Re: Digest Number 1099

hola!

returning list newbie here rofl on the "art director" tech thingy. love the
concepts there.

my $.02?

SHADO current day. most people are aware that things are "on the drawing
board" long before they show up on the showroom floor. the current, trying
to hang on by their fingernails, crop of shuttles in the US were designed
and tested over 20 years or so before the first one rolled out onto the
tarmac atop another plane to get tested. given funding and r&d, SHADO could
easily be "MIB" in some ways. Nice touch if one could get away with it to
have "MIB" investigate sightings, etc, leaving the more "normally" (ryuu
falls over laughing) uniformed crowd to deal with the day to day work of
battling the aliens. (off note, i think we've located a prospect for the
current day Straker if they kept all the names. take a look at 'Tom Sawyer'
in the LEG promos! and he's naturally blond, tho' not white blond <g>)

back to topic: (i had a topic?) otherwise, you have to shift far enough into
the future to look futuristic and most of us will be around when the time
period gets here (20 years will only put me at 70)and we get to giggle over
the re-runs.

In some ways, extrapolating SHADO forward from beginnings in the 1960's and
through the formative phase in the 1980's might even be better. (get some
usage of the old series in wonderful flash backs!) i suspect i would be
disappointed in rehashing what has already been done with updated tech and
fx. (i was certainly disappointed when they updated Dark Shadows and simply
retold the original story with more visible sex. grrrr) Even if what they
did was a movie retelling of the original UFO plotline -- anticlimax.

hmmmmmm-- seems to have been more than 2 cents.

intriguing comment over the skydiver commander/pilot strangeness. never
thought of it before, but it does seem strange now that it's been pointed
out. altho' as small as the skydiver was (unlike the other underwater launch
vehicles in the Irwin Allen universe) I think i always figured the problem
was space. And SHADO did have a thing about cross training people. Foster
was a skydiver captain/pilot and a moon crew and somewhere in the overall
chain of command. (ok, do not get ryuu off on the fact that Carlin was in
earlier and somehow Foster gets to outrank the man ---- *snerk*)

ok, that's it.

ryuu, back to work. (sound of whip getting tangled in fan blades in the
background)

laters

ryuu

Big Welcome Back!
Gee, where ever did you come up with the idea of casting the actor who
is playing Tom Sawyer aka Agent Sawyer, Shane West(I looked it up) in the new
movie The League of Extraoridnary Gentlemen as Straker in the movie(trying
so hard to hurt myself laughing).
If we get away from updating or improving the equipment in UFO if the
movie is done for just a moment and look at what we need in terms of the
story. There are really only two routes we can take. One to have SHADO already
established and have it come out of mothballs when the aliens return and bring
in new people in a future or present day setting. Or do it from the start
again. This would mean setting the story in the 1980 and also having to do the
bit with Carlin and his sister and friend finding the aliens and getting the
proof on film and then the bit with Straker and Henderson and the British
Minster in the Rolls set in 1969. Why? Because the primise of UFO was based on the
fact that the U.S. Air Force Blue Book report declared there were no alien
spacecraft visiting Earth and in UFO this was used as a cover up for SHADO. It
will be very hard to use a 1969 report in a film set in 2000 Plus as a cover
for a newly created organization. And there is also that ten year gap while
the base and equipment is created.
I've heard Marc and others say that UFO needs to be updated for todays
movie audiences. That is what been wrong with other movies made of classic
series. Hey let's punch up the script and redo the characters make them more
edgy and comtempory, make them funnier(read that as make them walking jokes).
In point of fact this is the last thing that should be done to a movie version
of any classic series. If it ain't broke don't fix it. UFO isn't broke.
If you think it is or was you aren't really a fan of the series. It
shouldn't be remade in the image of Space:1999 or Space Above and Beyond or
anything else. Because then it wouldn't be UFO. If you don't get this I am
sorry for wasting your time.

