I remember the book said that the people were always refugees who were turned away from Australia at their time of need; so this was their act of vengeance -- taking over Aus.
I read these books at about the tie the refugee boat people were taking place, so I always imagined the people are from the Middle East. It seems to suit their description of having "dark hair".
Wanderer Guilden
14 years ago
Wanderer Guilden
Mage
just thinking, what if they make them digitally? that way they can kind of look Anglosaxon -ish but they can have black hair.. and if they're digitally done then that means that if the voice actors that are playing them (if they make a compleatly new language) wont have to keep re-shooting the scene if the voice actors stuff it up because its a new language...
it would be awsome, and if they can get it as good as (if not better) than HP then they've got the tick of aproval from me... :P (not that my tick counts for much) ....
14 years ago
Wed Jun 24 2009, 04:03pm
i somehow doubt they've got the funds to do anything significantly digital or bother to make a new language. In any case, i don't really like digital redoing tonnes of stuff- especially if they're just human.
I doubt they'll even speak a foreign language- it will just english with some form of accent- as with most foreign enemies ever played in movies, they always speak english so that the target audience (teens) won't have to read subtitles... :P well and so they don't have to get actors speaking foreign languages!
I think they might stick with a vague asian appearance - there's a part in one of the books where he draws the analogy of a people flaunting their wealth in front of poor neighbours ...
Ashlings' guildleader
14 years ago
Fri Jun 26 2009, 10:49am
Ashlings' guildleader
Dreamscape Artist
I always assumed asian origin simply by a process of elimination of the countries which would actually be able to mount such an invasian yet still fulfil the criteria of having vast amounts of poverty. Think about it, you remember the scene in the clearing from the night before commem day. Their air force outnumbers ours greatly even with the addition of NZ forces and I think they said that their planes were newer and better than ours as well.
Now, we don't have the greatest army in the world, but we are one of the major powers in our region, so its likely to be one of the great powers of our time. Wikipedia sites the following nations as great powers as of the year 2000; Japan, France, Germany, China, Russia, UK and USA (there are a few other countries who I think could take us, but I'm not an expert so I won't go into that).
Factor in over population and a high poverty rate and there isn't much left.
(0-)
I was typing all that out when suddenly an alternative came to mind. Perhaps an alliance of smaller poverty stricken nations is the key. Its less likely that such a thing could be kept secret from our intelligence forces, but mayhap this is the key to getting around 'the issue of the enemy'. In the case of an alliance, the enemy could actually be from a range of nations and speak a neutral language, thus making a range of nationalities of actors and the use of a current language feasible.
Wanderer Guilden
14 years ago
Wanderer Guilden
Mage
that's a brilliant idea Sian! that's probably plausable, actually... if they think about it deeply... *wonders if they really will* :-/
anyways, i wonder how good the explosion scene is going to be.... do you think they'll go all-out? *hopes that they do* if they don't people might not like it as much (im speaking about typical teenage gung-ho guys that probably wouldn't go near a book with a twenty-foot broomstick) .... but, then again..... im not going to cry over that loss anytime soon.... ;D
I'm a bit dubious about the whole thing. I grew up with these books. When I started reading them (in year 5, in 1995) only two or three had been written. It's hard to articulate it to people who grew up with the whole series already written, but they were like the Harry Potter books to people my age. Everyone read them, everyone had theories, everyone worried about who would die in the next book.
The thought of a film appalls me.
In regards to the nationality of the 'invaders', my friends and I basically worked out that they were Indonesian (it fit in with what Marsden was saying and with the politics of the mid-to-late 90s), but I can see how this might be a problem.
Basically, all I'm saying here is that I don't really like the idea of a film, since to me the books are so bound up in an 1990s, post-Cold War but pre-911 mindset, and I'm sure any filmmakers will try to update the story. If films are made, I'll treat them as I did the film of Northern Lights: they exist, but I won't seek out information about them, watch them, or give them my money in any way.
You're right - the story has dated - different times, different issues. Updating would just be clunky additions to the story.
Ugh, I remember hearing the age old rumours about this being made into a movie years back and I was hopeful for it then but now that it seems to be happening I don't know how I feel. I think I'm just tired of seeing books I love get destroyed in movie editions . . . meh, I'll probably go see it anyway though.
As for the invader's I wont be surprised if they just cast them as asian and avoid any key identifying features that would point to any particular nation. I don't know.
No matter how many times they mutilate a beloved book we go back to the movies?
WHY?!
Because we want to see if how others view the books aligns with our imaginations, and then we are horribly depressed by all the glammed up, pretty people they use who dequirkify our favourite characters.
I havent read these books in years, but I always pictured them as Asian, thinking it had been described as such...but now I feel racist and unsure ~:|
Great site, Cat-Eyes!
Marsden is very careful to avoid anything that can be construed as a direct reference to the nationality of the invaders. Thus, Ellie and her friends don't recognise the invaders' language when it's spoken, and whenever the name of a member of the invading force is mentioned, it's always 'too difficult for me to make out' (so they get referred to as 'General S.' and so on). That being said, there are hints that it is certainly a country near to Australia, and one which is small, poor and overcrowded. There are also references to Australia not paying enough attention to the plight of people from this country, not caring enough or attempting to help fix its problems with diplomacy, which fits in with Indonesia in the 90s. (However, the soap packet with non-Latin script doesn't fit in with Indonesia, as I think they use the Latin script. I thought it could possibly be Arabic, although that raises a whole other set of questions.)
That being said, we really don't know. My friends and I basically decided that it was Indonesia, and everything we read after making that decision seemed to confirm our suspicions.
