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FEATURED THREADS for 5-23-22

 
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2022 8:36 am    Post subject: FEATURED THREADS for 5-23-22 Reply with quote



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We kick things off with a challenge to describe sequels we'd love to have seen for various science fiction movies.

Then we take a break from sci-fi to visit the Old West and ride with The Magnificent Seven — which is an upcoming feature on All Sci-Fi's Saturday Live Chat (<— link).

And finally we examine another interesting aspect of Captain Midnight, one of the finest science fiction series of the 1950s.

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1950s Science Fiction Sequels!

Today's Hollywood is Sequel Crazy because they've learned that any movie they make can become an endless "cash cow" and spawn a franchise which will earn billions of dollars . . . if the public demands more movies after the initial production. Cool

But back in the 1950s, the Tinseltown Dimwits had no clue that any well-made movie was a seed which could sprout into a crop of sequels, and they could rake in the cash for years to come!

Geez, those poor clueless morons . . . Rolling Eyes

However, bright folks like us can enjoy pretending we’re movie moguls in the 1950s who can come up with brilliant sequels for movies like the ones listed below! Very Happy

So, let's have fun concocting a few follow-up films for the classics we love. And then we can flesh out the plots which would have dazzled sci-fi fans in the Golden Age of Sci-Fi!

Please understand that the suggestions below are just my own ideas for stories which would continue the plots of the great originals. I’ll leave it to you guys to offer more ideas about each one. Very Happy

This thread is not restricted to the movies I’ve listed below. You guys don’t have to reply to the ideas I’ve suggested. This thread is for “sequel concepts” — not for “replies to Bud’s brilliant ideas”. Confused

This is brainstorming at its finest!

So, feel free to suggest your own concepts to the movies listed below. And also you should feel free to add additional movies as well!

We’re using our imaginations to travel back in time and produce the movies Hollywood should have made when we were kids!

And just for the record, all our imaginary sequels will have really big budgets! Wink

So, here we go!

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The Thing from Another World II

The planet that sent the first ship won’t just give up when they don’t hear a report form the alien who survived the crash. Obviously these “super carrots” never meant for the ship to land in arctic, so their next mission will make sure it lands in fertile region where the invaders can “start growing some kind of horrible army. Turn the human race into food for it?” (A quote from the movie.)

I’ve always thought the sequel would take place somewhere in Kansas or Oklahoma — in a remote area surrounded by a few thousand acres of rich, green farmland!





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The Day the Earth Stood Still II

Klaatu left Earth with no idea how much longer he’d live or what decision Earth would make after his dire warning concerning the threat of the Robot Police who possessed “a power over us” that “could not be revoked”. (Again, a quote from the movie.)

I’ve always wondered if his society wished they didn’t have to live under a rigid robot dictatorship, over which they actually had no control!

So, what if Klaatu came back to tell mankind that the situation he told us about was not as simple as he described, and that his interstellar society desperately needed our help, because the robots had such a strong hold on them!

You know . . . like the one shown symbolically in this picture! (Sorry, the image is so good I just couldn't resist using it! Laughing





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When Worlds Collide II

The authors of the book on which the classic movies was based wrote a great sequel. I’ve read it, and I actually like it even better than the first one! But if we were in charge of the sequel for the wonderful original, what would WE do with it?




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War of the Worlds II

Okay, the Martians were kickin’ our asses right up until the viruses in Earth’s atmosphere won the war for us. Shocked

But the Martians wouldn’t just give up after they found out that all their soldiers needed to get inoculated before going off to war!

So, what would the Martians do next? Confused

Perhaps they would place a huge space station in orbit and drop containers which seed the Earth with a virus from Mars that THEY were immune to . . . but which WE were not!

Hell’s bells, turn about is fair play, right? Shocked





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Earth vs the Flying Saucers II

The alien invaders failed to conquer Earth because we found a fatal flaw in their propulsion system which made their saucer’s crash! But . . . did they ALL crash, or did some of them get away? Confused

If so, perhaps the surviving saucers regrouped in space and developed a defense against our anti-magnetic ray . . . and then came back. Having gained a healthy respect for our technology and our determination, perhaps they would then decide to take a shot at negotiating with us. Very Happy

But . . . even if they did, would we trust them?

Hell no! Shocked

With that in mind, mankind would get busy trying to reverse engineer the alien's technology so we could build our own flying saucers — partly to use them against the aliens, and partly to find out if there was a way to make them resistant to our anti-magnetic weapon.





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20 Million Miles to Earth II

Hey, guess what? Venus has life on it! The Ymir’s existence proves that. Smile

And our rocket only crashed on Earth because it got hit by a meteoroid in space! So, we’ve got a proven spaceship that can get us to Venus and back, and we've got solid proof that life exist on Venus!

So, what do we do next?

Hell, we go back! Shocked

The working title of this sequel could be 20 Million Miles FROM Earth. (But of course, we can do better than that . . . ).

