I’m getting very, very tired of some of these “Reimaginations.”
Michael J Fox has stated he wants to do Back to the Future IV, but only if he can play Doc Brown and that it would only work as a “Reimagination” of the older stories. BattleStar Galactica 2003, a decent show, very nice to look at, has stripped most of the most essential plotlines out of the original to make it more “realistic”. (Those who actually bothered to watch the original should note that many episodes were devoted to a war of good and evil involving more than just the Cylons and Colonials. But hey now we have a sexy Cylon woman.). The movie Starship Troopers, which according to DVD commentary is less about making a movie about a good book than finding a vehicle to talk about American Fascism. The DREADFUL ending to Return of the King, looking like something Tolkein would have thrown out before even telling his son.
The remake or refilming of a classic is a tried and true methodology of introducing new audiences to older works. And making a movie based upon a book or series of books can be a wonderful experience. And changes may need to be made to accomodate running length, or cultural references that are obviously dated to the time of creation.
But people, if you want to tell your own story, write your own damn story and call it something new! If you want to do an adaption of a book or an old movie or TV show, do it but stay true to it.
A perfect example of this going right is the recently released Disney film “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”. Clearly all involved in the production had more than passing familiarity with the original work! There were slight deviations, some neccessary, some not, but in the final analysis the spirit, nee’ the substance of the work was the same. I walked out of the theatre feeling refreshed.
Another, the first Lord of The Rings film, Fellowship of the Ring. So true to all the Tolkien legends, it was breathtaking!
So it is possible, even profitable, to remain true to the spirit and essence of a story when making a new version of it! If you have a stance to take about American Fascism, or you hated the mysticism of the original BattleStar Galactica— maybe you didn’t like the Christian themes in a Wrinkle in Time… Write your own damn story then! Use that creative force that you are using to butcher a work that someone else created and others enjoyed and just create something fresh. Maybe we’ll like it on its own merits, not the fraud you portray of it being something it’s not.
