ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

____________________________________

I've had this quirky idea about the explosion of Altair- 4 for several years. It goes like this:

Just suppose for a moment that when Morbius gasped his dying breath, the Krell machine received and understood his last thought -- an all-consuming mental anguish, a fearful regret at being engulfed by death.

And, as the machine had been doing for the last twenty years, it made an effort to do the very thing for which it was created -- granting any-and-all telepathic requests which it received. In the past, the only requests from Morbius which were strong enough to activate the machine were Morbius’ deepest fears and concerns.

I’m sure that the implied message, “I don’t want to die!” would be just as strong and deeply felt as anything the machine had ever received from his mind before.

The machine’s response to Morbius’ fear of dying would be to somehow heal his injuries (whatever they were). After doing this, Morbius would regain consciousness in the lab, sometime after John and Altaira had left.

But wait. Here’s where my idea really gets wacky!

In the process of healing Morbius, the machine might even take the liberty of making some “improvements” in the frail human brain which had been struggled for twenty years to interface with the machine. I mean, after all, the “plastic educator” had already given him a sizable boost in his mental abilities, despite the fact that the Krell device was just intended to give young Krell intellects a slight nudge in the right direction.

This would be the machines first chance to download some serious updates for Morbius’ brain!

What would this new Super-Morbius be like? What would he do about the self-destruct sequence of the Krell furnances? After all, he’s now more qualified than ever of to preventing an unready human race from acquiring the Krell secrets! And now that his “new and improved” brain is able to more fully utilize the power of the giant Krell Wish Machine, what could he wish up that would prevent the departing starship from knowing that Altair 4 had not been destroyed?

What, indeed? Hmmmmmmm . . .

Thoughts, anyone?



_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Gord Green]

Bud, you've touched upon some of the concepts I'm working on for "THE RETURN", my sequel to FP .

Morbius had interfaced with the Krel Machine and so had a shared intellect with ALL Krel knowledge even though he was consciously unaware of that fact. As Morbius had stated, the Krel had traversed the stars long in their past.

In my version, the Altair-4 Krel Machine was a node in a vast Krel nexus that spanned the stars, and the destruction of Altair-4 was NOT the end of the Edward Morbius' story.
_________________
There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]

________________________________

Speaking writer-to-writer, I admire the scope of your concept, the imagination that created it, and the manner in which it was inspired by Forbidden Planet.

I must admit, however, that I think you've made so many drastic changes in the original concept that it doesn't seem to be a sequel in the strictest sense.

That's fine, of course. A new concept like yours is exciting!

But it might be easier to appreciate it if you just presented your premise as an original idea inspired by Forbidden Planet, instead of a sequel. There's really no reason to tie your grand concept to the classic sci-fi film which (strictly speaking) doesn't seem to suggest most of the ideas your story presents.

The history of the Krell is presented by screenwriter Cyril Hume through Morbius' dialog, and we aren't supposed to assume he has his fact's wrong in the scene which takes place in Morbius' study when he lectures Adams and Ostrow. Even his comment about the Krell's visits to Earth are not meant to suggest that Altaira's pets are the progeny of Krell specimens brought back from Earth.

That was just Adam's mistaken assumption . . . unconfirmed by Morbius, because he knew it was not true.

The problem I have with your premise is that Forbidden Planet makes it clear the Krell were completely wiped out because the machine they created caused their own mass extinction.

If a sequel refutes that important element of the story, it completely undermines the foundation of the original concept. It would be like saying Romeo was gay and killed Juliet so he could have an affair with her brother!

My advice, Gord (writer-to-writer) would be to present your concept as an original idea with fond ties to Forbidden Planet — not as an extension of the most well-establish science fiction story in sci-fi history.
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Maurice]

[Bud Brewster]

[Gord Green]

[Gord Green]

[Bud Brewster]

[Gord Green]

The entire concept of "without instramentalities" reveals some of the issue.

[Maurice]

[Bud Brewster]

________________________________

Gord, you've got a great concept for a story!

Unfortunately I'm afraid it's just not based on Forbidden Planet.

Screenwriter Cyril Hume used the Morbius character to explain what the Krell were like and what the machine was designed to do. He made it very plain that the machine was meant to do one amazing thing: rid the Krell of any need to manufacture solid objects ("physical instrumentalities") of any kind.

"Creation by mere thought" is how Cyril Hume described it (using the dialog spoken by Adams character). There is no suggestion whatsoever in the story — as told my Cyril Hume's screenplay — that the machine provided virtual reality experiences for the Krell. And it does state specifically that they visited many other planets — including Earth, sixteen lightyears away.

