Forbidden Planet Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I grew up reading science fiction, thinking my beloved genre was all about the possibilities of the infinite: advanced civilizations inhabiting distant star systems; men with brains so large and hearts so beneficent they could barely be contained within their bodies; women with beauty so magnificent and intellect so stunning they would leave bystanders breathless.

And they I started watching movies and eventually realized it's all about death, destruction ... and more death.

This week's release of The Final Destination, which is obsessed with staging elaborate 'kill scenes,' got me thinking about memorable scenes of demise in science fiction films. Sci-fi is notably short of serial killers, but offers a wider range of death scenes, beyond simple murder and mayhem. Here's my list of the top 10 sci-fi deaths. (Of necessity, this list is nothing but spoilers, so you have been warned.)

1. The Emperor (Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi)

Everyone knows where they were when they saw the Emperor get what was coming to him. Me, I was in the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles, opening night, second showing, near 5:00 a.m., shouting (and ultimately cheering and applauding) along with the rest of the sold-out auditorium as Luke looked between his father and the Emperor, in pain, agonizing, understanding that the man he had hated was being tortured by the man who should be hated. And then he made the right call. Goosebumps still raise up in the glory of the memory.

Read the rest over at Sci-Fi Squad

UPDATE: Both IESB and Latino Review are reporting that James Cameron is potentially interested in tackling this Forbidden Planet sequel/remake, which both sites report is kinda like a prequel and a sequel. They claim the current script follows "the never-before revealed tale of the first ship, the Bellerophon" and that if the first film rocks out, they have the ingredients for a trilogy. In said trilogy, they'd eventually make their way back to the events of the original Forbidden Planet, which told the story of a second ship that went searching for the Bellerophon after it went missing. Check out both sites for more info, and our latest post on Forbidden Planet (with comments from writer J. Michael Straczynski) is below.

What do you think: Is James Cameron the man for this job?

Posted December 8, 2008
By: Elisabeth Rappe

The last time we heard from J. Michael Straczynski about his remake-but-not-really of The Forbidden Planet, it ended up being a lot of misquotes that the screenwriter quickly refuted. MTV caught up with him this week, and he explained his take on the classic sci-fi film: "I've always wanted to do something involving Forbidden Planet. It's my favorite science-fiction film of all time. I've watched the rights go from one company to the next. I heard that the rights at Dreamworks were about to expire and I went to Joel Silver and said I think if you move quickly you can grab it and I can write it. And he did. It's the dream of a lifetime to play in that universe."

The last time we heard from J. Michael Straczynski about his remake-but-not-really of The Forbidden Planet, it ended up being a lot of misquotes that the screenwriter quickly refuted. MTV caught up with him this week, and he explained his take on the classic sci-fi film: "I've always wanted to do something involving Forbidden Planet. It's my favorite science-fiction film of all time. I've watched the rights go from one company to the next. I heard that the rights at Dreamworks were about to expire and I went to Joel Silver and said I think if you move quickly you can grab it and I can write it. And he did. It's the dream of a lifetime to play in that universe."

While he remained relatively tight-lipped on the plot, Straczynski was careful to point out what it isn't. "I told Joel [Silver] this is how you do Forbidden Planet without pissing on the original that no one has ever thought of. When I told [the idea] to him, his eyes lit up. It's not a remake. It's not a reimagining. It's not exactly a prequel. You'll have to see it. It's something that no one has thought of when it comes to this storyline."

OK, get it out of your system right now, before we begin. All together now: "Holy crap I can't believe they're remaking an unquestionable classic like XXXX and I'm completely certain that Hollywood has officially run out of new ideas. Argh!" Feel better? Good, because an unquestionable classic like Forbidden Planet is officially being remade.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver are moving forward on their new version of the 1956 sci-fi favorite, which itself was (loosely) based on Shakespeare's The Tempest, so that makes it sort of a remake in its own right. From THR: The original "told the tale of an expedition sent from Earth to check on a colony of scientists on a far-off planet. They find two members, a man who has found alien technology that doubled his intellect, Dr. Morbius, and his daughter, both of whom have managed to survive an unseen monster roaming the planet." And yes, this is the one with Robbie the Robot. Classic character to be sure, but dare I say one that is ripe for a "re-imagining"?

The new version will spring from the word processor of J. Michael Straczynski, a veteran sci-fi creator who recently went in a new direction with his screenplay for Clint Eastwood's Changeling. And while I'd definitely agree that Forbidden Planet is one of the true-blue classics of the sci-fi genre, I'd also admit that I'm pretty interested to see where a new version would go. Obviously a lot depends on who Silver and WB tap to direct the remake.

And heck, are there many more science fiction classics that haven't been scheduled for a remake? Between War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, I Am Legend, The Invasion, Planet of the Apes, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and When Worlds Collide ... has anyone optioned this one for a remake yet?

Recent Theatricals

Accepted -- Quick and painless late-teen college about a bunch of slackers who fabricate an entire university before things get nutty. Not awful, but not all that funny either (Extras: director/cast commentary, featurettes, music videos, deleted scenes, gag reel, etc.)

Brothers of the Head -- The creators of Lost in La Mancha go the mockumentary route with this story of conjoined-twin rock stars. Yeah, you heard me.

John Tucker Must Die -- Teen movies must stop: A bunch of girls get revenge on the campus womanizer. How nice. (Director's commentary, featurettes)

King Kong: Extended Edition -- Because Peter Jackson's remake wasn't already long enough, they added another 13 minutes back in. (Filmmaker commentary, 3-hour documentary, 38 MORE minutes of deleted scenes.) OK, I want this.

The Da Vinci Code -- Admit it; you were bored by it. (Ten featurettes.)

Catalog Picks

Forbidden Planet: Special Edition -- The classic sci-fi grand-daddy (which was based on The Tempest, dontchaknow) gets re-issued in a normal SE and a swanky LE that comes with a Robby the Robot toy! (Documentaries, deleted scenes, lost footage, random fun.)

The Green Mile: Special Edition -- Frank Darabont's second Stephen King adaptation (after The Shawshank Redemption) pales in comparison to the first, but the chemistry between Tom Hanks and Mike Duncan is still pretty effective. (Director commentary, deleted scenes, feature-length documentary, featurettes.)

Maniac Cop -- It's about a cop -- who's a maniac. It comes from Bill Lustig (Maniac) and Larry Cohen (The Stuff), plus it stars Tom Atkins, Richard Roundtree and Bruce Campbell. Not saying it's a good flick, but if you know these names you'll have fun with Maniac Cop. (Filmmaker commentary, featurette, interviews.)

Direct-to-Video

Raptor Island -- I've never seen it, but it stars Lorenzo Lamas & Stephen Bauer, was written by the guy who did Megalodon, and is about an island full of velociratpors. See it quick, before Raptor Island 2: Raptor Planet hits the Sci-Fi Channel!

Strangers With Candy -- Apparently it's got some kind of cult fanbase. I'll have to give SWC a whirl sometime, but everyone tells me to start with the series first. (Filmmaker commentary, 18 deleted scenes.)