Time Travel discussion

Disney is remaking Flight of the Navigator (1986) which will be rewritten by the team who wrote Safety Not Guaranteed.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118...


I am very very fond of the original Flight of the Navigator. It has a charm and cuteness that simply marks its time and its time travel plot made it a wonderful escapism for young and older children.

Remakes always bring apprehension but I personally welcome them, even if they turn out inferior which unfortunately most do, not all but most of them. Remakes at least bring attention to the original and can never harm it. In this case, we have another TT film to look forward to, anyway!

Have you seen the original? Do you look forward to the remake?

I loved the original. The special effects were cutting edge at the time, but I'm sure they can do a better job now. So yes, I'm looking forward to the remake.

I saw this movie a short time ago and liked it just as much the second or was it the third time round. I've very rarely seen a remake that was as good as the first. There are plenty of great books out there they could make a movie from. Don't these people have any imagination to come up with something new?

Frances wrote: 'Don't these people have any imagination'

Well, that depends on what you think their job should be.

You think it's to come up with something new but they see it as making $$ & so they're going with something tried & true.

Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not so much.

You (the viewer) will choose with your wallet.

There have been many many remakes which have been very good and even better than the original. Its worthwhile to give a good story a re-imagining. Top of my head, The Wizard of Oz, Then Thing, Ben Hur, The Man Who Knew Too Much (Hitchcock remade his own movie, haha), The Fly, Peter Pan, Oceans 11, Oliver, Thomas Crown Affair, Heaven Can Wait and many more. I'm not counting films remade from foreign movies as there is already an obvious justification for doing those (if we ignore the scorn from foreign movie enthusiasts).

All those films may not necessarily be better than the original but they at least offer a very refreshing interpretation. Actually many of them were adapted from novels anyway so the originals were not so original to start with. Of course the ratio of bad and good remakes are terribly unbalanced towards the BAD...God, I still have dreadful memories of The Omen and Psycho remakes!

Nothing wrong with making surefire dollars from a tried and tested formula or targeting an existing fan base, either. Its all about balance in a film business. Need to sell what works to bring a steady stream of revenue while gambling some of that investment into originality. If the film companies dont dish out the tried and tested, we wont get the daring projects because they cant afford the risk.

There was one 80s time travel film I saw the other day called Millennium with Kris Kristoffersen (I mentioned it in the Good, Bad, Ugly thread). It had an awesome storyline but is so dated in its 80s aesthetics and cheapo effect. I would love that film to be remade.

Finally the criticism of whether there is enough originality in the cinema is very unjustified imho. I catalogue all the films I watch in the cinema. I see on average 100 films a year. Those films are of every genre, I am not picky, I just like discovering good films (and unfortunately bad ones too!). I am looking at that list now and I would guess 70-80% of those films are from original film scripts. 7 were sequels, 3 remakes of a TV series and the rest adapted from novels.

Why we get the perception that there are too many sequels and remakes is simply because they get the bigger marketing so most of the movie going public tend to be attracted to these big event movies and understandably dont get time to see much else the cinema has to offer but believe me there are so much original gems out there :)

True Tej, but there is a 'jump on the bandwagon' mentality in the movies & certin genres come fast & furiously if there's a new blockbuster.

Think westerns, spy flicks, war movies, horror, etc. the list is endless.

In the 50's & 60's the push was to compete with TV by 'big screen' flicks (cinemascope, etc.) & later surround sound & today, to compete with the internet they're trying things like 3D & online tie-ins.

Success sells but, as you mention, sometimes not too well.

Oh for sure, you're right about the "jumping on the bandwagon" but thats still healthy all round, the public has the appetite for a certain genre, the film industry feeds on it but the film companies still make other interesting movies on the side, win win :)

Right now, there are 2 genres I can think of that is booming, superheroes and "found footage". I have to say I am enjoying the hell out of both genres but I know I am going to tire of it soon and the industry will notice it (they're spying on me, I can sense it ;) ) and so re-arrange their genre priorities of what gets greenlit depending on as you say, what we choose with our wallets. "jump on the bandwagon" is just really seasonal phases and that just keeps cinema revitalised imho.

More excitingly, Looper has made way for more Time travel movies with bigger budgets ;) And I am pretty sure this Flight of the Navigator thread wouldnt be here, otherwise! I dont think that this will be an 'A' class phase but definitely opens the door to a few more TT scripts being greenlit.

Many films, as we've discussed, are driven by technical advances & the films thus made are just a vehicle for these new techniques.

Also, not a bad thing as some may be good & stand the test of time reguardless of genre.

Wonder if they'll be any cameos from the original cast?

That's always worth a view, just to see, you understand.

Howard wrote: "Many films, as we've discussed, are driven by technical advances & the films thus made are just a vehicle for these new techniques.

Also, not a bad thing as some may be good & stand the test of ti..."

As I recall, Sarah Jessica Parker played the young nurse in the original. I think now she could play the mother

Kristin, often remakes have cameos from the original cast.