Imagine a scene on Venus which pans across the Venusian landscape until we see a Ymir come into view as it gazes down into the valley below.

Suddenly a spacecraft from Earth soars across the strange terrain during it’s decent. It passes out of frame and makes it’s landing while the Venusian creature watches.

~ Click on the image to view a larger version of the gorgeous work of art I created by combining various elements with Paint.net. Cool




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The Magnificent Seven (1960)

IMDB has 87 trivia items for this movie. Here’s a few of the ones I found the most interesting, in the blue text. Very Happy
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~ Although the film received only mixed reviews, John Sturges got a rave from the one source that really mattered to him. After seeing the picture, Akira Kurosawa was so impressed, he sent the American director a ceremonial sword as a gift.

Note from me: I've watched Seven Samuri and frankly it doesn't thrill me. But hey, that's just me . . .

~ Yul Brynner had a major say in casting decisions, including the decision to cast Steve McQueen. He specifically requested that McQueen be cast as Vin Tanner. Brynner later regretted the move since he and McQueen developed a disastrous relationship on set.

Note from me: DVD commentary has a hystrical comment concerning the scene in which Steve and Yul are about to drive the hearse up to Boot Hill. Yul hated to be upstaged, and in that scene Steve goes through a series of "preparations" that make him look cool and professional . . . but they draw the attention away from Yul, who resented Steve's little show.

Steve pulls out two shotgun shells shakes and each one next to his ear — to make sure they really had pellets in them, I guess. Then he takes off his hat and holds it up in front of the sun — studying it carefully for reasons unknown.

That funny moment is at the 3:00 mark in the clip below.


_______________ The Magnificent Seven 2/13


__________



~ The "bandit gang" hired for Calvera adopted Eli Wallach as one of their own. In the mornings before shooting started, but after Wallach was in costume, he and the group would go riding together for an hour. Additionally, members of the gang insisted on doing the final checks for Wallach's horse tack and prop gun before he was allowed to use either.

Note from me:This just tickles me to death, amigos! Just knowing that many of those guys weren't just actors is cool, but the way they made Eli Wallach their honorary leader is . . . well . . . magnífico! Very Happy






~ In later years, Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen reconciled. McQueen, dying of cancer, called Brynner to thank him. "What for?" queried Brynner. "You coulda had me kicked off the movie when I rattled you," replied McQueen, "but you let me stay and that picture made me, so thanks". Brynner told him, "I am the king and you are the rebel prince: every bit as royal . . . and dangerous to cross." McQueen said, "I had to make it up with Yul 'cause without him I wouldn't have been in that picture."

Note from me: It's nice to know that these two Hollywood legends reconciled . . . instead of shooting it out at high noon. Shocked

~ James Coburn was a big fan of Seven Samurai (1954) and his favorite role in that film was the character that he ended up playing in the Americanized version. He deliberately incorporated Seiji Miyaguchi's performance as Kyuzo into his performance.

Note from me: Coburn's "knife vs gun" scene is almolst as cool as anything Derek Flint ever did. Cool


______________ The Magnificent Seven (6/12)


__________


Here's a bit more about that rivalry between the two.

~ According to Eli Wallach's autobiography, Yul Brynner had a major problem with what he perceived as Steve McQueen's trying to upstage him. According to Wallach, McQueen would do things when on screen with Brynner to draw attention to his character. Examples were his shaking of the shotgun shells and taking off his hat to check the sun during the hearse scene and leaning off his horse to dip his hat in the river when the Seven cross into Mexico. Brynner was supposedly so worried about McQueen stealing his limelight in scenes that he hired an assistant to count the number of times McQueen touched his own hat when he [Brynner] was speaking.

Note from me: I wonder if the guy ask for a screen credit. "Assistant to Mr. Brynner, in charge of the hat-touching count".






~ The oneupmanship between Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen spread to the other actors, and they all started pulling stunts of their own in order to get the audience's attention. While a lot of the attention-hogging did make it into the finished film, John Sturges was terrified by how quickly he lost control of his cast.

Note from me: And yet, all those flamboyant gestures are part of why the characters seem so charismatic and interesting!

~ The horse that Yul Brynner was riding was Pie, the same one that James Stewart rode in all or most of his westerns. It was found while researching Stewart's horse.

Note from me: I just had a funny idea for a biography, with me as the ghost writer, presenting clever anecdotes about Stewart's Westerns — as told from the viewpoint of Pie. The title would be "The Real Jimmy Steward; Straight from the Horse's Mouth". Laughing

~ Pay close attention to Eli Wallach whenever he handles his gun. Whenever he puts the gun back into his holster, he always looks down at it. That was because Wallach wasn't used to drawing the weapon and didn't want to look foolish by missing the holster while putting his gun back, as Wallach would admit in the DVD Documentary.

Note from me: Compare this to the manual gymnastics which The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore) did almost every time he holstered his gun.

