Noriko Takaya Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 If this has been posted before, I'm sorry. I was watching some tabloid television earlier tonight and discovered that there is going to be a remake of The War of the Worlds by none other than Steven Speilberg and Tom Cruise. I'm not talking about the supposed movie which was to be released by Pendragon Pictures. Has anyone else heard about this? If so, why? I loved the old movie by George Pal. With the recent slew of remakes of classic movies hitting the market lately (Dawn of the Dead and the upcoming King Kong), have writers in Hollywood run out creative ideas? Why is it that we always have to take a perfectly good movie and update it to meet current standards? I think that it's about time the movie and television industry hire some fresh meat. Before you know it they're going to start remaking fine classics like The Evil Dead or what-have-you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 You are only just realising NOW that Hollywood has run out of ideas? Graham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxer Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 They've also run out of good directors. And good Television. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
areaseven Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Quite frankly, there hasn't been a decent adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells novel. For those who haven't read the book, War of the Worlds takes place in late-19th century London - NOT 1950s Los Angeles as depicted in the 1953 movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxer Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Nevertheless it was a good translation, if not a direct movie-from book. If this flab about a remake of WotW is true, then do you think they might try to stick to the book? And if so, do you think they'll get a descent director to make it? (Chances are, unfortunately, not...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
areaseven Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Well, remember what happened to the last adaptation of an H.G. Wells novel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxer Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 (edited) That is what I'm afraid of. Unfortunately, I see this kind of fate happening with any sort of re-make of a novel. Take for instance the supposed I, Robot movie that was mentioned in another thread. heh. The only exception to this seem to be Lord of the Rings. Edited March 18, 2004 by Boxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 The sad thing is the money deficit of dumb movies from Hollywood could instead totally support the impoverised people's of a continent, if managed correctly. Instead we just get retarded crap like this rehash from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikuro Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Every Halloween here in Oregon you get to hear the old radio tapes of Orsen Wells doing War of the Worlds and I remember reading in the history books it caused a good size panic in some areas to think Martians were invading...but that was because not alot of people heard the disclaimer given, and shouldah got a clue that News Casters back than couldn't travel so fast to an accident site after alien ships land from far far away...ya know what I'm saying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JELEINEN Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Can't be any worse than the last War of the Worlds movie (AKA Independence Day). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsu legato Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Well, remember what happened to the last adaptation of an H.G. Wells novel? *shudders* The cinematic nutpunch that was The Time Machine aside, the works of HG Wells are largely untaped in Hollywood today. Considering that there's only been one film based on the book in the 100+ years since its publication, its not like we've been inundated with WotW sequels. As long as they kept the setting in the 19th century (mostly to avoid similarities to ID4) I think this could work. I'd love to see some Victorian inspired war machines wreaking havok. Plus Spielberg is attached, so IMO that's an indisputable plus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
areaseven Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Plus Spielberg is attached, so IMO that's an indisputable plus. After what he did with The Lost World and A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, I can't trust him with sci-fi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the white drew carey Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 On one side I can see Speilberg being as faithful to the book as possible- Keeping the same setting, time and plot, but obviously adapting it for screen. One the other side I can see him screwing it up, too. Let's hope. Hope, hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsu legato Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 After what he did with The Lost World and A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, I can't trust him with sci-fi. I'll certainly give you Lost World (really Steven, what were you thinking?) but from what I've read there's certainly differing opinions on AI. Either way, I think Minority Report went a long way to making up for those missteps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaine23 Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Geez... you'd think that it physically hurt you guys every time Hollywood churned out a bad flick, remake or otherwise. Personally, I could care less. The original is still what it is... I don't like Hitchcock's Psycho any less after the crap version Gus Van Sant put out. And the answer is no, Hollywood hasn't run out of ideas - they've just chosen to invest their money in already proven ones. As long as middle America Wal-Martians continue to shell out cash for remakes or adaptations, they'll keep churning them out. Good original ideas will sit on a shelf marked "risky." Of course, I'm not a big WotW fan... for all I care this could be a announcement that Spielberg and Cruise are making a big budget version of F-Troop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EXO Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 The 50's movie was more of an adaptation of the hoax radio broadcast that Orson Welles did in the 1930's. Not a direct translation of the book. So in a way it was very faithful to it's source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MSW Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 (edited) Haveing read the original H.G.Wells book...well it COULD be a cool flick, they would have to change a few things..mainly flesh out the characters, give them motives, personnality, and