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Triviachamp
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
254 Posts |
 Posted - 09/23/2005 : 7:28:03 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Greenhornet
Ransom was a remake. Unfortunatly I've never seen the whole thing.
I believe the original had a happy ending as well. I'm not too sure about the ending of the original teleplay though. There might not be a kinescope in existence. Trivia note: One of the guys who wrote the teleplay and the 1956 version was Richard Maibaum; best known for writing 13 James Bond Movies. |
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Bobby-G
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
904 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2005 : 03:23:26 AM
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MARS ATTACKS! -- If you went into this without knowing anything about the source (a series of Topps cards), it might have been fun, I guess, but if you were a fan of the cards, this movie was a colossal disappointment!
Rob |
Edited by - Bobby-G on 09/24/2005 03:24:54 AM |
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commodorejohn
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
76 Posts |
Posted - 09/25/2005 : 10:21:11 PM
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The feature-film HitchHiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Again, a work with a dedicated built-in fanbase who will pay to see a movie version of the book they love, and the moviemakers go and gut much if not most of the book's best material and the second half of the plot from the film as well as making a number of insignificant but utterly pointless changes for no conceivable reason (why did the peanuts replace "salt" instead of "protein?" Did the extra syllable cost too much?) and, to top it all off, come up with a pointless "happy ending" that is totally out of place with not only the book but the rest of the film as well.
Ugh.
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Who -are- the overlords of the UFO? |
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Ubiq
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
347 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2005 : 12:05:32 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by commodorejohn
Again, a work with a dedicated built-in fanbase who will pay to see a movie version of the book they love, and the moviemakers go and gut much if not most of the book's best material and the second half of the plot from the film as well as making a number of insignificant but utterly pointless changes for no conceivable reason (why did the peanuts replace "salt" instead of "protein?" Did the extra syllable cost too much?) and, to top it all off, come up with a pointless "happy ending" that is totally out of place with not only the book but the rest of the film as well.
The question there though is how many of these changes were because of Douglas Adams himself, who wrote the script, though it was worked into a final version by other writers. If I recall correctly, Adams' intent was always that each rendition of the series be different from the other in some fashion or other (like how Tenchi Muyo has the basic concepts in each show, but varies widely in how it carries out that concepts; compare OAV Washu to Tenchi in Tokyo Washu for instance).
So a straightforward adaption of the books would not really have been what Adams would would have wanted.
BM: I should have mentioned this at the beginning. I solve my problems with violence. |
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Brummbar
Minister of the Sacraments of Jabootu
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2005 : 10:28:40 PM
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Starship Troopers was f--- ed because Verhoeven said point-blank, and more than once, that he didn't give a rat's ass about Heinlein or what the original story was about.
Paul's objective was to use the Man-Bug war as a backdrop to mock the WHY WE FIGHT type propaganda he grew up with during WW2 and the Cold War - and by extension the long struggle against fascism and Bolshevism.
In this, Verhoeven shows himself to be yet another dolt in the tiresome parade of Euro-whiners who mock the very things that make their lives, choices and "art" possible.
The really good part, though, is that Verhoeven is so in love with fun violence and mordant humor that he utterly sabotages his "message" in Troopers. He actually gets caught up in what he purports to condemn, and the film shows it clearly.
*Boards don't hit back. (Bruce Lee)* |
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Brummbar
Minister of the Sacraments of Jabootu
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2005 : 10:32:06 PM
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Oh, and my candidate for best example of how to strangle a film in its cradle is... the casting of Tom "Xenu" Cruise as Lestat in Interview with a Vampire. The moment the ink was dry on that casting agreement, the film was toast.
*Boards don't hit back. (Bruce Lee)* |
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kdraut
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
343 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2005 : 11:57:20 PM
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It's not the most botched, but Knockaround Guys could have been much better. Why bother to cast Dennis Hopper, then only give him 5 lines? It had a good cast, but they all phoned in their performances.
http://www.kdraut.com/photo |
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Flangepart
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
2329 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2005 : 11:17:20 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Brummbar
Starship Troopers was f--- ed because Verhoeven said point-blank, and more than once, that he didn't give a rat's ass about Heinlein or what the original story was about.
Paul's objective was to use the Man-Bug war as a backdrop to mock the WHY WE FIGHT type propaganda he grew up with during WW2 and the Cold War - and by extension the long struggle against fascism and Bolshevism.
In this, Verhoeven shows himself to be yet another dolt in the tiresome parade of Euro-whiners who mock the very things that make their lives, choices and "art" possible.
