Written By: Ken HulseyI woke up this morning thinking about today's release of the Will Ferrell comedy movie based on the popular "Land of the Lost" television series. I really had to ask myself, "Is there any way that this movie is going to be any good?" Sadly, my conclusion was, "No, no way in the world."
Over the past two decades Hollywood has taken it upon itself to try and reinvent many of the classic television series and movies from past decades. This is nothing new, of course, movies have been getting remade almost from when the medium first appeared. some of these remakes have turned out to be either as good, or better than their predecessors. So why is it that most of these modern redoes turn out to be so horrible?
I think that somehow Hollywood has lost sight of what people want to see when they go to the movies. Over the past couple of decades the movie industry has been loosing ground to the video game market. Why? Well I think that the simple answer is creativity and originality. Video game designers have the freedom to create their own original themes, stories and characters, something that seems to be stifled when it comes to fantasy movies. Is Hollywood scared to try and market a movie that isn't based on either a TV show, toy line or video game? Do they really think that if it doesn't have a name that people already recognize it won't be a hit? Well, I have talked to several directors about this subject and they say that there is some truth to it. Many film makers have had to go outside of the big studios to get their films made for just that reason.
Now, let me get back to why I think "Land of the Lost" is going to disappoint. The film, like so many others, lacks the core elements that made the original television show popular in the first place. The original series was a family oriented, intelligent, sci fi, action show. The new film is a comedy without the family element....and from what I have seen in the trailers...intelligence. Instead of taking, what I believe could be the elements for an excellent, serious, sci fi film, Universal opted to go for something campy that takes just a few elements from the series and basically makes fun of them.
What do the fans think of this reworking of a show that they grew up on? Well, just troll the message boards. The core fans, which I really believe movies like this should cater to, are pretty much up in arms.
Here is an example of some posts on the GS North America board. Who better to critique a dinosaur movie than a bunch of Godzilla movie fans?:
"Will Ferrell movies are just 2 hours of him running around screaming and carrying on like some sort of idiot man-child. This movie looks like it was built entirely around that sort of thing. PASS."
and....
"On the new NBC Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, guest Will Ferrel was on,and they showed a clip from the upcoming Land Of The Lost movie. All I can say kids. If I had problems with a Tyrannosaurus Rex hellbent on eating me,I'm NOT pouring piss/urine on myself! This is going to be a stupid movie kids. Go Grumpy! Go Grumpy! Go Grumpy Go! Will Ferrel must die!"
Seems as the fans have really turned on Will Ferrell.
Here are a couple that were posted here at MIN:
"I absolutely loved this show and am not impressed by the looks of the new film (sorry)...it looks like they are making a mockery of something we hold very dear. I was 8 years old when the show was cancelled. Like others I ran to the TV set when LOTL came on if there was a show with Dinosaurs in it I was there!"
"Land of the Lost was the best Saturday morning show ever. I just the new movie was going to be in a more serious vein instead of "adventure-comedy".
"I too have some very fond memories of this fine show and want to thank the Sci-Fi channel for showing every episode. I was looking forward to seeing the movie until I found out that some no-talent hack named will (i have no talent) Ferrel was going to be in it. Personally i refuse to watch anything with him in it because he is just NOT funny and not even a good actor."
Again, more Will Ferrell bashing there, but it solidifies the point that most LOTL fans are not on the same page as Hollywood's new version of "Land of the Lost."
And besides, aren't these the very people that Universal would want to see their movie?
Here are a couple of examples of where Hollywood took an established movie icon....and um.....blew it....big time.
1. Godzilla (1998)(USA)
After seeing this one, you really have to wonder if Roland Emmerich, Devlin and Co. ever actually saw any of the Japanese "Godzilla" movies? First off the changed the look of every one's favorite movie monster trying to make him more 'realistic' looking. That's like making a Mickey Mouse film with a real mouse or remaking "King Kong" with a giant bear. Then they violated rule one of any giant monster movie "The Monster Is Supposed To Do All The Destruction." On one hand you were supposed to fear the monster, then feel sorry for it, then fear it again then at the end feel sorry for it again. It didn't work, and the film bombed.
2. The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008)
Here is prime example of a big studio ignoring what made a film a classic. Gone in the remake were all the honest charms from the original. They threw out the whole plot where Klaatu learns about humanity through his interaction with young Bobby Benson. They also ignored the whole message of hope that if mankind were to clean up it's act, then it could co-exist with the rest of the galaxy.
Why have a giant robot, if your not going to do anything with it? Gort looked cool in the film, but when it came to to start destroying things, he turned into a cloud of parasites......who thought that would be a good idea?
Anyway, the makers of those films just didn't get it. These films and TV shows have remained popular for years for a reason. Somehow film makers fail to understand those reasons or ignore them on purpose. What fuels this? Well no matter what they throw up on the big screen they stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars, so why should they care?