story archs...even then it should still be possable to follow the situations in the book fairly accuritely (there is some damn spooky stuff in it...stuff that was way ahead of the time it was written (1886, IIRC))... For those that have not read it, the book is basicly a first person narritive compolation for two characters (main character who lives in a small English town...and his brother resideing in London)...in the book us Earthlings fare piss poor against the invadeing martians...only one war machine is destroyed...and although the martians are featured prominately, much of the telling is more suited to a scary film then all out war flick (not a lot of action). M.Night Shymalan (or however it's spelled) has about the same quit intense creepy style as the book uses...set the film in the 1890's and use some real English locations and near unknown actors (altho the guy that played Jeckle/Hyde in League of Extrodinary Gentalmen would be about perfect for the lead character)...stick as close to the book as possable...and let Nagano (of Five Star Story fame) design the martian war machines (in the book they are more surreal then victorian in description )...Now that could make for a great WotW flick Then again the film Signs basicly was WotW...and in spirit much closer then Speilburg and Cruise will ever get Edited March 18, 2004 by MSW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GobotFool Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Haveing read the original H.G.Wells book...well it COULD be a cool flick, they would have to change a few things..mainly flesh out the characters, give them motives, personnality, and story archs...even then it should still be possable to follow the situations in the book fairly accuritely (there is some damn spooky stuff in it...stuff that was way ahead of the time it was written (1886, IIRC))...For those that have not read it, the book is basicly a first person narritive compolation for two characters (main character who lives in a small English town...and his brother resideing in London)...in the book us Earthlings fare piss poor against the invadeing martians...only one war machine is destroyed...and although the martians are featured prominately, much of the telling is more suited to a scary film then all out war flick (not a lot of action). M.Night Shymalan (or however it's spelled) has about the same quit intense creepy style as the book uses...set the film in the 1890's and use some real English locations and near unknown actors (altho the guy that played Jeckle/Hyde in League of Extrodinary Gentalmen would be about perfect for the lead character)...stick as close to the book as possable...and let Nagano (of Five Star Story fame) design the martian war machines (in the book they are more surreal then victorian in description )...Now that could make for a great WotW flick Then again the film Signs basicly was WotW...and in spirit much closer then Speilburg and Cruise will ever get Shamalon would be the perfect director for a WOTW movie. He has that right mix of subtilty and creepyness that a WOTW movie needs. Speilberg, as much as I enjoy his flicks, has givin into the excess flash over content philosophy that most Hollywood directors have given into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GobotFool Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 (edited) Geez... you'd think that it physically hurt you guys every time Hollywood churned out a bad flick, remake or otherwise.Personally, I could care less. The original is still what it is... I don't like Hitchcock's Psycho any less after the crap version Gus Van Sant put out. And the answer is no, Hollywood hasn't run out of ideas - they've just chosen to invest their money in already proven ones. As long as middle America Wal-Martians continue to shell out cash for remakes or adaptations, they'll keep churning them out. Good original ideas will sit on a shelf marked "risky." Of course, I'm not a big WotW fan... for all I care this could be a announcement that Spielberg and Cruise are making a big budget version of F-Troop. So true. Let us not forget some of the better sci-fi/fantasy flicks Star Wars Terminator Robocop LOTR's and countless other now considered classics were all almost turned down because they were considered to high risk. Edited March 18, 2004 by GobotFool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Hmm. I love War of the Worlds, the book - I like to think of it as the prototypical mecha series [1] - and though I haven't seen the film for some time, I seem to remember it was pretty good, even if the technology of the time didn't allow for tripods. I've long wanted to see on film Martians advancing up the Thames, but I'm wondering whether they plan on adapting the book, remkaing the film, or something different... [1] If only old H.G. had realised that bacteria aren't as marketable as giant red, white, and blue robot suits... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsu legato Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 [1] If only old H.G. had realised that bacteria aren't as marketable as giant red, white, and blue robot suits... LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaine23 Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Shamalon would be the perfect director for a WOTW movie. He has that right mix of subtilty and creepyness that a WOTW movie needs. Speilberg, as much as I enjoy his flicks, has givin into the excess flash over content philosophy that most Hollywood directors have given into. Shyamalan would be a good choice... had he not already made Signs.. As for Speilberg... let's remember this is the guy who made Empire of the Sun, Schindler's List, Jaws, Close Encounters... as well as Temple of Doom and A.I. There's a chance it could be a good movie... hell, even his bad movies have some great parts, IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikuro Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Man I remember how SIGNS almost made me piss myself at the very end.....GOD that creeped me out >< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1st Border Red Devil Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Isnt The War of the Worlds supposed to be the backdrop for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen II? Aren't they going to adapt that for the big screen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doktor Gonzo Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Considering that there's only been one film based on the book in the 100+ years since its publication, its not like we've been inundated with WotW sequels. ::holds up his IRONHORSE LIVES! banner, looks stricken:: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the white drew carey Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 (edited) Isnt The War of the Worlds