Anyone seen the previews for 'Jumper'?

[Jax]

Here's the movie, on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489099/

And here's the first trailer I saw, on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rz5NekSUTM

There was a second one that shows his first jump, trying to find it...
Here it is! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCzwgXwUtgk

So basically he can teleport himself, but he learned what he could do all alone, not like the talents in Anne's series where they are trained from a young age. I think it's interesting to see a movie like this, maybe more and more movies will be made with teleportation, telekinesis and telepathy etc.

I love the line;
'Why are you walking?'
'I like walking for a change, it makes me feel normal'

:laugh:

[Kath]

I think it's far more likely to be inspired by Bester than it is by Anne, to be honest.

[Not that you said that anyway - I'm just pointing it out.]

[Jax]

Yeah I didn't think it would be, completely different premise, teleporting isn't limited to her by all means! I just thought it was quite cool, and look forward to more of the sci-fi type movies like this starting to appear! :biggrin:

[Bamy]

Looks interesting!

[Brenda]

Bester?

[Faren]

Looks interesting. I'm always in the mood for a good sci-fi film. :ok:

[mawofone]

I too am glad to see more sci-fi movies being made.

[granath]

Bester?

Alfred Bester, American sci-fi author whose most famous book is The Demolished Man, about a society where cops can read your mind. If the name sounds familiar, the Psi Cop Alfred Bester on Babylon 5 was named for him.

Or indeed, The Stars My Destination, where teleportation features heavily.

I haven't seen this yet but would like to, there's at least some eye candy in Hayden Christensen. :whistle:

[Brenda]

I never have seen Babylon 5. I'll have to check the author out when I get a chance. (Famous last words...)

[Faren]

Saw the movie trailer during the Super Bowl last night. Looks pretty good!!

[cwolf]

Now if I can just remember where I saw that old book series of sci-fi that this movie came from.... granted I was in junior high when i picked it up.

[Samarra]

"Jumper" Steven Gould (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumper_%28novel%29)

[Jax]

I saw this lastnight, it was pretty cool but after reading what the Talents do with their 'powers' it was a shame really as the Jumpers don't do anything to help people, only themselves, living a selfish existence.

[Samarra]

Is it worth it for the theater, or should I wait for DVD?

[Jax]

Not really a good question to ask me, I think. I liked it and think it's better to go and see it at the movies. :yes: But I would say that about a lot of movies (not all though!). Probably better to see what's going on when they're jumping...

[R'zil]

I haven't seen the movie but from the clips I saw it looked like they had taken the basic concept of the book and changed and extended it pretty drastically. I normally wouldn't like that much, I always prefer a movie to hold true to the original, but in this instance I think it's probably a good thing. The concept of the book was a good idea but I thought it ended up pretty lame.

[R'zil]

I haven't seen the movie but from the clips I saw it looked like they had taken the basic concept of the book and changed and extended it pretty drastically. I normally wouldn't like that much, I always prefer a movie to hold true to the original, but in this instance I think it's probably a good thing. The concept of the book was a good idea but I thought it ended up pretty lame.

Anyone else seen it and read the book, it's still showing on second runs around here?

[Nightflyer]

Jumper is one of my favorite books, I was so excited when I heard they were making a movie of it.

The movie is fairly good but it could have been a thousand times better if it had actually been based on the book to any signifigant degree.

The movie in theaters is actually more closely based on Jumper: Griffin's Story a novel written by Steven Gould to explain the new character that was added and the completely different universe the entire movie takes place in...and then the movie even changed stuff from that book....creating yet a third alternate universe. Did Steven Gould sell out in creating a cannon book based in the original draft of the movie-verse? Thats for you to decide. In my opinion, the answer is yes...but that won't stop me from eagerly anticipating a true sequal to Reflex (the book following Jumper).

