External links
| Films | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Television series |
| ||||
| Characters |
| ||||
| Music | |||||
| Video games |
| ||||
| Attractions | |||||
| Quotes | |||||
| Related | |||||
| "Soldier" | |
|---|---|
| The Outer Limits episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Gerd Oswald |
| Written by | Harlan Ellison |
| Based on | "Soldier from Tomorrow" by Harlan Ellison (source material uncredited) |
| Cinematography by | Kenneth Peach |
| Production code | 34 |
| Original air date | September 19, 1964 |
| Guest appearances | |
"Soldier" is the first of two episodes of The Outer Limits television series written by Harlan Ellison and is loosely adapted from his 1957 short story "Soldier from Tomorrow." Ellison later brought suit against the producers and distributor of The Terminator (1984) for plagiarism [1] of this episode.
Eighteen hundred years in the future, two infantrymen clash on a battlefield. A random energy weapon strikes both and they are hurled into a time vortex. While one soldier is temporarily trapped in the time limbo, the other, Qarlo Clobregnny, materializes in an alley off a city street in the United States in the year 1964.
The feral Qarlo is soon captured and later interrogated by Tom Kagan, a philologist. Qarlo’s origin is eventually discovered after Kagan translates his seemingly unintelligible language – "Nims qarlo clobregnny prite arem aean teaan deao" – into colloquial English..."(My) name is Qarlo Clobregnny, private, RM EN TN DO"; his name, rank and serial letters, which is what any soldier would reveal if captured by the enemy. Qarlo has been bred and trained for one purpose – to kill the enemy. Kagan makes progress in "taming" Qarlo, however, and despite the reservations of his government associates, Kagan takes Qarlo to his home and family. Although he seemingly begins to trust Kagan, Qarlo breaks into a gun shop and brings home a rifle.
Meanwhile, the time eddy holding the enemy soldier eventually weakens and he materializes in 1964 and tracks Qarlo to Kagan's home. In a final hand-to-hand battle, the soldiers kill each other, but the question is posed whether Qarlo sacrificed his life because he was trained to kill, or because he wanted to save the Kagan family.
Interiors were shot at Paramount Studios. Qarlo’s “War Zone" was shot on the Paramount Sunset stage, a gigantic stage the size of three stages put together. A sky cyclorama ran all the way round it and a horizon line of mountains was placed in front of that in diminished perspective. A fog machine provided the landscape with a smokey haziness. The gun shop scene was filmed on the Paramount Backlot, on New York Street. [2]
Ellison brought suit against The Terminator production company Hemdale and distributor Orion Pictures for plagiarism [1] of this episode, since both works involve a soldier from the future who goes back in time and saves the life of a present-day woman from an enemy soldier from the future. According to the Los Angeles Times , the parties settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount, and an acknowledgement of Ellison's works in the credits of Terminator. [1] The credits were added only to the home video releases of Terminator and read simply, "Acknowledgment to the Works of Harlan Ellison". The credit was also present on the 4k restoration that received a cinematic release and was released on Blu-ray in 2024 for the film's 40th anniversary. [3] [ better source needed ]
James Cameron denied Ellison's allegations and was opposed to the settlement. He has rarely spoken about the issue, but commented on the addition of acknowledgement credits at the 1991 T2 Convention saying, "For legal reasons I'm not supposed to comment on that, but it was a real bum deal, I had nothing to do with it and I disagree with it." [4]
Author Kevin J. Anderson later wrote a prose sequel for the episode entitled Prisoner of War which was published in the anthology The Outer Limits: Armageddon Dreams. [5]
| Films | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Television series |
| ||||
| Characters |
| ||||
| Music | |||||
| Video games |
| ||||
| Attractions | |||||
| Quotes | |||||
| Related | |||||
Harlan Jay Ellison was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. His published works include more than 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, comic book scripts, teleplays, essays, and a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media. Some of his best-known works include the 1967 Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever", considered by some to be the single greatest episode of the Star Trek franchise, his A Boy and His Dog cycle, and his short stories "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" and "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman". He was also editor and anthologist for Dangerous Visions (1967) and Again, Dangerous Visions (1972). Ellison won numerous awards, including multiple Hugos, Nebulas, and Edgars.
The Terminator is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, written by Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd and produced by Hurd. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cybernetic assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son will one day save mankind from extinction by Skynet, a hostile artificial intelligence in a post-apocalyptic future. Kyle Reese is a soldier sent back in time to protect Sarah. The screenplay is credited to Cameron and Hurd, while co-writer William Wisher Jr. received an "additional dialogue" credit.
Terminator is an American media franchise created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. It is considered to be of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction. The franchise primarily focuses on a post-apocalyptic war between a synthetic intelligence known as Skynet, and a surviving resistance of humans led by John Connor. Skynet fights with an arsenal of cyborgs known as Terminators, designed to mimic humans and infiltrate the resistance. A prominent model throughout the films is the T-800, commonly known as the Terminator and portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Time travel is a common aspect of the franchise, with humans and Terminators often sent back to alter the past and change the outcome of the future.
"The City on the Edge of Forever" is the twenty-eighth and penultimate episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. It was written by Harlan Ellison; contributors to and/or editors of the script included Steven W. Carabatsos, D. C. Fontana and Gene L. Coon. Gene Roddenberry made the final re-write. The episode was directed by Joseph Pevney and first aired on NBC on April 6, 1967.