supposed to be the backdrop for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen II? Aren't they going to adapt that for the big screen? I hadn't heard that, but I definitely wouldn't discount the possibility. The problem is that the movie faired poorly, especially in the crucial North American Market, which normally has to do well to justify a sequel. edit:spelling Edited March 18, 2004 by the white drew carey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GobotFool Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Isnt The War of the Worlds supposed to be the backdrop for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen II? Aren't they going to adapt that for the big screen? I hadn't heard that, but I definitely wouldn't discount the possibility. The problem is that the movie faired poorly, especially in the crucial North American Market, which normally has to do well to justify a sequel. edit:spelling Last I heard, the profit's didn't even pay for the cost of the movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightbat Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Well, if some of you remember, I hoped for it to be made now I can only pray it won't suck I don't think it will need to have 30% of the worlds population to run around in panic to be considered succesfull But I hope it doesn't have a mood or atmosphere the likes of Titanic (man that sank!), or Pearl Harbor (It totally blew!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Can't be any worse than the last War of the Worlds movie (AKA Independence Day). What was wrong with ID4? A lot more decent some of the films I see that are out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JsARCLIGHT Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Well, let's put it this way: the new movie cannot be any worse than the War of the Worlds TV series that came out in the late '80s early '90s... I caught a few episodes of that back in the day and let's just say there is a reason it has never aired since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noriko Takaya Posted March 19, 2004 Author Share Posted March 19, 2004 Well, let's put it this way: the new movie cannot be any worse than the War of the Worlds TV series that came out in the late '80s early '90s... I caught a few episodes of that back in the day and let's just say there is a reason it has never aired since. The first season of War of the Worlds wasn't that bad. The second season was atrocious. The show just kind of took a nose dive after they killed off Richard Chaves' character. Granted, it was cheesy, but the television series was ok. Kind of like Space: 1999. It's first season was great, but they got corny and made a great show suck really bad. Quite frankly, there hasn't been a decent adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells novel. For those who haven't read the book, War of the Worlds takes place in late-19th century London - NOT 1950s Los Angeles as depicted in the 1953 movie. As for the 50's flick not emulating the book, I was aware of this as I had read the book countless times as a child. I may need to pick it up and read it again. I just happened to like the movie. Let us not forget some of the better sci-fi/fantasy flicksStar Wars Terminator Robocop I agree with you on these movies, but they are not recent. The youngest of these movies was made in 1987, 17 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JsARCLIGHT Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 The first season of War of the Worlds wasn't that bad. The second season was atrocious. I must have seen some epps from the second season then because yeegads was it terrible... and I mean terrible terrible. It made today's fine television shows like cleopatra 20-whatever and beastmaster look shakespearean by contrast. The few episodes I saw looked like they were shot in alleys with C level actors and friends of the director with standard late '80s video toaster SFX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanata67 Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 I remember the series. It actually wasn't that bad, especially with what it was competing with at the time LOL. While it was low budget and did decidedly get worse... I don't think they expected a second season and weren't pepared... It did have some good qualities. The premise was ... it was the 90's and there is a secret governtment organization [aka sg1 type format] that is aware of the fact that... the invasion depicted in war of the worlds was real and the "radio broadcast" was a cover story, as was all the damn "weather balloons". They basically watched for "sleepers" that would get up to no good. Not so bad so far... second season was AFTER the sleepers had managed to pull off a full fledged invasion and the world was in pretty much chaos with the survivors of the govt' organization now hunted while they acted as a resistence movement. as I said... I liked the premise. It could have been a lot better done though There is much to be said for "bad" quality... look at trauma films [aka toxic avenger]. Hollywood sticks to the proven as a rule, with innovative stuff typically being low budget... go figure. However... once a low budget pulls something off it becomes the proven and is apt to be "mimiced" Look at resevoir dogs, blaire witch, easy rider, clint eastwood westerns, night of the living dead, etc. I don't want to think about how many spin-offs stemmed from the short story "a most dangerous game". They even did one with ice [the "kill the cops" rapper and now detective on a police sitcom] T have they remade any jimmy stewart films yet? Just picture "it's a wonderfull life" with an all star cast ... or done "pulp fiction style I wish they would start rehashing the classic stuff like caddyshack, meatballs, blues brothers, house, critters, etc. How about some classic style hitchcock where a movie could actually be called a suspence? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EXO Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Well, remember what happened to the last adaptation of an H.G. Wells novel? As long as they kept the setting in the 19th century (mostly to avoid similarities to ID4) I think this could work. I'd love to see some Victorian inspired war machines wreaking havok. Plus Spielberg is attached, so IMO that's an indisputable plus. looks like it will be based on the novel... from cinescape.com the film is supposedly set in 1890s England just as Wells' novel is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 (edited) Uh oh: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3520636.stm The chances of anything coming from Mars were a million to one... he saiiiddddddd! Edited March 19, 2004 by F-ZeroOne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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