He would spin it forward a half-turn until it was held upside down by the trigger guard, then he'd lower it partway into the holster backwards, and finally he'd twist it around forward, still holding the trigger guard.

All done in under two seconds. It's beautiful to behold, partners!

~ Steve McQueen wanted to act in this film but couldn't at first because the schedule of his TV series, Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958), wouldn't allow it. He crashed a car and while he was "out sick", he shot this film.

Note from me: Ah-HA! That explains all the bandages and casts Steve wore during this movie! Very Happy

~ Sterling Hayden was originally supposed to play the knife expert, Britt. Hayden dropped out for unknown reasons, so John Sturges sent out an extensive casting call. Robert Vaughn (Lee) recommended his old schoolmate and friend James Coburn for the role. Vaughn and Coburn helped each other get roles throughout the rest of Coburn's life.

Note from me: "Napoleon Solo and Derek Flint, together again . . . for the first time!" Laughing

~ Horst Buchholz (Chico) accidentally shot himself in the leg on set. Though his gun was loaded with blanks, the shot raised a welt.

Note from me: This, of course, is why there's nothing but the sound effect whenever Barney Fife's gun goes off in his holster. Blanks might not have slugs, but the force of the blast packs a punch Confused

~ Steve McQueen tried to draw attention from Yul Brynner by taking off his hat to shade his eyes as he looks around just before they drive the hearse to the graveyard and bending down from his saddle to dip water with his hat as the whole crew crosses a stream. Finally Brynner said to him, "If you don't stop that I'm going to take off my hat, and then no one will look at you for the rest of the film."

Note from me: That's very amusing. I'm sure there's no truth to the rumor that Yul put a sticky note under his hat atop his bald head which said, "McQueen sucks!" . . . just to really drive his point home! Laughing

~ When filming began in Mexico, problems arose with the local censors, who demanded changes to the ways that the Mexican villagers would be portrayed. Walter Newman, who had written the screenplay, was asked to travel to the location to make the necessary script revisions, but refused. The changes written in by William Roberts were deemed significant enough to merit him a co-writing credit. Newman refused to share the credit, though, and had his name removed from the film entirely.

Note from me: "And the Oscar for Biggest Drama Queen goes to . . . Walter Newman! Accepting the award for Mr. Newman is William Roberts." Wink

~ Chico's "bullfight" scene was improvised. Someone found a cow and the filmmakers decided to put it in a scene with Horst Buchholz to see if he would take it and run with it.

Note from me: I never would have guessed this scene was note scripted. It's just right for Horst Buchholz character!






~ The film was a box-office failure in the United States, but went on to be a smash hit in Europe, and ultimately turned a profit.

Note from me: If this movie could flop at the box office, it's no wonder that Hollywood desperately clings to remakes and reboots of successful films. The public can certainly be very fickle and witless! Shocked

~ The movie appears to be set sometime in the mid- to late 1880s. However, all of the main characters wear low-slung, Buscadero-style holsters, which were basically unknown before the early 1900s. Actual belt guns in the "Wild West" era were worn at the belt line, usually in cross-draw holsters as they were both more comfortable to wear and easier to draw from while mounted on a horse.

Note from me: It sets my teeth on edge when I see a character in a Western movie or TV series wearing his gun belt so low it's six inches below his pants belt. And when he wears it at an extreme angle, with the holster way down the side of their leg, I start shouting at the TV — "Pull up your gun belt, you idiot! That looks ridiculous!" Mad

The great Tim Holt knew how to wear his gun rig! Sad




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Captain Midnight (1954 - 1956)

Recently I've had to adjust my thinking concerning the picture quality of shows which I'm willing to watch, because quite a few of the episodes of Captain Midnight are 3rd and 4th generation copies of VHS tapes made several decades ago! Shocked

The picture quality is horrible for these episodes, and frankly they're difficult to watch. But the stories are so good that I've suffered through the first few episodes with truly bad pictures on my newly acquire box set . . . and I've discovered something interesting!

Despite having a big sound system in my living room which features an old Marantz quadraphonic receiver I acquired several decades ago (as well as four large speakers located around the room), I usually wear headphones while watching TV so I can play the audio as loud as I want to without bothering my townhome neighbors. And besides, that way I get the full stereo effect! Very Happy




But here's the secret to watching the Captain Midnight episodes which have really bad pictures.

Don't look at the TV any more than you have to! Shocked

The headphones deliver the reasonably good audio and make it easy to follow the story, and I only glance over at the TV every few seconds to see what's happening. Between glances, I'm gazing at the laptop in front of me while posting things here on All Sci-Fi! Very Happy






The effect of all this is that I manage to enjoy the stories without having to endure the bad picture quality the entire time. It's actually a lot like listening to one of the old radio shows like the one Captain Midnight presented to America for several years! Smile

But of course, I still keep hoping that high-quality versions of all the episodes from this great series will someday be offered to science fiction fans everywhere.
Very Happy
_________________
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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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