EDGE OF DARKNESS

[Eric Plumrose]

Saw this yesterday and I'm STILL trying to fathom it. No, not the TV series, but the BIG SCREEN remake; which, if nothing else, was incentive enough for me to hire out first the 1985 original (FINALLY, having never seen it), courtesy of my local library (despite having incurred a fivepoundfine due to their incompetence when it came to renewing some books. Twats).

Mel's on semi-automatic mode, mostly sleepwalking his way through LETHAL WEAPON 1.5 sans the narrative cohesion. Sure, with almost four hours less to play with, a certain amount of paring down both in plot (Gaia) and characterization (incest) is to be expected; yet stuff simply happens often for no reason than to give people something to do. Once the conspiracy is revealed (far too early, which would have been fine if there'd been a twist towards the end), the movie has bugger-all else to do except indulge in Mel's gulping gung-ho antics. I'm still unsure exactly what purpose Jedburgh serves (now THERE is where that twist might have been), even if Ray Winstone's final scene has a quiet coolness about it.

And yet, it's the TV series not the film that's doing an Emma Craven, despite the final episode's drawn-out silliness. So much so, I was even comparing moobs with Ian McNiece, last night.

[Jim_Campbell]

Forgive me if your intention was to parody current review styles, but I've read this twice and -- despite considering myself reasonably intelligent and reasonably well-read -- I can't extract anything meaningful from this, neither absolutes in terms of whether you liked the film or the series, nor your opinion of them relative to each other. More clarity, please!

Cheers

Jim

[Professor Bear]

He was checking his man-tits - I gathered that much.

[JOE SOAP]

Yeah, did you watch the series or the film?

[Peter Wolf]

Saw this yesterday and I'm STILL trying to fathom it. No, not the TV series, but the BIG SCREEN remake; which, if nothing else, was incentive enough for me to hire out first the 1985 original (FINALLY, having never seen it), courtesy of my local library (despite having incurred a fivepoundfine due to their incompetence when it came to renewing some books. Twats).

Mel's on semi-automatic mode, mostly sleepwalking his way through LETHAL WEAPON 1.5 sans the narrative cohesion. Sure, with almost four hours less to play with, a certain amount of paring down both in plot (Gaia) and characterization (incest) is to be expected; yet stuff simply happens often for no reason than to give people something to do. Once the conspiracy is revealed (far too early, which would have been fine if there'd been a twist towards the end), the movie has bugger-all else to do except indulge in Mel's gulping gung-ho antics. I'm still unsure exactly what purpose Jedburgh serves (now THERE is where that twist might have been), even if Ray Winstone's final scene has a quiet coolness about it.

So Mel Gibson is only in semi automatic mode instead of fully automatic and mostly unconscious and was rather pushed for time with 2 thirds of his usual time frame inexplicably missing which means its all a big rush with no time for pussyfooting around with meaningful excursions plotwise so the fat was trimmed from the plot which seems to involve Earth and unnatural sexual behaviour with family members.Nothing out of the ordinary about that it seems....Otherwise things keep happening for no apparent reason which conveniently occupies people who would otherwise have very little to do.

Later on any meaningful atmosphere of suspense is cut short with an abrupt plot reveal which leaves the remaining screen time purely devoted to Mel Gibson to engage in various acts of excessive force that overcompensate for small person syndrome.Other than that the pointlessness or purposelessness of Jedburgh leaves many questions unanswered while Ray Winstones final scene is totally untypical and out of character being both cool and quiet.

That ends this review.

*

Leave it aht Geez its fridey night innit.

[Devons Daddy]

the TV show by the BEEB on BEEB 2 at the time, was a force unto itself,
the back story, the characters, truly breaking a mode,
at that point rarely where such issues even discussed on main stream media.
i was only  a teenager but can recall how good it was.

the movie, well it a yank big budget remake, it looses something in translation.

find the tv series, be drawn in and dont read an spoilers.
one mans struggle to overcome his grief, leads a far larger situation.

outstanding stuff.

[Colin YNWA]

There was a bus stop poster for this film on Ecclesall Road in Sheffield that I walk past to and from work most days. Why do I mention this well that poster makes me what to cry.

Now I've not seen the film so I'm making stupid assumptions BUT it just looks so dumbass. So utterly dumbass and the prospect that the film has anything to do with the brillant TV series seems a gazillion miles away. All those poor students, young and innocent, minds free of my grumpy silly prejudice walking past that poster for whom that image will be there only understanding of what 'Edge of Darkness' is (God forbid that poster would make them want to see the film!).

