| DTESS early draft | |||
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| 2009-08-08 00:33:17 | |||
 Forum Posts: 4842 Comments: 381 Reviews: 13 | many, many , many thanks for uploading the script. and just as many thanks to your source  and now, the comments ( wouldn't be me otherwise  ) first of all - I thought the screenplay was written by David Scarpa. but it says Derrickson on the frontpage... then - I'm beginning to resent Scarpa's mentioning several times that he wrote the script for a no-name lead actor and then had to rewrite it to fit a star like Keanu Reeves. Because except for the opening scene, which would justify this explanation... don't think the rest of the modifications had anything to do with Reeves. Except if he specifically asked for them. And maybe he was right to do so. the interrogation scene is pure gold, and defines the tone of the movie, and yet, it wasn't Scarpa's idea , many interviews hint towards the fact that Keanu came up with it. And it works damn well. I happen to agree with some of the modifications - Helen's " I'm not a researcher, not any more" was already done several times, in other movies, IMO it's better that they cut those lines. and if I could edit my own movie... I would keep the first part of the final version, and then switch to this version of the script, starting with Klaatu's encounter with Barnhardt. liked this version much better than the one they finally went with. and the fact that Barnhardt dies... it's somehow symbolic. but i'd put the "the universe wastes nothing; nothing ever gets lost" line back where it's now in the movie. AND I certainly prefer the ending they chose in the movie. without the speech. because, for me, it's all there in the images. I don't need the speech. I got the message already. ( later edit : I just realized that, "preaching" and "lecturing" factors aside, there could have been another reason for cutting Klaatu's speech at the end of the movie. it sounds too much like " where we go from here is a choice I leave to you" and this could be the other modification made to suit the movie star Keanu Reeves. you don't want Klaatu to sound like Neo ) and with all the whining and hysterics, I think the Jacob who made it onto the screen serves better the purposes of the movie. the parallel between that eight-years-old and the US military/government are too clear, even if sometimes painted a bit too thick  ) and for the same purpose I say the military scenes are a good addition. I guess the main problem of the movie started with its name. If it would have been approached as a stand-alone movie, inspired by the 1951 TDTESS, but with a different, neutral title, then a mix of this script and the final version of the movie would have worked just fine. At least for me. BUT they went with the name, and made it clear it was a remake, an d that brought expectations and responsibilities... then Keanu came on board and started with "you've got to have GORT", so they had Gort, and they had Klaatu Barrada Nikto, muffled as it was, and then... it all ended up with that mutt of a movie, with its qualities and its flaws. And its fleas. correction, aphids. but no, wouldn't prefer this version of the script to the final one. I just explained which would be my choice of a "mix" | ||
| 2009-08-08 22:35:38 | |||
ADMIN Forum Posts: 3076 Comments: 405 Reviews: 1 | From an interview: "You can't have a spaceship land in Washington DC and have Tom Cruise or Keanu Reeves walk out - people are gonna start cracking up," contends Scarpa, who says he "cooked up" the lie detector scene highlighted in the trailer to convince Keanu to commit. but yeah, I seem to recall that Keanu did contribute to that scene. Could have been Scarpa's idea, then Keanu did the dialogue. I actually prefer the script's ending; the one in the film felt too abrupt and out of nowhere. The speech would have given it some closure while still having that open end there, and as a friend said, TDTESS isn't TDTESS without Klaatu giving preachy speeches. Incidentally, another friend (the one who co-wrote the swine flu thing) said she loved the script's ending because of its Matrix similarities - sort of coming full circle. Yeah, same here. Plus they specifically mention that he died in a lake house.  Look, a big one!  | ||
| 2009-08-08 23:52:18 | |||
| Forum Posts: 4842 Comments: 381 Reviews: 13 | " Derrickson: Yeah, most definitely. I believe the polygraphing scene was his idea. [ Keanu's] http://www.whoaisnotme.net/articles/2008_1210_int.htm but now you've got me thinking about re-watching the movie with Scarpa's commentary. and I don't remember him saying anything about that scene. or about why he begrudgingly inserted "Klaatu Barrada Nikto" in the final shooting script... but I remember he does talk at length about re-writing the opening scene as to explain why the alien being looks like Keanu Reeves, and because " you can't keep the audience waiting 20 minutes into the movie to see the lead star". and he also said that he joked with K about " I'll write this opening scene for you, and you'll even get to keep that beard". all in all , I think the final version of the movie is the result of many creative differences at work. but hey, even we, the audience, are different. see the reactions to the ending Matrix fan as I am, still think the speech was not needed at the end. in a way, your friend is right, TDTESS isn't TDTESS without Klaatu giving preachy speeches...but the way I see the remake, one of the points it's trying to make is that we're past speeches. and that while the original ended with a clear lecture, addressed to a gawping audience... now the message is short, clean-cut, and universal. listen to the silence. start over, differently. or else. this is how I understood it even before reading the script. I read more into this lack of speech than I would into the actual lines. but maybe it's just me... | ||
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