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The Puppet Masters (1994)

 
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Krel
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 08, 2021 7:58 pm    Post subject: The Puppet Masters (1994) Reply with quote



In the year 1994, a supposed version of Robert Heinlein's "Puppet Masters" was unleashed on the unsuspecting public, much to the horror of Heinlein fans everywhere.

At the World Con in 1996, I attended a panel by the original two of the many scriptwriters to work on that dumpster fire. They described what went wrong, and here is an article that documents most of what I learned.

Building the Bomb by Terry Rossio: http://www.wordplayer.com/columns/wp15.Building.the.Bomb .html

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 11:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I was pleased to find a good copy of this movie on YouTube. I'm going to suggest that All Sci-Fi's Saturday Live Chat include this in the next few weeks. Cool


_ The Puppet Masters (1994) Trailer (VHS Capture)


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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 2:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This film suffers from "fiddling with the original concept" syndrome.

In the book, the story takes place in a "50's" concept of the near future. Modernizing it by doing it in a present day mode made much of the characterizations ridiculous! Many of the original concepts were "borrowed" for the TV series DARK SKIES, which was done much better.

Still, if you've never read the original novel, you may find the movie acceptable.

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 2:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Thanks for the great "heads up", Gord! Very Happy

I'm one of those folks who haven't read the novel, so perhaps I'll be able to enjoy this flawed cinematic version. Maybe I'll watch it and then post one of my typically long and rambling comments! Shocked

Would you recommend this movie as a feature for a future All Sci-Fi's Saturday Live Chat?

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Krel
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 10:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gord Green wrote:
This film suffers from "fiddling with the original concept" syndrome.

The movie suffered from having a studio assigned producer who not only didn't want to do the movie, but actually hated the concept.

David.
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 11:26 pm    Post subject: The Puppet Masters (1994) Reply with quote

THREE projects that seem to be directly influenced by Heinlien's concepts are THE BRAIN EATERS and the TV series DARK SKIES. A few TV series from OUTER LIMITS to episodes of STAR TREK both OST and NG!

The Brain Eaters, a 1958 science fiction film directed by Bruno VeSota, bore a number of similarities to Heinlein's novel. Heinlein sued the film's producers, including Executive Producer Roger Corman, for plagiarism, asking $150,000 in damages.

The case was settled out of court for $5,000, which included Heinlein's stipulation that his name not be used on screen or in any way with the production. The case halted actor John Payne's intention of producing a film based on Heinlein's novel.

The theme of the novel is echoed in "The Invisibles", an episode of The Outer Limits aired in 1964, and also in "Operation: Annihilate!", the last episode of the first season of Star Trek in 1967.

Similarly, in the story line begun in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Coming of Age" and completed in "Conspiracy", aliens from a faraway sector invade the bodies of high-ranking Starfleet admirals in an attempt to compromise the command structure and spearhead an invasion of Earth.

DARK SKIES

Debuted on NBC on September 21, 1996, and ended on May 31, 1997, and was later rerun by the Sci-Fi Channel. 18 episodes and a two-hour pilot episode were broadcast .

The series presents the idea that 20th century history as people know it is a lie. It depicts aliens having been among humans since the late 1940s, with a government cover-up concealing their existence from the public.

As the series progresses, viewers follow John Loengard and Kim Sayers through the 1960s as they attempt to foil the plots of the alien "Hive". The Hive is an alien race that planned to invade Earth through a manipulation of historical events and famous figures, including most notably the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The series depicts The Hive as an alien species who are covertly invading Earth. They are a parasitic race of small multi-legged spider-like beings that can take control of host bodies, by attaching themselves to the brain. They do this by entering through orifices on the head, commonly the mouth, though they are also shown to enter by squeezing through the nose and ears, with great discomfort to the host.

Well, personaly...I must admit that I very much enjoyed Heinlien's original novel...in all it's various versions. It was quirky enough to keep me interested and so alien to be fascinating. Yes, it was a cold war anti commie vision of Heinlien's future history, but it also was just fun to read. I have an audio version of the book that I often listen to in order to lull me off to sleep.

The movie is far from perfect, but I think Donald Sutherlands performance was a feast....At least he must have thought so because he chewed up his every scene!

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 11:52 am    Post subject: Re: The Puppet Masters (1994) Reply with quote

Gord Green wrote:
The movie is far from perfect, but I think Donald Sutherlands performance was a feast....At least he must have thought so because he chewed up his every scene!

Gord, that is VERY clever! Laughing
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Krel
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 2:04 pm    Post subject: Re: The Puppet Masters (1994) Reply with quote

Gord Green wrote:
The movie is far from perfect, but I think Donald Sutherlands performance was a feast....At least he must have thought so because he chewed up his every scene!

I have to admit that Donald Sutherland was the only bright spot in that deep black hole of a movie. Laughing

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 11, 2021 10:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Wow, thanks for the warning. If I watch it, I'll keep my expectations low. Confused

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~ The Space Children (1958)
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 11, 2021 12:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Aucontraire sir, don't forget the lovely Julie Warner being a bright spot in the movie.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 02, 2021 3:43 pm    Post subject: Re: The Puppet Masters (1994) Reply with quote

Krel wrote:
I have to admit that Donald Sutherland was the only bright spot in that deep black hole of a movie. Laughing

Both Donald Sutherland and his son, Keith, have a unique way of playing a roll like no other actors. Very Happy

Keith's character in the 1993 remake of The Three Musketeer gives that movie the same tragic character that Van Heflin portrayed in the 1948 version.

~ But the way, IMDB has been drastically altered recently, and I'm still trying to figure out how to access the information that was readily available on the old versio!

Just a word of warning, guys.
Sad
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Krel
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 02, 2021 11:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
Wow, thanks for the warning. If I watch it, I'll keep my expectations low. Confused

You're going to need a mining engineer to dig down that deep.

David.
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