A classic science fiction movie before its time. That’s what I thought of the 1956 film, Forbidden Planet.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s a classic film that will always stand the test of time. It had suspense, comedic cast support, a brave space crew, a tortured scientist, the hot but super intelligent young lady and a mysterious monster lurking just out of sight. All woven together masterfully in a screenplay by Cyril Hume, directed by Fred M. Wilcox and translated to us by stars such as Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen (no, he wasn’t the comedic support) and Robby the Robot.
As fellow Screen Rant writer Brian Ketler put it, Forbidden Planet is “Based loosely on ‘The Tempest’ by William Shakespeare and tells the tale of the search for the missing [human] colonists of the planet Altair-4. The rescue team discovers the remains of an ancient alien civilization, along with their still-functional technology.”
When I first heard the whisperings of a remake some months back, I cringed… thinking “how dare they!” Remakes usually end up diluting the originals. But if done right, this could be a brilliant homage. But I’ve yet to be sold on any remake yet.
It’s been reported that James Cameron was looking to chat with the man himself behind the remake, J. Michael Straczynski (or “JMS” from here on out), about the project. I hope this doesn’t mean we’ll have some love struck kid standing on the edge of the saucer mouthing “I’m on top of the world!!” (No sound in space. Get it?)
As it stands, what Cameron is looking at is JMS’ stunning idea that the Forbidden Planet mythos get split into a trilogy. A trilogy! JMS has grand plans for this project, that’s for sure – since he’s reportedly a big fan of the original and doesn’t want to taint it.
The only way I think a trilogy would work is to make sure this project gets amazing attention to detail, tapping some serious support and not cutting corners when it comes to creating what I hope would be a masterpiece! Did I mention I’m a big fan of FP?
In his trilogy approach, the first film will be about the Bellerophon. The who? The Bellerophon silly! That’s the first ship that showed up at Altair 4 which first encountered the Krell artifacts and their left over technology. This was the ship that disappeared and who the crew of the C-57D Starcruiser came looking for in the original FP.
That is brilliant. I didn’t even think of that when I first read about this project. The first ship that started it all and drawing it out into a trilogy. That means they don’t have to gloss over details and rush us into a plot in under two hours.
The plans for the trilogy are to:
- Address the story of the first ship in the first movie
- Focus on the captain of the Bellerophon and his crew as they search for the long dead Krell, while Diana develops into something other-wordly in the second movie
- Then present the story we all know and love from the original as the third movie.
By then, we should be ready for it and it won’t feel like a potential rip-off, but a normal development of the story.
Of course this whole pipe dream depends on studio financing, but if we as fans show our interest, he just might get his $$. One aspect JMS is looking at is that there may not be a big need for using the same actors across all three movies since we’re dealing with different groups of characters. Some think that might be a snag but yet if you look at shows like Law and Order, cast changes do work as long as the same creative force keeps the premise of the story at heart.
If Straczynski gets his money and his way, his goal with this movie series will change the meaning of the original without us having to deal with the concept of a different take on it. And that is how movies should be “re-made.” It all makes me wonder if he has Ronald D. Moore in on this! No no no… that’s not news… that’s just me conjecturing.
Well, we can now bide our time and wait!
Bruce’s bonus section:
Trivia Quiz: Of the cast from Forbidden Planet, who appeared in the background of a Doctor Who episode, and which episode was it?
Sources – Story: LatinoReview, Images: IMDB.com
