordan Weisman who invented the game and he seems very pleased with the direction we're taking. We're both very excited about the movie and have high hopes for it. <BR> <BR>The problem with working in a Universe as vast as Mechwarrior (nearly 80 books, dozens of games in different formats...) is that everyone has their own idea of what the best part of the dense history of the game is, and everyone has their favorite chapters. Just look as some of the posts on this BBS and you can see that the fans don't agree. <BR> <BR>Yes, this will be a new chapter, but Jordan and I think it's going to be a hell of a ride and if people enjoy it and support the film we'll be able to branch out much farther into that dense history in subseqent films and story lines. <BR> <BR>I hope you enjoy it. <BR> <BR>-Dean Devlin

[Will Finch (Shetan)]

Now you see Chris, Dean has good direction. Take THAT to your leader! <IMG SRC="http://www.electric-ent.com/bbs/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> Wonder if there will be an Enforcer? Who might portray the X-COM scientist? Eridani Light Horse to the rescue! Lock and Load!...I think I'm in pre-Cadet mode.Hee

[{CRW} Shinigami]

I notice he didn't respond to the 8 legged freaks remark ;) <BR> <BR>Well, i think a movie adaptation would be good, the story should be brought to the attention of the general public, not the few who managed ot track down all the books. <BR> <BR>saying that.. If you could get them to re-print the books and release them again roughly when you release the movie (and as long as the movie doesn't go against the lore) then i'd be able to get the whole series, and they'd make money!

[Chris Cevlar (Kevlar)]

Well that's good to hear he's involved. That gives me some hope. Shinigami has a damn good idea with the books there. I'm having trouble getting my hands on the older books but the Twilight of hte Clans series is in every Media Play I've been into (which is one<IMG SRC="http://www.electric-ent.com/bbs/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)">).

[Electric Goose (Egg)]

Hey! I loved Eight Legged Freaks. I laughed so hard I couldn't eat my popcorn. Big meanie.

[Alvaro Cruz-Cabrera]

Hi Dean, <BR> <BR>I was wondering (probably some one already offered this idea), from reading the board: it will be extremelly hard (if not impossible) to satisfy all the BT/MW followers (I have to accept, I am one of them), the shareholders who are paying for the production, the writers, the aloted time to make and show the movie, etc.(you name it, pick your ax to grind). <BR> <BR>Instead, Focus in the MW Dark Age (any other time in the BT univeser it would be ok too) and restrict it to a small chapter in the timeline. Make it a good movie that entertains, energize the BT/MW community and pay the bills; then follow the "Stargate" approach. Do a blockbuster movie and then create a TV series that can extend from 7 to 10 seasons to fill all the blanks. <BR> <BR> <BR>If you wonder about the blanks, here is an example from 80 year earlier than the events in MW-Dark age: <BR> <BR>“Husband, in honor of our marriage, in addition to this cake, I give to you a regiment of BattleMechs and the means to support them in perpetuity.” <BR> <BR>“I thank you for the gift, beloved. Wife, in honor of our marriage, in addition to this morsel, I give you a vast prize. Here, my love, I give you the Capellan Confederation!” <BR>--Archon-Designate Melissa Steiner and First Prince Hanse Davion, upon their wedding night, 20 August 3028, Hilton Head Island, Terra <BR> <BR>If they did not mention the word "battelmech" and the date 3028, I would believe it is earth 100 years ago. In other words the subject matter is universal, just told 1000 years later. <BR> <BR> <BR>There is enoug material there to do it correctly (fill the blanks in the tv series), at the same time entertain, pay the bills, make a profit, and maybe getting an oscar or two in special effects (for the movie of course). <BR> <BR>Just a suggestion: <BR> <BR>Alvaro A. <BR> <BR>PS: coming of age is ok, most of the soldiers in a war are about 18 to 20 something. However if they look beautiful (holywood stereotype), like in "Beberly Hills 91020," the movie finsh in cable: Read "Starship Trooper" shown in TNT (cable) in about 6 to 8 months from the time it is released in theaters. Or how the pundits talk about the "Thread Matrix" (tv show fall 2003) and all the actors look from "Melrose Place," so you hear about this show (which is about counter-terrorism): "Threat Matrix Preview It’s like Baywatch, except with terrorism instead of the ocean"

[Mr_Five_by_Five]

The BT Universe and thus Mechwarrior draws heavily on fuedal Europe and fuedal Japan for the political model. I have not been following Dark Age much myself, but from my understanding most of the Inner Sphere is still the same feudal type set-up, except for the area around Terra (Earth), the Chaos March, and other chunck of various nations (haven't looked at an I.S. map in a while) which are now part of what-ever they are calling the new nation that's the Dark-Age focus. <BR> <BR>Personally, I think making a Dark-Age movie is the wrong track, especially for a heavily ladden FX movie. I think there is much better subject matter for large scale mech battles in many of the pre-dark-age campaigns. <BR> <BR>Use a pre-darge-age movie to set up the Dark Age based Television series. <BR> <BR>But hey, it's a mech movie, I'll watch it regardless of what time frame it's in. I just hope the movie has a dark and gritty feel to it and good looking mechs, machines that look like slow plodding walking tanks and not anime ballerinas.

