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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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« Maybe if I said “Aaahh” more often… | Main | Bingo every time! »
Category: Entertainment
Posted on: August 26, 2008 9:44 AM, by PZ Myers
They're remaking The Day the Earth Stood Still…with Keanu Reeves! It looks very, very bad. What did they think they had to add to a SF classic? More special effects?
(At least there's one bit of good news: Watchmen looks fabulous.)
Comments
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp, KoT | August 26, 2008 9:48 AM
I hope there are lots of special effects and little dialogue for Keanu. He is horrible without multiple crutches to lean on.
Posted by: Alverant | August 26, 2008 9:51 AM
"I want ROOM SERVICE!!!"
Johny Moronic
Posted by: zer0 | August 26, 2008 9:53 AM
Watchmen may not make it to big screen
Posted by: Steven | August 26, 2008 9:54 AM
The watchman movie is currently in litigation. Apparently Fox is involved if I remember correctly. There is some matter of rights being purchases years and years ago but never used.
Posted by: Sven DiMilo | August 26, 2008 9:54 AM
yikes...I was going to joke that maybe Reeves would be cast as Klaatu...and then it turned out to be TRUE!!!????
Posted by: Alcari | August 26, 2008 9:54 AM
Well, that proves it.
There is no god.
Posted by: Alcari | August 26, 2008 9:56 AM
Well, if he's playing Klaatu, wearing a metal mask, at least his acting "skill" won't make much of a difference.
Posted by: Alcari | August 26, 2008 9:58 AM
Well, if he's playing Klaatu, wearing a metal mask, at least his acting "skill" won't make much of a difference.
Posted by: Aquaria | August 26, 2008 9:58 AM
I don't understand why someone seems willing to pay Keanu Reeves millions of dollars to be in a movie, when you can get enough cardboard at Party City to make something just as lifelike for about $6.
Posted by: LisaJ | August 26, 2008 9:58 AM
Oh no, not Keanu. As long as he doesn't have to open his mouth he'll be alright. Here's hoping it's a silent film.
Posted by: Luke O'Dell | August 26, 2008 9:59 AM
I'm reading Watchmen right now for the first time. 'Bout halfway through. It's so good. I can't imagine a film doing it justice.
Posted by: Sigmund | August 26, 2008 10:01 AM
I'm just waiting for Bill Donahue to start issuing threats about 'Satans Alley'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja-KFDrpkaA
Posted by: tceisele | August 26, 2008 10:01 AM
I thought the robot was Gort?
Posted by: SteveM | August 26, 2008 10:02 AM
Well, if he's playing Klaatu, wearing a metal mask, at least his acting "skill" won't make much of a difference.
I think you are thinking of Gort, Klaatu's robot. Keanu would have made a most excellent Gort.
Posted by: MS | August 26, 2008 10:03 AM
Not holding my breath, but there are some things that could be improved from the original script. In particular, does anybody really believe that the spaceship and robot would be guarded by a grand total of two totally incompetent soldiers so that people could just sneak right up to it or Gort could sneak away? Don't you think the area would be closed off for blocks, if not miles, and absolutely crawling with soldiers? I hope they leave in the scene with the doctors lighting up cigarettes after they examine Klaatu, though.
And for #7 above, Klaatu is the alien (Michael Rennie in the original) and Gort is the robot. While I think Reeves has a certain talent for a certain kind of amiable comedy, I can't really see him in this. Who knows, though? Maybe he'll surprise us.
Who's writing the music? The original Bernard Hermann score simply can't be improved on.
Posted by: Ranson | August 26, 2008 10:04 AM
@ #11
No one can do it justice. The best we can hope for is "cool, but not monumentally screwed up". Hollywood has a bad history with that paricular creator's works. You just can't get the subtlties in 2-3 hours.
Posted by: techskeptic | August 26, 2008 10:05 AM
hmmmm.. Trinity
Posted by: Bevans | August 26, 2008 10:07 AM
Hollywood really has run out of ideas. If you took away every remake, adaptation, sequel/prequel or shameless rehash, there would only be 3 or 4 movies out every year.
