Posted on 09/16/2007 12:55:14 AM PDT by tlb
They did it with War of the Worlds. They did it with The Time Machine. And they did it (again and again and again) with Invasion of the Body Snatchers. (Plus we keep hearing about new versions of When Worlds Collide, Logan's Run and The Day the Earth Stood Still, lord help us all.) So what's to stop, say, 20th Century Fox from mounting a brand-new version of Fantastic Voyage? Absolutely nothing. Seems that with all the classic horror titles being remade every two weeks, those clever producers are now moving into classic sci-fi titles. And guess who's been invited to direct...
Yes, according to Variety, the man who gave you Universal Soldier, Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla, The Patriot, The Day After Tomorrow and the upcoming 10,000 B.C. -- Mr. Roland Emmerich -- will be helming the Fantastic Voyage remake for Fox. And if you haven't formed an opinion yet, I'll let you know that the latest draft comes from "The Wibberleys," also known as credited screenwriters on The 6th Day, I Spy, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Bad Boys 2, National Treasure and ... The Shaggy Dog. Emmerich and The Wibberleys. (Pause for dramatic effect.) Can't wait to see how this one turns out.
To those not entirely well-versed in classic '60s sci-fi, I'll remind you that Fantastic Voyage is about a team of scientists who climb inside a nifty ship and get miniaturized so they can travel through the bloodstream of a dying genius and save his life. (Just like Innerspace ... only first!) The 1966 Richard Fleischer film starred the likes of Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasance and Raquel Welch ... which means the remake will probably star Aaron Eckhart, Jack Black and Jessica Alba.
Plot Outline: A scientist with a potentially fatal health problem takes a risk on his only chance of survival: For five of his colleagues to be miniaturized in a ship and injected into his bloodstream.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1087521/
I was seven years old when I saw that movie and she's what I remember most about the film.
IMHO, the main themes of the first movie was the sacredness of life, and how man had no business interfering with it or terminating it.
The villain (Donald Pleasance) was an ardent humanist and atheist (in the pay of the communists) who scoffed at the religious surgeon. The surgeon delivered several homilies on the wonder of God’s creation and his ability to create marvelous life. It was a powerful pro life movie.
Does anyone think Hollywood won’t twist that message?
Here, from the original script.
Couldn’t resist posting this. For those not in the know, Duvall is the surgeon, Grant the hero, and Michaels the villian.
INT. PROTEUS - AT WINDOW
Grant reacts as he sees a peculiar phenomenon: the big-bluish corpuscles which stream past the submarine are turning bright red the instant they impinge against the Capillary Wall. They keep moving on, in a constant flow, taking on their new color during:
GRANT: (amazed)Look at that...they’re changing color...
CORA: (thrilled) Doctor — is it possible? That we’re
seeing it happen before our eyes?
DUVAL:(quietly) Yes, Cora... We’re the very first to see
the living process.
They both look out, too deeply moved to speak. Atter a moment:
GRANT: Mind letting me in on what’s going on out there?
DUVAL: A simple exchange, Mr. Grant. Corpuscles releasing carbon dioxide — the moment they touch the Wall of
the Lung — in return for oxygen coming through
from the other side.
GRANT: Don’t tell me they’re refueling...
DUVAL (almost in a reverie)
Oxygenation...
Cora turns to look at him, feeling close in this shared moment. Grant, too, is moved by Duval’s manner. Michaels glances up from the Lung Map.
DUVAL: (still gazing out) We’ve known it exists —
even though we never saw it...like the structure
of the Atom... But to actually behold one of the
miracles of the Universe — the engineering of the
Cycle of a Breath...
He is too moved to continue.
MICHAELS: (into the silence) Nothing miraculous about it.
Just an interchange of gases. The end product
of five hundred million years of Evolution.
DUVAL: You can’t believe all that’s accidental? That there
isn’t a Creative intelligence at work—
Now, want to bet that Hollywood rewrites it so the religious fanatic is the murderer?
That was One Million Years B.C. (1966)...itself a remake of One Million B.C. (1940).
This appears to be 10,000 B.C....it must be an updated version.
Good point. Now that I think about it, after reading your post, the first film version really was pro-life. And that remake most definitely won’t be.
When I was young, I saw it in the theatre, and it was just a sci fi. But when I got older and saw it again, I realized it had a high moral ground. I just don’t think Hollywood has the soul to do it justice anymore.
Here’s a touch more:
Grant has joined Cora and Duval at the bow. The three are deepy impressed and moved by what they see. Michaels remains at the chart. As they look on:
Duval: (softly) “Yet all the suns that light the
Corridors of the Universe shine dim,
Before the blazing of a Single Thought —”
Grant: “Proclaiming in incandescent glory
The myriad Mind of Man...”
Cora looks at Grant in rather surprised awareness of this other side of him.
Michaels: Very poetic, gentlemen. You seem to see a great deal out there. Let me know when we pass the Soul.
Duval turns from the bow windows to face Michaels with the answer:
Duval: (quietly) The Soul? The finite mind cannot
comprehend Infinity. And the Soul
which comes from God is Infinite.
Michaels: Take a close look at your Soul, and your Infinity, and your God out there — and you’ll find it’s nothing but a combination of atoms, molecules and certain chemicals involving proteins —
Duval: You left something out.
Michaels: What’s that?
Duval: The Breath of God...
And the director of "Godzilla". Pretty much all you need to know. It will suck big time.
Btw, am I the only one who is sick of Jack Black?
Agreed.
The lefties are certain to ruin it.
EMMERICH, ROLAND
LOS ANGELES, CA 90025
CLINTON, HILLARY RODHAM
VIA HILLARY CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT
06/25/2007 2300.00 27990275121
06/25/2007 2300.00 27990275122
He’ll ruin it.
That was just on the Sci Fi channel last night. I tried to watch it (again) but it was on pretty late, and I wound up falling asleep.
Great movie when it came out... Pretty corny these days.
I don’t know how I feel about a remake. I’m sure they’ll screw it up somehow.
Mark
I'd had enough of him after about 10 minutes into the first time I saw him perform.
Mark
DUVAL: A simple exchange, Mr. Grant. Corpuscles releasing carbon dioxide — the moment they touch the Wall of
the Lung — in return for oxygen coming through
from the other side.
GRANT: Don’t tell me they’re refueling...
DUVAL: (Almost in horror) A greenhouse gas being created. We’ve known it happens, but we’ve never been able to prove it.
MICHAELS: It’s one of the least significant of the greenhouse gases.
DUVAK: You don’t believe in anthropogenic global warming? You see it before your eyes, that man is the source of it all!
There. The religious fanaticism has been upated.
You’re right. These fools (who can’t create anything new and haven’t done so in 20 years) will ruin it. I would love to see a remake of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. It was my favorite. I had all the toys, the Seaview, the Flying Sub, dolls. That was the first sci-fi movie I remember as a child that had quite a bit of theological discussion in it. Should Man try to save the Earth or let God take his Course? What is Man’s Responsibility?
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