James K.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> I've heard Marc and others say that UFO needs to be updated for todays
>movie audiences. That is what been wrong with other movies made of classic
>series. Hey let's punch up the script and redo the characters make them more
>edgy and comtempory, make them funnier(read that as make them walking jokes).
>In point of fact this is the last thing that should be done to a movie version
>of any classic series. If it ain't broke don't fix it. UFO isn't broke.

Yes, but compare when UFO was released in 1970 vs. today. For
example, back in 1970 there was some genuine enthusiasm for the
future, space exploration, improvement of mankind, and that spirit
shows in UFO. It seems like these days, visions of the future are
pretty grim, and I suspect that a new version of UFO might have to
embrace something like this, or look ridiculous. (unless of course
you're proposing setting this new movie back in 1970, which is an
interesting idea)

Also, think about SHADO's purpose -- they spend billions of dollars
on this huge, super-secret organization just to protect a handful of
people who are being killed for their organs. Is today's public
going to think it really worth the huge expense to try to protect a
few people? It seems like the threat needs to be made bigger to
justify such an organization (although I'll grant you that the threat
in the episode DESTRUCTION rose to the occasion, but this was the
exception on UFO, not the rule)

Marc

--- In [hidden email], SumitonJD@a... wrote:
> Big Welcome Back!

*chuckle* thank you.

> Gee, where ever did you come up with the idea of casting the
actor who
> is playing Tom Sawyer aka Agent Sawyer, Shane West(I looked it up)
in the new
> movie The League of Extraoridnary Gentlemen as Straker in the movie
(trying
> so hard to hurt myself laughing).

uhm -- i dunno. there's this errant weapons master i talk to in the
evening who mentioned it ------ can't remember the guy's name ---
*ryuu in full file purge mode*

argh -- if we set it in 1980 -- it's not exactly comprehensible as
sci fi -- unless you kitsch it. and i personally would stay away from
a UFO movie done with any resemblence to what was done to I Spy.
(anyone even suggests will smith or eddie murphy in this movie and i
will personally think of something awful to happen to them in my next
fan fic! ha!) I agree with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule.

> I've heard Marc and others say that UFO needs to be updated
for todays
> movie audiences. That is what been wrong with other movies made of
classic
> series. If it ain't broke don't fix it. UFO isn't broke.

no, but it would take die-hard UFO fans to make it thru what is so
much a part of our knowledge of the show again. you have to take into
account that we don't just want a "release to vid" movie on a tiny
budget here, we want a movie that appeals not just to us, but to
people who don't know the show. (personally, i think keep the wigs. i
always adored the loonacy of those "anti-static" wigs. i don't think
anyone ever actually explained them, and i would keep them
unexplained.)

> If you think it is or was you aren't really a fan of the
series. >>

*ryuu makes a rude noise.*

>>It
> shouldn't be remade in the image of Space:1999 or Space Above and
Beyond or > anything else. Because then it wouldn't be UFO. If you
don't get this I am > sorry for wasting your time.>>

this i get. still think updated would be best. and why moth balled?
(altho', *ryuu's forehead wrinkles in thot until it resembles a
klingon crest* in the process of mothballing it for lack of use could
be an interesting beginning sequence. especially with a number of the
members of the crew getting belated medals and stuff. full ceremony
with shrouded stuff all around. SID's voice cutting in over head with
incoming info. yipe. i feel a fan fic coming on -- no -- not that --
wrong list!!!!!!!!!!)

side note: how come i didn't get a digest today? *plaintive inquiry*
then again, my server was having some problems earlier. they may have
been down when it was sent <g> thank heavens for message archives!

laters

ryuu

>Spend Billions of dollar just to protect a handful of people?
>Are todays audiences going to see that is worth while?