I like Keanu, but the trailer for this movie didn't impress me. I'll still probably see it anyway.
I actually really liked the recent War of the Worlds update, despite the fact that it had Tom Cruise in it, and despite the fact that it wasn't very faithful to the book, and despite the fact that the previous movie version was so good. And I thought I Am Legend was pretty good too, except for the abysmal ending ("God saved us!").
So, I don't really know what to expect here. There have been some pretty good remakes, to be honest. Of course, there have been some atrocious remakes too.
Posted by: SteveM | August 26, 2008 10:13 AM
What they think they are adding is relevance to today's world. That is, changing the message from the threat of nuclear war to the threat of environmental collapse.
Yes, there's seems to be a great deal of wailing and gnashing of teeth in the SF community about this film, and I just don't understand why. No matter how bad it may end up being (or not), I don't see how it affects the original at all. What difference does it make?
Posted by: Jonathan Rothwell | August 26, 2008 10:15 AM
Knowing Fox... probably gratuitous shots of Keanu Reeves's backside. Fox News will then breathlessly complain about it.
Posted by: Lago | August 26, 2008 10:19 AM
I saw this weeks ago. I could not stop friggin' laughing.
Take what is maybe the most famous Science Fiction movie of all time, and then redo it. OK...maybe not a good idea, but who knows, right?
Next, think of the worse actor in the Western Hemisphere, and choose him for the main character. Hm, how could this possibly turn out bad?
Posted by: Orac | August 26, 2008 10:22 AM
Surprisingly, I liked the movie, too. It could have been just a mindless action flick, but it actually did a very good job building up a feeling of dread in the beginning and suspense throughout the rest of the movie.
I'm very pessimistic about the film. The first film made sense in that the reason the aliens thought humans to be a threat that had to be destroyed was because of nuclear weapons and the fear that humans would bring them into space. This time around it's supposedly about global warming and our having supposedly destroyed out planet's environment that somehow leads the the aliens to decide that humans need to be destroyed. Never mind the logical problem that, if humans are nowhere near going to other stars, why would aliens care if we destroy our own planet? The whole sorry description is at Ain't It Cool News. I don't know how accurate the description is, but if even half of the elements in that review of the script are true, this movie is likely to suck. Hard.
Posted by: Rob | August 26, 2008 10:22 AM
Save your screams for this one:
REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA: Organ-donor recipients who can't make their payments face repossession in this horror-musical that features Paris Hilton.
Posted by: Cloudwork | August 26, 2008 10:27 AM
A list of SF books that I would wish to be made into films:
Time's Eye, by Arthur C Clarke and Stephen Baxter
All the Rama books by Arthur C Clakre
Redemption Ark, Chasm City and The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds
Posted by: LaTomate | August 26, 2008 10:30 AM
The Sunday series is really good :)
If you want some proper Church pisstake, watch Father Ted. You can find extracts on Youtube I think (or maybe if your luck enough full episodes, who knows...)
Posted by: LaTomate | August 26, 2008 10:31 AM
Whoah, previous comment, wrong thread !!!
I give up. Not the best of days today :/
Posted by: MH | August 26, 2008 10:41 AM
From the trailer: "If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives".
So has Klaatu become an eco-terrorist?
And what the fuck has this to do with the original film, which despite messing up the roles of Klaatu and Gort, is classic sci-fi?
Posted by: SteveN | August 26, 2008 10:41 AM
Cloudwork wrote:
I agree. I read Rendezvous with Rama when it was first published (old git that I am) and have always thought what a great film it would make. Also, as a long-time fan of H.G. Wells (his novels, not the man - he was a jerk) I have always yearned for a faithful rendition of 'War of the Worlds' set in Victorian England.
Posted by: ryan cuggy | August 26, 2008 10:44 AM
They're going to destroy "the unfortunate profession of jonathan hoag" by hiring the same guy who made "irobot", too
Maybe not quite SF but still, another Heinlein classic destroyed :(
Posted by: hexatron | August 26, 2008 10:48 AM
Maybe they'll change 'klaatu verada nikto' to 'Iyay inbay ot-shay'
Posted by: PaulT | August 26, 2008 10:49 AM
@#22
Oh good grief. I hope that Ain't It Cool got it wrong, but I get this nagging feeling they haven't.
