DTH
Ghostbuster
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Posts: 582
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Post by DTH on Oct 18, 2008 10:26:32 GMT -5
My mind is all in a whirl: The Day The Earth Stood Still. With Keanu Reeves.
Seriously?
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Post by helioseclipsed on Oct 19, 2008 2:38:30 GMT -5
I can understand the urge to update the original. Classic though it is, its audience sensibilities do feel a bit dated. It seems more interested in convincing people of the time that science fiction movies could be legitimate, rather than in developing its themes as far as they can go.
I hold a mild curiosity for this one. The choice of Reeves seems intended to take advantage of his stiff reputation and cast him as someone who looks human but is a little off. And maybe they'll take the idea and go a bit farther than the original dared.
On the other hand, it will probably be as bad as every remake of a classic made in the last 20 years, and be a big waste of big budget special effects and star power. Time will tell on this one.
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DTH
Ghostbuster
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Posts: 582
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Post by DTH on Oct 21, 2008 2:29:01 GMT -5
I see your point. I guess I'm just being overprotective because its a film I love and a remake just seems...well...unnecessary. But I suppose you could say that about any remake. Still, I really can't get my head round it. I mean, can we expect a remake of Alien in another 20 years or so? What about Ghostbusters? Or Gremlins? I suppose it really is a case of where there's profit, there's a movie to be made. And yet, there is the other side of the argument. The original The Day The Earth Stood Still is a cornerstone of the sci-fi genre. It is also over 50 years old. Given that my brothers once said to me "Why are you watching this film, its in black and white!" leads me to believe that perhaps an update can be good if it brings a classic to a new audience  Hmm. I'm very torn on this one. |
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DTH
Ghostbuster
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Posts: 582
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Post by DTH on Oct 21, 2008 2:29:20 GMT -5
Oh and welcome to the board!  |
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Post by Al on Oct 21, 2008 10:07:03 GMT -5
I have no problem casting my vote for 'unnecessary', but I do want to qualify that by saying I think the trailer is quite good and I definitely intend to check it out.
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Post by helioseclipsed on Oct 21, 2008 15:43:11 GMT -5
Thanks for the welcome. I've been a fan of the site for a long time, but only got around to checking the boards out recently. I liked the look enough to jump in and splash around  I'm with you about being generally doubtful about remakes. Between usual Hollywood cynicism and lack of originality, I figure the odds for this one being good aren't exactly with it. But I always try to give things the benefit of the doubt until I see clear signs of misdeeds or terrible ideas. For this movie, I think there is (theoretically) some good potential, so I'll wait to hear the word. A little off topic: what was the last good science fiction movie to come out? As much as I like superhero movies and the like, I can't think of a really great out-and-out sci-fi movie to make a big splash recently. Maybe I'm forgetting some fantastic film at the moment. You know... that great one... with what's-her-face... and that car...? Back on topic, I will say that the announced remake of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is about the least excellent idea I've heard in a while. Don't laugh at the pun, I'm dead serious. If anyone lives closer to California than I do, put a stop to this! Cut some brake lines, poison some lattes, SOMETHING! That's my opinion, anyway. |
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DTH
Ghostbuster
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Posts: 582
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Post by DTH on Oct 22, 2008 13:40:00 GMT -5
Last really good sci-fi movie that came out? Now that IS a tricky one.
Let's see... hmmm... *immediately ditches anything cyberpunky, superheroey and anything with the words "STAR" and "WARS"* Aliens vs Predator? That was the last science fiction film that came out. But that wasn't particularly sciency...
You know what...I really can't remember the last terrific sci-fi movie.
Maybe the War of the Worlds remake? I enjoyed that. Minority Report was better.
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dex
Ghostbuster
So what colour is the sky in your world?
Posts: 343
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Post by dex on Oct 22, 2008 14:14:14 GMT -5
A little off topic: what was the last good science fiction movie to come out? As much as I like superhero movies and the like, I can't think of a really great out-and-out sci-fi movie to make a big splash recently. Good question. There aren't too many good SciFi movies, true. We should mention Serenity. And what do you think about A Scanner Darkly? (I don't know it.) |
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RobOfTheDead
Boomstick Coordinator
Police work is as much about preventing crime as it is about fighting crime.
