Quote from: Voodoo Magic on Jul 19, 2020, 03:50:31 PM
Quote from: TC on Jul 19, 2020, 03:34:01 PM
The model I'm thinking of is the Planet of the Apes franchise. I have a nostalgic liking for the original films (the ones starring Roddy McDowell) and continue to watch them on blu-ray. But the reboot versions with Andy Serkis are pretty fantastic too. To me, they co-exist together very well.
TC
They do? It's like having two Ripleys. They feature two totally different Caesars. And how do you reconcile contrasts like the Apes being used as menial human slaves in the original films only to rise up and conquer over their captors, versus what we got in the new films?
Oh. I can see that in my brevity I didn't do a good job of explaining myself. Particularly the line "To me, they co-exist together very well."
I simply meant that they sit together on my shelf, side by side, and I enjoy them both equally. What I did
not mean was that they seamlessly mesh together in the same story universe. Far from it, in fact.
And that's my point. When you reboot something from scratch you leave everything in the original version intact. That's what I'm saying is more respectful than to expunge from existence your least favourite children. (Even if Fincher would have it that way LOL ).
By the way, I'm leaving out of my considerations the Tim Burton remake.
Quote from: Perfect-Organism on Jul 19, 2020, 04:38:48 PM
I can't imagine anyone doing a remake of Aliens or Alien for that matter that would be better than the originals. Parts 3 and 4 are distant bronze medal finalists compared to the original two. Those first two films are among the best films ever made by humanity, in any genre.
...
We're all fans here so a bit of impassioned hyperbole is acceptable. So yes: I agree
But see below:
Quote from: Perfect-Organism on Jul 19, 2020, 04:38:48 PM
...
but the odds of success in terms of actually being better than the originals would be slim to none.
As long as the metric for doing a reboot is "better than the originals," you might have a point. But sometimes two artistic interpretations are so different they really can't be compared.
Back to
Planet of the Apes for my example: The originals have a significant amount of whimsy and on-the-nose satire (especially the first one) that give them a distinct flavour that I've always enjoyed. Whereas the reboots have a darker, more ominous sense of doom running all through them. I like that too. Is one interpretation better than the other? I don't think so. Not to me, anyway.
And what of
Alien, what would such a reboot look like? I have ideas, but the key thing is that the xenomorph concept remains intact. That's the only critical thing. Of secondary importance would be the theme of corporate malfeasance, and thirdly, developments in android technology (although this idea is being thoroughly thrashed on screens everywhere right now, so maybe drop that).
In the
Planet of the Apes reboot, there's no sign of a Taylor, a Zira or a Cornelius. So a new
Alien might not even feature a Ripley, a Newt or the Colonial Marines (or the Engineers for that matter). The core concept of the xenomorph and its predatory, parasitic life cycle has to be there, but the actual narrative would be completely different.
Anyway, as you were, gentlemen.
Back to comic books...
TC