As for the idea that the Krell had colony worlds, I'm sure the Krell were well aware of the dangers a species faces if they don't spread their race to other planets. An extinction event could wipe out the Krell if they didn't have colonies!

Forgive me, but I dislike the idea of drastically rewriting the core concepts of Cyril Hume's magnificent story and calling it a sequel to Forbidden Planet.

As I said, your concepts are magnificent! But why call your race of aliens the Krell and your virtual reality device the "Krell Machine" when clearly they are not consistent with the well established, frequently discussed, clearly defined elements of this beloved movie?

Why not just say that Forbidden Planet inspired you to create a story which includes the elements you've described? I think your story deserves a life of its own, without saying its an extension of Forbidden Planet. You've changed the very nature and purpose of the Krell machine, as well as several established aspects of the Krell race.

I would LOVE to discuss your story on that basis. But claiming that your fascinating concepts are derived directly from the plot of Forbidden Planet is, in my opinion, not correct.
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Gord Green]

Edited from Old School Heritic Blog

THOUGHTS ON THE KRELL

http://oldschoolheretic.blogspot.com/2011/04/forbidden-planet-finally.html

We're returning to Forbidden Planet.

Everything is not quite as it seems in this wonderful old movie. There's a dark and sinister side to it, one of mythic proportions that casts a disquieting shadow over this classic gem of the 1950s cinema.

Come along with me now as we delve a bit deeper into the lurking horrors that await us deep below the surface of Altair 4. Bring a blaster. Mine's out for repairs.

The following is extracted from a version of the Forbidden Planet Script, a transcript really, that has been painstakingly transcribed using the screenplay and/or viewings of Forbidden Planet by a guy named Drew.

The Krell Public Relations Campaign

"In times long past...

this planet was the home of a mighty and noble race of beings...

which called themselves the Krell.

Ethically, as well as technologically...
they were a million years ahead of humankind...
for in unlocking the mysteries of nature...
they had conquered even their baser selves...
and when, in the course of eons, they had abolished sickness...
and insanity and crime and all injustice...
they turned, still with high benevolence...outward toward space.

Long before the dawn of man's history, they had walked our Earth...
and brought back many biological specimens."

The Krell are great, the Krell are good, the Krell know better than we do just what is going on with the universe--or do they?

Then where are they?

Did they "...succumb to a...to a sort of a planetary force here...some dark, terrible, incomprehensible force?"

You bet they did. And with a little effort and a quick trip to Altair 4 you can too. But we'll get to that in a moment.

So we know that the Krell visited the Earth way back when. They brought back specimens such as tigers and deer. Okay, so maybe they missed the dinosaurs, but Altair 4 looks like a great place for some dinosaurs.

Anyhow. The Krell seem to have almost the same hyper-rational fixation as the Metalunans from This Island Earth. For my money the Krell are probably related to the Metalunans. Something about the smug superiority complex and brain expanding machines just makes it seem appropriate.

Metalunans are probably the scabby remnants of the ancient Krell civilization. They were dying out, granted they were getting a little help in hastening their eventual extinction by the Zagons.

Back to Forbidden Planet.

From Drew's Transcript again:

"The heights they had reached...but then, seemingly on the threshold of some supreme accomplishment...which was to have crowned their entire history...this all but divine race perished in a single night."

This all but divine race perished in a single night.

Really? A star-faring civilization that had reached multiple planets was expunged in one fell swoop?

That's either a massive over-generalization, a bit of hyperbole, or something really, really rotten is going on deep below the crust of Altair 4.

The highly advanced, highly ethical, all but divine Krell built an impressive super-technological civilization, at least according to Morbius.

He wouldn't lie. Would he?

Didn't the brain-expansion machines down below in the alien labs located conveniently right beneath Morbius' cozy little chalet also enhance his ethical nature as well? Hmmm...

No.

It didn't.

He should have been able to have used his super-enhanced brain to out-think and out-wit the lonely spacemen on the C-57D. But he didn't.

He also revealed too much of what was down below the surface of the planet, much like a classic Bond villain. He put a lot of people in potential jeopardy and a genius like he was supposed to be, with highly advanced ethics like the Krell supposedly had would not have done things that way.

Not unless deep down he wanted to do it. Or was being manipulated into doing it.

Keep that thought in mind as we move along a bit.

Whatever happened, it wiped away all traces of the Krell. Or at least most such traces.

"In the centuries since that unexplained catastrophe...even their cloud-piercing towers...of glass and porcelain and adamantine steel...have crumbled back into the soil of Altair...and nothing, absolutely nothing remains above ground."

Okay. Sounds like a seriously cool post-apocalyptic dungeoncrawl on an alien planet in the making.

