Re: Don't say I never spoiled anything for you

[Stephen Faust <smfaust@edisto.cofc.edu>]

Don't agree. Old werewolf movies are not always modern ones a la The
Silver Bullet. There's nothing to prevent adapting old B movie flicks to a
neat remake incorporating good writing.

Steve

Stephen Faust                   smfaust@edisto.cofc.edu

On Mon, 18 May 1998, Chris Campbell wrote:

> Stephen Faust wrote:
> > 
> > Agree. Every good writer knows that a good story depends on plot, logic,
> > and characterization.Logic allows you to suspend disbelief. Star Wars had
> > all of these things and so did the first Indiana Jones. Jones 2 and 3
> > should have been created around the same characters. If the bad guy ( all
> > us fossil dealers to you folks ),survived into Jones 2 and 3,
> > together with Karen Allen, these films could have been vastly
> > improved.Godzilla, as you suggest, will probably be another Lost World and
> > good writing will be sacrificed for special effects and a shallow story
> > line. Of course, I'll see it anyway. A truely neat picture might be a
> > remake of the original Lost World ( Doyle) set in the 18th century and
> > faithful to the original story line.No movie/video game hybrid, just good
> > writing.
> 
> You guys are missing the point.  Watch the original Godzilla movies. 
> You won't find great plots or characterization, except perhaps in the
> original (Japanese) film.  Star Wars is a mythic adventure with space
> vehicles and alien races as props.  Indiana Jones is one of the defining
> films of the action/adventure genre.  Godzilla is something altogether
> different.  The yardstick isn't good action/adventure or science fantasy
> films; it's not even crappy big-budget extraveganzas made by the same
> people.  The only valid measure here is prior Godzilla work.  If it
> follows in that tradition, fine.  It's done its job, regardless of
> whether or not it's done in the framework of a good story.  If there's a
> good story to go with (as there sorta was in the original and the 1985
> remake), even better.  Expecting great plot and characterization,
> however, is expecting heights that Godzilla flicks have never attempted
> to reach.  That would be a mistake, IMO, both because it wastes your
> time and sleights the film.
> 
> To get this back on dinos, a good take on the original Lost World IMO is
> Greg Bear's Dinosaur Summer.  Basically the original plot with lots of
> historical value and some nifty evolutionary guesswork (i.e., what would
> dinos be like 65 million years later?)  Anyone else read it?  Any
> commentary?
> 
> Chris
>