One could make comparisons to the sometimes controversial issue of Todd versus Anne writing...but the differences, in my opinion, go far beyond that level.
****************************************************************
Warning may contain spoilers for the book and/or movie although I have tried to keep the important stuff (that isn't revealed by the end of the first chapter) out while still making my point

**************************************************************

In the book, Davy is a somewhat nieve, basically nice kid who loves to read science fiction and considers the library his refuge. His father is abusive, taking a belt to Davy when he fails to complete chores on time and his mother just up and vanished one day.

In the midst of a beating, Davy suddenly finds himself in the science fiction section of his small town library...not knowing how he got there, he walks out the door with only the clothes on his back and leaves home...I believe he is 15, but looks a bit older.

Not long after, he gets into an even worse situation as a runaway, and ends up reappearing at the library back home...this time, he realizes he can teleport...gets supplies back at home, and vows to start a new life in New York City.

Being a basically nice and nieve kid, he tries to do things the right way, but everything is against him...he can't get a drivers liscence, open a bank account, get a work permit, take the GED, etc...without a copy of his birth certificate and his father's signature...neither of which he has. And he loses most of his money to a mugger.

Having exhausted every reasonable option that he is aware of, Davy decides to rob a bank. The movie version of Davy does it largely because he can, and may not have even been abused. The book version does it as a last resort, and he agonizes over the issue.

My biggest problem with the movie was the complete and total character assasination that happened to Davy. Viewers unfamilar with the original story found Griffin a much more interesting character ...and I understand why. I like movie Griffin...the actor in question really makes him come alive.

Davy, because of the story re-writes, is a completely different person. Book Davy goes through phases and eventually grows up. Movie Davy doesn't really care about helping people, book Davy does.

Book Davy has a powerful quest that I can't tell you about, because it would spoil a lot...it transforms him...turns the book into a charactor study as well as an action adventure.

Movie Davy, well there are hints that prior to massive re-editing, recasting, rewriting, and refilming this movie had him become a hero. In the movie we actually see, the few lines declaring him as anything but a self-serving adolescent, seem out of place.

Book Milly is a girl he meets at a play, just by chance, that he falls in love with. She is older than him, which is part of their dynamic, and she is a lot smarter then the Milly we meet in the movie. She is a college student, with an intellegent family that also participates in the story.

Movie Milly is a girl who used to know Davy before his believed drowning when they were children, and now works at a local bar. She is swept off her feet by the new rich Davy, and taken jet-setting on a Rome vacation.

Book Milly and Davy have an unusual, and interesting, courtship. Movie Milly and Davy frankly..... make me gag.

Brian Cox and the entire NSA arc have been completely replaced with the leader of the mysterious Paladins...a group introduced in Griffins story and then morphed into a group of religious Zealots, hunting jumpers with about as much in common with the Griffin's story version as the original version does with Griffin's story<sigh>

"The Pit" is also gone and everything that happens there

Jumping has been changed completely so that Davy and Griffin leave nightcrawler-esque smoke trails behind them and can jump objects just by touching them...I won't ruin how it works in the book but uh...NOTHING like that.

For all that these things bother me, Griffin is a very cool character, and there are some very interesting scenes in this movie. It is a good action adventure, it is fun to see the inside of the Colliseum in Rome (they got rare permission to film inside it..possibly the first ever). If you are in the mood for a short, fast-moving movie, with lots of action, very little plot, tons of cool special effects, and just want to veg out watching the action you may well enjoy this film...reading Griifin's story may also explain a few things (its a prequel to the movie) but don't expect Davy, Milly, Brian Cox, Rashid Mattar, Mr. Rice, Mrs. Rice...or really any of the characters you know from the original Jumper...most of them are missing and the rest...share names and little else with the originals.

In other words: Even though the names are the same, the plot has been changed to protect the innocent ;)

[Jax]

Hmm... I want to read the book now! :yes:

[R'zil]

OK, I feel stupid now. I didn't even know there was a sequel to Jumper. I'll be looking for both that one and Griffin's Story.