[{CRW} Shinigami]

Please no, darkage sucks much donkey ass and is being shunned by the community. Work with the storylines already established to win the people who are already fans and draw in new blood, then you have a large amount of story wto work with.

[Mr_Five_by_Five]

might as well have slung the term dorkage around... <BR> <BR>That's a pretty broad statment to say THE community is shunning Dark Age. I'd point folks over to the Mechwarrior Art work thread for links, <A HREF="http://www.dropshipcommand.com/" TARGET="_top">http://www.dropshipcommand.com/</A> has a nice little Dark Age section on the forums. There are aspects of the Classic BT community that have reservations about Dark Age, but I would think there is new blood in Dark Age that equally dislikes the Classic version. And then there is the Mechwarrior (video game community). I myself started there and have dabbled in Classic BT to add more depth to the video games. <BR> <BR>To me there are three important things for a BT/Mechwarrior movie. One and Two are scale of the story line. If the story is both grand and sweeping and at the same time small and detailed I'll like it (good characters caught-up in vast events). And three, the machinery. Outside of those things, the age of the storyline doesn't concern me. <BR> <BR>That said, the only reservation I have about a Dark Age based story line is the Mech artwork. This can be complex because if one only looks at official classic TRO's, most of the FASA TRO artwork is ghastly terrible. Likewise much of the Dark Age art work is equally terrible, just on different sides of scale (one terribly bland, the other too cartoonish). <BR> <BR>To me the best looking mech artwork is from the video games and from fan renderings of the Clasic designs. If the TRO's for both Classic and Dark Age mechs are ignored infavor of video game and fan stylings of the mechs (What is it, 12 video games now? MW1 through MW4Mercs and MechCommander1 through 2? along with tons of fan work over dozens of sites) then we'll at least get a good eye candy treat. Then all we have to worry about, will the story be un-chessy enough that we can stand to take our girl-friends along to the thearter without getting embarassed?

[Jonathan J. Gong (Timberwolf)]

I've been playing the computer games for about 7 years and reading the novel for about 5 years now. I was pondering if Dean has any composer in mind to create such an epic score for the movie. I've been playing with some themes of my own in anticipation for the movie even though I don't what the movie will be compose of in terms of graphics, actors, story line and plot. I would love to score the film for free if Dean doesn't mind. <BR> <BR>-Jonathan J. Gong

[Wun Dum Guy (F_U_N_G_U_S)]

5 years is a long time to be reading one novel, isn't it? ;Þ

[Jonathan J. Gong (Timberwolf)]

erherm.. novels I mean <BR>:0P

[Eidolon]

Wow...what to say...I like everyone else here I'm a huge Battletech fan. I've read many of the Battletech novels (including the new Dark Age ones) and played many of the Mechwarrior games. <BR> <BR>I guess I'd like to say (to Mr. Devlin) that I've been impressed with much of your work thus far. I'm glad someone as experienced as you got the rights to create this movie. While it's dishearting to hear the first movie will be based in the new Dark Age time frame, I do hope that you will do a good enough job to push for more movies regarding Battletech. I like many would like to see, eventually, a movie of the Blood of Kerensky trilogy, Twilight of the Clans, or anyother major event in Battletech history pertaining to the time of the Clan invasion up to the Dark Age time frame. <BR> <BR>I would lastly like to ask that you, and your team pay particulary close attention to details concerning the Battletech Universe. I understand that it may not be pratical to get everything perfect, but remember that your dealing with a fairly old and fanaticaly followed franchise. Please don't give us a "Wing Commander," I'm sure you understand that if done right this could lead to surpassing Star Wars. <BR> <BR>So the best of luck, and wise decision making which we all know you have. <BR> <BR>Eidolon

[Anthony Radford (Wv_Cujo)]

Dean... I am an avid mechwarrior enthusiest, and am really looking forward to the movie. Best of luck on this adventure! (LOL - too bad there isnt a way for me to get a small part in this masterpiece...)

[Chris_Celvar]

It's been a year and a day since I started this thread and I am now hearing good things about this movie. My mechwarrior friends have been screaming it at me the last few days and it seems to be coming along. Keep it going. I had a little catching up to do on the MW universe. <BR> <BR>Couldn't remember my password but oh well.. Don't nobody start posing as me now. ;)

[Aazenius]

Is this movie still in production? I haven't heard anything in a while, and internet searches bring up nothing, except for the Feb. 27, 2003 announcement.

