Hey, sounds pretty cool to me.

On Wednesday I met a person who went on it with her family. One of them (daughter, I think) said, "Don't hang onto me," and told her mother later that she grabbed her three times, of which the mother was unaware--but later found she broke a nail hanging on so hard! She (mother) described it as a "long free fall."

Several, actually. That's the cool thing about it: every time it stops you don't know if it's going to drop or go up a few more stories. Sometimes it drops, but only one floor and as soon as you sigh in releif, then you drop for real! It kind of plays with your head like that, which is what makes it so cool! At one point it decelerates so smoothly you think you're still falling, but you're already on your way up again!

This just came in a moment ago. MGM is releasing the NBC mini-series on DVD. It will be out on September 7th, at a price of $19.98. Mark your calendars for this monumental event. The classic 1979 mini-series with Rock Hudson will be coming out in two months. I saw the cover of it. It looks really awesome.

quote:

Originally posted by Nard Kordell:

(Ray did ask Fellini to someday do a project. And I believe ...someone correct me out there, Sam?...I believe Fellini did say something on the order of, "Yes, someday...!") [/B]

Nard wrote,

(Ray did ask Fellini to someday do a project. And I believe ...someone correct me out there, Sam?...I believe Fellini did say something on the order of, "Yes, someday...!")

Well, some time ago, Ray mentioned in a letter that he had nagged Fellini constantly about doing a film... apparently they remained good friends until Federico's death, but Ray's guess is that Fellini gave priority to his own ideas when making films.

Monk is a funny show, and i think their personalities make up a lot of it. Soooo... a Martian Chronicles Movie???? sounds cool

Wish i could get money just by sneezing.

I am afraid that I didn't have an opportunity to read all of the posts, but I know when my family and I visited with Ray in 1996 he said that he wanted to redo Martian Chronicles as a major film. So it is apparent, that along with F451, he wants something to happen along the lines of a major film.

Regretfully, The Martian Chronicles can not be redone as a movie. As a mini-series, like the excellent 1979 version from NBC, yes. It could be redone as that. If Ray wants to redo The Martian Chronicles, he should follow the same example that Sci-Fi Channel did with Frank Herbert's Dune novels. That would be one way to go. Personally, I don't think it should be redone. The original mini-series is better. To do a remake would be a mistake. Almost a big mistake that Warner Brothers is doing, concerning the proposed Logan's Run remake. The classics need to be left alone. That's my philosiphical opinion. What's yours?

Spender, I think there's a difference between remaking a classic film and readapting a classic novel that was poorly or at least inadequately adapted the first time.

Example 1:
"let's do a remake of Gone With the Wind!"
BAD IDEA!

Example 2:
"Truffaut's version of Fahrenheit 451 left a lot to be desired from the book. Let's go back to the book and start from scratch, making a film about the book the way it needs to be told."
GOOD IDEA!

Therefore, it wouldn't be a remake of the old Martian Chronicles miniseries, but a film adaptation of the book, with nothing at all to do with the old miniseries. Forget it completely. Even the Wizard of Oz that we all know and love was not the first film adaptation of the book. Neither were Ben Hur or Lord of the Rings. Alfred Hitchcock remade one of his early films "the man who knew too much" and honestly, who remembers the old version, the black and white one with Peter Lorre, the one WITHOUT the "Que Sera Sera" song? So while I agree that Hollywood these days seems to be only remakes of old movies and adaptations of books (yes, the lack of ability to make an original story is kinda sad) I think a good adaptation of a good book would be more than welcome. There are a few modern films, however, with good original screenplays. I really liked Collateral.

Exactly, groon. You said it better than I could.

I can see where you are both coming from. I'm not disputing that. I'm just used to one version of an adaptation. I just don't think that, for artistic reasons, remakes or "re-imaginings" are all that great. That's the best way that I can describe it. On the subject of Fahrenheit 451, Francois Truffaut's version of Ray's book really wasn't all that bad. Granted it would have cool to have seen the Mechanical Hound and other elements that were discarded. But over all, I think the 1966 film was pretty cool. You have to remember that at that time, you could only do so much with what filmmaking technology had to offer. Even Michael Anderson, who directed The Martian Chronicles, stated that you could only adapt so much from Ray's classic book. There is just alot there that cannot be adapted.

The currently available movie take on F451 "isn't that bad". While that may be true, it is not based on an "isn't that bad novel". The novel is absolutely great. They need to do another movie that captures that greatness.

I would love to see a new movie version of the Martian Chronicales; but would love to see it drawn from the book, and not be a remake of a previous film version.

"I'm just used to one version of an adaptation."

Fair enough, Spender.

P.S. The mechanical hound was one of the smallest things that were missing from the film.

Actually, Mr. Dark, some elements from the book were drawn in the original mini-series. From what I can recall, Richard Matheson did his best to capture what Ray had printed on paper. The late Sam Peckinpah once told Ray that the only way he could shoot a film adaptation of his works would be to stuff all the pages in the camera. That's about right.