Asteroids Movie Treatment!

Asteroids is an arcade game from Atari that came out in 1979.  It was designed by Lyle Rains, Ed Logg, and Dominic Walsh.  The game has vector graphics so it has a glowing white color.  A triangular space ship has to blow up asteroids which turn into smaller particles and they move faster.  It featured a single screen so the spaceship has a thrust that throws it across the screen.  A flying saucer appears and fires at you.  A soundtrack had a quickened pace like a heartbeat when you whittle down the asteroids.  The game features five buttons; rotate left, rotate right, hyperspace, thrust and fire.  Asteroids came to home systems with the Atari 2600 and home computers in 1981.  There was a sequel, Asteroids Deluxe, in 1981.  The graphics were tinted blue and featured shields instead of the hyperspace for protection.  It had a holographic backdrop with green asteroids, a ship, and an explosion.  This is a movie treatment of the video game. 

It is the year 3000.  Space colonization has begun, but resources are critical.  Miners are sent to the asteroid belt to gather resources.  This is risky, but there are a few pilots brave enough.  Paul Kine is attached to a mining ship outside of Mars orbit.  He is the only miner to come from Earth.  His fellow crew member, Vince, is from Mars colony.  Carmen and Jason are a married couple from the Moon colony.  The ship’s captain is Pamela Torres (from Phobos, Mars’ moon colony) who is busy plotting the path of the asteroids.  Paul takes a small, arrowhead-shaped rescue ship out to scout for large ores.  Pamela has detected a gravity distortion and orders Paul to return to the ship.  

The gravity distortion is a wormhole that sends out alien ships.  They capture a large asteroid in their tractor beam and hurtle it towards the Mars colony.  Paul races after it and charges up his ship’s cutting lasers.  He blasts away at the asteroid and is only able to deflect its course so it impacts outside of the colony.  Pamela contacts the Earth fleet to warn them.  Paul is able to escape the alien ship to return to the ship.  The alien ships are gathering asteroids to hurtle towards the Moon colony.  Paul and three of his other crew members board ships to try to stop the asteroids.  Their combined might destroys an asteroid.  

Arcade Classics game of Asteroids, photo by the author. 

The aliens shift and toss two asteroids, the ships scatter, Paul is thrown trying to adjust his course.  Two smaller asteroids destroy Vince’s ship.  Pamela brings her ship around to protect the others.  The ships race towards the massive asteroid headed for the Moon colony.  The ships chip away at the asteroid, but it still heads on its course.  The alien ship swings around the miner ships.  Paul tries to blast it, but the alien ship slips away.  He is left behind as the others work to destroy the asteroid.  The asteroid is pulverized by the ships, but its larger mass still remains.  The alien ship appears and destroys Jason’s ship.  

Paul swoops in, knocking it aside, and blasts the asteroid.  It is still intact, but Pamela rams her ship into the asteroid sending it spinning away.  Her ship is breached and she is picked up by Paul’s ship.  Carmen and Paul pursue the alien ship back to the asteroid belt.  The alien ship fires back and they are able to evade the plasma bombs.  The bombs strike an asteroid scuttling Paul’s ship.  He is able to evacuate with Pamela.  Carmen clips the asteroid sending it at the alien ship which destroys it.  She lands on a large asteroid where Paul and Pamela are there in suits.  They recover data from the alien ship.  

The aliens were trying to send asteroids into places where they can seed life, terraforming Mars and the moon.  The humans have also recovered three of the plasma bombs.  Another gravity distortion and three alien ships appear from a wormhole.  They capture three asteroids and send them towards the Earth.  The trio set off the plasma bombs destroying two of the asteroids.  Two of the alien ships following the asteroids are destroyed.  Paul sends the ship ramming into the alien ship which collides with the asteroid.  The alien ship blasts the last ship before it is destroyed.  Paul has everyone eject and sends the ship into a collision course destroying the asteroid.  They are stranded in space until they are picked up by the Earth fleet.  The end.

#Asteroids, #Atari, #PaulKine, #PamelaTorres