Now, I don't know how this bit of news eluded me, BUT there is a remake of the television series UFO that has been in the works for several years now. When looking up articles about the production, I found them dated as far back as 2009. I am both thrilled and scared. UFO is one of my favorite series, and has been since it first aired. Those that either know me, or have read certain entries on my blog, know that on some things I am a bit of a purist. Movies and TV series sit quite high on my purity list. Some series could do with a bit of re-vamping, but "UFO"...okay, I do think that the original is brilliant. Stylistically, brilliant. Yes, the computers and such are out of date by today's standards, but I think for the time they were ahead of the mark. The fact that during the opening credits it says "THE FUTURE...1980"...brilliant!
(The original series intro credits)
Produced in 1970, it was the first live action television series from Gerry Anderson the 'puppet master'. He was the mastermind behind "Stingray", "Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons", and the puppet acted series he is probably most known for the "Thunderbirds".
(Thunderbirds)
Over the years, I have met more people acquainted with Anderson's second live action space series, "Space 1999" (which is apparently in development for a remake), than with "UFO". With this new feature I hope for two things: a) that it doesn't suck, and b) that it causes people unfamiliar with the original to make the sagacious move to go back and give it a look.
In the role of director is Matthew Gratzner. Other than a short film and a commercial, Gratzner has a laundry list of effects supervisor credits. There hasn't been a whole lot written about the production, but what little I have seen in the way of statements by Gratzner leads me to believe that he is taking the fans of the original to heart. It appears that care is being taken in getting the details correct. How refreshing...I am tired of 'reboots' being terrible. Like Jonathan Frakes' live action feature of the "Thunderbirds". It was horrible. (Frakes' admission that he had never seen an episode of the 'T-Birds' might have had something to do with it...) To all the producers out there wanting to remake things, do me a HUGE favor. Look for stuff that was terrible to begin with and make it better. There have been plenty of shows with a great premise, but bad execution. Pick on those...onto casting.
There isn't a lot out there about casting choices. I have only been able to find info about two actors that have supposedly signed on:
COLONEL PAUL FOSTER
(Left: Michael Billington; Right: Joshua Jackson)
COLONEL VIRGINIA LAKE
(Left: Wanda Ventham; Right: Ali Larter)
I know there are a lot of Joshua Jackson fans out there, whether it's from "Dawson's Creek" or "Fringe". My jury is still out. For me Michael Billington IS Paul Foster...but then I am a fan of the original. I don't know if "Pacey" is going to cut it for me. Billington had the face and the bod. (A bit of trivia: Billington was screen tested to play James Bond more than any other actor. If Roger Moore hadn't been available for "For Your Eyes Only", Billington was the first choice.) It was the 1970's when men had chest hair, and Michael showed us his in the Foster driven episode "Ordeal". I found the episode on YouTube, but it's broken into four parts. I have posted them at the end of this blog post. There is a great party scene at the beginning. If you just want to check out his bod, go about 4 minutes in on part 2...
(Michael Billington from "The Ordeal")
As for Larter in the role of Colonel Lake, that character was just kind of "there". She showed up later in the run, and just seemed to be a bit of set dressing. The character of Lake has one episode that comes to mind where she is a featured player along with Commander Ed Straker. The episode is called "Timelash", and is told through a series of flashbacks...good episode.
That's it. Those are the only cast members I've found. Who knows, maybe they have been replaced for whatever reason. By the lack of over all production information on the official site for the movie, it appears they are keeping a lot of the details under wraps. My curiosity is definitely peaked.
As for the original series, I can't recommend it enough. Hardcore science fiction fans will have seen it (if you haven't, shame on you), but for those that haven't it is well worth the watch. The writing is a bit dated and has its chuckle worthy moments, but the over all plot lines for the time are great.
(Alien)
(Foster going under the
green liquid)
SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organization) has been created to defend the earth from aliens and their spacecrafts. The aliens are humanoids in orange space suits who "breath" green liquid. (In the "Ordeal" episode posted below, it deals with Colonel Foster being abducted and put in one of the alien space suits.) SHADO Control is in an earth base below ground with a movie studio above it as a front. Commander Ed Straker is in the drivers seat of the organization. In addition to the earth base, there is a base on the moon operated by purple wigged, silver lame mini-skirt wearing women. The oceans are patrolled by a submarine called Skydiver, which has a plane called Sky 1 docked on its nose. In certain cases, Skydiver launches Sky 1 out of the water to fly the sometimes not-so friendly skies. The operators of Skydiver wear beige mesh shirts. The mens' shirts clearly have nothing underneath, but I don't think censors would have allowed the women to go without an undershirt. I'm sure there were plenty of male viewers who studied that subject quite closely though. Other vehicles include the Earth Mobile Units, the Moonbase Interceptors, and the Moonbase communication satelite known as S.I.D. (Space Intruder Detector).
(Clockwise from the top: Moonbase, Interceptor, S.I.D., Skydiver,
Sky 1, Mobile Unit)
Who will be playing Straker in the new film? Who will play Lieutenant Ellis? Why is Gilligan on Moonbase? (Hah...came across the picture and posted it because of Gilligan...in space. Wait! It's been done. "Far-Out Spacenuts". Boy, that was a bad Syd & Marty Kroft Show. But I digress...)