Maybe someday the video game market will force movie studios to rethink their product, but for now they don't have to.
Pity
See Also: Land Of The Lost - Episode 1 - Cha-ka / Getting Grumpy: VFX In Land Of The Lost / Universal Releases The Complete Land Of The Lost Series In A Collectible Lunch Box / Universal Launches New Land Of The Lost Games / Sci Fi Announces Memorial Day Land Of The Lost Marathon And Other Summer Programing / Land Of The Lost Cha-Ka Funko Force Bobble Head / Land Of The Lost Sleestak Funko Force Bobble Head / A New Promo Image For Land Of The Lost / The Land Of The Lost Movie Poster / Hold Onto Your Tenticles Sigmund And The Sea Monsters Is Coming To The Big Screen / The First Photo Of Enik From The New Land Of The Lost Movie / Surprise! The New Sleestaks Look Like The Old Ones! / Land of the Lost (TV 1974-1977) / The Land That Time Forgot (1975)
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Okay, a couple things regarding Godzilla 1998:
ReplyDelete1. I still don't get the complaints about the design. The design was not the problem, but what they did with it. The cartoon based on the movie showed that the design would been an awesome Godzilla if the filmmakers had known what to do with it.
2. You can't blame Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio for this film. At all. The only reason they are credited is that they wrote the first screenplay for Tri-Star's film and Devlin & Emmerich only credited them because they used one or two of the scenes from it. Specifically the idea of a character surving being stepped on by Godzilla because they were in the gap between his toes.
Elliott & Rossio's original script was much closer to the spirit of a true Godzilla film, if oddly similar to Gamera: Guardian of the Universe.
Forgive me for being snippy, but I would have expected you to know that, considering I do believe this site has several times promoted that comic book by Todd Tennant based on their screenplay!
http://robojapan.blogspot.com/2008/12/todd-tennant-to-return-to-godzilla-94.html
Ring any bells?
My beaf really isn't with the monster design. It's the fact that they used the name "Godzilla" to try to draw in more fans.
ReplyDeleteIf they would have used another name..made it a seperate monster..that would have been fine.
There isn't anything in G98 that resembles a classic Godzilla film at all.
In my oppinion it is a flawed film.
I am a tad disappointed you haven't seen the new "Land of the Lost" before criticizing it; yeah, I may be more forgiving of the idea of remaking the television show as a big screen comedy, but it's still never a good idea to jump the gun without really knowing what your shooting against at first.
ReplyDeleteStill, I think it's less about Hollywood ruining old properties, then it is a lack of creative-boldness; Gort in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" remake is a perfect example of how the concept of a giant robot may sound cool to most, but scares others. One of the reasons why the humanoid Gort went into 'particle mode', because it somehow seems 'more realistic' and not as ridiculous as a 'pure giant robot' on the loose.
Even in this so-called day of CGI effects, directors, producers, and even the effects companies themselves never take the fantastical elements one step beyond a rather poor 'safety zone'. Giant monsters pop up a lot in big-budgeted movies all the time, but always with limited screen time, or obscured in darkness of other elements, perhaps to save money or add some 'believable suspense', even if the image of a rampaging monster on its own should be enough audience fanfare.
With the rare exception of wonderful nut-jobs like Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro, and Michele Bay, most movie makers never go for the fictional outrageous...for better or for worse...but generally a heck of a lot more interesting then the rest.
The American Godzilla film, and its related cartoon spin-off, are perfect examples of the same subject matter, but in different hands; Devlin and Emmerich dismissed the insanity of the original Japanese films, and thus abandoning everything that people actually love about them. Even novices who hate fantasy films, yet like hypocrites will only pay money to see only such things at the multiplex (looking at you female British twins of "Movie Mob"), expect to see Godzilla do ample amounts of destruction.
While the team who worked on the animated series were not only Godzilla fans, but also in the fortunate realm of animation, and thus were able to do an American Godzilla more in the same imaginative beat of his Japanese predecessor.
As for "Land of the Lost"; I have no clue as to why they went down the comedy route, though when we look at tons of other Saturday morning shows turned into live action features, they often miss the original tone big time ("Scooby Doo" and "Speed Racer" were never that hyperactive to begin with, especially the former of the two). But I'll wait till I actually see that film before I start harping on it.
And yes, I've been watching the old series a lot lately, and despite the acting, the stories and fantasy element were top-notch in the first two seasons. The third season...strangely the acting got better, but the writing went the opposite way...though thankfully never on the exact same level of Irwin Allan stupidity that it's often compared to.
There in lies what I think is the problem here. I haven't seen the movie, but I still feel that I could review it anyway.