Posts: 211
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Post by RobOfTheDead on Oct 23, 2008 8:06:25 GMT -5
A little off topic: what was the last good science fiction movie to come out? As much as I like superhero movies and the like, I can't think of a really great out-and-out sci-fi movie to make a big splash recently. Good question. There aren't too many good SciFi movies, true. We should mention Serenity. And what do you think about A Scanner Darkly? (I don't know it.) The last truly great sci-fi movie was Dark City imho. |
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DTH
Ghostbuster
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Posts: 582
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Post by DTH on Oct 23, 2008 9:54:35 GMT -5
I remembered yesterday (and NO I certainly wasn't looking at my DVD collection *cough* what?) that Sunshine came out last year. Although it had all the clichés of a sci-fi disaster movie (space walks without space suits, a decision that has disastrous consequences), it had a really great soundtrack and was really expertly crafted. Plus, it had "ol Scary Eyes" Cillian Murphy in it That was quality. Scanner Darkly was cool but a bit on the disturbing side. Dark City was also good. But I wouldn't say it was the last really great sci-fi movie. I'd say Minority Report was superior in every way (even if the "minority report" bit from the short story was actually left out of the film ). |
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Post by tco on Oct 23, 2008 11:43:45 GMT -5
I must admit - shame on me! - that I've have never seen the original. So if there's ever a time I might be able to do a back-to-back viewing of the two, I'll probably do it.
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Post by StarOpal on Oct 23, 2008 12:24:27 GMT -5
I admit, I'm a big fan of the original. On the one hand, I do think a remake is unnecessary, and for a long time I really hated the idea.
On the other hand, having seen the clip where Keanu Reeves escapes the military, it might be visually interesting. And the fact that all the written newsy stuff makes it sound like it's only going to share basic plot points means there's always the possibility that the movies will be different enough to keep mentally separated and judge as two different things (like The Thing from Outer Space and The Thing).
But on my mutated third hand, I'm not completely sold on the cast and some of the trailers and stuff make me doubt whether they'll have chemistry. But you can't always go by that.
To sum up: I'm very torn.
EDIT: I'd also like to mention that the original has the Army of Darkness connection too, and that's something a remake can never take away from it.
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Post by helioseclipsed on Oct 23, 2008 15:45:26 GMT -5
I actually thought of Sunshine, but I haven't seen it, and the reviews suggested that while visually arresting, the plot was both hole-ridden and cliched. While it might be very enjoyable, it sounded more like a movie focused on formula than on ideas.
Serenity was great, and I should probably have thought of that, though I was trying to think of movies that take their science a bit more seriously, and less like an excuse to have cooler-than-normal 'splosions. Though the 'splosions and such were fantastic.
The Fountain was a movie I had looked forward too, but it turns out that movie SPOILERS wasn't actually science fiction in the slightest, but a very pretentious movie about a boring modern story that actually took place, and two weird and unsatisfying past and future "parallel" stories that the main characters in the modern part wrote in a book. It goes about being very confusing telling you this, but that's actually all it is. It's possible to enjoy it on the visuals and performances (which are fantastic), but my penchant to pick stories apart prevented me from really enjoying it.
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dex
Ghostbuster
So what colour is the sky in your world?
Posts: 343
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Post by dex on Oct 23, 2008 16:21:03 GMT -5
Serenity was great, and I should probably have thought of that, though I was trying to think of movies that take their science a bit more seriously, and less like an excuse to have cooler-than-normal 'splosions. Though the 'splosions and such were fantastic. It's true that science wasn't important for Serenity, but I think they did treat it with above average respect. (The only silly thing was the ion cloud, which they needed for dramatic reasons. I can live with that. I'm not with you on the 'splosions.) But that's not important for our discussion here, I guess. So you're looking for hard SciFi, basically? Very interesting, yes. But... that's really tough. What qualifies, then? Ever? The Andromeda Strain (and that was good, but not great.) 2001. See, you have to go back quite a while... |
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RobOfTheDead
Boomstick Coordinator
Police work is as much about preventing crime as it is about fighting crime.
Posts: 211
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Post by RobOfTheDead on Oct 24, 2008 0:14:14 GMT -5
I remembered yesterday (and NO I certainly wasn't looking at my DVD collection *cough* what?) that Sunshine came out last year. Although it had all the clichés of a sci-fi disaster movie (space walks without space suits, a decision that has disastrous consequences), it had a really great soundtrack and was really expertly crafted. Plus, it had "ol Scary Eyes" Cillian Murphy in it That was quality. Scanner Darkly was cool but a bit on the disturbing side. Dark City was also good. But I wouldn't say it was the last really great sci-fi movie. I'd say Minority Report was superior in every way (even if the "minority report" bit from the short story was actually left out of the film ). A Scanner Darkly is also one of my favorites. I don't know if Children of Men would be considered Sci-Fi but that movie was excellent. Clive Owen's best performance. |
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