Wouldn't a Remake be great?
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HipsterDoofus — 20 years ago(December 31, 2005 02:16 PM)
Precisely. All of you have proved my point before I ever needed to post.
The problem is simple. In 1977, the premise of The Fantastic Journey was innovative (for a TV show anyway). In this day and age there's nothing remotely original about it. Like everyone else said, it has been remade. And remade, and remade
Thankfully, some of its "remakes" have been pretty good. -
a-carlton — 18 years ago(August 15, 2007 06:33 AM)
Why can't people make a remake of a programme and keep the original feeling about it without sending it up as a joke (i.e. Austin Powers set in the supposed 60s)? Maybe it is because time has marched on but I think it would be great to do a remake if only it could be as good as the original. I would just like to see what it would look like with modern special effects.
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quantumwav5 — 17 years ago(April 15, 2008 07:12 PM)
Oh well, here goes;
I,d like to clear this up.
Read on oh brave ones.
Yup, sliders dealt with sci fi but is a completely different premise than TFV.
SO is Stargate, X-files (not sure exactly if that reference was directly made but.), LOST (not in any way similar aside from the Island, which puts it in the similar zone with Fantastic Island with Tatoo and Ricardo)
TFV dealt with an Island in the Bermuda Triangle (The show refers to it as The Devils Triangle, a popular expression the TBT back in that time, thru to the 80's. People don't call it that anymore, generally speaking anyway.
The place went on forever, giving it a supernatural, magical quality which was never explained but gave the show's premise a very rich quality, gravitas and amazing potential for stories, characters, locales and possibilities
In this strange uncharted landmasss, possibly not even on this earth, but interconnecting with our space time signature, was a series of time zones, forwards and backwards thru Earth's history. But also present were places from other worlds and other dimensions. The tagline of the show at the start changed a few times but included from other worlds and dimensions. And so what you have is a show whose potential for locales and stories is, in no uncertain terms, the greatest and most impressive in tv and movie history.
Boastful, yes, but also true, most importantly. Stargate was about space travel, even though the gate accidentally sent the heroes thru time once, maybe twice in 10 years. Also, the four found a Quantum Mirror which was able to access and allow travel to Parallel Earths in the exact same space time continuum, exactly like Sliders. The Quantum Mirror was used for plot in 2 episodes, that's it.
But never has there been a show that was about travel to other worlds, dimensions and time periods like TFV. Never. Period. As well, it was a show which mirrors research and info about the electromagnetic strangeness of TBT and the mind boggling implications of this area of the planet that could by itself be the fuel for a long running series.
SO with all this potential, why did it get canned? poor ratings? With the richness of stories available it,s hard to believe producers can,t see the possibilities here. It makes one lean towards conspiracy theories, the Powers that be's desire to keep people from thinking too much about certain things
But anyway, let's be clear; no show has never duplicated TFV's triple threat potential: time travel, other worlds and pan-dimensional travel.
Just acquired the series and am watching it now. One of my favorite series ever, despite wobbly production qualities and early growing pains in establishing characters and story direction, but then after ten episodes, what chance do you have to get your legs under you. This show could, and still could be, HUGE!!!
Varian and SIl-L forever. Varian would kick Dr WHo's butt! -
eolson22 — 17 years ago(July 30, 2008 08:23 PM)
The mixed-up time plot burst onto the world in 1934 with the story "Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster a man who created whole sub-genres, earning him the title Dean of Science Fiction.
In this story, a professor heads an expedition into a world where parallel timelines have crossed, mixing up modern day, Romans, Vikings, Confederates, and Chinese.
Fantastic Voyage is a perfect example of this sub-genre, and I don't obsess over the differences between other examples. I like Quantum Leap, Sliders, Journeyman (2007), Time Tunnel (older than TFJ by the way.) After all, whatever you call the means of travel, it's basically impossible, so why quibble if you have three or only one impossible dimensions?
You travel to new places, meet new people and cultures, and turn their lives upside down (not necessarily knowing what you're doing.)
The family group dynamic in Fantastic Journey was most closely matched by the party in Sliders. But this detail is just an interesting angle to compare and contrast which series made the most of it.
Many more mixed-up time series will be created.
For another sub-genre opened up by Murray Leinster, see Mad Planet.
