UFO Movie

by **shadokp** » Fri May 22, 2009 3:38 pm

There is talk of a UFO movie

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a15672 ... movie.html.

The idea is pretty simple and if done properly it would be fine BUT there are plenty of things they could do to screw it up like make it a comedy or take out the elements that make the original series so good like the weirdness, the tough character of Straker and the hardware and cool vehicles.

KP

by **Kambei** » Fri May 22, 2009 3:48 pm

shadokp wrote:There is talk of a UFO movie

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a15672 ... movie.html.

The idea is pretty simple and if done properly it would be fine BUT there are plenty of things they could do to screw it up like make it a comedy or take out the elements that make the original series so good like the weirdness, the tough character of Straker and the hardware and cool vehicles.

KP

If this is done properly, with todays technology and CGI, it could be wonderful, but I am not getting my hops up. All too often with remakes these days, we hear the words 'edgy', 'adult themes', 'reimagined for todays audience' and 'cutting edge'. Unfortunately, normally all this means is lazy storytelling out of the 'Hollywood Book of 1001 Cliches, sex, swearing and violence. Either that or they turn it into a soap opera with all of the above as well. Plus teh fact they will have to make it so that it will sell to the American market.

I am hopefull, but cautious.

by **Elentari** » Sat May 23, 2009 12:44 am

The casting of Straker would have to be exceptional to beat Ed Bishop in the role.

For those diehard fans like myself :wink:

who prefer the original shows, I imagine it will go the way of the TB movie and NCS - with enough changes to annoy the fans, but not enough to address all those niggling mistakes in the original shows that we hoped would be fixed.

Apologies to all the NCS fans out there - I still think it's ghastly.

by **Kambei** » Sat May 23, 2009 8:45 am

Elentari, I agree completely. I am also a huge fan of the original. UFO and ICS are my all time favourite two Anderson shows by a long way. This could end up completely style over substance, although any improvement on the Interceptors single missile will be an improvement.

With apologies to the Americans, but who have you got at the moment with sufficient gravitas to play Ed Straker? Ed Bishop was perfect for the role. His white/blond hair and pale eyes, added to the wonderfully cold performance he gave on-screen lent him an almost alien air himself.
Also, who could replace Vladek Sheybal as Dr Jackson. All he needed to do was walk into a room to give a sense of menace, even though he was a good guy.

by **Mary** » Sat May 23, 2009 2:16 pm

Kambei wrote:
With apologies to the Americans, but who have you got at the moment with sufficient gravitas to play Ed Straker? Ed Bishop was perfect for the role. His white/blond hair and pale eyes, added to the wonderfully cold performance he gave on-screen lent him an almost alien air himself.

Neal McDonough, most recently in "Desperate Housewives" but also starred in the series "Medical Investigation" (based on his character from "Third Watch") and "Band of Brothers" among other varied roles. His hair is even the right color... :wink:

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3614345984/nm0568180

by **chrisbishop** » Sat May 23, 2009 3:11 pm

He also played the title role in "Tin Man" - a modern and adult re-imagining of "The Magician of Oz", where he played a former law officer, who grew a cold heart after hiis family was exterminated in front of his eyes and he found himself emprisonned inside a sarcophagus-like tin man in the middle of the forest... And he's fabulously unsettling in "Desperatle Housewive".

I would agree with that choice. He might just be able to give Ed Straker the charactisation that would be needed.

by **Brindlewhite** » Sat May 23, 2009 3:35 pm

Neal McDonough is one of my favourite actors and he is extremely versatile, I have never seen him an unsatisfactory performance no matter what he is playing. Ed Bishop is an extremely difficult person to replace but Neal may just be able to do it :-D

I wonder who they could get to play Alex Freeman and Paul Foster.

Gosh it opens a whole can of worms just thinking about it all :wink:

by **Kambei** » Sat May 23, 2009 5:49 pm

chrisbishop wrote: - a modern and adult re-imagining .

Those words automatically turn me off watching anything they refer to. See above.

by **chrisbishop** » Sat May 23, 2009 6:34 pm

Perhaps I didn't use the right terms... Sorry about that!

