Science Fiction Trivia

[ffutures]

More on the clues

TMWMM - Story - Late 1950s, American author, Hugo Award nominee.

TIWUaSMwT - Film (a reversal of this plot, trying to keep someone alive who was historically killed) - 1970s, Not English language, humour

TLSfE - Novel - 1960s, American author, begins in an alternate history.

MH - Novel - 1990s, British author

SD - TV series - Late 1990s, American

Two of these involve Hitler!

[spud42]

TIWUaSMwT - Film (a reversal of this plot, trying to keep someone alive who was historically killed) - 1970s, Not English language, humour

How did this get a 7.1/10 rating on IMDB? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213322/

Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea
it took a while to find this and only because of the unusual title....

not seen it and after reading the plot i think i will give it a miss...lol

[ffutures]

TIWUaSMwT - Film (a reversal of this plot, trying to keep someone alive who was historically killed) - 1970s, Not English language, humour

How did this get a 7.1/10 rating on IMDB? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213322/

Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea
it took a while to find this and only because of the unusual title....

not seen it and after reading the plot i think i will give it a miss...lol

OK, one to Spud for a very silly time travel film with plot by SF author Josef Nesvadba, which amused a lot of SF fans when he was guest of honour at a British convention in 1980-ish. Watch out for the reversed video title sequence and the impressive number of accidental deaths the hero causes while trying to prevent Hitler from being saved. It's free to watch on Youtube, but the subtitles are a pretty dire translation

https://youtu.be/tVBPNfKfgNo?si=QEKp7rlTSF5X3liM

Two to go!

[RockDoctor]

It's free to watch on Youtube, but the subtitles are a pretty dire translation

https://youtu.be/tVBPNfKfgNo?si=QEKp7rlTSF5X3liM

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

EDIT : Downloading ; I may live to regret this.

[ffutures]

Meanwhile, does anyone have any more answers?

Let's expand the remaining clues again...

TMWMM - Story - Late 1950s, American author, Hugo Award nominee. The last word of the title is the name of a historically important figure.

TLSfE - Novel - 1960s, American author, begins in an alternate history. Religion plays a large part in the story, and space travel is an important part of the story.

MH - Novel - 1990s, British author. A fairly grim plot from an author best known as a humorist.

SD - TV series - Late 1990s, American. The pilot episode is most relevant, and uncannily parallels one of the incidents from a Tom Clancy novel published only four years earlier (yes, I'm being sarcastic). Some alien technology is involved.

[ffutures]

SD - TV series - Late 1990s, American. The pilot episode is most relevant, and uncannily parallels one of the incidents from a Tom Clancy novel published only four years earlier (yes, I'm being sarcastic). Some alien technology is involved.

Sorry, I was remembering the plot of this one wrong, it's time travellers trying to STOP an assassination. The assassins are not time travellers. If anyone can figure this one out I'll still accept it as an answer since the error is my fault.

Or do people want to throw the towel in on this and have another question, since we really haven't got very far with it?

[spud42]

the last few questions about killing and assinations is a bit off... i think we have done enough of that...

[ffutures]

the last few questions about killing and assinations is a bit off... i think we have done enough of that...

Good point - anyone else like to switch to something else? Or object to it?

[ffutures]

OK... given the lack of response and general apathy that seems to have set in I'm going to halt this round here and set another question - apologies that I picked a theme that people didn't like.

The answers to the clues I gave

TMWMM - Story - Late 1950s, American author, Hugo Award nominee. The last word of the title is the name of a historically important figure.
The Men Who Murdered Mohammed by Alfred Bester. It turns out that trying to change history just breaks your connection to the real world.

TLSfE - Novel - 1960s, American author, begins in an alternate history. Religion plays a large part in the story, and space travel is an important part of the story.
The Last Starship from Earth by John Boyd - starts off in a world where Christ was executed by crossbow, time travellers want to change history and eliminate him altogether and get it a little wrong.

MH - Novel - 1990s, British author. A fairly grim plot from an author best known as a humorist.
Making History by Stephen Fry (of Fry and Laurie) - an attempt to stop Hitler being born works, but the result is not good.