I was all ready to champion the remake, because the original is a really good story, and I would welcome a modern retelling. I saw the original a few days ago, and it made me laugh to see the shaky fence around the spaceship and a couple of guards left at the open entrance. These days you'd imagine there'd be a five mile exclusion zone crammed with every bit of military hardware they could find, which would add to the final message in the story. Also, a 30 minute power outage would have a much greater impact on today's technology driven world, which would have been fun to explore.
The story was the best part - if they've dispensed with this in order to crowbar in a global warming message... well, that's a hell of a disappointment.
Posted by: Rheinhard | August 26, 2008 11:04 AM
I moaned audibly when I saw this trailer. Why, oh why, great FSM, do these idiots not understand Roger Ebert's commandment: "Don't remake good movies, remake BAD movies!"
GLADIATOR is a perfect example of why one should remake bad movies. They took a turgid, confusing, boring old movie called "Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" and made an exciting film which made squillions of dollars.
Now they want to take one of the most famous SF films of all time, change the underlying premise, and cast the most wooden actor imaginable in the main role.
Sigh.
Posted by: Epikt | August 26, 2008 11:05 AM
PZ:
Gort now has an embedded mp3 player.
Posted by: Epikt | August 26, 2008 11:06 AM
MS:
Meh. To me it's neither heremin nor theremin.
Posted by: Brain Hertz | August 26, 2008 11:07 AM
Aieeeee....
Why???
Oh, wait. Never mind.
Posted by: Luke O'Dell | August 26, 2008 11:13 AM
Sci-fi book I'd most like to see a decent film of: Hyperion.
Posted by: David Utidjian | August 26, 2008 11:18 AM
In my opinion Keanu Reeves best movie was Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (with the late George Carlin). It was a damn fun movie and Keanu didn't even have to act. All he had to do was be himself. For some reason he doesn't seem to be able to play any other part. If you watch any of his other movies and in your mind just paste in Bill (or was it Ted?) then he isn't so bad.
-DU-
Posted by: Raynfala | August 26, 2008 11:18 AM
Considering how badly V For Vendetta got mangled, I'm skeptical.
Posted by: Darwin's Dagger | August 26, 2008 11:21 AM
The worse that happens is that they make a bad movie. Might get some new people to take a look at the original.
Posted by: True Bob | August 26, 2008 11:25 AM
Yeah I heard about this heresy.
I was hoping Keanu would play Bobby Benson, the little kid who hangs with Klaatu. I think Gort might be too hard for Keanuto tackle.
Posted by: Rarus.vir | August 26, 2008 11:26 AM
Keanu playing that part is just as disturbing as the two year old rumour that Brad Pitt and Angelina Joley are doing Atlas Shrugged.
Posted by: True Bob | August 26, 2008 11:27 AM
Keanuto? Must be the anime version.
Posted by: Brian D | August 26, 2008 11:27 AM
Re: #24, #28:
It exists.
Re: #36:
It would take a spectacular team to pull it off, but I'd probably still camp out. The one I'd most like to see done right is Ender's Game; when the worst thing I can say about the book is "the author's a nutjob but you'd never guess it from just this book", that says a lot.
On an unrelated note, I honestly never saw the appeal of Watchmen. I blame a friend of mine who was basically claiming it was orgasm incarnate, and while it wasn't bad, it failed to live up to expectations. I really can't see why people enjoyed it more than, say, Sandman.
Posted by: Bronze Dog | August 26, 2008 11:34 AM
What I find annoying about bad remakes is that in a few years I'll be experiencing this:
"Hey, it's The Day the Earth Stood Still! It's been a while since I've seen that." *Press Info button* "Awwwww! It's the crappy remake, not the original."
Already been annoyed when it happens with Planet of the Apes.