14 years ago
Thu Jul 02 2009, 08:41am
Haha, I was looking through my school library today and started contemplating reading them again because I haven't read them in about three months, then I came home and came onto Obernet to find this. I honestly don't mind them making movies of the series, as long as its not as bad as Eragon I'll be happy (That movie was absolutely terrible!!!!!!!!). Yes the enemy is an issue, but surely they can make up their own language based on the information that we've heard in the books (Kind of like what they did in that film 'The Fifth Element' where the director and Milla Jovovich devised their own language, it couldn't possibly be that hard could it?). Anyways I don't think it'll end up being as bad as everyone thinks it will be so lets have faith in the director and John Marsden to produce a worthy product.
I don't know If I want to see this as a movie. I loved these books so much - they kept me sane sometimes. They were such a big part of my senior years of high school.
And yet then again, seeing them on screen would be pretty cool...
But I think the problem with the books is that there are too many anonymous characters, settings, and general things not thoroughly explained. I mean, it's OK book -wise, but not for an adaption.
And what are the enemy going to wear? Hockey masks??? Just so they aren't identifified as a particular race??
I am so happy for John Marsden, but this is kind of crap.
Wanderer Ward
14 years ago
Wanderer Ward
Mage
That is an awesome site Cat-Eyes!
I think I'm going to stick with my earlier idea, they should make up a language (Black Dog, I agree, it shouldn't be too hard), and use obviously different actors (ie of all different ethnic backgrounds) so that it is quite obvious that there is no particular country being targeted.
Dolorosa, I too thought it might have been Indonesia, and while Indonesian is usually written using the Latin language, it is a Muslim country, so there is the possibility for them to have products labeled in the Arabic alphabet...
Ashlings' guildleader
14 years ago
Ashlings' guildleader
Dreamscape Artist
I never really considered Indonesia an option, to an extent this is possibly because I started reading them along time after they were published, but I think there are other reasons. For one thing, the invader's justifications are based on communist principles and Indonesia invaded east timor on the basis that it was an anti-communist action in 1975.
... :O They're making a movie outta it?
This is like when I heard Twilight was being turned into a movie. I feared that it would become a massive failure (Ha! Man, was I wrong!) and put me off the books, fortunately it has only done one of those ;P
Tomorrow When The War Began Movie = EPIC FAILURE! *face palms *
This is gonna flop. I know it will, the book can not be made into a movie. I can't really explain why I feel this way, maybe because actually seeing modern Australian 16 year olds fighting a war will seem really unrealistic. And because I know they won't stick to the actual book. :(
I wonder how English teachers nation wide are reacting to this news. Perhaps thy will be rejoicing as it might help the students become more excited about the book. On the down side but students will probably just watch the film instead of reading the novel.
Still, I won't not be seeing this movie. As a fan of the series I feel I have to.
Oh God, they'll release the books with the movie characters on the cover. I hate those covers! I actually prefer the barbed wire versions of the Tomorrow books, but in general I just can't stand movie covers.
[/random complainings]
All of this being said about the movie, when I was in grade 5 a friend and I came up with who out of class/year level would play all the characters in a movie. I was Ellie :P
Then again, I think I'd like any movie someone wanted to pay me to be in.
Wanderer Ward
14 years ago
Wanderer Ward
Mage
Oh dear me...you're right Cat-Eyes...and the movie tie-in covers are never as good as the original covers, even if those have undergone several changes...
They are no longer about a pictoral representation of the book, but instead about how to cash in on the movie...
Ashlings' guildleader
14 years ago
Ashlings' guildleader
Dreamscape Artist
I totally agree, there's nothing I hate more than cover featuring an actor whether it's a movie or a TV series; doesn't matter.
I can't help but absorb some of what I see on a cover when building my images of characters and I don't like this being determined by a casting director. I prefer illustrated covers and landscapes when I can get them as these cause much less interference.
I don't mind so much when they use photos of people just dressed up as the character and they're (eg; Ranger's Apprentice) as long as they use the same person each time. This is because these 'actors' can be picked solely for their resemblance and not their acting abilities. Of course, that's sometimes is the case with movies, but that's just another reason not to make the movie.
Wanderer Ward
14 years ago
Tue Jul 07 2009, 06:49pm
Wanderer Ward
Mage
Yes, exactly Sian. That is another reason why making a movie out of a book is often a bad thing. It tells you what the characters/places/etc look like, and it is usually nothing like the mental images you formed when reading the book...
Oh god yes, I can no longer remember what the characters in HP looked like before the movies came out (well actually I think flickwit from the firt movie looked exactly how I imagined him but that was it) and I didn't read that Twilight book till the movie had come out so all I could imagine was Robert! I miss my imagination dang it!!
Blah! I want to see this movie less and less now but I know I'll end up going to see it anyway . . .
I certainly wont be buying no movie inspired book cover though <_< *hugs old crusty barbed wire editions*
I know what you mean, I didn't read Stardust until I'd seen the movie quite a few times and it was really hard to use my own imagination! Actually, I found it really hard to read all the parts of it that weren't in the movie too.
thats just like me, i watched the LOTR movies ad then read the books. and it confused me when charcters came in that wern't in the movie. because i also had all there faces in my mind, and then these new people came in. for example tom, the singing man.
Ashlings' guildleader
14 years ago
Ashlings' guildleader
Dreamscape Artist
I think LOTR is confusing on its own, I'm only up to the third book (as in the books within books) because I tend to read it in short bursts because of how exhausting it can be and then I lost my copy of the two towers so I stop all together for a while.
I still have my original imagining of Flitwick and to a certain extent McGonnagal, Hagrid and Trelawney, but all the rest have been substituted (minus the characters we haven't met yet in the movies)