MovieChat Forums > UFO (1972) Discussion > A concept begging for a remake! Explori...

A concept begging for a remake! Exploring questions not answered!

posted 8 years ago by zooeyhall
10 replies | jump to latest

I think this show needs a modern-day remake. It has such great potential.

One of the really frustrating aspects of the original, was that it never really explored the "aliens". They were just simply "there" as the bad guys in the series. There were several tantalizing hints and intriguing questions that came up in the stories, but were never really explored or followed-up on.

I'm not sure why that occurred. Maybe it had to do with the budgetary constraints of a 1960's TV show. Or maybe there just wasn't the time and effort put into developing more of an aspect about the aliens. Perhaps it was deliberate on the part of the producers and story writers to keep the aliens intentionally "mysterious". Either way, with modern production techniques, it should be possible to produce a show that would be able to tackle some of these questions.

What do others think?

[–] phantom2-2 8 years ago

i certainly hope the ambiguity about the aliens was intentional, as it increased the tension in the show. given the tiny fraction of what we know about them, and really even can know about them, explaining more would just feel like cheating.

as a side benefit, not explaining more about them opens up unlimited story lines. sometimes they want to kill us all, sometimes they want to snatch a few bodies, sometimes they want to communicate with us.... anything is possible.

the show's not really about the aliens, it's about the humans' reaction to them. i'm happy keeping the focus there. how many shows have been ruined by giving the people "what they want"? (moonlighting, i'm looking at you!)

[–] zooeyhall 8 years ago

I tend to agree with some of your points. Perhaps that is the nature of "alien", that it can never be understood. And that may have indeed been the intention of the show.

In reality, if we ever DO encounter aliens, there may be zero understanding or even communication between them and us. After all, how can we (or them) understand even the most basic motivation or thought of something that evolved in a totally different way than ourselves? Or any other creature on Earth?

I think that has been a mistake in most science fiction. Mostly I have seen aliens as a template for us to transfer human emotions and fears on to (a la Star Trek).

With regards to UFO, we may know WHAT they are doing, but never really understand the WHY.

[–] michaellevenson1 8 years ago

Totally agree with all points raised. The group currently reviewing it , of I'm a part , hasn't really got to grips with what the show is about. Plot threads are left tantalizingly ambiguous and part of the fun is to speculate on the mysterious aliens and enjoy Straker's pig headed dictatorial tour de force as head of SHADO ,bullying,cajoling all around him. I see Straker and the enigmaticality of the Aliens as plus points whereas most of the group don't.

[–] madp 8 years ago

by michaellevenson1 » Plot threads are left tantalizingly ambiguous and part of the fun is to speculate on the mysterious aliens and enjoy Straker's pig headed dictatorial tour de force as head of SHADO ,bullying,cajoling all around him.

I think these are positive points. But after so much tantalizing, there should eventually be answers as well. Which I'm perfectly aware we may not see, as it happens with most cancelled shows we gather to watch...

[–] Simian_Jack 8 years ago

Well, I'd watch it but it wouldn't be the same show. I too believe the original intended for us to be immersed in the paranoia of the era, which could only be maintained with a strict focus on the uninformed human POV.

I think what you're arguing for is for UFO to go the Battlestar Galactica Redux route.The original began with an exciting premise that it quickly dropped where the reboot took it, ran with it, and developed it to its fullest. In the best way, the ne version is the more real version - what the original promised but didn't deliver.

A new UFO along these lines would be more like Westworld, which I haven't seen yet and hope to. Crichton's Westworld was his usual warning against technology. This new show is something wholly removed, and allegory of thee wholesale dehumanization of entire populations by their fellow humans. In the new WW, it's the technology we're rooting for!

A new UFO in the right hands could be timely and thoughtful. It could address that very same paranoia, as I see xenophobia on the rise worldwide. This time we would have to see the other POV.

[–] kerryedavis 8 years ago

The remade BG was actually quite different from the original, in that the original was based on an alien race that made robot "Servants" and then basically died off. Although there was the bit with at least a few remaining unless they were really just creations of the "dark forces" shown in Count Iblis.

In the remake, the Cylons were actually human creations that "went wrong."

How much more different can you really get?

[–] Simian_Jack 8 years ago

They are different in several ways, but the origin of the Cylons is purely cosmetic to the original. The basic premise is the same - the last surviving Colonials band together to flee extinction at the hands of the Cylons. One series fully explored that, the other eventually abandoned it.

[–] kerryedavis 8 years ago

What's that? The series with about 30 episodes didn't "explore" as much as the series with about 80 episodes?

The hell you say!

Impossible!

Ridiculous!

[–] Simian_Jack 8 years ago

There's an episode about food and medicine allotments being hijacked by black marketeers, but I can't recall anything else these lines. Thirty eps is more than enough to give us a genuinely "rag tag fugitive fleet" living on the edge of survival. Plenty of Cylons for a while, at least, then even they disappear and we stray into things like Count Iblis and the Eastern Alliance. Plans for Season 2 were even worse. Sorry, I liked it for a while but the writers and/or producers couldn't sustain whatever vision they might have had for even one whole season.

[–] kerryedavis 8 years ago

You missed how it was leading into the good vs evil stuff, and how the Cylons had fallen in with evil a la Count Iblis etc? But when the human-created Cylons talk about THEIR "god" you're impressed? Huh. How odd.