Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination is definitely one of the best Sci-Fi books of the 50s, and is as close as you could get to cyberpunk. Gully Foyle is one of the all time interesting characters, and Bester’s “Jaunting” is certainly the best visionary use of teleportation that I’ve read. By most accounts, this book influenced later cyberpunk authors.

However, like any great work, it is with trepidation that I am reminded of all the travesties of literary works poorly transformed on screen that forces me to temper my excitement for a potential movie. Variety is reporting that Universal Pictures has obtained rights to Bester’s seminal work, and that Lorenzo di Bonaventura, producer of Constantine and Doom, is going to be producing this along with Raymond Wagner. Hopefully they pick a good director and really adhere to the source material. The Stars My Destination is unique in that time hasn’t past it by - the story still works as well today as it did then.

Prosthetic linbs have really come a long way. Now we have instances of people controlling fully integrated artificial limbs with their regular nervous system.

His arms were amputated. Jesse woke from a monthlong coma to discover his limbs gone, his life changed…Dr. Kuiken explained to me that, shortly after the accident, Jesse underwent surgery, and was essentially rewired. Live nerves that control arm and hand movements — nerves that were severed — were re-directed to Jesse’s pectoral muscles in his chest. Electrodes were then attached to the chest, and connected to the robotic arm.

For 59-year-old Jesse Sullivan, who lives in Dayton, Tennessee, it’s all part of everyday life in. Jesse is a bionic man. Think science fiction…Jesse’s brain now thinks that when his pectoral muscles move, his arm, wrist and elbow are moving. When Dr. Kuiken touches points on his chest, Jesse feels as if the doctor is touching his thumb, or the palm of his hand.

The dawning of the cyborg has arrived. Currently, we only envision replacing lost limbs. At some point when this becomes commonplace, we will most likely begin to envision radically different forms of body modification.

Anime News Network is reporting that the next installment in the Production IG’s GITS: SAC world will be a movie entitled, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society:

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society, a full length movie based on Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex is currently planned for completion in the summer of 2006.

The production announcement does not specifically state release format, or date. The movie is being produced in Hi-Vision, a format used by Japanese broadcast networks to support wide-screen televisions. The same production team, including main staff, will be carried over from the TV series. The budget, while not specified, is said to be higher in order to achieve a cinematic level of production.

The 100-minute (tentative running time) movie takes place in 2034, two years after the refugee riot incident. A significantly larger Section 9, with over 20 new officers, investigates terrorist actions related to a wizard-like hacker “Kugutsu Mawashi.”

(Kugutsu Mawashi translated into English is roughly “Puppet Master.” Kugutsu Mawashi is not the same as the “Puppet Master” from the first Ghost in the Shell Movie. In Japanese, the “Puppet Master” from the first movie was called “Ningyo Tsukai” which can also translated into “Puppet Master.”)

The production committee will comprise Production I.G., along with Bandai Visual, Bandai Entertainment, Dentsu Corporation, Nihon TV Broadcasting (NTV), Manga Entertainment, Tokuma Publishing, and Victor Entertainment.

GITS SAC is definitely one of the best animes out right now (review forthcoming), with the second season being better than the first (should I review the two seasons separately?). The transition of GITS: SAC to a movie format will be interesting.