Posted by: Tony Sidaway | August 26, 2008 11:37 AM
Please, somebody go to Fox and tell them "Klaatu barada nikto", or whatever it takes to stop this lunacy from taking place.
Posted by: Longstreet63 | August 26, 2008 11:47 AM
I share the general trepidation at the remake of TDTESS. For every good remake...I'm sure there must be some...we get legions of ghastly pop-versions of great films that supplant the originals in the public mind.
I only hope it won't be as bad as the recent 'Andromeda Strain' remake, which largely cut all of that sciencey stuff for a government conspiracy and time travel.
Mind you, I did just see and appreciated 'Death Race' by simply observing that the plot was stolen from every b-movie ever made except 'Death Race 2000'. Hopefully Corman got a big check, though.
Still, if these people want to remagine movies, they should try doing some of the ones that made limited sense in the first place. I'd entertain the idea of a modern remake of, say 'Barbarella.'
Of course, it would star Ashley Simpson and be rated PG-13.
So, no, maybe not.
Posted by: Crr| | August 26, 2008 11:49 AM
I'm partial to Keanu Reeves being in it as well, even though it has Jennifer Connelly to compensate, but the messeage of the original is very relevant today, the original is just very badly dated in a sense that no modern movie going popcorn munching public is going to watch it in the cinema and take it's message home with them. An update, remake, however will get those seats filled, if only riding on the name that is part of the subconsious, or otherwise on the name of Reeves and the shiny special effects.
I personally don't really care either way, I just hope the film will do the message justice and will not water it down to be more easily digestable, otherwise it will actually prove to be a useless and unjustified remake.
As for Watchmen, the guy directing it seems to be very passionate about the story and a rabid protector of it and an unconditional fan, in the interviews anyway, the images so far look good. I for one can't wait. Or will start rereading the comic anyway.
Posted by: gg | August 26, 2008 11:49 AM
This is all part of some nefarious plot by Hollywood to wreck the life's work of director Robert Wise, in particular his iconic, genre-defining films.
They've already destroyed The Haunting (original 1963, 'remake' 1999); now they're working on destroying The Day the Earth Stood Still. After that, they'll set their sights on West Side Story (1961). I'm guessing we'll have Britney in the Maria role, and maybe Justin Timberlake as Tony.
Posted by: Optimus Primate | August 26, 2008 11:59 AM
I still have no clue how they plan to make a coherent cinematic experience out of Watchmen, considering that Moore wrote it to demonstrate those things that comics could do that no other medium could. He wrote it as a decidedly anti-cinematic experience. And for my money, he succeeded.
Furthermore, I wonder if the Cold War setting and themes will resonate with today's ticket-buying youth.
Posted by: Lago | August 26, 2008 12:00 PM
Tony said:
"Please, somebody go to Fox and tell them "Klaatu barada nikto", or whatever it takes to stop this lunacy from taking place."
Dontcha mean, "Like Klaatu barada nikto , dude?...Totally."
Posted by: Epistaxis | August 26, 2008 12:00 PM
Fox, Keanu barada nikto!
Posted by: bernard quatermass | August 26, 2008 12:04 PM
I preferred Carpenter's remake of The Thing to the 1950s version, but for very specific reasons:
1) It hewed more closely to John W. Campbell's original story;
2) Rob Bottin's prosthetic effects were jaw-dropping;
3) It had a very downbeat/ambiguous ending.
The Howard Hawks version is good, especially in the dialogue department, but it substitutes a fairly dull carrot monster (even as played by James Arness) for the terrifying shape-shifter of the original.
Good remakes are very rare.
Posted by: Orac | August 26, 2008 12:05 PM
Actually, I was hoping Keanu would play Klaatu. I realize even that would challenge his acting range, but at least the level of difficulty would be within an order of magnitude of his talent.
Posted by: Orac | August 26, 2008 12:08 PM
Ack, I meant I was hoping Keanu would play Gort, of course.
Posted by: Ron Sullivan | August 26, 2008 12:23 PM
Longstreet63 in #46:
Starring a well-hung guy in a silver banana hammock.
'Nuff said.