"Tin Man" is completely different from "Wizard of Oz" - Like the movie "Ever After" was different from the very well known "Cinderella" tale it's based upon. If you also have seen the movie "The Brother Grimms" and saw what they did with the Grimms' tales, you might know what I mean. "Tin Man" is like a distorted version of Oz... Quite dark, where nothing is like we know of the original tale. Think the new 'Battlestar Galactica', compared to the old one... I don't think you can compare the re-imagining of Captain Scarlet into CGI or even the one they did for the Thunderbirds movie to the same level.

I know we all have reasons to feel concerned about what could be done with UFO - especially considering that they might make a MOVIE out of it. After all, we greeted 'Thunderbirds', the movie with various degrees of appreciation (even though I found Lady Penelope and Parker quite appealing, the rest of the movie left to be desired). Some remakes are totally awful (The Avengers, anyone?) but others have worked very well (Charlie's Angels, Mission Impossible, Addams Family...). Perhaps the secret is to find the perfect atmosphere that will work with each individual movie...

I have to admit one thing: considering the subject of UFO (aliens stealing body parts from humans for their own purposes), I'm a little afraid this might turn into a gory thing, will all kind of bloody limbs lying around, and body opened up like overripe fruits... Not to sound squeamish, but there are other ways to present a dark atmosphere to a movie than by showing gory details...

Additionnaly to this, maybe a series, or mini-series might work better with UFO instead?

by **Kambei** » Sat May 23, 2009 7:25 pm

They have just remade V, so I wonder if this is band-wagon jumping. From what i have seen of teh new V on trailers, it seems to lack the atmosphere of teh original.

I am more than willing to give a UFO remake a chance. It is something I have had on my wish list for years. I wholeheartedly agree with Chris. What we don't need is a slash-schlock movie.

by **chrisbishop** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 4:09 pm

The following links have been sent to us by Richard Darmok, and gives a little more information regarding the possibility of a U.F.O. movie. Thanks for providing these, Richard!

http://www.cinemaspy.com/article.php?id=2584

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/262437/ ... movie.html

I might not be the only one to start feeling a little excited by this!

by **Brindlewhite** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 6:00 pm

Time to keep both fingers and toes crossed :grin:

I wonder if this is why the UFO Technical Manual I ordered back in July 2007 keeps having its publish date put back, perhaps they are holding it to see if the film goes forward?
Eric Chu is amazing, I loved BSG and all the ships etc in it, my favourite being the Cylon Raider.
Then, when the UFO film has been well received maybe they can think about Scarlet?! :-D

by **Kambei** » Sat Jun 13, 2009 7:32 pm

Oh my!

If those Eric Chu designs make it to the screen along with a good script and director (please keep Jonathon Frakes away from this! :roll:

), I may be getting into a state of Nerd-Vana. Those new vehicle designs look enough like the originals and yet more high tech to light my fire!

by **chrisbishop** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:00 pm

Some information about the UFO movie that can be found on ComingSoon.net. Apparently, Joshua Jackson - who plays Peter Bishop (!!) in "Fringe" - will be playing Paul Foster in the upcoming movie.

Plot is written by Ryan Gaudet and Joseph Kanarek and special effects will be from Matthew Gratzner.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=61110

by **chrisbishop** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 6:40 pm

Just a few days after the announcement of Joshua Jackson being cast for the role of Paul Foster in UFO, here's a new bit of information. Ali Larter of Heroes (how many characters did she play again!?) might be interested in the role of Colonel Virginia Lake!

See the following links:

http://forbiddenplanet.com/pages/ali-la ... o-trilogy/

and further with the interview of Matthew Gratzner, director and co-producer:

http://forbiddenplanet.com/pages/matthe ... o-trilogy/

The interview is quite interesting. Doesn't look like they want to change that much to the background storyline, which is a good news in itself. The introduction where Ed Straker is described gave me goosebumps. It seems the movie writers understand the character as he should be!

They seem to want to keep the 'ten years into the future' settings, quite like in the original show. Of course, with the advance of sciences and technologies, some stuff will more than likely be more sophisticated, and Gratzner implies that he wants this to be a 'serious' and 'dark' story.

And 'the movie' may well be turned into a trilogy as well! Now, if the first one is as good as we hope, this might become even more interesting...

We'll keep an eye on this one!