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Old 03-22-2017, 12:16 AM   #1
JimTullis
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Default Stories, Movies and Music to set the mood.

Stuff to set the mood for Car Wars.
Some of this is my personal opinion, some of it is stuff I've heard other talk about.

Car Wars Novels:
Square Deal – David Drake
Double Jeopardy – Aaron Allston
Back From Hell – Mick Farren

Short Stories about Car Combat (or with a similar atmosphere):
The Racer – Ib Melchior – 1952 – [This is the source idea for Roger Corman’s Deathrace 2000]
Passion Play – Roger Zelazny – 1962 (pub in Last Defender of Camelot) [robots recreate historic racing crashes]
Auto-da-fe – Roger Zelazny – 1967 (pub in Last Defender of Camelot) [Bullfighting vs cars]
Damnation Alley – Roger Zelazny – 1967 (pub in Last Defender of Camelot) [rides the line between armed cars and tanks]
Devil Car – Roger Zelazny – 1965 [haven’t read this – supposedly a man and his car hunting another car]
Last of the Wild Ones (Devil Car Part 2) - Roger Zelazny - 1987 [pub in Unicorn Variations] [Thanks to OwenMP for the reminder]
Along the Scenic Route {AKA Dogfight on 101} – 1969 – Harlan Ellison [have now read this – similar to Why Johnny Can’t Speed]
Why Johnny Can’t Speed – Alan Dean Foster – 1971 (pub in With Friends Like These) [a prototype Car Wars short story]
The Last Run – Alan Dean Foster – 1982 [Another great short from Foster. Be careful who you call out for a race.]

Story Collections that contain Car Combat (or that have a similar atmosphere):

Death on Wheels
Spoiler:  

I recently Finished reading Death on Wheels. Much of which was stuff I had read before. I'm still not sure If I had ever read the Harlan Ellison story "Along the Scenic Route". BUT I can now recommend this book as collection that gathers a lot of great short stories in one easy to grasp collection.

Car Sinister
Spoiler:  


I'm in the process of reading "Market Forces" by Richard K. Morgan. Not so sure I like the characters, but the Duels have been great so far.

Movies:
Deathrace 2000, the modern Deathrace movies, Deathrace 2050, all the Mad Max movies,
Damnation Alley [also a great book], Duel [by Steven Spielberg – The Ultimate Car vs Big Rig Movie]
10th Victim [also a great book]

Rollerball, Blood of Heroes, Deathsport, Quintet, A Boy and His Dog, Tank Girl, 5th Element, Finale Programme

the original The Fast and the Furious [by Roger Corman], the modern The Fast and The Furious
the Transporter movies, the James Bond movies, DRIVE
Riding Bean [anime OVA based on Bean bandit from Gunsmith Cats]


Music:
Ride On - AC/DC
Highway to Hell - AC/DC
Hell's Bells - AC/DC
Highway Star - Deep Purple
Fuel - Metallica
Low Rider - War
I'm Bad - ZZ Top

Feel free to post and discuss your favorite stuff for setting a Car Wars mood.
I'll probably add to this list over time.

Last edited by JimTullis; 04-17-2017 at 08:56 PM. Reason: UPDATES to Story Comments
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Old 03-22-2017, 01:19 PM   #2
darthjpp
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
Default Re: Stories, Movies and Music to set the mood.

AC/DC - Highway to Hell

This really should have made the list, if for no other reason than the title :-)
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Old 03-22-2017, 02:14 PM   #3
Racer
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
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Default Re: Stories, Movies and Music to set the mood.

Flight of the Valkyries and Halls of the Mountain King often go down well whilst playing ;-)
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Old 03-22-2017, 02:29 PM   #4
swordtart
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Default Re: Stories, Movies and Music to set the mood.

Something long ;)
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Old 03-23-2017, 08:33 AM   #5
EdwardF
 
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Default Re: Stories, Movies and Music to set the mood.

The animated movie "Redline" was definitely worth my time.
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Old 03-23-2017, 12:31 PM   #6
J. Roberts
 
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Location: Minneapolis, MN
Default Re: Stories, Movies and Music to set the mood.

The Tron: Legacy soundtrack is my go-to for any sci-fi game. Good blend of up-tempo and somewhat relaxed music.
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Old 03-26-2017, 02:19 PM   #7
JimTullis
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Default Re: Stories, Movies and Music to set the mood.

Quote:
Originally Posted by EdwardF View Post
The animated movie "Redline" was definitely worth my time.
Wow. I'm going to be watching that sometime soon.
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Old 03-26-2017, 02:22 PM   #8
JimTullis
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Default Re: Stories, Movies and Music to set the mood.

Quote:
Originally Posted by darthjpp View Post
AC/DC - Highway to Hell

This really should have made the list, if for no other reason than the title :-)
It was on my playlist, but I ran short on time for music during the original post.
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Old 03-23-2017, 06:22 PM   #9
owenmp
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Bellevue, WA, USA
Default Re: Stories, Movies and Music to set the mood.

Dear JimTullis,

Wow. Thank you for the excellent list. I was not aware of the anthology, "Death on Wheels." The book is now in my crosshairs for capture.

The Auto Assault Soundtrack, published on a CD for the former MMORPG, has very good music for tabletop car combat.

The music from Interstate '76, Interstate '76 Nitro Pack, Interstate '76 Official Game Soundtrack, and the Interstate '76 demo album Bullmark is great for driving both on a tabletop and on actual highways.

I have a few titles of books and movies that may interest you on the Web page below.

SWAT HQ - Automotive Combat Media Checklist
http://www.seanet.com/~owenmp/media/index.html
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Old 03-23-2017, 10:40 PM   #10
LokRobster
 
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Republic of Texas; FOS
Default Re: Stories, Movies and Music to set the mood.

Music: "Motorcycle" and "I Feel Speed" by Love and Rockets (1989), "No Big Deal" -Daniel Ash's Stripped (2014)
Story: you nailed my fav with Foster's "Why Johnnie Can't Speed"

Movie: the 2008 Death Race is totally "Car Wars the Movie" to me. I still need to incorporate the "drive over an icon" schtick into one of my arenas.
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Last edited by LokRobster; 03-23-2017 at 10:44 PM. Reason: Another song
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