ReplyDeleteDespite all the money that Universal has put into promoting "Land of the Lost", all it has succeeded in doing is convincing me that I don't want to see it.
Being a fan of the original show since it first aired in the 70s, I'm one of the group that Universal wants to be hyped about the movie.....and I'm not.
There was a time when I would see a movie trailer and think "Cool! I want to see that!" now I think "God, I hope it doesn't suck."
I think that I am not alone in feeling this way.
Ken, I was not defending Godzilla 1998, I was defending the creature design used in the film. In the right hands, I would have loved to see that bastard tearing up a big city. The film itself is incredibly flawed and just plain ill-conceived. There's no question of that, nor was I saying you were unfairly picking on it.
ReplyDeleteI was also merely pointing out that, as you yourself ought to know, Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio had nothing to do with the final film and their original screenplay was awesome. I mean, it culminated with Godzilla fighting a giant, alien monster called a Gryphon in the middle of New York City.
Therefore I did not think you were being fair to them for associating them with a hermaphroditic lizard that can't even withstand conventional weapons.
I'm embarased to say that you caught me in a blunder. I didn't intend to include Elliott & Rossio in my article. In my fist draft of the article I did a cut and paste from IMDB to include the director and writers so that I would have their names spelled correctly. I was in a huge hurry so I didn't even look at them really.
ReplyDeleteI saved what I had and went off to work. Later when I got a free minute, I continued on with the article.
I actually took me three seperate sittings to get the whole thing complete. Forgetting that I wanted to go back and make changes, I went ahead and published the article.
When I read your first response, I thought "Elliott & Rossio what is he talking about?" It was then that I realized my mistake and went back and corrected it.
That's what I get for trying to write on a hectic day.
Thank you for pointing out my lazy mistake.
Indeed your points make the whole thing sound more crazy. Tristar had an excellent script for an American Godzilla film in hand and they opted to go with the mess that we got in G98. I thik that realy reinforces my point that in some cases Hollywood has no idea what they are doing when it comes to films like these.
How cool would it have been to see the G94 film made!?
A couple things...
ReplyDeleteFirst, I'm pleased beyond description that LAND OF THE LOST has effectively failed at the box-office. It isn't that I have anything against Will Ferrell or the idea of a raunchy dinosaur comedy. Nor is it that I am such a devout fan of the original series that I mind seeing it lampooned a bit. It's that the studio is trying to sell us a bill of goods here - a movie that bears the name and superficial trappings of a classic property, but is completely different in tone, intent, and target demographic. STAR TREK proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is possible tto "reboot" a tired or dated property in a way that satisfies both fans of the original and brand new viewers. Hopefully, with the failure of LOTL coming so close on the heels of ST's success, Hollywood will start to figure it out. Don't buy a proven name and concept and then try to sell a completely different product under that brand.
Second, Ken, I must respectfully disagree with you regarding there being nothing in G98 that resembles a classic Godzilla film. There are several moments - all of which come in the first act, and most of which were either inspired or lifted wholesale from the Rossio & Elliott draft. The opening attack on the fishing ship, the smaller fishing boats being pulled under the water (the only scene pulled verbatim from Rossio & Elliott), the footprint, and even the creature's initial landing in New York would all have fit in a traditional Godzilla movie. In fact, only some of the dialogue and characters from that first act seem out of place. It isn't until the creature goes underground that it becomes clear we're dealing with something entirely different than Godzilla.
Very well stated. You hit on very interesting point that I initially wanted to touch on when I began writing this article.
ReplyDeleteJ.J. Abrams did it right when he made his "Star Trek" reboot. The core of what makes "Trek", "Trek", runs throughout the film. There are enough changes to make it "fresh", yet there are the things that harken back to the original series.
It's a delicate balance I grant you. Getting it right takes time, research, and knowledge about what you are doing.
In regards to G98. Granted the scenes you spoke of would indeed be at home in any Godzilla film, it could also be said that those scenes would be typical of just about any giant monster film. They really aren't "signature" or exclusive to Godzilla films.
So, in a sense I agree, but not completely.
You were right on track by saying Hollywood stamps a label like "Godzilla" or "Land of the Lost" to feed the public their bill of goods. Hopeing that by adding a "name" it will make fans flock to a product that isn't what is advertised.
I'm affraid that this will be the case with the upcoming "Robotech" movie. From what I have heard so far it is just another "Transformers" movie with the name "Robotech" stamped on it.
What really sucks is that a true to story movie adaptation of these properties would work...and the fans would love them.
When sci fi and fantasy is taken seriously it works. Just look at the original "The Day The Earth Stood Still", simple, mature, and it works. Excellent film.
Could you imagine what kind of movie could be made from "Land of the Lost" if say Abrams or Nolen had made it?