The really good part, though, is that Verhoeven is so in love with fun violence and mordant humor that he utterly sabotages his "message" in Troopers. He actually gets caught up in what he purports to condemn, and the film shows it clearly.
*Boards don't hit back. (Bruce Lee)*
Such contridictions are common. The very attitudes V. expresses would be censored by a truley dictitorial government. Unless, by chance, they felt they could use him, he's be boned as an artist.
SHT is a bad movie, and a missed oppertunity, which makes it worse. The powerarmor could have been done. Dark Horse comics did an issue with a power armor suit..it kicked butt! But, Dark Horse has TALANTED people, so...
"Reality is arguable...lunch time is not." H. Flangepart.
"One Weekend a month my ass!" Crow- The Beginning of the End.
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MikeC
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
749 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2005 : 11:29:00 AM
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THE WATCHER. Apart from being an egregious example of
the mid- to late-90's phenomena of 'Serial Killers are
supernaturally powered monsters', it had Keanu Reeves
as a devilishly clever and menacing serial killer.
That alone would have sunk any movie.
MikeC |
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RossM
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
427 Posts |
Posted - 10/02/2005 : 12:05:51 AM
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My choice is The Fifth Element. It has some very funny and very expensive gags along with a story that gleefully makes no sense at all. Then they add Chris Tucker as the most annoying character in a movie in years. Then they make him a major character. This off center movie then dies a horrible death.
rossM |
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tam1MI
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
558 Posts |
Posted - 10/02/2005 : 9:57:52 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by MikeC
THE WATCHER. Apart from being an egregious example of
the mid- to late-90's phenomena of 'Serial Killers are
supernaturally powered monsters', it had Keanu Reeves
as a devilishly clever and menacing serial killer.
That alone would have sunk any movie.
Which is too bad, because James Spader's performance in that same movie was just absolutely excellent. It definitely would have earned him an Oscar nod if it had been in any other film. |
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fluffybunny
Archdeacon of Jabootu
United Kingdom
11 Posts |
Posted - 10/03/2005 : 08:06:57 AM
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I really, really wanted to like Troy. I was doing a degree in Classics when it was released (in other words, Latin & Greek). Seeing the Iliad, one of the most influential (and among the greatest) works of fiction, brought to the big screen could have been like a dream.
There were such brilliant ideas and casting in it: Sean Bean as Odysseus was spot-on, the guy who played Hektor was pretty good, as was the chap playing Priam.
Although lots of people were cross that it cut out the gods, it was probably better than having another six - tweleve characters.
Plus, it makes the humans purely responsible for their actions. Sure there's a lot of pathos (=sympathy, tragedy) in the 'almost-helpless mortals driven on by mostly carefree gods' angle that Homer takes. But this lot blame the gods when it's all their own doing, making the situation tragic in a different way.
So they had some nice concepts, and proceeded to screw it all up with a lousy Paris (Elijah Wood) - I couldn't belive he felt passionate enough to carry off Helen. Brad Pitt - nice muscles, but honestly without much depth.
I can understand them changing the story about. Ten years is a bit of a stretch on the old credibility. Getting Achilleus' woman through a raid on a temple, not an island, makes more imediate sense to an audience now (and preserves, somewhat, the religious connection of the original female). But dear me, so many of the changes were sappy and patronising ...
I'll have to stop there or I'll end up writing another dissertation. Suffice it to say that I was thinking during this film, 'now when they remake it they should change...' - a bad, bad sign.
Fluff
'My unironed clothes are scared of the dark. That's why I leave the cupboard light on.' (ABS, 13th June 2005) |
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twitterpate
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Canada
1026 Posts |
Posted - 10/03/2005 : 10:21:42 AM
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| Um, Paris was Orlando Bloom, not Elijah WOod. |
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fluffybunny
Archdeacon of Jabootu
United Kingdom
11 Posts |
Posted - 10/03/2005 : 12:00:22 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by twitterpate
Um, Paris was Orlando Bloom, not Elijah WOod.
Err, sorry. Should check IMDB before sounding off. Original point that he's not much of a presence still stands...
(I don't know what unholy presence made my brain muddle up a hobbit and an elf, but sorry, chaps)
'My unironed clothes are scared of the dark. That's why I leave the cupboard light on.' (ABS, 13th June 2005) |
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John Nowak
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1017 Posts |
Posted - 10/03/2005 : 9:12:21 PM
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Troy's a good one. I didn't mind the "no gods" conceit -- that's a lot of fun if they can pull it off -- but they trashed the sense of inevitable tragedy.
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We've always been united in stupidity. That's why there is no hope. But, then again, when has that ever stopped us?
-- hbrennan |
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