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series which aired from September 27, 1985, to April 15, 1989. It is the first of three revivals of Rod Serling's acclaimed 1959–64 television series, and like the original it featured a variety of speculative fiction, commonly containing characters from a seemingly normal world stumbling into paranormal circumstances. Unlike the original, however, most episodes contained multiple self-contained stories instead of just one. The voice-over narrations were still present, but were not a regular feature as they were in the original series; some episodes had only an opening narration, some had only a closing narration, and some had no narration at all. The multi-segment format liberated the series from the usual time constraints of episodic television, allowing stories ranging in length from 8-minutes to 40-minute mini-movies. The series ran for two seasons on CBS before producing a final season for syndication.
Mr. Bug Goes to Town is an American animated Technicolor feature film produced by Fleischer Studios, previewed by Paramount Pictures on December 5, 1941, and released in California and New York City in February 1942. The film was originally intended to be an adaptation of Maurice Maeterlinck's The Life of the Bee, but Paramount was unwilling to purchase the rights from Samuel Goldwyn, and instead developed an original modern story loosely inspired by the book.
"Corpus Earthling" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 18 November 1963, during the first season.
"Nightmare" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 2 December 1963, during the first season.
"Demon with a Glass Hand" is an episode of the American television series The Outer Limits, the second to be based on a script by Harlan Ellison, which Ellison wrote specifically with actor Robert Culp in mind for the lead role. It originally aired on October 17, 1964, and was the fifth episode of the second season. In 2009, TV Guide ranked "Demon with a Glass Hand" #73 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is an American science fiction drama television series. It aired on Fox from January 13, 2008 to April 10, 2009, spanning 31 episodes across two seasons. It is a spin-off from the Terminator film series, disregarding the events of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and picking up shortly after Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The series revolves around the lives of Sarah Connor and her son John, who work to prevent the creation of Skynet, an artificially intelligent computer system that will eventually launch a nuclear war on humans.
"Pilot" is the pilot episode of the American science fiction television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It is also the series premiere episode. It first aired on January 13, 2008 on Fox in the United States.
"Heavy Metal" is the fourth episode of the American television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Written by John Enbom, the episode aired on Fox on February 4, 2008, and features the discovery and stymieing of another Terminator and its preparatory mission to artificially bolster Skynet's future war resources, as well as Cromartie's realization of his new human disguise.
The Outer Limits is an American television series that was broadcast on ABC from September 16, 1963, to January 16, 1965, at 7:30 PM Eastern Time on Mondays. It is often compared to The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction stories. It is an anthology of self-contained episodes, sometimes with plot twists at their ends.
The Outer Limits is a science fiction anthology television series that originally aired between 1995 and 2002 on Showtime, Syfy, and in syndication. The series is a revival of the original The Outer Limits series that aired from 1963 to 1965.
"Soldier From Tomorrow" is a 1957 science fiction short story by Harlan Ellison, originally published in Fantastic Universe in October 1957. Its protagonist is Qarlo Clobregnny, a soldier from thousands of years in the future, who has been conditioned from birth by the State solely to fight and kill the enemy. After time traveling to the present, Qarlo is "civilized" by Lyle Sims, a government agent, and Soames, a philologist, and eventually goes on a lecture tour to warn of the coming armageddon. Ellison loosely adapted the story for his script for the 1964 The Outer Limits episode "Soldier".
A Boy and His Dog is a 1975 American black comedy science fiction film directed by actor L. Q. Jones, from a screenplay by Jones based on the 1969 novella of the same title by fantasy author Harlan Ellison. The film stars Don Johnson, Susanne Benton, Alvy Moore, and Jason Robards. It was independently produced and distributed by Jones' company LQ/Jaf Productions. The film's storyline concerns a teenage boy, Vic, and his telepathic dog, Blood, who work together as a team in order to survive in the dangerous post-apocalyptic wasteland of the Southwestern United States. Shout! Factory released the film on DVD and Blu-ray in August 2013.
Terminator Genisys is a 2015 American cyberpunk action film that is the fifth installment in the Terminator franchise. It is a reboot of the franchise, taking the premise of the original film in another direction and ignoring the events depicted in sequels and the TV series. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, who reprises his role as the Terminator. It is directed by Alan Taylor and written by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier. Along with Schwarzenegger, the film's cast features Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, J. K. Simmons, Dayo Okeniyi, Matt Smith, Courtney B. Vance, Michael Gladis, Sandrine Holt, and Lee Byung-hun. The story follows Kyle Reese, a soldier in a post-apocalyptic war against Skynet, who is sent from 2029 to 1984 to prevent Sarah Connor's death. When Kyle arrives in the past, he discovers that the timeline has been altered by Skynet and that Sarah has been raised by a reprogrammed Terminator sent to protect her.
Terminator: Dark Fate is a 2019 American science fiction action film. It is the sixth installment in the Terminator franchise and serves as a direct sequel to both The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), ignoring the events depicted in Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009), and Terminator Genisys (2015). The film stars Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising their characters Sarah Connor and the T-800 Terminator, respectively, and introduces Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna and Diego Boneta as new characters. Dark Fate is directed by Tim Miller and written by David S. Goyer, Justin Rhodes, and Billy Ray, based on a story by James Cameron, Charles H. Eglee, Josh Friedman, Goyer, and Rhodes.
This is a list of works by Harlan Ellison (1934–2018). It includes his literary output, screenplays and teleplays, voiceover work, and other fields of endeavor.
