ALL SCI-FI

Gord Green · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:08 pm Post subject:

I found a reference to the recording of the soundtrack for this remake.

Gord Green · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:43 am Post subject:

One of the very earliest posts I put on the FP thread was this one from 2015. I'm re-posting it here because it is more in context to this discussion.
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I came upon this article about the "proposed" James Cameron re-make of Forbidden Planet.

I don't recall seeing a comment on it here (possibly on the old site?)

Cameron confirmed that he was actively involved in developing Forbidden Planet but hadn't made any decisions about it yet. We're still waiting for him to make one.

While we wait, let's take a closer look at what he's considering. As the name suggests, Forbidden Planet is based on the classic 1956 science fiction movie of the same name. Till now most have assumed this would be a remake, but since I have the J. Michael Straczynski written script Cameron's planning to use sitting in front of me on my desk, I can tell you that it is absolutely not. Instead what JMS has done is craft a well-thought out, straight-up prequel. More than that, he's laid the groundwork for a whole franchise of Forbidden Planet movies which could eventually lead to a remake of the 1956 film down the road, but not until they've told at least two completely new stories on screen.

There are similarities here between what Cameron's already done on Avatar and what he could do with Forbidden Planet. Both movies center on exploring one complex, fully realized world and both movies begin with a group of humans landing on an alien planet to uncover the mysteries of its environment. In Avatar it's a world covered in and controlled by sentient biology, in Forbidden Planet it's a world covered in and controlled sentient technology. Replace the lush jungles of Pandora with an unbelievably massive, globe-spanning, alien city and you'll get what I'm hinting at here. From there the stories diverge drastically but if Cameron wanted to make his next step a movie with a similar theme but not so similar that it's basically an Avatar do-over (or for that matter an actual Avatar sequel) then Forbidden Planet is the perfect project.

At this point fans of the original movie are probably freaking out. In the first Forbidden Planet the planet in question, Altair IV, is a barren wasteland. Don't worry, JMS knows what he's doing. As he says in the script, I'm going somewhere with this — and by the time the script is finished he does a pretty great job of fitting these seeming contradictions together with the original film while setting up other unrelated sequels.

The 1956 Forbidden Planet told the story of an Earth vessel sent to an alien planet called Altair IV, where twenty years earlier another human crewed vessel called the Bellerophon vanished. This Forbidden Planet tells the story of the Bellerophon, and even if you've seen the original movie which discusses that ship's fate intimately, it's nothing at all like you'd expect while at the same time remaining faithful to the subsequent story already told in the first movie full of clever nods to its cinematic predecessor. In fact Straczynski's take hints at things going on behind the scenes of the original movie, and if it's made it'll change the tone of that film the next time you watch it, while at the same time sticking with established facts.

Like those classic science fiction serials of which the 1956 movie was a part, JMS's script seems less concerned with explaining how and why this story happens and more concerned with just getting down to the business of spaceships, strange worlds, and hard science fiction. In doing so it changes some of the minor nuances of the original movie. Instead of being set in a far off future, the prequel's actually set in a near future. The technology used to send the Bellerophon to Altair IV is pretty new, and the way in which mankind gets the knowledge needed to do it is a critical component to the plot.

Almost the entire movie is spent on Altair IV, with the crew wandering around trying to uncover the secrets of an absent alien race. Only two characters from the 1956 film make it into the prequel: Dr. Edward Morbius and Robby the Robot. Morbius is a linguist aboard the Bellerophon. Robby on the other hand, is not exactly the same robot seen in the original film, think of him more as that robot's template. Except of course, he's been drastically redesigned.

Robby is there on the planet when the crew arrives and he's described in the script as twelve feet tall and angular, though vaguely humanoid. This Robby, actually named RBI, is sleek and menacing in appearance, his limbs connected to his torso by energy more than metal. By contrast the 1956 Robby was seven feet high and looked kind of like what would happen if you stuck and egg-shaped fishbowl on the Michelin Man's head. It's an improvement. It also allows him to be an active participant instead of wandering around ineffectually and staring, as he did in the original film. At one point in the script, Robby actually goes into battle, and it's awesome.

Morbius is the movie's villain, if there is one, in much the same way he was in the first film. This time he's more knowingly involved and much of what he does won't really fit with the character you know from the original movie, at least until the end when JMS snaps all the pieces together.

