[hipster_bebop_junkie]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

I know this is really a thread about literature, but the movie and TV series Wild Wild West seems to fit quite neatly into the Steampunk genre. Also, the movie version of Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentleman. And while it doesn't really qualify as a whole, some scenes in David Lynch's Dune film might also be seen as being a bit Steampunk-ish.

Also the Final Fantasy games get quite steampunky at times:

 

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So, I like where this thread is going. Apologies for being a douchebag before.

tesla69: Spam the list, please.

demonrail666, you are spot-on. That's true in all aspects and it's something I would recommend as well. And I like to add a note in regards to Alan Moore's "League Of Extraordinary Gentleman": The comic-book series is the place to go for properly enjoying this, I think the film adaptation is lame in comparison, even though one would think the technology and budget available, in addition to a great story, would have given a fair amount of chances of producing something really awesome, but that's not the case (no wonder why it was a flop and the initially planned sequel never actually materialized). Alan Moore disowned it and didn't want his name to be attached to the film by any means, even to the point of refusing to get royalties, I think (same thing for all other movies adapted from his work such as "From Hell", and "V For Vendetta", for instance)...

[demonrail666]

Yeah, I much prefer the comic of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, too. I'm not sure what the film was that turned Alan Moore against Hollywood. I think it was V for Vendetta. It's a shame because while the films generally aren't as good as his original comics they generally aren't bad - League being probably the worst of a fairly OK bunch. V may not be as good as the comic but it's a decent enough film in his own right and I thought the film version of From Hell was very good. He took his name off the credits for Watchmen despite it being a fairly close reading of his comic. But then Moore seems to pick feuds with everyone/thing. He's currently having a bit of an online spat with the comic writer Frank Miller.

Returning to Floatingslowly's earlier point, I tend to agree that Steampunk (at least as an official genre) works better visually than it does in literary form, and that in its written form, it's not as good as the precursors who set out the imagery (Wells and Verne and even Gibson himself, with the Gernsback Continuum).

Here's a good little article by Bruce Sterling, trying to define Steampunk as distinct - but clearly related - to Cyberpunk.

There might also be a musical equivalent. The 'genre'(?) called Hauntology, comprising stuff coming out on the margins of Electronica from groups like Mount Vernon Arts Lab, The Focus Group and much of the output from the Ghostbox label in general, seems to have a quite steampunk inspired approach to by-now obsolete technology, like old analogue computers. A lot of it seems to be paying homage to the old BBC Radiophonic Workshop which, at its time (like the Verne and Wells books) was dealing with quite cutting edge technology and ideas.

Even more tangential, I remember seeing a documentary about the rise and fall of Detroit, a city that grew with advances in technology (associated with its motor trade) and died when that technology and the industry it was tied to collapsed. The upshot was that Detroit has been left as a kind of relic of a bygone, future focused technology that now only evokes a kind of past future vision. If Tokyo and LA are the quintessential cyberpunk cities, then Detroit may be the ultimate Steampunk one (along with Victorian London and Paris, obviously).

[E. Noisefield]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

Yeah, I much prefer the comic of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, too. I'm not sure what the film was that turned Alan Moore against Hollywood. I think it was V for Vendetta. It's a shame because while the films generally aren't as good as his original comics they generally aren't bad - League being probably the worst of a fairly OK bunch. V may not be as good as the comic but it's a decent enough film in his own right and I thought the film version of From Hell was very good. He took his name off the credits for Watchmen despite it being a fairly close reading of his comic. But then Moore seems to pick feuds with everyone/thing. He's currently having a bit of an online spat with the comic writer Frank Miller.

Returning to Floatingslowly's earlier point, I tend to agree that Steampunk (at least as an official genre) works better visually than it does in literary form, and that in its written form, it's not as good as the precursors who set out the imagery (Wells and Verne and even Gibson himself, with the Gernsback Continuum).

Here's a good little article by Bruce Sterling, trying to define Steampunk as distinct - but clearly related - to Cyberpunk.

There might also be a musical equivalent. The 'genre'(?) called Hauntology, comprising stuff coming out on the margins of Electronica from groups like Mount Vernon Arts Lab, The Focus Group and much of the output from the Ghostbox label in general, seems to have a quite steampunk inspired approach to by-now obsolete technology, like old analogue computers. A lot of it seems to be paying homage to the old BBC Radiophonic Workshop which, at its time (like the Verne and Wells books) was dealing with quite cutting edge technology and ideas.

Even more tangential, I remember seeing a documentary about the rise and fall of Detroit, a city that grew with advances in technology (associated with its motor trade) and died when that technology and the industry it was tied to collapsed. The upshot was that Detroit has been left as a kind of relic of a bygone, future focused technology that now only evokes a kind of past future vision. If Tokyo and LA are the quintessential cyberpunk cities, then Detroit may be the ultimate Steampunk one (along with Victorian London and Paris, obviously).

Thanks.

I'm a huge Alan Moore fan also. I loved the League comics and the movie doesn't even begin to do them justice. I actually thought V (my favorite of his original comics) was the best film of the bunch. Watchmen was ok, but could have been better.

V reminded me a lot at times of Tim Burton's first Batman film. I'm not sure why exactly. Something about the feel. Hugo Weaving is normally not a favorite of mine, but in this he was fitting.

Head still looks too big for the body, though. And his soliloquies sometimes made me giggle in the film, while they felt foreboding and appropriate in the book.

Watchmen just needed better actors and a better screen adaptation. I dig that they worked with the original writing as best they could, but comic dialogue doesn't translate perfectly to film. So the acting left me dry.

[tesla69]

Originally Posted by hipster_bebop_junkie

tesla69: Spam the list, please...

I don't do paypal so I don't think it would be of interest to any of you.

[E. Noisefield]

OK, I read the Difference Engine and it was incredible. A really, really great read, and my favorite Gibson book so far. Thanks for that, a million times over.

Tesla, out of the books you listed, which is the best? and are you still selling them? If so I will buy.

......

I'm in a total steampunk mindset now, but nothing satisfies it like literature!! Movies and comics are good, but just aren't what I'm looking for.

More suggestions welcome!!

[fugazifan]

my brother told me that Rush's next album will be steampunk influenced.

[hipster_bebop_junkie]

Originally Posted by fugazifan

my brother told me that Rush's next album will be steampunk influenced.

Not exclusively.

By the way, seeing this thread now made me realize I had more things to say regarding the Alan Moore vs Warner Bros. thing. Feeling kind of lazy to dive back in that topic, though.