Marc, ask yourself this simple question. How much is your life worth to you,
to Tracy and how much is hers and another loves one worth to you? How much
would you spend to save those lifes? When would you say okay I'm not spending
another penny to protect you, or me or whomever come get our organs.
And also Marc it wasn't just a few people that SHADO was protecting.
In some episodes like Destruction and The Long Sleep the Aliens had plans that
if SHADO had not suceeded would have kill more than just a few!
You really have to stop hanging out with Henderson. :-)

James K.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I wish somebody would explain to movie and tv producers that changing
a movie or tv series in order to gain a new audience never works. All
it does is alienate the existing fans without gaining any new ones.
If it were up to me no American producer or director would be allowed
to get their hands on UFO because they'd only ruin it. If a movie
called "UFO" comes out I expect it to be "UFO" in name only.


BTW it seems to me that what was going on in the tv series was just
the beginning. The real invasion hadn't started yet. After all it only
ran for 26 episodes. I think what we saw were for the most part just
tests of Earth's defenses. By taking out those handful of ships SHADO
may have kept the full scale invasion from ever taking place.

[hidden email] wrote:
> >Spend Billions of dollar just to protect a handful of people?
> >Are todays audiences going to see that is worth while?
>
> Marc, ask yourself this simple question. How much is your life
> worth to you, to Tracy and how much is hers and another loves one
> worth to you? How much would you spend to save those lifes? When
> would you say okay I'm not spending another penny to protect you,
> or me or whomever come get our organs.


No, Marc's right - SHADO doesn't actually make economic sense. In
reality, we often place a value on human life. For example,
thousands of people die on the roads every year, and many more than
are abducted or mutilated by aliens in the UFO universe could be
saved by spending a fraction of SHADO's budget on safer transport
infrastructure.

--- In [hidden email], James Gibbon <james.gibbon@v...> wrote:
Nonesense. What we saw on tv wasn't the real invasion, it was just
the reconnaissance missions. SHADO had to stop those to stop the
massive invasion that would have came later.

Those thousands of people are killed by drunk drivers, their own
speeding and not wearing their seat belts. We don't need to spend
billions on "safer transport infrastructure" (whatever that means) we
just need better driving instructors and to start treating drunk
drivers as the murderers they are.

"Stuart" wrote:

> Those thousands of people are killed by drunk drivers, their own
> speeding and not wearing their seat belts. We don't need to spend
> billions on "safer transport infrastructure" (whatever that means)
> we just need better driving instructors and to start treating
> drunk drivers as the murderers they are.
>

Nonsense. Thousands of road injuries and fatalities that are
caused by poor road design and lack of facilities. Sometimes, human
lives are literally accounted in numbers of pounds. A council
somewhere in the UK refused to install a pedestrian bridge on the
grounds that it would cost too much, despite the fact that several
people died crossing the road in question at that point every year.

Someone worked out the value they had placed on human lives, a
couple of hundred thousand pounds each, if I remember correctly.

I'm not suggesting that billions should be spend on safer transport
infrastructure (get hold of a dictionary if the term is still
troubling you - all three words will most likely be in there), just
that spending many more billions on preventing a handful of humans
from being abducted and killed doesn't make relative economic
sense.

However, I concede that the potential future threat from the aliens
was unknown, and could have become considerably more serious.

--- In [hidden email], James Gibbon <james.gibbon@v...> wrote:
> "Stuart" wrote:
> I'm not suggesting that billions should be spend on safer transport
> infrastructure (get hold of a dictionary if the term is still
> troubling you - all three words will most likely be in there), just
> that spending many more billions on preventing a handful of humans
> from being abducted and killed doesn't make relative economic
> sense.

On a related note, take the concept of terrorism. Nations will spend
billions and billions to prevent terrorism. Aside from the twin
towers (and possible WOMD), terrorist acts kill only few people, the
probability of dying in a terrorism act is very, very small
(probably more likely to die in a plane crash or be hit by
lightning), yet governments are prepared to spend billions on
preventing it. I think the main issue is that it has shock value on
the population. With aliens coming to the planet and killing just a
handfull of humans, I think it would have the same or probably even
much worse effect on the general public, thus the will to spend
billions to prevent it.