The official site says that the projected release date is for sometime in 2013. For the first time in a long while I am actually looking forward to a remake. I think it stems from the fact that the director of the film has mentioned they are taking the original to heart when getting into the details. I'm sure they will revamp the designs, which is fine as long as I can see the nod to the original designs. The 1970 series is so special, I don't want them to water it down to much.
While I was surfing around reading up on my new discovery, I learned that Michael Billington passed away in 2005. I was sad to learn that. Rest in peace, Michael.
Now for your viewing pleasure: "Ordeal", Episode 19
As an artist, I appreciate artistic design and expression of all types. From painting, to sculpture, to music, to architecture. Creativity is not a single minded attribute. Creativity has many facets, like a gigantic ever evolving gem. A creative style/aesthetic I have always loved is from a niche carved in the 1960's-70's. A very prominent area of design known as Modern and/or Space Age. The section I am going to tap into for this post is the 1970's.
One of my favorite retro shows that aired in the '70's is the first live action series production by Gerry Anderson, "U.F.O." (You may know him for his puppet driven films, "The Thunderbirds", "Captain Scarlet", etc.) His wife at the time, Sylvia, designed all of the wardrobe. The show did first air in 1970. It was a big hit with my older brother, so that was pretty much my introduction. The video above is of the opening sequence of the show. It will kind of illustrate the aesthetic I speak of. Plastic blocky dishes. Blow up furniture. Sideburns. Go-go boots. Nehru collars. Blocky sunglasses and cat-eye make-up. One of my favorite parts of that intro is when it says "The Future...1980". If 1980 had been more like the show, I would have enjoyed it more. (*grin*) In addition to the design aesthetic, I have always had a fascination with the subject of UFO's, or more specifically Flying Saucers. (A side-bar: Something that has always irked me is that people have a tendency to call a 'flying saucer' a 'UFO'. UFO means "unidentified flying object". If you are calling something deemed to be a flying saucer a UFO, why? You have seemingly identified it, so call it what it is. *sheesh*)
Flying saucers. Real? Not real? Some swear up and down that they have been abducted. Taken aboard an alien craft by little green (or grey) men for some serious 'probing'. Betty and Barney Hill. Travis Walton. Both are recorded in the Blue Books, the Hills' account being the very first. I am starting to get away from where I am going with this post, so I am going to veer back a bit.
(Malin House)
I remembered a house in the Hollywood Hills close to where I lived in West Hollywood, California. It was known as both the "UFO House", and the "Flying Saucer House". Not so much round as it is hexagonal, it was designed by John Lautner, and is officially known as the Malin House/"Chemosphere". I went in search of a photo of the house, which of course led me to pictures of other flying saucer shaped abodes. Didn't discover many, but the ones I did are Interesting, and very cool.
My next discovery is really cool. A UFO room in the "Tree Hotel" of Sweden. The design of the UFO "room" is really effective (as you can see in the picture above). Actually, all of the rooms of the hotel are hidden in a forest, perched high in the trees. The architecture is really beautiful. I have never seen a place like it before. I had to include the UFO room in this post for obvious reasons, but I am also including a link to the official page of the hotel. It is worth checking out, especially from an artistic perspective. If I am ever in Sweden, I will definitely look it up. The Tree Hotel, Sweden
(Although all of the above rooms are in the Sanzhi District, you can see a distinct difference in the photos posted. The upper-right, and lower left pertain to this entry about the resort. The upper-left, and bottom-right look like the Futuro structures in the last section.)
One UFO/saucer shape influenced home is cool and sits way outside of the norm, but an entire complex of them? Built in 1978 in New Taipei City, Taiwan, their original intent was as a vacation resort for US Military officers stationed in East Asia part-time. They would later be converted into a commercial seaside resort for vacationers.
Sadly, no one would ever stay there, and they would remain uninhabited until their demolition in 2008 (according to several articles I read). The reasons given are financial troubles, some "unfortunate events", and superstitions about the land being a burial ground. I could find nothing about more specific info on the "events". Perhaps they were caused by the unhappy spirits of those buried there? (Some words from the movie "Poltergeist" spring to mind: "You son of a bitch! You moved the cemetery, but you left the bodies, didn't you? You son of a bitch, you left the bodies and you only moved the headstones! You only moved the HEADSTONES! Lies! Lies!" Movie reference concluded...) It appears that superstitions might have attached a supernatural stigma to the site. Stranger things have happened. I would be curious to learn more.
Now for my favorite "UFO" themed architectural masterpiece. (For me, anyway.) The Futuro. Designed by architect Matti Suuronen, in Finland, 1968. These roughly 525 square foot, saucer shaped homes, were designed with vacationers in mind. Actually, Suuronen's intention for them was as a ski cabin. They were designed to be easily reconstructed, and easy to heat. Rough terrain was no problem.