SD - TV series - Late 1990s, American. The pilot episode is most relevant, and uncannily parallels one of the incidents from a Tom Clancy novel published only four years earlier (yes, I'm being sarcastic). Some alien technology is involved.
Seven Days - The pilot episode featured an attempt to stop the assassination of the US president (by crashing a plane containing nerve gas into the White House. They use time travel to stop it, but it turns out there's a second team of assassins and they have to make another time trip to stop that one too. Tom Clancy used the idea (without time travel or nerve gas) a few years earlier in Debt of Honor

OK, so we want another question that has nothing to do with assassination, and I think we need to give time travel a miss for a while too, although I will accept time travel stories if they are valid answers to the question below:

Let's have five works of science fiction (books, films, TV, comics, whatever) that feature characters returning from the dead. It needs to be an important part of the story, but it doesn't have to be the be-all and end-all of the plot. Death must be real and apparently permanent - no comas, mistaken identity, stunt doubles, etc. unless they are unusually convincing, funny, or both.

For example, if the Harry Potter series was SF the multiple returns of Voldemort would definitely qualify, as would Harry's own return at the end of the series.

Usual rules - no two from the same author / fictional universe, and please leave a few hours between one answer and the next to give others a chance to participate.

[Commander_X]

Bringing in (from the previous dead attempt, heh) Mass Effect quickly: in Mass Effect 2, in the opening scene, commander Sheppard dies as a result of an attack on his* ship, and a very appealing cinematic. His remains are recovered, and he is resurrected by Cerberus.

* I designate a male commander here, but the player's choice can lead to a female one.

[ffutures]

Bringing in (from the previous dead attempt, heh) Mass Effect quickly: in Mass Effect 2, in the opening scene, commander Sheppard dies as a result of an attack on his* ship, and a very appealing cinematic. His remains are recovered, and he is resurrected by Cerberus.

* I designate a male commander here, but the player's choice can lead to a female one.

That's one - no doubt that it's genuinely bringing back the dead. Four to go, and no more Mass Effect.

[Nite Owl]

Marvel Comics are full of such things.

Perhaps the best example is Jean Grey of the X-Men. While returning to Earth in a faulty Space Shuttle the X-Men are sure to die as they enter the atmosphere unless they huddle in a protected part of the ship. Problem is who then flies the Shuttle as the auto pilot is part of the faulty stuff. Jean Grey uses her Telekinesis to seal everyone in said protected area of the Shuttle and does the piloting. The Shuttle crashes into the ocean. No, she does not die at that point. She survives because she has become imbued with the power of The Phoenix. The Phoenix is a Cosmic Level entity right up there with Galactus. Skip ahead several adventurous years and The Phoenix is slowly becoming The Dark Phoenix with a need to feed on Stars. At least once one of those fed upon Stars had a populated planet in orbit around it with a population of Billions that did not fare well when their Star was eaten. More trials and tribulations ensue and a final battle takes place in which Jean Grey kills herself in dramatic Comic Book fashion to atone for the sins committed by The Dark Phoenix. Skip several more years later and suddenly Jean Grey is alive once again. Turns out that when the Shuttle crashed into the ocean The Phoenix did NOT take over Jean Grey's body but physically replaced it. The actual Jean Grey has been in some sort of suspended animation cocoon at the bottom of the ocean all this time.

This is my "brief" synopsis. If you want the detailed story go HERE and HERE.

[ffutures]

Marvel Comics are full of such things.

Perhaps the best example is Jean Grey of the X-Men.

Yes, that's another good one, and gets Marvel out of the way before we start arguing about Bucky Barnes so have an MBP for that! Three to go, and no more Mass Effect or Marvel.

[Wildeblood]

The eponymous Captain Scarlet, of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons fame...?

[spud42]

low hanging fruit. Spock... startrek movie something ( ok its 2,Wrath of Khan ) . dies at the end , genesis devise get shot at nebula. creates aplanet and Spocks body is launched at it...
Star Trek 3 Spock body resurected and reunited with his "spirit"trapped on McCoy...