Hey all, Peter Jackson's doing a remake of the 1954 film "The Dambusters". What do you think of it? Will he stick to being completely accurate or not?
Given that the original had to be made within the confines of the Official Secrets Act, then they did the best that they could do at the time. The big problemwith a new version, is what, if any changes the new production team will do. Okay, it will be CGI for the aircraft, and the raid itself. But, its the other things that are worrying, Stepehn Fry, is supposed to be writing the script, will he introduce sutble or unsutble refences to being gay? Could we see someones reputation tarnished by being played as a closet gay? Then there is the decsion, what to include and what to leave out. I suspect that inorder for the film to cover most of the ground, it would have to be somewhere in the region of three to four hours!
There is an interesting thread regarding the remake here. A lot of waffle (IMHO) regarding the name of Wg Cdr Gibson's dog! Roxy
Hi Roxy, Care to enlarge on the waffle. I can't get in unless I register. We had a discussion about it previously on another forum. I feel the "Nigger" should remain and apparently the producer said it will be included. Apparently channel 4 in the UK beep it out whenever it is shown! What is your view?
This is what I meant by more accurate! 12 O'Clock High is just starting here 20:30 Sunday. Haven't seen it for years. I would be disappointed if this was the case. This would not (IMHO) add to the quality of the film. I really feel they will be careful however I hope I am not proven wrong! The longer the better if it is interesting.
I'll have a trawl through the PPRuNe thread to try to find something of use. Most of it centred around Wg Cdr Tom Cruise of the 617th Sqn USAAF fighting the nasty English Germans...Germany was being run by the very nasty Adolf Rickman...you get the gist. Then they got to the name of the dog... Roxy
I think that the film producers will have to come to a comprimise, as they want they film to be a commericial success, which involves it being entertaining and being a "history" of the raid. For example, Bomber Harris, in his guise as a Squadron Commander, did trials with the "sixpenny sight" and using searchlighs to judge height back in the 1920s. Would the producers allow that to be mentiond? I think not.
I think given Peter Jackson's a Kiwi, we've got a good chance of it being pretty "right", him being a colonial and all. I would be disappointed with the gay references unless they were proven (who knows?!) but one thing about Stephen Fry that I've always admired, he is very British (from an Aussie's point of view).
The link I posted in #9 is for another thread on the same subject. On that thread there are a number of posts about Fry's intentions and his ability to deliver the "goods". Personally I think he is a good choice as a writer. He has an amzing knowledge of history, has already written a well receive WW2 novel, and most importantly, is fully aware of the esteem that 617, and the original film, are held. Maybe wait until the film is out before judging him?
.. ..-. / .. - / .-- .- ... / -. --- - / .- / ..-. .- -.-. - / - .... .- - / .. / .- -- / .--. .- .-. .- -. --- .. -.. --..-- / .. / .-- --- ..- .-.. -.. / ... .- -.-- / - .... .- - / -.-- --- ..- / .- .-. . / .- .-.. .-.. / --- ..- - / - --- / --. . - / -- .
I think the problem is, if you look what happened to Dr Who, when Russel Davies, took over, gar refeneces, gay characters, gay scenes etc.
I think that this film is very close to all our hearts and we all want it to be made better (as a spectacle), with additions of previous info that was restricted at the time without poetic licence. Let us see what the end result is.
I actually think Stephen Fry is a bloody good choice. As Kyt said, he knows what 617 is. My fervent hope, as always, is that it opens up this part of history to a new range of people.
