Bill, the Galactic Hero (film)

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Bill, the Galactic Hero
Bill, the Galactic Hero (film).jpg
Directed by Alex Cox
Danny Beard (co-director)
Merritt Crocker (co-director)
Amanda Gostomski (co-director)
Alicia Ramírez (co-director)
Raziel Scher (co-director)
Jordan Thompson (co-director)
Written byAlex Cox
Based on Bill, the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison
Produced by Sultan Saeed Al Darmaki
Malcolm Edwards
David Stewart Zink
Brigid Igoe
Kaleb Tholen
Claudio Bottaccini
Kyle Curry
Charles Gill
George P. Snoga
Simon Tams
Steven Christopher Wallace
Starring James Miller
Cinematography Robert Ortega
Grant Speich
Edited by Mia Debakker
Music by David Bashford
Production
companies
Release date
  • December 12, 2014 (2014-12-12)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Bill, the Galactic Hero is a 2014 science fiction student film directed by Alex Cox and six student co-directors based on Harry Harrison's 1965 novel of the same name.

Contents

Plot synopsis

Bill is a farm hand who is drugged and shanghaied into the Space Troopers. Bill initially works as a fuse tender but when his ship is struck by enemy fire Bill finds himself the only remaining soldier capable of firing on the enemy Chingers. He destroys an enemy fleet with a lucky shot and is proclaimed a hero. He becomes lost in a labyrinth of bureaucracy, eventually recruiting his own younger brother into military service to the chagrin of his mother.

Cast

Production

Alex Cox had initially optioned the rights to a film version of Harry Harrison's 1965 novel in 1983 as he was completing Repo Man . The project met with studio resistance and remained unmade until 2012 when Alex Cox had begun teaching film production at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He had the idea to have his students film an adaptation of the novel and suggested the idea to Harrison, who granted Cox an academic license to produce a student film [1] [2] and was working with Cox on the screenplay for the film at the time of his death in 2012. [3] In March 2013, Cox launched a Kickstarter campaign, hoping to raise $100,000 to shoot the film. The campaign exceeded the goal and raised $114,957 from 1,106 backers. [4] Cox also succeeded in getting numerous film professionals to work on a royalties basis. The film went into production in October. [5] Scenes were shot in university buildings. Iggy Pop, who wrote and performed the song "Repo Man" for Alex Cox's 1984 film, also wrote and performed the theme song for Bill, the Galactic Hero. [6]

Release

The film premiered in Boulder, Colorado on December 12, 2014. It gained positive reviews. [7] [8] [9] It was later shown on New Year's Eve at the Clinton Street Theater. [10]

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<i>Repo Man</i> (film) 1984 film by Alex Cox

Repo Man is a 1984 American science fiction black comedy film written and directed by Alex Cox in his directorial debut. It stars Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez, with Tracey Walter, Olivia Barash, Sy Richardson, Vonetta McGee, Fox Harris, and Dick Rude among the supporting cast. Set in Los Angeles, the plot concerns a young punk rocker (Estevez) who is recruited by a car repossession agency and gets caught up in the pursuit of a mysterious Chevrolet Malibu that might be connected to extraterrestrials.

Alex Cox English film director, screenwriter, and actor

Alexander B. H. Cox is an English film director, screenwriter, actor, nonfiction author and broadcaster. Cox experienced success early in his career with Repo Man and Sid and Nancy, but since the release and commercial failure of Walker, his career has moved towards independent films. Cox received a co-writer credit for the screenplay of Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) for previous work on the script before it was rewritten by Gilliam.

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Iggy Pop American musician

James Newell Osterberg Jr., known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor. Designated the "Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band The Stooges, who were formed in 1967 and have disbanded and reunited many times since.

Harry Harrison (writer) American science fiction author (1925–2012)

Harry Max Harrison was an American science fiction author, known mostly for his character The Stainless Steel Rat and for his novel Make Room! Make Room! (1966). The latter was the rough basis for the motion picture Soylent Green (1973). Long resident in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, Harrison was involved in the foundation of the Irish Science Fiction Association, and was, with Brian Aldiss, co-president of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group.

<i>Bill, the Galactic Hero</i>

Bill, the Galactic Hero is a satirical science fiction novel by American writer Harry Harrison, first published in 1965. A novella length version appeared in the magazine Galaxy Science Fiction in 1964 under the name "The Starsloggers".

<i>Legend of the Galactic Heroes</i> Novel by Yoshiki Tanaka

Legend of the Galactic Heroes, sometimes abbreviated as LOTGH, LOGH or Gin'eiden (銀英伝) in Japanese, is a series of science fiction novels written by Yoshiki Tanaka. In humanity's distant future, two interstellar states – the monarchic Galactic Empire and the democratic Free Planets Alliance – are embroiled in a never-ending war. The story focuses on the exploits of rivals Reinhard von Lohengramm and Yang Wen-li, as they rise to power and fame in the Galactic Empire and the Free Planets Alliance, respectively.

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References

  1. Rubino, Joe (16 October 2012). "Apollo-era replica space suits take earthbound trip across CU-Boulder campus". Daily Camera. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  2. "BILL, THE GALACTIC HERO". 10 February 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  3. Child, Ben (17 April 2013). "Alex Cox crowdfunds Bill the Galactic Hero film via Kickstarter". The Guardian.
  4. "Alex Cox directs BILL THE GALACTIC HERO". Kickstarter.
  5. Kickstarter campaign page for Bill, The Galactic Hero
  6. "Iggy Pop reunites with director Alex Cox for 'Bill, the Galactic Hero'". 21 January 2015.
  7. Casciato, Cory (10 December 2014). "Alex Cox on Bill the Galactic Hero, Biggest Student Movie of All Time". Denver Westworld. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  8. Casey, Michael (18 December 2014). "An independent fit for Boulder". Boulder Weekly. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  9. Fortune, Ed (19 December 2014). "Bill, the Galactic Hero". Daily Camera. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  10. "Special New Year's Eve Screening: BILL THE GALACTIC HERO - The Clinton Street Theater". cstpdx.com.