Posted by: Peter Ashby | August 26, 2008 12:25 PM
I saw the remake of War of the Worlds with the former Mr Nicole Kidman and oh man that was bad. I fear for the story considering what they think they will have to do to 'engage' 'modern audiences'. Klaatu having hot sex with a nurse no doubt.
Posted by: Longstreet63 | August 26, 2008 12:30 PM
@52 "I preferred Carpenter's remake of The Thing to the 1950s version"
Yes! I knew there was one. Mind you, Carpenter had a much bigger budget to work with, as well as the handicap of having talent at filmmaking.
It was also one of the first big remakes, and its success may be, sadly, to blame for the torrent of crap in its wake. Of course, it was also 26 years ago, and probably due to be remade again soon.
Can anyone think of any others that didn't suck?
Posted by: Jonathan Martin | August 26, 2008 12:44 PM
Well, all I can add is that they went all-out on the props, and I'll end up seeing it just because it was filmed largely at Simon Fraser University, where I work. It was a neat change last winter to walk around campus past tanks and armoured personnel carriers, where they changed the main entrance into a military base (Ft. Lynnwood?) , and the running track into an ammo dump. :) That's one of the best things about working at SFU, the movies that are all filmed here. A LOT of X-files, Battlestar Galactica, etc. I'm sure it'll be bad, but I'll go.
Posted by: Kseniya | August 26, 2008 12:44 PM
Maybe Keanu can play the fence around the spaceship.
(Confession: I usually like Keanu, even when he's wooden. I guess it's a girl thing. He was badly miscast in that Branagh/Thompson Shakespeare comedy, though. What was it? Much Ado? I forget now.)
Posted by: Glazius | August 26, 2008 12:48 PM
You could address the same issues with a Watchmen movie that Moore addressed with the original Watchmen - that superheroes are adolescent power fantasies and come up short when they're presented with real-world problems. It'd be doing the same deconstruction twice but it's not as if there's no art in that. Superheroes have also been reconstructed - see Astro City, which pointedly asks "if conventional superheroes are symbols for an adolescent power fantasy, what else could they be symbols for?" (I particularly enjoyed the arc where the post-Fordist working class fought Third World dictatorships.)
But uh, it's not so much the absence of the four-color look that worries me about new Watchmen (it's a superhero movie so it should look like superhero movies) as much as, uh, Nazi Ozymandias. That's some aggressive Not Getting It right there.
Posted by: Peter Ashby | August 26, 2008 12:59 PM
Except that The Incredibles did the whole superhero as everyman schtik pretty well.
Posted by: Bill Dauphin | August 26, 2008 1:06 PM
I think Rendezvous With Rama (et seq.) would make a much better movie than it was a book. Starting with that book, Clarke's work struck as increasingly consisting of big spectacular travelogs of an imaginary future, rather than actual stories. The sheer vastness of Rama would be brilliant on screen (it cries out for IMAX); on the page, I kept getting lost in it.
BTW, the Klaatu/Gort confusion in this thread reminds me of all the people who insist on calling the monster "Frankenstein."
Keanu barada niktu!!
Posted by: Driftwood | August 26, 2008 1:12 PM
Not speaking for all gay men, but like #59 above, Keanu gets a "pretty pass" from me.
Posted by: Brian | August 26, 2008 1:15 PM
But hey, it's got John Cleese! That's got to count for something, no?
Posted by: Patrick | August 26, 2008 1:22 PM
Hey, if they'll allow him to screw up Shakespeare why not this. I still remember a review Keanu received for his unfortunate role as Don John in "Much Ado About Nothing." It basically went "Shakespearian verse does not trip liltingly off of the tongue of this surfer dude."
Posted by: SteveM | August 26, 2008 1:29 PM
Re 46: there is a remake of Barbarella in the works (no Ashley Simpson and probably not PG-13)
Re 59: Yes, it was Much Ado ..., fortunately his character doesn't really have much screen time.
Re 61: The Incredibles reversed it, forcing superheroes to live like "normals" and suppress their powers. The Watchmen don't have any superpowers per se except for Doc Manhatten (who is little more than a plot device to move people around) and are really just variations on Batman.