I hope I'm wrong, I hope I'm making a stupid leap of logic filled with the ignorance of having no desire to see this. I know I'm showing a complete lack of faith in Hollywood and Mel Gibson to produce a decent film from this. BUT GOD DAMN IT THAT POSTER MAKES ME SO ANGRY I'M EVEN PREPARED TO TYPE IN CAPS LOCK!!!!!

I'll try to be more reasonable another time (and pleasssssssseeeee tell me if I'm wrong about this film, I want to be a twat when it comes to this)

[TordelBack]

I saw the trailer when we saw Avatar.  I was sort of enjoying its 'splodeyness, and the missus was indulging her Ray Winstone fixation, when I had a nagging feeling that there was something familiar about it...  And then the title came up - a WTF moment for the ages.  I was reminded of the sublime 'The Sinister and the Dexter' episode.

The series is one of my all-time favourite TV dramas, with one of the great cliffhangers, and the courage of its convictions in its resolution.  I have no interest whatsoever in watching a middle-aged Riggs grimace his way through the motions.  

[Eric Plumrose]

More clarity, please!

The morning-after version:

My interest in watching the film was piqued by the original's reputation, which I had never seen. Hired out on DvD, I found the TV series compelling stuff, so much so I watched it in one sitting. Well-acted and scripted, it's of cultural and social significance, resonating it seems through any number of crypto-political dramas since and voicing concerns (perhaps unfounded although understandable) of the time.

The big screen version, however, is simply a dumb action flick that had much the same effect on me as my initial post here. Even without the six hour running time of the original, two hours is still sufficient to pace a tale of political and corporate intrigue and conspiracy. Problem is, this isn't a proper adapation. It's the edited highlights but now with added cell phones to make it relevant for an audience twenty-five years hence. The plot doesn't develop organically, it just kind of unfolds because that's what happened in the TV series.

A truly contemporary spin on the original might have warranted a remake, or perhaps something that explored Troy Kennedy Martin's less mundane allusions.

Now, what bastard's drunk all my beer?

[TordelBack]

I found the TV series compelling stuff, so much so I watched it in one sitting.

The week between "Get me Pendleton!" and the overly-bright hospital ward was one of the longest of my young life.  14 is the perfect age for nuclear conspiracies and looming environmental catastrophe.

[Jim_Campbell]

A truly contemporary spin on the original might have warranted a remake, or perhaps something that explored Troy Kennedy Martin's less mundane allusions.

How terribly disappointing. My initial knee-jerk reaction to hearing of the film was tempered substantially when I realized that it was being directed by Martin Campbell, who had directed the original series. Stupid of me, really, to expect a work of rare intelligence and passion to survive an encounter with the Hollywood sausage machine.

Well, you've saved me a couple of hours of my life -- many thanks!

Cheers

Jim

[Jim_Campbell]

The week between "Get me Pendleton!" and the overly-bright hospital ward was one of the longest of my young life. 

True, dat.

14 is the perfect age for nuclear conspiracies and looming environmental catastrophe.

Having said that, it's aged surprisingly gracefully ... it's been on TV in the last few years, and my wife had never seen it, so we sat down to watch it with no small amount of trepidation on my part only for her to thoroughly enjoy the whole thing.

Cheers!

Jim

[Proudhuff]

Thanks prof Plum I'll aviod that remake, I must admit it never appealed to me,

two questions tho:

Incest?

Emma Craven?

Explain please or no more beer

[Eric Plumrose]

Emma Craven is the daughter of (no, not John but) Ronald Craven, the main character. She appears throughout the TV serial as either a figment or a ghost, the former being more likely given the supposed rewrites asked for by Martin Campbell and Bob Peck (although the latter may well have been Troy Kennedy Martin's intention, originally). It's this interplay itself the film version does surprisingly well; that is until the ending which, no matter how ambiguous/symbolic it's intended (presumably), it lacks the impact of the 1985 original. Of which:

The incest. I'm as likely wrong about this but for me the ending is all the more heartbreaking for it. It's inferred in [spoiler]an early scene in which Craven kisses his daughter's vibrator; he later confesses to having "abused" Emma. There's also a curious scene in which, accompanied by Clemmy (Zoe Wanamaker), she uses the very word itself[/spoiler]. As with some other details, none of this I was able to check because my sodding DvD player's on the fritz.

I'll have an Old Thumper, please.

[Proudhuff]

ah, its been so long since I seen it, the names escaped me, thought that name might have been a Basil Exposition type thing...

I remember the bit where he sniffs her gizzo as he rifled her drawers (!) thought it was a bit strange at the time, but put it down to grief, never picked up on the abuse thing either.

Your drinks on the bar next time you go in a pub, just take whichever takes you fancy and ignore anyone who claims its theirs