David Levine

I guess I should have made myself more clear when I referred to the aliens
as exercising terrorism. Sorry about that. SHADO knows what they are up to
and for them and their operations, the aliens ARE a form of terrorism. But,
as someone kindly pointed out, the aliens are not like the al-Quayda (sp?) -
creating havoc for political or other reasons. The aliens are not
necessarily acting as terrorists as we know it here - what they do instills
terror in their victims.

Neil is probably right that cameos of Ed B. etc might not be understood by a
mostly new American audience, but shouldn't there be something in a movie
purely for the loyal fans who've stood by the show for 32 yrs? Don't we rate
something special? I have to agree with those who comment regularly that
unless a movie has the all important elements that made UFO a winner way
back, it won't really BE UFO.

I watched a couple interviews with Stan Lee last night - he of Spidey,
X-Men- the Hulk creation - and he made some salient points about the films
which have been done and will be done featuring his characters. He requested
some ground rules because of the backstories which drive the characters, and
the film producers agreed those things were necessary to retain. I hope GA
will insist on some ground rules as well.

Pam

I have to agree with Christian that UFO wasn't about the aliens being
terrorist. The are simply a invading military force. You can pick any one from
history from the Spanish Conquestadors to the Nazis who did to the local
population anything they wanted to. The catch phrase on the UFO novels "Meet the
Space Guerrilla's" sums it up perfectly. SHADO is the Resistance force to this
invasion.

James K.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

"Veres, Mary" wrote:
> I saw a movie with Ralph Fiennes (A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After
> Arabia) in it gave me moments thinking he might make a good Straker
> if the script were good. Anyone agree?
>

He does do thoughtful and intense parts well, but in a sort of
withdrawn, introspective way. But he's an excellent actor, so
maybe he can do it in a brash and direct way as well.

The guy who played the lead in that satirical 'life of
Jeffrey Archer' play a few months ago - and the main character
in 'Band Of Brothers' - I think he'd make a good Straker. Can
do an American accent well, too.

I saw a movie with Ralph Fiennes (A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia) in
it gave me moments thinking he might make a good Straker if the script were
good. Anyone agree?



-----Original Message-----
From: Neil May [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Sat 5/24/2003 9:40 AM
To: [hidden email]
Cc:
Subject: [SHADO] Re: UFO Movie



I can't see a UFO movie being made with Ed Bishop as
Henderson and cameos from George Sewell and Mike
Billington. These actors mean nothing in America,
where the film will primarily be aimed at, as it could
be an American-made film and America has the biggest
movie audience in the world. The story needs to be
told from the beginning with new actors to work, In my
opinion.

Neil

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- James Gibbon <james.gibbon@v...> wrote:
> ...
> However, I concede that the potential future threat from the aliens
> was unknown, and could have become considerably more serious.

It might be said that the aliens have been coming to Earth for so
long that, if they were going to take over Earth, they would have
taken over by now. But it could be that Earth getting technologised
to the point where Earth could stop alien raids, would encourage the
aliens to knock Earth technology down far enough to stop that risk.
With whatever time lag is caused by flight time from the alien
homeworld to Earth and back.

anthonyappleyard wrote:
Subject: Re: If it aint broke...
>It might be said that the aliens have been coming to Earth for so
>long that, if they were going to take over Earth, they would have
>taken over by now. But it could be that Earth getting technologised
>to the point where Earth could stop alien raids, would encourage the
>aliens to knock Earth technology down far enough to stop that risk.
>With whatever time lag is caused by flight time from the alien
>homeworld to Earth and back.

Those were very good points and reminded me of the INVADERS remake of
the 1960's TV series. The updated version had the Aliens plotting
and carrying out their takevoer in secret, with inside help from the
earthlings. They were rapidly destroying the environment in the name
of progress and profit knowing that before long the devastated and
polluted earth would be uninhabitable to people but perfect for aliens.

Almost like the episode DESTRUCTION. Of course we have politicians and
corporate leaders doing the same thing now...