ALL SCI-FI

Krel · Guest

Bud, the platform didn't have to be constructed on a parking lot as we think of it. MGM was HUGE, and had a large fleet of trucks, vans, cars, construction machinery and other vehicles I can't conceive of. I'm sure that there were paved areas where the platform could have been constructed.

David.

Eadie · Galactic Ambassador Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 1695

Congratulations!!!

The thread is now at 100 pages!

Earth Girls Are Easy (1988) publicity photo:

Two stickers:

A metal sign:

The most important reference:

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Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2019 9:57 am Post subject:

Eadie · Galactic Ambassador Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 1695

Look at what I found at IMDb Pro:

by Eric M. Van

J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, Changeling, Sense8) is a great writer, and his description of his plan for remaking Forbidden Planet as a trilogy sounded irresistibly good. I have reasonable high hopes that we’ll see at least the first installment some day. As the price of CGI drops, the needed budget will reach a point where someone will want to produce it.

The first film is the real story of what happened with the Bellerophon expedition years ago, and it’s different in important ways from what Morbius led everyone to believe had happened. The third film is the actual Forbidden Planet remake, and the second … takes place in between (JMS didn’t say much about it). All the events of Forbidden Planet would still happen the same way, but they would have extra or different meaning via the changed back story.

JMS has had tough luck with his sci-fi passion projects since B5; first this trilogy didn’t happen, then his adaptation of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars trilogy got the plug pulled, and then Sense8, his amazing collaboration with the Wachowskis, got canceled after two seasons. But the Forbidden Planet prequel (at least) seems capable of resurrection.
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Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.

Maurice · Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 1:56 am Post subject:

I dunno. Trying to make FP into a trilogy is like trying to turn The Hobbit into one. Some things just don't require that much fleshing/padding out.
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles

Gord Green · Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 3:47 am Post subject:

Understand, Maurice, that the first two were intended as prequels to the story we know. I'm not saying that we would like them...Just that the intention was to tell the story that was to be about what went on before the story we are so familiar with.

As such it was up to the real talent of the writer to weave the tale as well as he was able.

Personaly, I would find that a daunting task.
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 11:30 am Post subject:

Krel · Guest

If I had to do it, then this is how I would do it.

First movie would be the expedition to Altair IV, and the exploration of the planet, as per our earlier disscussions. The movie would end with the discovery of the rubble conceiling the corridor and sealed lab door.

The second movie would be the excavation of the site, the unlocking of the lab door, and exploration of the machine. The use of the plastic educator and the ID attacks. The movie will end after the destruction of the Bellerophon, with a pregnant Julia Morbius.

The Third movie would be the remake of the original film.

Alternate third movie: The movie would show the death of Julia Morbius in childbirth and the aftermath. The construction of Robby and the residence. It would show Altaira growing up, and Morbius puzzling over the sudden appearance of the animals. The movie would end with Morbius being informed of the appearance of a ship in orbit.

All the production designs would follow the original film.

David.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 3:40 pm Post subject:

________________________________

David, your proposal is Divinely Inspired. That's the only explanation for the sheer genius of your description of a three-movie (correction: four movie) cinematic masterpiece.

It's obvious from your summaries of the four films' plot lines that there's amply story material for each one, all of which would have running times between 90 and 120 minutes to keep the narratives tight and exciting.

And your closing statement —

All the production designs would follow the original film.

— is what would make this remake a heavenly experience for all the loyal fans of Forbidden Planet. Any production which attempted to "update" the gorgeous look of the original masterpiece would fail for the same reason that an artist who attempted to paint a portrait of Marilyn Monroe couldn't surpass this screen shot from my DVD of Niagara!

See what I mean? Shocked

The Hollywood crowd always feels a misguided need to convert classics like Forbidden Planet into their own "updated" versions.

But in this case, the updates and conversions will suffer badly by comparison, and the end result will be a completely unsatisfying experience for the millions of people who adore the original and don't really want to see a remake . . . unless it looks like the Ultimate Restoration of this movie, a cinematic experience which wins their hearts just by sticking close to what they've loved for over 60 years! Cool

Maybe it's an impossible task . . . but I loved to see somebody try it, if they did it right.

Perhaps the end product would inspire a whole new generation of Forbidden Planet fans who would be entranced by a new version, just the way we Old Timers were entranced back 60+ years ago.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Maurice · Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 11:21 pm Post subject:

I am not convinced JMS could have pulled it off. His magnum opus Babylon 5 was largely a spacey riff on The Lord of the Rings.

As to a trilogy, it's easy to say "story goes from here to there" and list of a few key events, which is just the sort of thing most screenwriters knock out in the first few hours before spending 6 months trying to hash out and make revisions on a shootable screenplay that a studio will get behind.

The real question, of course, is what are those stories you're going to tell? What are the themes? What are the twists and turns? Screenwriting is HARD. It looks easy. It isn't.

And while we love the 1950s production design the average modern audience would laugh it off the screen and think it was corny. We who love the particulars wouldn't be a big enough portion of the audience to risk catering to.
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles

Eadie · Galactic Ambassador Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 1695

Christmas Eve present from a recent Gucci advert; Robby's new career:

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Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.

Krel · Guest

Bud Brewster · Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2019 3:54 pm Post subject:

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I can only hope, Maurice, that modern audiences wouldn't find such beautiful designs laughable in the least.

If the designs in Forbidden Planet had been deliberately bizarre and outlandish just to dazzle the 1950s audiences with their radical appearance, I'd agree with you completely.

But the production designs are, in my opinion, done in a manner that demonstrates genuine artistic excellence. They aren't "futuristic" in the manner of films which deliberately disregard conventional forms and practical function just to be avant-garde.

I realize we're discussing something which is highly subjective, and of course there's the obvious fact that some of us spent most of our lives loving Forbidden Planet, so we remember our strong positive feelings from our long lost youth — and the bygone age in which we lived.

But the most impressive thing about Forbidden Planet's production designs is that they haven't suffered one bit from the fact that, as those years have gone by, we've seen futuristic designs become common place in the world today.

And the Forbidden Planet's designs STILL look futuristic — for all the right reasons. They're advanced designs, improvements on the less appealing architectural forms of the past. They aren't just a trend that passes, they aren't radical change from the familiar.

They're like new technology which finds a better way to do the things that need to be done. That's why we don't get tired of cell phones and go back to rotary phones. They're not a trend. They're an advancement.

Good art and architecture endures because they're based on new ideas that are discovered and used to make improvements in the older creations.

This a shopping center for the 21st Century . . . not a set for a 1950s movie.

And this impressive building is the Survey City Hall in British Columbia. It's used as the hospital in The Good Doctor, a state-of-the-art medical facility. I think the Krell would approve. (I was strongly tempted to put a few moons in the sky . . . )

In fact, the interior seems hauntingly familiar. Very Happy

See what I mean? Wink

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Eadie · Galactic Ambassador Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 1695

I won't be posting tomorrow because (like you) I'll be busy.

The first Christmas tree on Altair IV (before the house was built):

(Actually the I-17 Mystery Tree.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-17_Mystery_Christmas_Tree)[/size]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.

Maurice · Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2019 1:59 am Post subject:

You guys do realize I am mostly referring to the C57D and its fences and tractor, and the tech, which looks as antique as it is. Even the great machine looks like an old idea of technology. Morbius' home looks retro but not in a bad way.
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles