Cool News
The Movie Based On Gerry Anderson's UFO Is Closer To Reality!!
Merrick here...
Visual effects guru Matthew Gratzner has been attached to direct a bigscreen adaptation of Gerry Anderson's UFO television series; the show ran for 26 episodes back in the early 70s. Gratzner was a VFX Supervisor on THE FOUNTAIN, IRON MAN, HANCOCK, NATIONAL TREASURE, and Scorsese's forthcoming SHUTTER ISLAND.
A script has been written by Ryan Gaudet and Joseph Kanarek. Gratzner's studio has begun developing concept art and pre-visualizations; after they're completed, the picture will be shopped for financing.
Like the Gerry Anderson series, the film will revolve around Shado (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization), a secret military operation hidden beneath a Hollywood studio, whose operatives battle an alien race that has been kidnapping and killing humans for decades and using the body parts.
...says Variety HERE.
I really loved this show; as stiff and cheesy as it was, there's a great concept waiting to be exploited if its essence is approached seriously - and potentially some truly bad ass design work to be found.
If you've never seen it, the entirety of the original UFO is available through Netflix - or can be purchased for around $40 HERE
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More details about the series can be found HERE or HERE.
Like the Gerry Anderson series, the film will revolve around Shado (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization), a secret military operation hidden beneath a Hollywood studio, whose operatives battle an alien race that has been kidnapping and killing humans for decades and using the body parts.
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than I ever did as a child (though I seem to recall it was broadcast on UTV / ITV on Saturday mornings).
Is it really worth trying to watch it now? Or do you have to remember it fondly to forgive the fact that it doesn't age well? Like the way Space 1999 is very disappointing if you see it today. But Blakes 7, not so much. -
I think it was on Saturday nights at 7PM on the CBS affiliate in Philly. I was - and am still somewhat - a Gerry Anderson mark. I loved Thunderbirds, and even the 2002 Captain Scarlet CGI-reboot.
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that movie that was filmed as if it was an emergency tv broadcast going from one news channel to another in different countries, they were reporting on these meteorites hitting the earth randomly until the final one is this huge mother hits then the movie just ends. watched it when i was 12 and it scared the shit out of me.
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Got excited, then I remember last year's X-Files abomination, then I got depressed, then I was like "Who the fuck is Gerry Anderson?"
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there is not 1 creative person in the film industry so get back to me when something original is made, oh right, that is never going to occur.
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of something, anything. Why were the 70's so cool?
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This UFO show looks way ridiculous, however I know how ridiculously cool Buck Rogers was when I was little. The whole damn series of Buck Rogers for less than $20! I really do love Amazon.com
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Remember that movie that Jonathan Frakes directed? Yea, I thought not;-) Seriously, any word if Gerry is involved?
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I still have the die-cast metal vehicles from back when toy companies weren't too damn chintzy to make large-sized die-cast metal toys.
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I wasn't born when the show was originally broadcast, but ITV4 - I think - screened it all again recently. Obviously - as you can tell from the trailer and the awesomely kitsch music - it's very dated. But that only adds to its charm somehow. If you can look past dated clothes and hairdos, like most of Gerry Anderson's stuff UFO still has something about it that has allowed the show to remain watchable many years later.
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I used to have the interceptor with the torpedo that launched off the nose. Damn, that was back when toys were cool because they really could hurt you if you weren't careful. I had a lot of fun with the UFO vehicles. Then came Space 1999 and all of their toys. Good stuff, Good Times.
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Oh hell yeah, we all dressed like that back in 1980. Wait. The rest of you didn't?!
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Keep it set in 1980. Secret base under a Hollywood studio, with Robert Towne-type as Comm. Straker. Mini-skirts and purple wigs.
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I was just going to say "best opening credits of the 1970's", but I was *thinking* "ever". :)
Although to be honest, even if we just consider the 1970's, the credits of The Six-Million Dollar Man were pretty cool, too (though the coolness was less concentrated and intense). And if you include the late Sixties, I think the opening credits from the Prisoner are a match for UFO. -
Just hope they do it right! I watched the entire run when I was a kid (Also on the Philly CBS Station, PennsyDeux! "Jersey Represent!!!"); it was pretty fun back then. Upon watching the DVDs... The concept, hardware and costuming still hold up (true it's kitsch, but it was high-quality kitsch). Stories are not too bad, some cringeworthy "Anderson-Science" moments notwithstanding. The one really weak link is teh acting: This film needs a capable director to get performances which will keep up with the visuals...
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The payoff to Commander Straker's wall decoration. If you saw it, you know it to be true.
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Wow, those Intecepters (Star Fighters) were always great!!! I loved the toys and the models for them. Oh, and the way the pilots jump down slides which snake them into the cockpits of their fighters, that was the just about the coolest thing I have ever seen before!!!
