Mr. Pizza's Hardy Boys Forum

Hardy Boys Casefiles Discussion => Hardy Boys Casefiles => Topic started by: Hardy Boys UB Fan on December 14, 2015, 08:45:20 PM

Title: What if
Post by: Hardy Boys UB Fan on December 14, 2015, 08:45:20 PM
The Hardy Boys Casefiles were being rewritten today or relaunched, with all the terrorism going on today. What do you think they would do plot wise?
Title: Re: What if
Post by: MacGyver on December 16, 2015, 06:51:33 AM
Well, with a contemporary Hardy Boys Casefiles series, I feel that certainly they would be addressing terrorism all the more. I don't know if real life groups would be used, but it would probably be veiled references, like the Casefiles series already does to some degree. Of course, new technology also changes the feel of the stories and how Frank and Joe operate. It's a lot different world from 1987 for sure.
Title: Re: What if
Post by: tomswift2002 on December 16, 2015, 09:37:26 AM
I don't think the technology would change all that much in the stories.  Just recently when I was reading Perfect Getaway, aside from when the Hardy's intercept the phone call, which might've been changed to a cell phone call rather than a land phone, or even email/text, and later go into a room full of CRT computer monitors, I found the story could've been written in 2015 rather than 1987.  And when I think of some of the other Casefiles, none are really popping to mind about needing a major rewrite to bring them up to today's world, at least from the first 66 books.  Books like The Broderline Case and In Self-Defense I can see getting updates so that the Hardy's were not facing Soviet Union-Cold War Era forces, but maybe Muslim-Taliban/ISIS forces; instead of street gangs beating people up it would be street gangs selling drugs.
Title: Re: What if
Post by: MacGyver on December 16, 2015, 11:39:08 AM
That's true- I could see some minor updates like that (in the case of In Self-Defense, that is- The Borderline Case would obviously be a rather major update.)
Of course, at the same time, with the continuing advancements in technology, medicine and science, books like The Lazarus Plot don't sound nearly as far-fetched as they might have at the time they were written. Other books, like Cult of Crime and Hostages of Hate, seem timelier than ever, considering their plotlines. (But that's just focusing on the earliest books in the series from the late '80s. The latter end of the series from the late '90s would probably need even less updates.)
Title: Re: What if
Post by: Hardy Boys UB Fan on December 16, 2015, 05:34:03 PM
I've read those too. About all they might need is smart phones instead of payphones. I can see them getting gangs for selling drugs to minors...now that would be a story!
Title: Re: What if
Post by: SkyWarp on December 16, 2015, 10:34:48 PM
Quote from: MacGyver on December 16, 2015, 11:39:08 AM
That's true- I could see some minor updates like that (in the case of In Self-Defense, that is- The Borderline Case would obviously be a rather major update.)
Of course, at the same time, with the continuing advancements in technology, medicine and science, books like The Lazarus Plot don't sound nearly as far-fetched as they might have at the time they were written. Other books, like Cult of Crime and Hostages of Hate, seem timelier than ever, considering their plotlines. (But that's just focusing on the earliest books in the series from the late '80s. The latter end of the series from the late '90s would probably need even less updates.)

The tv show Alias did the Lazarus Plot idea a couple times.
Title: Re: What if
Post by: MacGyver on December 17, 2015, 08:27:14 AM
Did it? That's cool! 8) (I hope they credited The Hardy Boys book for the idea. ;))
Title: Re: What if
Post by: Hardy Boys UB Fan on December 17, 2015, 10:51:54 PM
Why would The Borderline Case need a major update?
Title: Re: What if
Post by: MacGyver on December 18, 2015, 06:51:49 AM
Well, the back cove (http://www.hardyboyscasefiles.com/series/casefiles.php?book_no=25)r of the book mentions the Hardy Boys being near Yugoslavia, for starters.  ;)
As tomswift2002 mentioned, Frank and Joe are fighting Soviet forces in the books- which was very fitting for the Cold War era that America and the USSR were still in, even up through 1989. But something significant happened in November 1989- the Berlin Wall in Germany came down and brought unification between East and West Germany (which had been divided since 1961.) This helped lead the way to the fall of Communism and the USSR, which eventually disbanded in 1991, at which point that land mass became again what we know as Russia, along with some new countries formed at that time, like Kazakhstan and others. Also, countries like Yugoslavia ceased to exist around then.
Title: Re: What if
Post by: tomswift2002 on December 18, 2015, 08:31:02 AM
Well I only mentioned up to 66 because that is where a lot of people think the quality in the Casefiles really started dropping off, not to mention the action that helped to define the series in earlier books was toned down quite a bit, to the point where you essentially had two Mystery Stories series running at the same time.  You still had the odd early-Casefiles-esque book between 67 and 127, but that was few and far between.

But for updates, in the early books it would mostly be minor updates, like Frank, unless it was specifically said that he needed to, not having to connect a separate modem to his desktop or laptop computer in order to talk to the Network.  Or even having to search for a phone to use to connect to the internet.  But these are minor edits, they would not be major plot edits.   
Title: Re: What if
Post by: Hardy Boys UB Fan on December 18, 2015, 10:41:57 AM
Quote from: MacGyver on December 18, 2015, 06:51:49 AM
Well, the back cove (http://www.hardyboyscasefiles.com/series/casefiles.php?book_no=25)r of the book mentions the Hardy Boys being near Yugoslavia, for starters.  ;)
As tomswift2002 mentioned, Frank and Joe are fighting Soviet forces in the books- which was very fitting for the Cold War era that America and the USSR were still in, even up through 1989. But something significant happened in November 1989- the Berlin Wall in Germany came down and brought unification between East and West Germany (which had been divided since 1961.) This helped lead the way to the fall of Communism and the USSR, which eventually disbanded in 1991, at which point that land mass became again what we know as Russia, along with some new countries formed at that time, like Kazakhstan and others. Also, countries like Yugoslavia ceased to exist around then.