What did the Krell look like?

"No record of their physical nature has survived...except, perhaps, in the form of this characteristic arch. I suggest you consider it in comparison to one of our...functionally designed human doorways."

That arch is shaped like a truncated diamond. It would accomodate Daleks, but there is one other vaguely conical rugose race that also were supposedly super-advanced in their technology that spring to mind, But we'll wait on that for a moment.

The alien ruins beneath the surface of Altair 4 are the most impressive, and one of the biggest Megadungeons of them all.

Morbius takes the intrepid Captain J. J. Adams and his chief medical officer (sound like anyone else's manner of handling an away team?) on a tour of the mega-huge underground Krell installation just beneath their feet.

The place is 20 miles in each direction and powered by 9,200 thermonuclear reactors. The entire alien complex had been operating and maintaining itself ever since the extinction of the Krell.

When asked about its purpose, Morbius says he knows only that it can supply a practically limitless supply of power.
Over 8,000 square miles …that's 40 miles cubed, 8,000 cubic miles of complex, 7,800 levels, 401 great shafts = 400 surrounding a central shaft—that's if Morbius was correct in accessing the Central Shaft.

We'll just assume he was. He was a smart guy after all.

That's one incredible Megadungeon. You couldn't map it with forty pounds of graph paper and a year locked in a padded cell. Not. That. Anyone. Has. Tried. That. Of course.

Ahem.

Down in the Altair 4 Megadungeon, in the Labs, Morbius shows off some of the tools and toys left behind by whomever built the place.

"On this screen may be projected...the total scientific knowledge of the Krell...from its primitive beginning to the day of its annihilation...a sheer bulk surpassing many million earthly libraries."

Yeah. A massive, hidden repository of lost knowledge buried deep under the crust of a planet and maintained by super-high tech perpetually self-sufficient. Hmmm...where might we have read of anything like that before, like in 1934 perhaps?

Morbius knows a lot more than he's letting on. He has gained a great deal of Forbidden Knowledge.

"Twenty years ago, I began here with...this page of geometrical theorems. Eventually I was able to deduce most of their huge, logical alphabet. I began to learn. The first practical result was my robot...which you gentlemen appear to find so remarkable. Child's play. I've come here every day now for two decades...painfully picking up a few of the least difficult fragments of their knowledge."

A logical alphabet. Geometry. Knowledge that is dangerous to those not properly prepared by the mind expanding mechanisms so as to withstand the shock of its revelation. Knowledge that is difficult to cope with even after letting the alien machines mess around inside your skull. Knowledge that is painfully obscure, esoteric, and incredibly ancient--left behind by a race that was expunged from physical existence in one evening, a near divine race of super geniuses who had been to Earth a long time ago.

In 1934, H. P. Lovecraft wrote a story titled The Shadow Out of Time. In this story he introduced an alien race, a Great Race...

"The Great Race ... waxed well-nigh omniscient, and turned to the task of setting up exchanges with the minds of other planets, and of exploring their pasts and futures. It sought likewise to fathom the past years and origin of that black, aeon-dead orb in far space whence its own mental heritage had come – for the mind of the Great Race was older than its bodily form. . .

The beings of a dying elder world, wise with the ultimate secrets, had looked ahead for a new world and species wherein they might have long life; and had sent their minds en masse into that future race best adapted to house them – the cone-shaped beings that peopled our earth a billion years ago."

—H. P. Lovecraft, The Shadow Out of Time

IA! IA! Krell Fhtagn!

The Krell are probably not the Great Race.

Altair 4 is very likely one more world that the Great Race built one of their repositories of knowledge upon.

The Krell, some offshoot of the Metalunans possibly, stumbled upon the Megadungeon-like Machine beneath Altair 4 and in their haste to sample forbidden knowledge they unleashed the Monster of the Id and it destroyed them.

It's a theory.
_________________
There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Maurice]

DID the Krell actually visit Earth, or is that something Morbius concluded based upon seeing the Earth animals, not suspecting said animals might be the creation of the great machine?
_________________
* * *
"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles

[Gord Green]

Maurice, that's a good question.

When Morbius showed off the computer screen table-top readout in the Krell Lab he stated that it contained the complete knowledge of the Krell going back to their origins eons ago.



If that was so I would imagine that would include the history of the Krell's explorations in space and lists of destinations as well as descriptions of the journeys.

Did Morbius misunderstand (since by his own admission he had the intellect of a Krell moron!) OR did his sub-conscious convince him...OR...did he just outright lie?

Personally, I think his subconcious mind made him believe what he wanted to believe, after all I think it blocked out that the "monster" was really due to him!
_________________
There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]