Posted by: Brian D | August 26, 2008 1:31 PM
@Kseniya #59
Yes, it was Much Ado About Nothing. Mercifully, the rest of the cast, Brannagh especially, more than made up for it. (And I say this as one who doesn't mind Keanu in most roles... it's just that, if I had to pick an image of nightmares incarnate, Keanu speaking in iambic pentameter whilst getting an oil rub in leather pants from a manservant is right up there.)
@Bill Dauphin, #62
Agreed wholeheartedly. Although it was less sophisticated (and limited by software of the time), and technically based on Rama II, the RAMA adventure game managed to present the vastness and alien nature of the ship in a way that the book didn't. (It also did the octospiders justice, although its treatment of the avians and the biots was rather lacking.)
That said, the folks I work with tend to be too young to have experienced "hard" sci-fi (knowing more Star Trek and Mass Effect than Asimov or Heinlen), so I frequently find myself loaning out my copies (plural... blame library book sales) of Rendezvous with Rama as an introduction, invariably followed by short story anthologies (not always limited to Clarke; depends on their reaction to Rama). Even in the book, Rama seems somewhat more... real, for lack of a better word, than many other sci-fi settings (once you suspend disbelief in the way that any sci-fi story requires you to, of course).
Also, see my link above (#43). A Rama movie is in production, and unlike certain other films there has actually been relatively recent information on this one. Morgan Freeman as Commander Norton, David Fincher (Fight Club) directing... one can only hope.
Posted by: Ian | August 26, 2008 1:34 PM
I don't see what all the fuss is about. Keanu Reeves sure seems like an extraterrestrial to me, so the casting makes perfect sense.
Posted by: SteveM | August 26, 2008 1:36 PM
BTW, the Klaatu/Gort confusion in this thread reminds me of all the people who insist on calling the monster "Frankenstein."
Well, the later movies did name the monster "Frankenstein", seems reasonable to name a monster after its creator. Like Hoover vacuum cleaners are now just "Hoovers" and I'm sure Dyson vacuums are on their way to being just "Dysons"
Posted by: Mark Borok | August 26, 2008 1:38 PM
Don't see how they can make a movie out of Rama, the book (at least the first one) didn't have much of a plot. I liked it, but it's all exploration.
I'd rather see "Childhood's End", with David Bowie's "Oh, You Pretty Things" playing over the closing credits.
Posted by: xander | August 26, 2008 1:40 PM
In the spirit of remaking old movies, I will be remaking Citizen Kane, due for release in 2010. We currently have Carrot Top lined up to play Kane, and Summer Glau as Rosebud (not a sled in this version -- that was just lame).
Posted by: Michelle | August 26, 2008 1:41 PM
eeeyup. They're remaking it.
Couldn't find a more bland guy for the lead, folks? Keanu Reeves? Why does he even have a carreer??
Posted by: Heinz P | August 26, 2008 1:58 PM
@52 said "Can anyone think of any others that didn't suck?"
Aliens comes to mind. Alien was a good and scary haunted house type flick, whereas Aliens was a good old lets kill and shoot everything in sight type film.
Can't think of any others though.
As far as a remake of TDTESS, I'm skeptical, but from the previews available, there's plenty of computer generated mayhem to peak my interest.
Posted by: IO | August 26, 2008 1:59 PM
@ Brian #64
that's what I was going to say :-)
Anyway, I heard rumors about the Rocky Horror Picture Show being remade, there's even an IMDb site, though there's nothing on it yet. You think they're gonna change the lyrics? "Keanu Reeves was ill the day the earth stood still" somehow doesn't sound right...
:-/
Posted by: Tim | August 26, 2008 2:06 PM
It's gonna be fine. As I understand it from the cinema preview the role is of an alien acting human and not getting it quite right. Keanu should be good with that.
Posted by: SteveM | August 26, 2008 2:09 PM
Aliens comes to mind. Alien was a good and scary haunted house type flick, whereas Aliens was a good old lets kill and shoot everything in sight type film.