I want one! No, I don't have space for one right now, but...another art studio fantasy of mine. The perfect self contained pod. Sitting area, dining area, kitchen, bathroom, and a spot smack dab in the middle of it for an elevated fire pit. I also love the stylized interior. The modern/space age aesthetic I mentioned before. It looks like fixtures you would find in any SHADO ("Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation") employees' home. Yes, another "UFO" television series reference.
Well, I may want one, but not suprisingly they are fairly rare. Made in the late-'60's to early-70's, there were less than 100 actually built. It is estimated that these days there are probably only around 50 that exist. What's even more unfortunate is the state some of the original structures are in. I found several pictures of abandoned, and vandalized ones. So very sad.
By the time the mid-70's rolled around, the Futuro was taken off the market. The main reason was the Oil Crisis, and the exorbitant price of gasoline. Futuro's were constructed from fiberglass reinforced polyester plastic. The hugely inflated gas prices made plastic expensive.
The above book about the Futuro can be purchased, but you could expect to pay anywhere from $300 to $600 for one. Also, Finnish Director Mika Taanila made a documentary about the homes called, ""Futuro - A New Stance For Tomorrow", 1998. I did find some download sites that have it, but the sites are European and only have the PAL format. Bummer on both counts.
An original proto-type does exist. It's home is the Museum Boijmans Van Beunigen in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. I found the following video on Youtube. It appears to be of a museum docent who is explaining a bit about the history of the futuro, and how it came to be there at the museum. The information is interesting, but be warned...the gal is rather boring...
..I came up with that phrase when I was giving a friend of mine some specs on the theater poster for the second production run of my play "Rednecks & U.F.O.'s". That's kind of the eternal question for a lot of people. At least for me, and some who have never had a face to face with an alien grey, or one of the other alien species described by abductees. Truth be told, the whole concept of beings from other planets stopping in for a visit intrigues the hell out of me. Do I think it's possible? Why not? Who's to say that there aren't technologically advanced races on other planets out there (in one solar system or another) who fly to other parts of the universe(s) to scope out what's going on "over here"?
First, let me say that any person who doesn't acknowledge the likelihood of there being life on other planets...well, that is just plain ignorant. There have been recent discoveries of planets deemed habitable light years away from us (Gliese 581 g; 54 planets in the 'Goldilocks Zone' outside of our solar system). Maybe they can support life...maybe they already do. Will we find out? I doubt that space travel will advance that far within the remainder of my life time. (Bummer.) However, the thought of that happening in the future is really exciting. I wish I could go along for the ride.
The "alien presence" has been historically documented for ages. Whether one believes in the accounts or believes them to be myth is up to the individual. Ancient Egypt (the pyramids); 'Chariots of the Gods' (the land drawings on Nazca Plains in Peru); 'Missing Link' (a widely held theory that aliens genetically engineered Cro-magnon man). Spend some time on Google and you'll find theories that range from the fascinating to the absurd. In more contemporary times there have been occurrences of the odd and disturbing that have been attributed to aliens...animal mutilations (cows being the most prevalent), crop circles (I think these have pretty much been debunked), etc. The most prominent claims of aliens visiting the Earth have been those of abduction.
I have done quite a bit of reading about supposed alien abductions, some more believable than others. There were some that reeked of possibility (Betty and Barney Hill being one). Probably the main abduction story that rings as close to true as any of them is the case of Travis Walton. My reason for writing this blog entry is that the Travis Walton story was featured on the 'Today' show a couple of days ago. They are doing a series of stories called, 'Unexplained Mysteries'. A visit to Snowflake, Arizona, to check in with Travis marked the first episode of their featured series. (You can find the video segment at the bottom of this post.) His 'event' happened in 1975. A logger, he was on his way home with the team he was working with. They were driving through the national park they were working in, and they saw a glow through the trees.
The above video is from the movie 'Fire In The Sky' (1993), a feature film based on Travis' story. The clip is of the scene where Travis gets abducted. From what I've read in interviews with Travis, the movie account seems pretty accurate as to what he, and the witnesses, say happened.
Travis was gone for 5 days. Based on his memory from that time, he experienced some pretty scary stuff. Hollywood has a tendency to "spice things up" a bit, so there is some definite creative license used here. That being said, Travis's account is pretty intense.
The movie got panned for the most part, but I found it interesting. I think the skepticism of a lot of people out there kept the reviews in the realm of disbelief. I recommend it. Knowing it's backstory makes it worth the watch. The case of Travis Walton is said to be the only documented case of alien abduction. There were half a dozen witnesses...the guys working with him that day. In the video segment from a couple of days ago, the interviewer asks him if his experience still stays with him...if it has effected his life? What a dumb question. I don't know if I would ever be able to sleep through the night again after something like that.
Was Travis Walton really abducted on that evening in 1975? His fellow loggers say he was. Travis' neighbors in Snowflake...the one's who told him they didn't believe, now say they do. The story feels like it leans more towards the positive side of the truth meter. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm an open minded person who suspends my belief/disbelief until most things are proven to me one way or the other. On the case of Travis Walton, the only ones that know and will ever know what really did happen that night are those that were present. A fascinating tale nonetheless.