Yeah, and the book Castle Fear, talks a lot about the USSR. I wasn't even born when this series came out, and it ended when I was like seven! :o So that explains my knowledge or to be more exact, lack thereof.

Quote from: tomswift2002 on December 18, 2015, 08:31:02 AM
Well I only mentioned up to 66 because that is where a lot of people think the quality in the Casefiles really started dropping off, not to mention the action that helped to define the series in earlier books was toned down quite a bit, to the point where you essentially had two Mystery Stories series running at the same time.  You still had the odd early-Casefiles-esque book between 67 and 127, but that was few and far between.

But for updates, in the early books it would mostly be minor updates, like Frank, unless it was specifically said that he needed to, not having to connect a separate modem to his desktop or laptop computer in order to talk to the Network.  Or even having to search for a phone to use to connect to the internet.  But these are minor edits, they would not be major plot edits.   

Why would anyone search for a phone to use for the internet? A lot of people I know don't have phones like that anymore with an actual phone line!
Title: Re: What if
Post by: SkyWarp on December 19, 2015, 07:31:26 PM
Quote from: Katie on December 18, 2015, 10:41:57 AM
Why would anyone search for a phone to use for the internet? A lot of people I know don't have phones like that anymore with an actual phone line!

I still have a landline. :)   But only for in-bound calls (it has no long distance for me).  I like it for a couple reasons. 

1) If you have a cheap enough phone you do not need electricity to use the phone or need to worry about batteries needing recharged.   
2) I get a lot more political poll calls that way.  A LOT MORE.  I get none on my cell phone.  And believe it or not, I love getting poll calls.  :) 
3) I can give out a phone number and not worry about my cell phone getting all the marketing calls.
Title: Re: What if
Post by: Hardy Boys UB Fan on December 20, 2015, 12:33:18 PM
I hope the Adventures series does do more advance (ie: terrorism) plots then the UB series did.
Title: Re: What if
Post by: MacGyver on December 21, 2015, 09:57:30 AM
QuoteYeah, and the book Castle Fear, talks a lot about the USSR. I wasn't even born when this series came out, and it ended when I was like seven! :o So that explains my knowledge or to be more exact, lack thereof.
By comparison, it's kinda funny and sad at the same time that my childhood is now history for younger generations- lol. ;D
Title: Re: What if
Post by: Hardy Boys UB Fan on December 21, 2015, 10:16:17 PM
Quote from: MacGyver on December 21, 2015, 09:57:30 AM
By comparison, it's kinda funny and sad at the same time that my childhood is now history for younger generations- lol. ;D

Yeah, and now I've started to read them again. Up to 59.

Title: Re: What if
Post by: tomswift2002 on December 21, 2015, 11:00:22 PM
Quote from: Katie on December 20, 2015, 12:33:18 PM
I hope the Adventures series does do more advance (ie: terrorism) plots then the UB series did.

One major difference between the early Casefiles and the other Hardy Boys series is that the series was aimed at the pre-teen (12-15) age range, While the other series have been aimed at the 8-11 group, or in the case of the originals, a general audience who would've had a grade 6 education at minimum.  So the Casefiles were allowed to do a few things that the other series were not.

Now then one book that would really need to be updated would be "Double Exposure".  Not only does it deal with the Cold War, but it even has Frank explaining the concept of non-linear video editing and being able to digitally replace faces a features in videos on computer, without losing generations.
Title: Re: What if
Post by: Hardy Boys UB Fan on December 21, 2015, 11:42:14 PM
Quote from: tomswift2002 on December 21, 2015, 11:00:22 PM
One major difference between the early Casefiles and the other Hardy Boys series is that the series was aimed at the pre-teen (12-15) age range, While the other series have been aimed at the 8-11 group, or in the case of the originals, a general audience who would've had a grade 6 education at minimum.  So the Casefiles were allowed to do a few things that the other series were not.

Now then one book that would really need to be updated would be "Double Exposure".  Not only does it deal with the Cold War, but it even has Frank explaining the concept of non-linear video editing and being able to digitally replace faces a features in videos on computer, without losing generations.

Wish they all could have gone that way, there is something about the Casefiles that no other series has.

What does that mean with the video editing that Frank was talking about?
Title: Re: What if
Post by: tomswift2002 on December 22, 2015, 07:48:29 AM
in the book Frank and Joe find a VHS tape that Chris Hardy had used as a test to digitally insert Chris Hardy's face into a scene from a movie, so that it looked like Chris Hardy was the actor, plus they could send it back out to tape with zero quality loss, unlike if they were doing it in a linear fashion where they would be going from one VCR to another, and they would lose quality (especially with VHS).  Back in the 80's this was very high-tech, and not a whole lot of people were doing it because you could only do about 30 seconds at a time, and for the video files you needed a lot of computer memory, more memory than most computers had. 
However in today's world, with all the software that's available, and on a consumer level, the number of camera's that shoot digital video, ranging from the Mini-DV/Digital8 camcorders of the late-90's/early-2000's, upto the more recent AVCHD camcorders and cell phones, people are able to edit video with nearly no loss of quality, plus with software like Windows Movie Maker available , the average person is able to create and digitally manipulate their videos nowadays.
Title: Re: What if
Post by: Hardy Boys UB Fan on December 22, 2015, 10:14:24 PM
I don't know what you call the tech they use in the UB's and the Adventures series. Stuff we probably don't have. ::)