Kubrick versus Anderson
Moderator: Spectrum Strike Force
Just picked up this extraordinary little snippet from the June 2004 issue of SFX Magazine:
"It was recently disclosed that the mighty Stanley Kubrick planned to sue Gerry Anderson. In a recent article for The Guardian, investigative journo Jon Ronson unearthed the following 1975 telex from the director: "It would appear that Space:1999 may very well become a long-running and important television series. There seems nothing left now but to seek the highest possible damages... The deliberate choice of a date only two years away from 2001 is not accidental and harms us."
No comment...
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Hazel K
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Marion W
The bit about Space:1999 becoming a long running and important TV series is good for a laugh isn't it? This posting is the first time I've even thought about that series in well over a couple of decades.
[* Assuming that he doesn't own both companies, that is.]
[** Trash cans. There's one for the lexicon!]
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DocBrown
He was later the hero of a daily paper strips in 1929 under the name we know now 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'. Then there were the serials, and TV series (two of those - one in the 50s and the other, the one with Gil Gerard in the late seventies).
But Buck Rogers also had his emulator, in the form of Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon (remember that one?), which was created in 1934, for a comic strips. Then it also followed the same path as Buck for serials, series (animated), and movies. I seem to recall that there might have been a lawsuit of some sort in those early days, because the two series were definitely TOO similar.
I didn't read any of the Buck Rogers strips - but I DID read early and later days Flash Gordon, and most of it was a thrill. I did see the Buck Rogers series with Gil Gerard, some episodes that is, because it wasn't aired regularly here. Looking back at it now, there was a episode where Buck was pursued by a robot-like creature à-la-Terminator. He couldn't get rid of it.
Where's James Cameron? I have a word or two for him...
http://www.keefestudios.com/flashfile/Flash.htm
http://www.buck-rogers.com/
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chrisbishop
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On the other hand, I really enjoyed the "Flash Gordon" movie starring Sam Jones, which doesn't seem to have dated anything like as much, despite the haircuts. Presumably that's because so much of the scenery was based on 1930s artwork: you end up with a completely surreal effect that isn't obviously the product of one specific era. Interesting point, that - the original 1963 control room of the Tardis looks futuristic even now, because none of the technology was instantly identifiable, and The Prisoner's Village will probably be as timeless in 20 years from now as it was in 1967 when it was first seen for pretty much the same reason. Perhaps that's why the Supermarionation series have lasted so long - you can't use existing technology (because it's all the wrong size!), so you have to built absolutely everything from scratch.
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DocBrown
Mostly the 'technology' is wonderful... I never knew that squeegie bottles and colanders had so many possibilities.....
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Marion W
One of the things that stand out as innovative about 2001 are the long periods where there's no big narrative going on, just very drawn out and beautiful shots of spaceships. It's like he's saying; "Forget the story and look at this spaceship for 5 minutes!"
'Thunderbirds are Go' does the same thing, the opening sequence where Zero x is being constructed being a prime example.
Was Kubrick partially inspired by this?
Also, Kubrick is supposed to have approached Anderson with a view to him having some input into the sfx, and then apparently poached Brian Johnson when Anderson said no!
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Crank
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