The real heroes of the story are the Bellerophon captain, Stearns, and Morbius's soon to be ex-wife Diana. I know, in the 1956 movie Morbius gives his wife a different name [Julia Marsden — Butch], and I'm somewhat at a loss to explain why they'd want to change it, but just roll with it. Though the movie's mostly faithful, little details like that get tweaked and you can't really nitpick over them when JMS seems so determined to connect the dots everywhere else. A bold decision really when you consider how few people have actually seen the original Forbidden Planet and most who see the new one won't really care.

The script's strength is the fast pace at which it moves and its willingness to tackle hardcore science fiction. It's incredibly original too, not just the story but in the little details JMS works into the screenplay. One of the big problems a lot of science fiction fans had with Avatar was how generic all the technology felt. JMS really tries to push the envelope in that respect coming up with new ideas about the way the inside of a spaceship should look and work, as well as incorporating some of the old (and never again used) ideas from the original movie, like the green stasis pods used before jumps into hyperspace. JMS, as the creator of one of the greatest sci-fi shows in the history of television in Babylon 5, knows a thing or two about creating an original, unique science fiction universe.

But at times the characters seem a little thin and it's hard not to read it and think of it as a lot like the failed Lost in Space movie, only with bigger set pieces and more brains behind it. It also commits the sin of using amnesia as a key plot device, always a dicey decision in any storytelling endeavor. The ending, the one that fits all the pieces together to connect to the 1956 version, also feels a little rushed. In fact a lot of this early draft feels like it needs some of the cracks filled in still, and maybe that's something they'll do as the go along, or maybe not.

Yet the script for Avatar suffered from some of those same problems too and that seemed to work for Cameron. Maybe that makes Forbidden Planet his kind of movie. It's like Avatar with more originality. Or maybe Straczynski will do another pass, flesh out those bare spots, and work enough of his proven sci-fi genius into the script that it'll fill in the places where Cameron usually misses something. If he does, this could be the perfect filmmaker/writer partnership.
According to multiple sources the trilogy goes like this:

MOVIE ONE:

The film opens with Dr. David Forster, a scientist who works at SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) is giving a field trip presentation to a class of sixth grade students. Forster is in his 40's and has long dreamed of the day of discovering extra-terrestrial intelligence.

The students are somewhat bored with the "aliens' presentation. The room is filled with monitors and scientific machines pulling in data, along with an array of forty-two telescopes that continually scan the sky for a signal.

Suddenly, in the middle of Forster's presentation, all the telescopes realign to one heading and a signal begins to come through. The graduate students monitoring the telescopes are confuse and alarmed. Forster is amazed and realizes he's discovered what they've been searching for all along. The signal grows in strength until it fills the room, blowing up monitors and such. The signal continues and eventually takes over television and radios everywhere. The scene cuts to Times Square where the monitors are interupted by the strange "communication" and people are dumbfounded. Forster wants it recorded, the momentum builds until monitors are exploding and they realize the signal is coming from Altair IV.[/i]

SOME PROBLEMS:

There are a lot more than 42 radio telescopes in SETI's search. Why would the Krell machine wait so long to send a signal? Why to Earth? What about the circular speed of light propagation problem? (EM signals sent from Earth would fade at just under 2 lyrs due to the sweeping motion of the signal would exceed "C".) Why would an EM signal blow up monitors? Why FORSTER? Is this a tribute to Dr. Clayton FORESTER of 1953's The War of the Worlds?

MOVIE TWO:

We then pick up 5 years later.

Human civilization has greatly advanced thanks to the alien communication signal. We find out that the signal five years ago lasted for 24 hours and within it were instructions on how to cure every known disease, develop new means of energy and much more including the means to create a hyperdrive that would allow humans to travel to other systems.

Cut to the launch of the Bellerophon. The Bellerophon crew:

Captain Thomas Stearn

Lieutenant Steven Montoya

Major Lewis Barnett

Lieutenant Avery Wilkes

Dr. Edward Morbius

Dr. Diana Morbius

Movie Two tells the story of the search for the Krell by the captain of the Bellerophon and his crew — as Diana continues to grow into something profoundly other-worldly. The search takes them beyond the limits of known space into other dimensions, passing from what's known into what's not.