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A coherent script. That was the problem with Thunderbirds (besides nobody in the modern world knowing what the hell it was, of course): Cool ships, capable cast, good director... And a schizophrenic "Spy Kids" type script that made no sense to anybody who had even a nodding acquaintance with the source material...
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Like fuck she did.
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Jul 23, 2009 9:53:08 AM CDT
Wasnt The X files and Dark skies the natural successor to UFO?!
by wowsah156
The pitch sounds awful. It sounds like some Seth Rogen shit comedy.
The pitch for UFO has to be dark and vicious. The problem is that there has already been to many stories that have already dealt with aliens and flying saucers.
whats going to be the unique selling point for UFO? -
and dress in really tight uniforms...or else the movie will suck
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Jul 23, 2009 10:33:06 AM CDT
a great concept waiting to be exploited if its essence is approa
by kabong
Govem the predilections of Hollyweird, there will be a tendency to approach the material as . . . "Mars Attacks."
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I like that spinning logo thing.
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They sing a little song every time an alien is captured.
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...mesh muscle shirts? I tried watching the original version of Solaris, but I just couldn't get past the fat guy in the mesh shirt.
"How will we survive the vacuum of space? I know! A mesh shirt! It's so crazy it just might work!" -
Bitch!
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Thier going to keep the cheeese..
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NOT.
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make cooooool toys at Christmas!
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with Christian Bale as Commander Koenig.
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do you guys know the X-com/UFO video game series. Is it connected somehow?
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This should rock as long as Gerry Anderson (the creator of Stingray, Thuderbirds, Terrahawks, UFO, Space: 1999, Space Precinct, etc)plays a significant role, perhaps that of Creative Consultant or Executive Producer.
The greatest mistake that the Jonathan Frakes version of The Thunderbirds made was that they did not use Gerry Anderson in any capacity (he was offered a walk-on, which he wisely refused).
The music for UFO was done by Barry Gray (as well as the first season of Space: 1999 and other Gerry Anderson projects).
He died a few years ago, though the music, costumes and vibe of the show reflected–for better for for worse–the time that it was created (the 70's) more so that any future period I would suspect that the music will be updated, though certain cues will be retained. -
I loved this series more than star Trek, as the stories and situations were more credible and interesting. (i.e. Questions of priorities)UFO was ahead of it's time as it used gadgets that are now conventional today. Can't wait to relive my "childhood".
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The rather great game X-COM ripped off UFO. This should be a very dark and moody version. But hot woman in tight silver is a must.
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I love pretty much all of Gerry Anderson's stuff (having grown up with it), UFO was a superb and very serious sci-fi program. I just hope they can make a smooth transiton of it.
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The re-imagining of UFO will more than likely not be a comedy. Anyone who saw the series would know that it took itself very seriously (perhaps too seriously sometimes, though that's an issue with Gerry Anderson's more adult programs in general).
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End.
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UFO still is one of the best theme tunes ever. Barry Gray was a legend and a gentleman.
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Does anyone remember a failed television show from the early 80's where a guy builds a rocket ship out of junkyard parts and successfully flies into space. I have barely a recognition of it, and can't recall any more details. I can picture it though.
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Embeedeuce, you might be thinking of "Salvage One." I think it starred Andy Griffith. That's all I got. P.S. I remember watching UFO in syndication. Purple moon wigs. Interceptors that can only fire one torpedo. Gotta love it.
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Yeah, they had invented a fuel called monohydrazine, and basically got into space. It was pretty decent, as far as I recall. I remember one episode where they had to use the craft to burn a hole in atmospheric pollution or something. So I don't think the science was particularly accurate, you know?
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It had a spring-loaded torpedo launcher in the nose that was so hard to pull back, I had to use both hands. The torpedo itself was plastic with a pointy rubber nose-cone as a nod to child safety. Only thing wrong with it was the metal part of the Interceptor was a deep, lustrous GREEN >_<.
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They always had the coolest vehicles - The stuff from Captain Scarlet especially. The design for the gigantic airliner still blows my mind. Problem is, the characters are stiff and boring, and the stories NEVER went anywhere interesting. (sniff). I miss the good old days.
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This never ends well. And I can't find anything on Ryan Gaudet and Joseph Kanarek, no entries on IMDB. My hopes for this project just withered died.
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as was The Invaders.
Merrick you're talking out of your arse. -
the cast isnt that old...most are still alive
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The ships look like cocks, the chicks are amazingly hot (they don't build em like that any more) the guys wore goofy outfits (Neru Jackets) all I'm tryin to say here is if anyone remakes this it should be more "Austin Powers" then Independence Day.
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JohnRyder, yes X-Com was directly inspired by this show. The creator of the game, Juilan Gollop (?) said so.
