MovieChat Forums > Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich (1958) Discussion > Time for a remake

Time for a remake

posted 15 years ago by Ken K.
6 replies | jump to latest

I just watched "Windjammer" last night from the Australian DVD copy. Even though the color was virtually non-existent, it was still a very enjoyable movie and very educational. One could imagine how impressive it must have been in color and on a huge curved screen. Rumors have it that the negatives no longer exist so that a decent copy cannot be produced. So, let's do the next best thing...let's do a re-make. The Christian Radich ship is still in existence and still used. Let's recreate the voyage. Go to the same destinations. Let's cut out that American military junk in it which was so boring and so out of place that it brought the movie to a complete halt. Let's add a few destinations in the Caribbean and Europe. We can cut some of that corny stuff and replace it with interviews of the people who were on this initial voyage. And, of course, since Cinemiracle and Cinerama no longer exist, let's film it in IMAX. What do you think?

[–] gary-224 14 years ago

Dear Ken,

I would give my life, quit my job, etc. in order to help produce a remake of this great film. However I do not see how it could be as good even with the latest technology. Would the new film use the same music? I am a Navy-type person, in particular submarines so I have nothing bad to say about the military stuff in the original. I have been to Oslo, Norway but missed out going aboard the Christian Radich as it was out on a short cruise. Maybe someday I will make it back to Oslo. You can see a satellite view of the Christian Radich by going to Google maps and then Oslo and it is longside a seawall. If you can't find it, email me at [email protected] or call me at 858-353-2003. I have two copies of the book and have had the LP music transferred to a CD.

Gary

[–] SpitfireIXB 14 years ago

Ken:

Sorry, but Windjammer is one of those films that could never be re-made simply because that moment it captured has passed forever. It is of a time and of an innocence that no longer exists. As for changing the contents of Windjammer, I wouldn't alter a single frame, although I would have very much enjoyed an expanded version with additional ports of call and show more of the actual voyage itself. Alas, I fear that any aditional footage not used in the movie is now lost forever.

I saw Windjammer in 1959 and thought it was exquisite, terrific, a one-of experience. And oooh that music by Morton Gould, as performed by the crew, Pablo Casals, Terry Gilkyson and the Easy Riders... simply beautiful, a feast for your ears. Had me humming it for years. Sadly, what has kept this movie out of the limelight is the fabulous Cinemiracle format in which it was filmed. It also was a one-of and the format was scrapped as being too expensive for film making. Yes, we could make a similar movie but it would be impossible to call it a re-make of the original.

Now for the good news. Apparently, there is a good copy in existence and it is presently being restored and transferred to DVD, in 3D format, as I write this. It is supposed to be completed and re-released sometime later this year (2010). I'm like a kid on Christmas Eve, I can't wait to see this beautiful movie again and re-live the voyage of the Christian Radich. I'm confident if a good copy is ever shown in the theatres or on the idiot box, DVD sales of this great movie would soar.

I was born when she kissed me, I died when she left me, I lived while she loved me.

[–] winstonnc 13 years ago

PLEASE not a fake 3D version of WINDJAMMER. Smilebox will be great and simulate something of the original presentation, but enough of this phony 3D stuff. Almost all of the 3D movies coming out now were not made in 3D but are computer-enhanced and look awful and will likely kill the format. Putting together a good DVD or - dare me hope? a Blu-Ray - edition will be difficult enough, as the original elements probably haven't been all that well cared for since the film went out of release a half-century ago. I saw the movie in 1959 and still vividly remember the transition from the b&w 35mm prologue. First the sound of the winds came up through the various speakers around the auditorium and then the full-color Cinemiracle projection began. It still puts a shiver on my spine remembering it.

[–] tnsprin-2 12 years ago

The smilebox blu-ray of this came out Yesterday. Mine should be in the mail.

[–] critic-2 14 years ago

NO!

A remake, with our present-day 3D or IMAX, is no substitute for the original. I have seen IMAX, 3-D, and Cinerama, and Cinerama is by far the best of the three.

Your idea shows exactly what's wrong with today's Hollywood, the idea that a new version of an impossible-to-remake film, using all the latest technology, could replace the original. It couldn't. You can't duplicate the effect that a brilliantly cast film with great stars has on audiences by remaking it, and you certainly can't duplicate a documentary (which is what this film was), because the film recorded the events as they really happened. It could never be the same experience that the original was. I know. I saw the film in 1963 in a Cinerama theatre, and the fact that we knew that these were the real-life events we were seeing added to the experience.

[–] grandeur70 14 years ago

How would one replicate the PAMIR sequence - lost with almost all of the many young cadets during a storm at sea. I understand that the scene of the ship in WINDJAMMER was the last time that the great training ship was filmed. It is impossible to remake a documentary as it would end up being a different film.