It has been 19 years since the Ugly The book was released first, and even though I’ve been waiting eagerly all this time to see Tally hoverboarding on screen, I’m so glad it just happened now. The Netflix sci-fi movie has been a long time coming since a screen adaptation of Scott Westerfeld’s 2005 book was announced shortly after its release (in 2006). My old copy of Ugly even had a “Soon to be a major motion picture” Stamped on the front, but as I grew up and the years passed, I slowly gave up on this promise. Now, a Ugly The movie finally became a reality, and after watching it, I’m glad I was forced to wait.
Ugly was one of the first sci-fi books I ever read, and I quickly fell in love with the technology of Tally’s world. Sure, movies like that Back to the future Already made hoverboards cool, but the way Tally and her friends used them intrigued me. Some of the best scenes in the US Ugly Book included the hoverboard ride on the rusty rollercoaster Or Talley’s cross-country adventure with one of the city’s more advanced boards. These were the primary reasons I wanted a Ugly Movie since I hoped hoverboards would be brought to the screen exactly as I imagined them.
The hoverboarding in Uglies could not have worked without modern technology
Uglies’ hoverboarding is barely possible even today (with a reasonable budget)
I was mostly satisfied with the hoverboarding scenes in Netflix Ugly. The boards looked exactly as I pictured them, and the rollercoaster scene in the Rusty Ruins was truly spectacular. However, a few moments let me down just a touch. The scene where Tally and Shay hoverboarded on custom trucks was pretty neat, though There were several instances where the CGI broke the illusion. The movements of Tally and Xi’s computer-generated counterparts did not always look natural – and I can only imagine how much worse it would have been if Ugly Published 18 years ago.
If my teenage self actually got the Uglies movie I was promised in 2006, I would have been pretty disappointed.
Netflix probably gave up Ugly As much budget as it could justify, but even with today’s technology, the hoverboarding scenes didn’t look as cool as they did in my opinion. That is why I am grateful that Westerfeld’s book was not created when it was originally supposed to be. The level of CGI seen in the 2024 movie was possible in, say, 2014, but it would have been much more expensive. 2006, on the other hand, would have had an almost impossible time to pull this off. Did my teenage self actually get these Ugly Movie I was promised in 2006, I would have been pretty disappointed.
CGI & budget may have contributed to 18 years of ugly delays
An Ugly movie would have been expensive in 2006
It is precisely this that likely stood in the way of a Ugly Movie is made all these years. The dystopian sci-fi boom of the 2010s would probably have been the best time culturally for the book to be adapted, but Westerfeld’s book isn’t quite as high-profile as movies like. The Hunger Games. A high budget would have been a significant risk for any production company and studio. Significant compromises would be necessary, and Iconic Ugly Scenes like the rollercoaster ride may not have actually made it to the screen.
Even if a Ugly The movie was back in the day, Westerfeld’s sequel books, nice And SpecialShouldn’t have stood a chance. It was common practice in the early 2000s for movie adaptations of book series to reduce the story down to a single installment (I’ll never forgive what they did to Cornelia Funke’s. Tin heart), and this was probably a must for Ugly. CGI is all the more necessary for the sequels, so even now, it’s uncertain whether Netflix will continue Tally’s story. Of course, I hope they do since there’s a lot more hoverboarding to see. Still, it will be expensive, so only time will tell.