Aliens was a sequel, not a remake of Alien
Re 74: Yes, I've heard that MTV wants to remake RHPS and without Richard O'Brien's participation (or approval). And in fact O'Brien is pretty damn upset about it. MTV says they will be adding songs, apparently a couple that were cut from RHS to RHPS. Now, while this may be following "Ebert's Edict" to remake bad movies, this can only turn out to be much, much worse and not in a "good" way.
Posted by: Bill Dauphin | August 26, 2008 2:14 PM
SteveM:
I thought all vacuum cleaners were "hoovers" (to Brits, at least; we Yanks call even actual Hoovers "vacuum cleaners" or just "vacuums"). I wouldn't be surprised if even Dyson brand vacs get called "hoovers" in the places where folks do that... in much the same way that some folks call all sodas "cokes" and all facial tissues "kleenex" (much to the consternation of the owners of those trademarks).
Mark:
That was kind of my point: In the movies (aka "motion pictures"), sheer visual spectacle (or lyricism or beauty, but in this case it's spectacle) can sometimes make up for weak or nonextistent plots, in a way that's much more difficult in print.
With today's cinema technology, I think Rama (or Niven's Ringworld, for that matter) could be rendered so absolutely stunningly that few would notice the narrative weaknesses... and I, for one, would like to see that.
Kseniya:
Completely OT and unconnected to this thread, but I've been wondering, and since you're here: In the recently completed Olympics, there was a Russian gymnast whose first name was Ksenia... which I assume is the same name as yours, just transliterated differently. I noticed that the announcers pronounced it with no hint of leading k sound (i.e., they said "Seenya," not "kSeenya"). Do you pronounced it with an audible k, or did they get it right? Enquiring minds want to know! ;^)
Posted by: Brian | August 26, 2008 2:14 PM
I have to disagree with you PZ. This movie looks good.
Posted by: Bill Anderson | August 26, 2008 2:16 PM
"It isn't faith that makes good science...it's curiosity"
Prof. Jacob Barnhardt, The Day the Earth Stood Still
"...I become fearful when I see people substituting fear for reason..." Klaatu, The Day the Earth Stood Still
These are two often quoted lines from the original (1951) film. They're not great lines, by any means, but they do speak to some positive values of science and reason. I wonder if a remake will completely portray science as the one evil that needs to be snuffed from our society. In fact, it's a wonder that in 1951, with the threat of nuclear war, the original wasn't more anti-science and more pro-faith. Yea, it could be a disappointing remake.
Posted by: Longstreet63 | August 26, 2008 2:24 PM
@73 Aliens was a sequel, not a remake. Sequels have a much higher chance of not sucking, and a nontrival chance of exceeding the quality of the original. They frequently are made by the same people, for one thing--at least at first.
Twenty-five years ago, when the lure of easy money beckoned, producers would simply rip off current films, making largely identical but lower budget films with different names. Now, the producers rip off older films by making big budget, totally different films with the same names.
I can only conclude that people are getting stupider.
Posted by: MikeM | August 26, 2008 2:24 PM
If someone out there ever gets the bright idea to remake "North by Northwest", I'm afraid my life might come to an end on the spot.
I just don't think "The Day The Earth Stood Still" is something you remake.
I will say, however, that I enjoyed "Hamlet 2" this weekend.
"Rock me, sexy Jesus". That was pretty funny.
Posted by: Doozer | August 26, 2008 2:46 PM
#52;
1) Yes
2) "You gotta be f*cking kidding me..." (Windows?)
3) Yes.
Just about the only good remake I can think of. Not really looking forward to this one. Or the often-rumored "Forbidden Planet". Totally unnecessary.
Yes, there's seems to be a great deal of wailing and gnashing of teeth in the SF community about this film, and I just don't understand why. No matter how bad it may end up being (or not), I don't see how it affects the original at all. What difference does it make?
I guess a lot of us just feel they should have written their own movie, and left the memory of TDTESS alone. Ditto with WOTW, which bit, Cruise or no.
With all the terrific SF out there, begging for the silver screen...why?