[Stefan (Auric)]

The project was in development at Paramount, but, according to Dean Devlin, Electric Entertainment "hit a major glitch in the road" there, so they had to take the project elsewhere. <BR> <BR><A HREF="http://www.electric-ent.com/bbs/messages/14/1374.html?">http://www.electric-ent.com/bbs/messages/14/1374.html?</A>

[{ICM}THE JUDGE]

I believe that if Fasa, Wiz Kidz and Dean Devlin are indeed planning a movie evolving around MW4 (Mechwarrior4), then it should include the many people(online multiplayer charactors and clans) that bought, purchased, and play this game. These characters have spent hours building multiplayer clans, groupsites, and websites to intice and encourage Mechwarrior4 gaming. A lot of these people can be found along with their duration of this game in microsoft game zone "Mechwarrior4 STATs" page online forum. This would be the only fair way to encourage this movie. There are many clans just to name a few: {ICM}InterceptorsClanOfMercenaries {RW}RenegadeWarriors {UE}Urban Empire these are just some of the online multiplayer clans that have put a shit load of time into promoting and encouraging of this game online. {ICM} alone had over 95 members divided into 3 lance divisions one for each version or add on of MW4, so indeed think about who has really supported MW4 when writting a story line for this Mechwarrior4 movie. I personally think it would be a flop with out them included in this movie thanks {ICM}THE JUDGE

[Steve T.]

After so many years of serving in the military and reading battletech and mechwarrior novels; I have come to a point in which the news of a Mechwarrior movie made me jump for joy, in a manly sort of way. Our military (US) is currently undergoing special research in new infantry/soldier technologies that the novels of Battletech have imagined in there heads about two decades ago. For example, the military is working on a cannon that uses magnetisim to propel a metal "round" towards its target. Does this futuristic weapon research sound familiar to you? Try thinking about a gauss rifle. Here is part of a article on the "Objective Force Warrior" program the US Military is undergoing. <BR>>>>>>>>>>& #62;>>>>>>>>>& #62;>>>>>>>>>& #62;>>>>>>>>>& #62; <BR> <BR>.......In June 2003, General Dynamics was awarded the lead technology integration agreement for Phase II of the U.S. Army’s Objective Force Warrior (OFW) Advanced Technology Demonstration program. The OFW program will provide the core network-centric soldier systems deployed by all soldiers by 2010. The $100 million Phase II award is for completion of detailed designs of the Objective Force Warrior system of systems over a 25-month period. There are two additional options: a Phase III 15-month Prototype Development and Demonstration effort estimated to be worth $41 million, and a non-competitive System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase. The SDD and production phases have a potential value of $1 to 3 billion over a 10-year period. <BR> <BR>The General Dynamics’ Objective Force Warrior effort is headed by its Eagle Enterprise unit, a company formed to address technology and “system of systems” integration challenges. Eagle Enterprise was one of two lead technology integrators during the Phase I concept development for OFW. <BR> <BR>Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator has nothing over the Objective Force Warrior envisioned by the Army and a team from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and organizations throughout the country. The goal is to develop a high-tech soldier with 20 times the capability of today's warrior and to have that soldier commissioned by about 2010. With advanced technologies, the Army plans to create an overmatch and greatly minimize danger to its soldiers. Innovative technologies would allow a soldier to engage and destroy the enemy at longer ranges with greater precision and with devastating results. Technologies that would make that possible include better communications devices, advanced situational awareness software, chem-bio detection and protection, advanced weapons, and protective equipment. Fatigues and the flak jacket of the past, for example, would be replaced by a system designed to protect a soldier and provide hemorrhage control in case a bullet penetrates. The helmet of the future warrior might be a sealed unit that contains communications, vision enhancements, a laser for target ranging and a heads-up display. While many of the technologies to make the Objective Force Warrior a reality are maturing today, several others, called "breakthrough technologies," have yet to be developed. These include advanced fuel cells, exoskeletons, directed energy lethal and non-lethal weapons, and lethal robotics. The exoskeleton would augment the strength of a soldier and enhance mobility, speed, endurance, range and load-carrying capabilities. <BR> <BR>>>>>>>>>>& #62;>>>>>>>>>& #62;>>>>>>>>>& #62;>>>>>>>>>& #62;>>>>>> <BR> <BR>This is only part of an article cut and pasted from <A HREF="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/ofw.htm" TARGET="_top">http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/ofw.htm</A> <BR> <BR>Now I ask you, do the terms "exoskeleton,Heads-Up-Display, directed energy lethal and non-lethal weapons, and lethal robotics" sound like anything you might have played or read about lately? I thought you guys might have been interested in this info. I would just like to know how Weisman KNEW that his fictional imagination would not be far from the truth. <BR> <BR>Sincerely,

[Steve T.]

This information is not classified, it is available for public viewing.

[IvilBorg]

Sounds more like am Elemental but the American Theocracy has something against Genetic Engineering (or do they?)(cue evil laughter)

[Richard Nelson (Xxdarksparcsxxx)]

Hey Dean... <BR> <BR>PATENT THE MOVIE ! QUICK, BEFORE DARPA FINDS OUT !!!.... <BR> <BR>this has been a service message from you local federated alignment dealer. Get your federally aligned membership today ! <BR> <BR>*damn ADD kicked in again, sorry....* =) <BR> <BR> <BR>yeah, I'm nuts, so can me ! =) <BR> <BR>remember... if in need of the best sound engineer for the mechwarrior property... <BR> <BR>one who has experience, and is liked by all the little people... <BR> <BR>remember me. =)

[DOLEMITE! (F_U_N_G_U_S)]

I'm tempted to rearm my Atlas with 20 machine guns...