Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with the first of three reports that will wrap-up the Warner Bros presentation at ShoWest. Upcoming we have George Miller's HAPPY FEET and M. Night Shyamalan's LADY IN THE WATER. I already wrote up my SUPERMAN RETURNS report from Vegas which you can read here!!! This one will focus on Wolfgang Petersen's POSEIDON.
The presentation, hosted by Warner Bros CEO Alan Horn (who announced the BATMAN BEGINS sequel as slated for a 2008 release by the way), started off with Wolfgang Petersen introducing a montage from POSEIDON. He kicked it off by saying that he's no stranger to the water, having made DAS BOOT and THE PERFECT STORM, but what's interesting about POSEIDON is, unlike his previous work, the people trying to survive here are not professionals. He then told us to watch the clip reel and said that he thinks we will see that "those Titanic passengers got off easy."
I was going to go into a detailed description of the footage shown here, but I saw that within hours of this presentation Warner Bros released the regular trailer, which is essentially the G-rated version of the footage shown. I do have some details that weren't in the new trailer, but before I start with those, give the trailer a view:
CLICK RIGHT HERE FOR THE NEW TRAILER!!!
Okay, so as you can tell by the new trailer it's obvious that the roles in the original POSEIDON ADVENTURE aren't really here in the remake. As much as I would have loved to have seen Kurt Russell take on the role of the pissed off preacher that Gene Hackman did so well in the original, I'm kind of glad that we're getting a different set of people inside the ship. It's a way to remake the film (same disaster/situation) but allowing it to be kept fresh.
The footage opened the same way as the trailer, but the shot was a bit longer, showing off the CGI of the ship a bit more. Voice-over by Andre Braugher from the teaser trailer, with an extra line or two thrown in: "Poseidon was the God of the Sea. When he was in a good mood, Poseidon created new lands and calm seas for clear sailing. And so, what better way to celebrate the birth of a new year than borne on the back of the old fellow himself! May you all have clear sailing in the new year and all the years to come!"
There's the Poker game between Josh Lucas and Kurt Russell, ie Lucas: "The happiest time in my life was when I was broke... All in." "You think he's bluffing, your honor?" etc...
Then the ship capsizes and this is where a lot of the difference between the footage and the released trailer comes in. During the initial introduction to the ship in the beginning, during the big speech, we see giant glass elevators lifting people up... And while a lot of the carnage you see when the boat capsizes in the trailers is still there, the part that jumped out to me as being harsh was seeing one of these great glass elevators breaking loose of the wall and falling forward, the man inside screaming. The top of the elevator hits a balcony or some sort of outcropping and shatters. The man inside falls out, but not before violently smacking his head on the still-intact glass at the top of the elevator. You see the beginning of the fall in the new trailer.
Other than that, it was essentially just longer takes of the people sliding from one end of the ship to the other, hitting stuff, hitting each other. It was much more violent and painful to watch. It also showed the spin of the boat a bit more, where it's clearer to see the wall becoming the floor, then the ceiling becoming the floor.
"You are the lucky ones! This is not the last minute of your lives... we will be saved..." Except you really see how lucky the survivors are. There were dead bodies, people crying over broken corpses, etc.
Richard Dreyfuss: "I wouldn't put a lot faith in what the Captain just said. These ships weren't designed to stay afloat upside down..."
Kurt Russell to Freddy Rodriguez (who seems to be playing the Roddy McDowall role): "Where's the nearest vertical access?"
Rodriguez: "Sir, upstairs... In the galley."
Kurt: "Let's stick together and we can find our way out."
Then we see that scene from the trailer where Josh Lucas is holding Dreyfuss, with Freddy Hernandez holding onto Dreyfuss' leg... a deadly drop below them. "Shake him off!!!" screams Lucas. Dreyfuss and Rodriguez: "Nooooo!!!!" Lucas: "Do it or we both die!"
Access hatch... "We don't know where it goes." There's a bunch of quick cuts of people shouting, "Are you hurt?" etc as they try to work their way through the ship without drowning.
One notable thing not in the trailer is what appears to be a mother and her young son, separated by a chainlink fence as the water is rising. Their air is running out. The boy is crying and the mother says, "I am right here! I am never going to leave you! You have to be strong!" As the water is up to their mouths, their heads pressed up against the roof (floor, I guess, but you know what I mean). The boy is crying for his mother as the water goes all the way up.
Kurt Russell at an access hatch. Someone says, "It won't open." Kurt: "It won't open unless there is tremendous pressure... Flood it!"
Then we get the whole, "Tell me that you love me..." and "There's nothing fair about who lives and who dies..." from Kurt and then the footage ended.
There has been some talk about the SUPERMAN RETURNS footage I saw. I keep being asked if the trailer I saw will be released soon or what... Now, nowhere before, during or after the Superman presentation did they tell us that what we were watching was a trailer and it wasn't really cut like a trailer. To a degree it was paced like a trailer (slow beginning, basic set-up and big action closer), but it was very long and a bit revealing for a regular old trailer.
After reviewing the above and comparing it with the new trailer for POSEIDON, I'm inclined to believe we'll get something very similar with the SUPERMAN RETURNS trailer (hearing a May release, but don't quote me on that). Where it's the footage I saw and described, but with 45 seconds to a minute cut out. I could be wrong, but that's what I'd guess.
Anyway, keep your eye out for my LADY IN THE WATER coverage, which should hit very, very soon.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
