Remake of Babylon 5
I have several times mentioned that Jupiter Ascending (a good film in its own right) had the additional advantage of showing what a remake of B5 could be like. On other threads I am promoting the concept that Art Leads and that we need heroes to take us forward philosophically. In the meantime, Agialoro has stated that there are 'more movies' in the works.
Put these thoughts together. Use Straczynski's existing scripts (save a bundle on writing) with a few of the bad ones omitted and modern CGI to redo the effects. Hire a cast (that includes Patricia Tallman - Wyatt's secretary and secret telepath - and Kristoffer Polaha) to recreate the roles. Work in some of the elements that were left out due to studio writhings - such as the technowizards in the final battles and maybe the parasites in Exogenesis to remember the Shadows and their weaknesses.
The story is one of the need for freedom over every other aspect of life: attachment to Earth, conquest and enslavement, cosmic powers...nothing is more important than freedom and self-determination.
Like all remakes, it will have a ready following - and it knows where it is going. It can could be produced as a mini-series quite effectively.
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Put these thoughts together. Use Straczynski's existing scripts (save a bundle on writing) with a few of the bad ones omitted and modern CGI to redo the effects. Hire a cast (that includes Patricia Tallman - Wyatt's secretary and secret telepath - and Kristoffer Polaha) to recreate the roles. Work in some of the elements that were left out due to studio writhings - such as the technowizards in the final battles and maybe the parasites in Exogenesis to remember the Shadows and their weaknesses.
The story is one of the need for freedom over every other aspect of life: attachment to Earth, conquest and enslavement, cosmic powers...nothing is more important than freedom and self-determination.
Like all remakes, it will have a ready following - and it knows where it is going. It can could be produced as a mini-series quite effectively.
Jan
However, Jupier Ascending was pathetically bad and I didn't care what happened to any of the 2 dimensional characters. The only scene to remember was one involving dealing with bureaucracy.
B5 had real characters to care about, rational productive goals, heroes at many levels who were unashamed of their philosophy, and the best writing, direction, and production ever seen on television.
(If you need to blow anything up, I know just the guy who has experience in lots of movie features, including Galaxy Quest, Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers, War Games, and scores more.)
B5 should have been redone already with modern SFX. As you said there are likely 500,000 BlueRay sales just waiting for that to be available on Amazon. It should be a no brainer cash cow for the owner of the rights.
http://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/scifi/m...
Jan, liked JupAsc.
The B5 universe presents a multitude of opportunities for equally engaging stories -- i.e. "A view from the gallery"
Wouldn't it be fascinating to know what was transpiring on Centauri Prime, or Narn, or Minbar, or a host of other worlds??? I'd pay good money for those stories.
That having been said, I would love to follow the other worlds, and other threads, if a writer could be found to take up the baton that JRS passes to them.
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JMS' work is a masterpiece, flaws and all. The series was way ahead of its time. Killing off major characters (GoT), a fixed arc with a beginning middle and end (BB), 3 dimensional characters with real flaws that did impact the story line (any number of current series), cutting edge CGI (at the time), and I could go on. All this from something created more than 20 years ago.
But beneath it all were the ideas. Big ideas and small ideas. Ideas that made you think. About philosophy, the nature of our existence, life, relationships. Nothing was off limits and none of the answers were easy or even resolved. I continue to struggle with the one big question. Is progress achieved better through order or chaos?
Now, if some of today's producers and writers want a rich source for new material, instead of the repetitive and regurgitated crap that keeps getting put on the the big screen, they could do worse than mine the rich vein that was B5.
The purpose in a reboot would be to get B5 on the screen again with new CGI and a smoother plot arc. The reason to choose B5 is _because_ its superb quality would be worth the effort - but few new people will watch the old series because of its dated Fx.
The purpose behind this is not just to gratify the fans, but to enhance the trend promoted by "CA: Winter Soldier" to heighten awareness of freedom and the costs of freedom. B5 is an excellent vehicle for this purpose because you do not have to 'warp' it (forgive me the pun) to make it have that message - the message is inherent in the plot arc.
In short: B5 is not a viable production as it is because it is 'dated'. It would be worthwhile to reboot it - and you can establish an economic value to doing so because (like comic book movies) it has an established fan base. It has a message we want to promote.
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How is it that people won't watch B5 because it has outdated SFX but they will watch the Original Star Trek until the crack of doom?
I could not cast a replacement for Gkar - but there are professionals who can do this. Sometimes. One could hope.
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Can anyone ever replace Scarecrow and Ms. DeLenn?
My problem with the reboot of Star Trek is not so much the characters (who are, in many respects, better portrayed than in the original Star Trek; the acting in Next Generation was (you must admit) a lot better than in the original) but the plot - or lack thereof. The producers have fallen into the 'lets have a lot of things blow up and people will be happy' category of film-making and they need to realize that the SF genre is quite picky about plot and - need I say it - rational behavior. (The plot of Into Darkness made NO sense whatsoever.)
This thread is a spin-off of the "Objectivist Movies" thread. I think that we could make a stronger presentation of the value of freedom in three ways: Gkar against the Centari (a better speech you cannot find!), younger species against the Vorlons and Shadows, and spacer cultures against totalitarian Earth.
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Scarecrow? (edited to add question)
The acting (or possibly the characters and acting) in STNG by Diana Troi, Will Riker, Welsey Crusher was putrid. As UFOP emperor, I would have spaced the lot of them along with Picard, and poisoned Q. There were decent performances by some others, but the same can be said of the STOS cast (without the constant statist themes and politically correct rubbish.)
I agree that the reboot modern ST is empty-headed boomboom movie making. Entertaining at a basic level, but rubbish otherwise. You hit the nail on the head; it's not rational.
If recasting and rewriting with JMS in complete control and a limitless budget, then B5 as a whole 'might' be improved. There were episodes that definitely needed work, and they could be improved. But like a Constitutional Convention, there are no guarantees that Whorelywould might interfere.
If I was wealthy, I'd make The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress instead of recasting B5, and the aftermarket products would drive the CIA and NSA crazy.
Your quote (in another reply in this topic) is the centerpiece of B5.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhIzBy9f...
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Perhaps we will circle back around to Heinlein someday.
I am looking forward to seeing The Martian this November. The story was akin to the old SF by Clark and was totally engrossing.
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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085088/
This label does not sound like a compliment.
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http://www.newsobserver.com/entertainmen...
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Where are the great artists like Picasso, Warhol and others in abstract. Where are the painters who could capture the subjects personality? Where are the writers who's famous quote can bring a tear to your eye, Dante, Dickens, Tennyson, T.S. Elliot, Gibbon and Melville to mention a few?
"Abandon hope all ye who enter here",
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”,
“All in the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred”,
“Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky”,
“Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book”,
"Call me Ishmael".
As Ludwig von Mises once said to a reporter who asked what he thought of the world today “I am amazed”. So am I.
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Also go check out "Prelude to Axanar" on YouTube, and look at what semi-pros can do with good actors, you will recognize the Klingon warlord by name (Richard Hatch from BattlestarGalactica (original)) but all the rest have done characters on ST in various flavors. The Starfleet admiral was the Klingon general with one eye on DS9.The full movie (currently in the works) is being done done in California, you may want to look into them, they accept help from any source and you could actually meet some of them.
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