SOME PROBLEMS:

Humans here are subject to what I call "Von Danikanism". We are apparently too stupid to make scientific breakthroughs on our own. We need an outside agency to do it. Why would the Krell machine do this anyway? DIANA? Morbius' wife is stated as "Julia Marsden" in the original movie. (The name comes from one of the real-life people who worked on the atomic bomb in WWII.) Why did only Morbius and his family survive? What did he learn about the Krell civilization? There is not enough people here to be both the crew of the "Bellerophon" and the party of prospecting scientists.

MOVIE THREE:

Movie Three tells the story of the second ship to arrive at Altair IV to investigate what happened to the Bellerophon. They discover Morbius and his "daughter" who is desperate to get off the planet and out into the rest of the universe, where her power would nearly be god-like — a fate we are spared when Morbius sacrifices his life to keep her there and eliminate the Krell home world once and for all.

SOME PROBLEMS:

It's never stated if his "daughter" is a mutated Diana (as has been stated at some sites) or something created by the Krell machine or is Dr. Morbius' "daughter" through some other reason. It's never explained why the so-called peaceful Krell (Morbius' explanation) would have such a thick multiple door to the whole complex with a combination lock or have a self-destruct switch.

Straczynski personally states in the last paragraph that what is cool about this new movie is that events shown completely change the meaning of the original Forbidden Planet without changing a frame of film. Altaira's attempt to seduce or inveigle the crew comes across as manipulative, using them to get off the planet. Straczynski also states that this has value to geeks of which he is one.

Straczynski has also repeatedly indicated the new FORBIDDEN PLANET will not appear "retro". But, given that it's set a significant while before the original FORBIDDEN PLANET, wouldn't some level of "retro" seem mandated? Or, will established design conceits be summarily dismissed here? Or, are we supposed to believe that the self-maintaining Krell infra-structure opted to give itself a "retro" makeover after the Bellerophon crew's apparent extermination? Or was this the "minor change" some "16 years ago" that Morbius mentioned?

MORE FROM JMS

WHAT I'M AFRAID FORBIDDEN PLANET WILL TURN INTO

The original story of which FORBIDDEN PLANET is from, FATAL PLANET, started with a story[/b]. The new FORBIDDEN PLANET started with a concept. The concept? "We own all these lovely properties and we can make even larger profits!"

The original was a stand-alone movie — and works primarily because the BIG questions are left unanswered. The new movie is being imagined as a franchise (starting with a trilogy) — and the BIG questions will never be answered. (For more on this see The Worlds of STAR TREK by David Gerrold on the differences between "drama" and "melodrama".)

Outside of Walter Pidgeon, the cast of the original were mostly either unkowns or B-grade actors with limited experience. (But even Walt was rarely the top-billed star of his many movies!) I'm including the Bosun — George D. Wallace — who appeared in many serials, most notably King of the Rocketmen. Because of the studio's need for having "names" connected with any movie the actors will have to be well established, in EVERY role.

The original was made on a tight budget that escalated because of Dore Schary. It was essentially an over-budget B-picture. It made a modest profit in initial run and has been a steady seller over the years. The new franchise will have between $100,000,000.00 to $200,000,000.00 poured into each of the movies. Woe betide them if any of the movies fails to make "box-office"!

The original FORBIDDEN PLANET's sound effects, visual effects and special effects were done by different groups who were concerned with showing what they could do if they weren't restricted. The new FORBIDDEN PLANET will be made by technicians and artists who are working to a pre-approved plan that is centered around CGI.

The new FORBIDDEN PLANET will have to have bankable stars; a top-notch supporting cast; a rock score and/or song done by a studio contracted performer that they are trying to promote; with lots of SFX in 3D.

The original "monster" was not only too slow, but there was only one. This worked because psychologically the Id became inexorable. But in today's LaLaLand we need to have the "monster" move fast and get many victims instead of a few. Which means something to "up the ante" to the 20th Century Fox's ALIEN and Predator franchises, such as more than one Id monster! Which translates to a larger crew. Which will have to have both sexes, be multi-sexual (AND they'll have to stress this even when it's NOT germaine to the story) and multi-ethnic. The crew will have to include an alien crewmember or officer even though it was a tennant of the original that mankind had NOT made contact yet.

The Krell will have to be shown, even if it's only on a viewscreen. Don't leave any mysteries for the audience. The Krell lab will have to be re-designed. No more alien philosophy design, no sir-ree! All dials will be digital. All view screens will have to be holographic. The interior of the machine will have to be well lit. The machine will have to have a self-aware super-computer which is evil and has a hidden agenda, etc.