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At a time when most alien invasion movies had humanity at the mercy of alien technology, it was refreshing to have a show where humanity had super-secret high tech weapon systems and basicly bitch-slapped the aliens off the planet. That's what I want to see again; aliens fucked-up by our super-science they had no idea we had. Make it dark, viscious and bloody. And hot chicks in spandex. With purple hair. On the moon.
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....essential if they're really going to do this. Megan Fox and Jessica Alba should start trying on the short blue wigs right now.
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Good news. Now Joe 90 please.
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its true. i once saw one one time.
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I'll be AMAZED.
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That TV-movie you're wondering about was titled WITHOUT WARNING. It wasn't bad, though SPECIAL BULLETIN was a better 'done in the format of news clips' one.
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Space: $19.99 was pretty silly even back in the day. The moon ... as an interstellar vessel?! By the figures they themselves gave on the show the thing would have been going just fast enough to maybe have reached the edge of our solar system by the end of season 2. Great model work, though. Give them that.
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A great number of things went into it being as memorable as it was. Too many no longer exist: from dead cast and crew members, to the fact that 1980 has come and gone. But one thing: Harlington-Straker wasn't a Hollywood studio. It was set somewhere outside London, England.
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about that one when The Astronaut Farmer came out. It's a very similar premise except whereas Billy Bob Farmer buys NASA leftovers Andy Griffith pulls a Fred Sanford, and makes a rocket out of junk from his scrapyard.
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I have seen them. Both near a military base. They are real...but those who have never seen them, don't believe it? I now believe that the show UFO was based upon something that was real...as a cover for the real thing, a real organization like Shado. If you are a disinformation agency trying to protect the secrets of such a organization, you might think to greenlit a series about your actual super secret UFO hunting operation, and if information leaks about the real thing, you, as the gate keeper of secrets, can simply feed the media propaganda, saying..."What are you talking about, that's just a tv show, it's not real?" This would be the ultimate in disinformation, and something I believe, they, the human powers that be, pulled-off such a scheme with this series.
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Corgi and Dinky. I remember the rover from UFO and the Eagle from 1999 was one of my faves. Salvage One- Sheriff Andy shifted into Drive when he launched. Shit, I'm old.
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She's the chick on the DVD cover. Do yourself a favor and run a quick Google image search for her...do disappointments there!One thing about the series though, they never disclosed what planet the aliens came from. Every episode would just have the ubiquitous "UFO detected, sir", then the ol' blast-a-rooney outta here.I did like the UFO theme, but the 1st season of Space:1999 *rules* the roost. Nothin' like that funky wah-wah, disco sound. Oh, and Fireball XL5's theme rips. And Cowboy Beebop...great tunes all.
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forgot to say the opening theme for the 1st Season of Space:1999. The shows were, well...pretty much everyone has seem the series...
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DO disappiontments??? SEEM the series??? Fraggitall I wish this site had an edit feature. Spellcheck Poster Boy...awaaaayyy!
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Yes, the theme worked very well as did the scene overlays. The one for SPACE: $19.99 was OK, too, though I prefer the fan-made SPACE: 2261 which saw the 1999 opening theme/format done using scenes from BABYLON 5. Oh, to have a time machine and go back to '75 and show that to fans. I can picture the brain aneurysms from here.
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In re: the ladies of Moonbase. Do their carpets match their drapes??
Because picky pervs prefer purple pubes. -
...so no. On the occasions when a Moonbase lady was on Earth, they had normal hair.
Unless they also had to wear "anti-static merkins" while on Moonbase. Which is unlikely, unless they spent a *lot* of time naked. (I wish.) -
Jul 24, 2009 11:35:18 AM CDT
The Purple Hair: I Think It Should Be Explained This Way
by media messiah
They should explain that the women are high functioning artificial humans, clones, or alien/human hybrids...and as an unexpected artifact of their origins...their hair color is an artificial purple hue, instead of a normal human look and texture, as intended.
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when you say that most of the cast is still alive, you must be refering to background players/actors. Sad fact is that most of the major actors from the series has passed on:Ed Bishop,Micheal Billington,Harry Baird (Black interceptor pilot who had a secret romance with Gabrielle Drake's character.)George Sewell (Alec Freeman)The actor who played the scientist,peter Gordeno the Sky Diver pilot...shall I go on?? But there's still Delores Mantez who starred as Nina Barry (that sexy black-esque Moonbase chick.)Sorry, but time is cruel as that show was filmed eons ago.Surprised Gerry is still alive and kicking.
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From I really like the First one, "UFO - Enemy unknown", the Second One "Terror from the Deep" and the remake of the First "UFO Extraterrestrials"(which i think is wayy better than those After%&*-Games, which never seemes as much fun to me, than all the others).
An i also played "Interceptor" and "Enforcer"(while that seemed a bit too short).
However, a well-done Movie would be really nice to attend, and my hopes are up to see a good adaption.
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