Posted by: Quiet Desperation | August 26, 2008 2:48 PM
This is generally where I trot out my "The Day The Earth Stood Still is not the classic people make it out to be" rant, but I'm far too tired. It's also a Christ story, which has been admitted by the screenwriter who did it to annoy the director.
The general gist of the rant is that Klaatu's people are a pack of hypocritical, fascist bully boys out to indulge in some planetary scale ultraviolence on an entire multibillion year old biosphere because our nuclear weapons are all big and scary or something.
Posted by: Quiet Desperation | August 26, 2008 2:54 PM
Other points:
The trailer for the new movie doesn't look so bad, and it addresses one of may main complaints about the first film. It looks like the aliens intend to dismantle human civilization without hurting the planet itself.
I honestly don't get the hate for Keanu Reeves. He doesn't seem better or worse than any other big name actor in Hollywood these days. I thought he did a decent job in A Scanner Darkly.
There's a lot of groupthink and kneejerking happening here.
Posted by: Bruce Almighty | August 26, 2008 2:54 PM
re the music: There was some talk of including songs by the 70s prog-rock band "Klaatu." Not sure where it stands, though.
The band took their name from the character. Their first album was titled "3:47 EST" which is the time of day when Klaatu's flying saucer lands in Washington.
On that album was "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" (re-made by The Carpenters) and at least 2 or 3 other space-themed songs. We can only hope.
Posted by: skyotter | August 26, 2008 3:06 PM
i've been making fun of this for months, now =)
it's either:
"Klaatu, barada ... whoa!"
-or-
"Klaatu, barada, I know kung-fu."
Posted by: Quiet Desperation | August 26, 2008 3:08 PM
Can anyone think of any others (remakes) that didn't suck?
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)
The Fly (1986)
The Departed (2006)
If you allow international remakes:
A Fistful Of Dollars
The Magnificent Seven
Posted by: Dan-O | August 26, 2008 3:10 PM
The original TDTESS was NOT about nuclear war or the threat of nucleat proliferation outside of the solar system. You guys mix up cause and effect. The movie was about the failings of human nature, the (almost innate it would seem) innability to see and act on the truth rather than one's own desires, impules, emotions, and egos. That this movie uses a different threat is, in the end, irrelevant. How they handle the core issue of the film will be at the heart of its measure of quality. I get the sinking feeling that this version will be more about relationships (awwww) rather than human neture.
Good re-makes:
Titanic (A Night to Remember)
The Thing (The Thing)
The Producers (The Producers)
Bad re-makes:
Independence Day (The War of the Worlds)
The War of the Worlds (TWOTW)
Hollow Man (Invisible Man)
Andromeda Strain (Andromeda Strain)
Time Machine (Time Machine)
The Music Man (The Music Man)
Longest Yard (Longest Yard)
Posted by: Ichthyic | August 26, 2008 3:11 PM
He doesn't seem better or worse than any other big name actor in Hollywood these days.
hmm.
you see no difference in the acting skills and range of Keanu vs., say, Johnny Depp?
I'd say that given the amount of work thrown Keanu's way, the majority of Americans probably don't see the difference either.
more's the pity.
Posted by: Blake Stacey | August 26, 2008 3:12 PM
It's only natural that over two thousand years we get better at telling stories about extraterrestrial visitors who die and rise again. They tried that one before, you know, but it was a bit of a cock-up; the remake was better.
Once it leaves its author's hands, a story can end up subverting the trope which the author intended it to play.
Me too.
Posted by: bernard quatermass | August 26, 2008 3:16 PM
#82, in re: your
2) "You gotta be f*cking kidding me..." (Windows?)
Palmer. :) Played by David Clennon, who later would be one of the only good things on the show thirtysomething. I think he also played geologist Lee Silver in the From the Earth to the Moon miniseries.
Posted by: Evan | August 26, 2008 3:23 PM
My head exploded watching the preview of The Day the Earth Stood Still. I can not express my disappointment with Hollywood right now! They did not even keep the classic story line. They need some stupid government cover up thing in there too.