Robby will have to be re-designed. In each of the attempted remake scripts that I have (Nelson Giddings, Sterling Silliphant, David Twohy and the treatment script by JMS) Robby got into a battle with either the Id (and won!) or with another robot that was controlled by the "evil super-computer" (and lost — but survived!).

The whole concept of Altaira being the innocent is traded for sex between father & daughter or her "education" will have to be with partners of both sexes among the crew so that she can make an "informed opinion".

The multi-sexual crew and sexual experimentation of Alta is all courtesy of GLAAD, which is a powerful force in LaLaLand.

In the original Altaira had an extensive and broad education — probably better than most courteousy of the plasmic educator and the Krell library and her father. In the new movie she will have to be as ignorant as the current audience is — we won't want to insult them, now; would we?

BUT her ignorance will have to be a sham as she will have to be secretly controlled by the "evil super-computer" who will use her to enslave the galaxy (remember COLOSSUS: The Forbin Project?).

In the original Dr. Morbius didn't want to just turn over the knowledge of the Krell to the government because he (rightly) understood the dangers of political control. (This was a slap against Communism's control by the State.) Commander Adams wanted the government to have the control. (This was because of the control of the government of the so-called secrets of WWII and the men who served in the armed services trust of said government.)

Strangely enough, in the 1950's 'there existed a trust in Big Business whereas today there is a distrust in the same!

The original FORBIDDEN PLANET ended with an absolute trust in the nature of God, but that won?'??t do today with the need to "please" every socio-religious viewpoint. Nope. It will have to be left ambiguous.

The original had an opening narration based upon the dreams of the time. The new will have an opening narration based upon history — and their predictions WILL be wrong.

AND the worst scenario is that because of the M-G-M financial mess (see separate thread) Warner Bros. will probably make it a joint project with another studio in order to reduce costs. Probably with frequent partner Paramount. Which will mean it would possibly be tied into the Star Trek franchise. ("We've got to expand everywhere! Remember resistance is futile"!)

At this point I'm GLAD that James Cameron is too busy to direct the remake of FORBIDDEN PLANET as he doesn't focus on story but is concerned with visual impact. (Avatar looked good primarily because of the visual impact of the 60's-style ultra-violet night scenes; but its story was very derivitive.)
Opening studio titles over outer space.

FADE TO: Surface of Altair IV.

Colonists are being slaughtered by an unseen force. They are running everywhere in panic. Some are smashed flat into the ground, others are torn apart, still other dissolve into a liquid goo. A few simply vanish. The FIRST OFFICER is screaming into his communicator:
VOICE:

But, Sir! You're not aboard! There's only the three of us to man the ship!
FIRST OFFICER:

I don't care! Just lift-off and get back to Earth! Warn them! Do it now!

VOICE:

Aye-aye, Sir!

FIRST OFFICER:

And, Tony? Good luck!

VOICE:

Thanks. We'll need it!

CUT TO: VFX The "Bellerophon" taking off. The ship makes to space and is speeding away from the planet. Behind it we see a luminous cloud begin to form. It slowly takes a vague face shape, part lion, part man, part something else. It gains on the "Bellerophon". It's "mouth" opens and it swallows the fleeing vessel. Which then vanishes.

CUT TO: Interior Krell Lab

DOCTOR EDWARD MORBIUS stirs and smiles as he sleeps on the screen of the Library.

SLOW FADE TO: Opening Credits.

SCENE: Outer Space. Narration over scenes of the United Planet Federation Patrol Cruiser C-57-D flying in hyperspace.

NARRATOR:

After Man's initial leap into space in the sixth decade of the 20th Century little progress was made in space exploration. This began in earnest in the early 21st Century. By the final decades of the 21st Century Men and Women had colonized the Moon and Mars and had explored the outer reaches of the Solar System. In this time period is when the first practical method of moving faster than light by warping space through quanto-gravitic hyperdrive was developed.

By 2200 Mankind had finally created a single government: The United Planet Federation.

The year is now 2308 and after more than a year in hyperdive the United Planet Federation Patrol Cruiser C-57-D is approaching the the fourth planet of the great main sequence star, Altair IV, of the constellation Aquilae, the Eagle, on a mission to find out the fate of the United Planet Federation Ranger Survey Vessel Bellerophon.
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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.

Maurice · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:53 am Post subject:

That post reads familiar. I must've seen it before.

