Discussion
Bushmaster said:
I read it not long ago. Thrillers have come a long way.
It was a thriller of the time and what's missing from this is Buchan's character's ability to adopt a disguise and 'become' another person to escape and survive. Hitchcock et al screwed up the original to being almost unrecognisable but they were good films in their own right. This most definitely is not 
TWSTEEL said:
4th working of it IIRC - good as a piece of period drama but LOUSY as a rendition of Buchan's novel. Glad I'm recording TG as this is SOOO disappointing.
I loved the novel, but although this was fine for what it was, and I enjoyed it as such, it sure wasn't anything near the novel.So dissapointed in this as its one of my favorite stories. Clearly set before the 1st world war, but the aircraft and cars were from a later period. The aircraft looked to be an SE5 which appeared in the latter part of the 1st world war and the cars were a mixture of 1920's and 30's. Then there is the plot......did the writers even read the novel?
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There was a preview of it in Radio Times. The producer said they selected the post war period becuase the cars available to them from the pre-WW1 era were just too slow and undramatic. The car chosen was a Morris Bullnose Cowley which first came out in the mid 1920s and continued in production into the 1930s (my grandad had one at the time).
The aircraft was a modern SE5A replica. The SE5A first flew in 1916 but some continued in use in civilian hands unto the late 1920s - even being used as sign-writing and banner towing aircraft.
I didn't see last night's programme in the end but it seemed to me that they were more intent in creating a modern "Hitchcockian" piece rather than being true to Buchan's novel, The plane chase was a direct lift from Hitchcock's "North by Northwest".
The aircraft was a modern SE5A replica. The SE5A first flew in 1916 but some continued in use in civilian hands unto the late 1920s - even being used as sign-writing and banner towing aircraft.
I didn't see last night's programme in the end but it seemed to me that they were more intent in creating a modern "Hitchcockian" piece rather than being true to Buchan's novel, The plane chase was a direct lift from Hitchcock's "North by Northwest".
Edited by Eric Mc on Monday 29th December 07:53
TWSTEEL said:
Bushmaster said:
I read it not long ago. Thrillers have come a long way.
It was a thriller of the time and what's missing from this is Buchan's character's ability to adopt a disguise and 'become' another person to escape and survive. Hitchcock et al screwed up the original to being almost unrecognisable but they were good films in their own right. This most definitely is not I can remember only two 'films' - one being a TV series - that came close to the original novels: 'Martian Chronicles', a TV mini-series from the eighties based pretty closely on the Ray Bradbury original, and 'Lord of the Flies' (the first, UK version) which was almost word-perfect to the book. It doesn't usually yield any benefit to compare books with the cinema renderings in my view, and I try to accept each as separate entities. As for '39 Steps' - I like them all, book included, but they are cousins, not clones. I enjoyed last night's production for what it was - you can be too precious about the exact period detail of Bullnose Morrises and SE5As - the world is full of anomalies. Actually, I find 21st century vernacular expressions much more jarring than the wrong model of trouser press in shot. When someone says something like "...give you a heads-up..." (contemporary mid-Atlantic) rather than (say) "...I thought I'd better warn you..." in a production dated prior to about 1995 it sticks out like a sore thumb to me. Not a very good example but it serves to illustrate.
Try going to the theatre more often - your belief is tested far more than on the screen and yet it is often very exciting, moving, frightening - you choose.
Try going to the theatre more often - your belief is tested far more than on the screen and yet it is often very exciting, moving, frightening - you choose.
I wasn't criticising the producers for deciding to use those artefacts. I was just explaining why they used them, as based on their own article in the Radio Times. In films or TV, as long as the essence of the original story is maintained, I'm not too concerned - and as long as there are not too many glaring anomalies like, as you said, using the wrong type of language for whatever period the story is set.
As for the TV series "The Martian Chronicles", I thought it was quite good and kept within the spirit of the Bradbury originals. I think you'll find it was made in the mid 1970s (1977?) and starred the late Rock Hudson.
As for the TV series "The Martian Chronicles", I thought it was quite good and kept within the spirit of the Bradbury originals. I think you'll find it was made in the mid 1970s (1977?) and starred the late Rock Hudson.
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