But I'm unclear...did you write the bulk post of that or was that something you copied from some other site? It reads as written by someone who's read the JMS script.

There's a fair amount known about that one, but it's the Kersh one and that supposedly a low-budget thing that I'm trying to figure out. I've yet to see anything convincing that the latter was really a Forbidden Planet movie, because all I've seen are those few stills from an auction.
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles

Maurice · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 2:17 am Post subject:

Gord Green · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 2:58 pm Post subject:

That's all true Maurice.

I only posted it to show a connection to Corlind.
How Corlind intended to utilize that music is unknown.

The other post was from an article on the internet. I only C&P the text from my older post (2015). The source is noted on that original post.
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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.

Maurice · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 3:29 pm Post subject:

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:03 pm Post subject:

________________________________

I found a short video which shows one person's concepts for Forbidden Planet remake. I can't say I care very much for the ship design, but it the video is well done.

_ Forbidden Planet (Remake and Scene Breakdown)

__________

If the ship were changed in a remake, I'd rather see something like this fan-made version below, the design of which is somewhat inspired by Sid Mead's style. The tractor below the saucer actually IS based on Mead's design, but not the saucer.

(Thanks, Maurice, for sharing that fact in an earlier posts. Very Happy

)

I love the design, but I wanted to see the whole saucer, so I went to work on it with good old Paint.net and made a version which is a bit more to my liking. D:

~ Click on the image to see the 1214 pixel wide version. Frankly, it knocks my socks off! Shocked

The image demonstrates the unique grandeur which a saucer has, especially when it looms over you, as if it exists to shield her crew from harm — even when it isn't in space! Cool

That's why I love scenes like this one so much in Forbidden Planet.

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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 Nov 06, 2023 5:19 pm Post subject:

I'm bringing this detour from the main Forbidden Planet topic over here, since this is the appropriate venue.

I dug into this previously, but this time I got a lot farther.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2023 6:43 pm Post subject:

______________________________________________

What a remarkable contribution to All Sci-Fi, Maurice! Very Happy

I can't imagine how many hours you spent tracking down all the information you shared above — much less how long it took you to compose your wonderful posts! Shocked

Please keep us up to date concerning your on-going investigation! Cool

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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: Fri Nov 10, 2023 5:24 pm Post subject:

Poking around some more, I found this (source):

Maurice · Last edited by Maurice on Thu Mar 21, 2024 3:21 am; edited 4 times in total

Sooooo... this was totally random, but my YouTube recommendations today included a version of Journey to the Center of the Earth (IMDb), the thumbnail for which included some rather familiar looking uniforms. By familiar, I mean the uniforms from this supposed Forbidden Planet remake. See image here (link).

This was a 1993 TV movie that smells like a pilot for a TV series (I have read it was two episodes of a prospective series stitched together to make a TV movie, and Variety says it was a pilot, so it's possible the idea was the make it so the movie could be split in to to make two episodes). It aired on NBC and stars Carel Struycken as the "Yeti", a pre-Star Trek: Voyager Tim Russ, Jeffrey Nordling, John Neville, Fabiana Udenio, Kim Miyori, and the few minutes of F. Murray Abraham they could afford.

I created a topic about it here (link)

There's no question this is the source of those costumes. Not only are they identical right down to the shoulder patches, but, in fact, take a look at those patches seen in the auction photos: which depict the Earth, and a volcano with starburst at the top, the lower ray of which suggesting a passage leading down.

This is no patch for a vehicle destined for Altair IV. EDIT: I had a link to the video aimed right at that patch, but the video is gone now.

At 9:54-10:28 you can see the concept drawings Syd Mead was hired to do. The model seen on the show looks like it, but the way it flies (yes flies) around makes no sense.

This still doesn't explain what those auction photos are. It's not the same cast. I suspect the costumes were being re-used for...whatever that was.

Maurice · Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2023 8:50 pm Post subject:

P.S. This image also has nothing to do with the remake attempts.

The artist posted it to DeviantArt with the caption:

Quote:

Meeting Altaira
by Jandruff

Published:
Apr 23, 2007

Description
First key scene for Forbidden Planet for an assignment for Color Theory for Entertainment for Term four (dayum that's a lot of for's).

Honestly, guys, it's worth spending a minute or two with Google Image Search and Tineye to check the provenance of these supposed production images. They're often no such thing.
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles