MovieChat Forums > Legend (1995) Discussion > Bartok....Tesla??

Bartok....Tesla??

posted 19 years ago by wukaysin
14 replies | jump to latest

Is it just me or is the character Janos Bartok based on real life 19th century scientist Nicola Tesla. Tesla was from Hungary as the character Bartok is but as far as i know, Tesla was a Serb. anyone know sth...

[–] Ulysess 19 years ago

Not only is Janos Bartok a rip off of Nicola Tesla but many of the devices in the show, such as the lightning rifles, are dumbed down versions of the ones Telsa tried too sell to the U.S. Military. Thankfully, for the entire planet, he was laughed out of the Pentagon by people who never understood the practicle applications for the energy broadcast tower he built.

[–] Jubal28 18 years ago

The Pentagon wasn't built until 1943.

[–] Apex57 12 years ago

That's what they want you to think.

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This comment was typed in front of a live studio audience.

[–] acdcfanbill 19 years ago

Tesla was born in Croatia :)

[–] peterlc-2 19 years ago

Nikola Tesla was born "at the stroke of midnight" with lightning striking during a summer storm on July 9, 1856. He was born in Smiljani near Gospic, Lika, (the Military Frontier of Austro-Hungarian Empire, now in Croatia). The midwife commented, "He'll be a child of the storm," to which his mother replied, "No, of light."

[–] staffba3 18 years ago

This is very deliberate. There are many scenes which are re-creations of famous photos of Tesla, such as Bartok sitting quietly in his lab surrounded by lightning bolts from devices all around him. see: http://home.earthlink.net/~drestinblack/pgtesla.html
Tesla built a lab in Colorado Springs and conducted numerous electrical experiments (which caused many rumors among the residents). Bartok also complains a great deal about Thomas Edison, who also had a longstanding feud with Tesla who's of alternating current generators were the ruinitaion of Edison's DC empire.

[–] gerbstat 18 years ago

I have wondered that as well, although I am pretty much convinced that he is based on Tesla. For one thing, I remember seeing a tower covered with a studded metal dome in one episode, which was identical to Tesla's Wardencliff (?) transmitting tower. Secondly, RD Anderson's character is reminiscent of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) - Clemens was a friend of Tesla and visited his New York lab to view and be entertained by some of Tesla's experiments.

[–] MSaavik 18 years ago

Slightly off-topic (and obviously it's not even close to the same thing as getting Legend back) but Tesla is featured as a character in The Prestige, both the book and the upcoming movie (in which he's played by David Bowie). I'll be curious to see how he compares . . .

[–] jspotter1950 17 years ago

Dear friends,

Just surfing and I found this discussion group. I was the technical advisor for the series. I had also worked as one of the tech. advisors for MacGyver. Michael Piller and Bill Dial based Bartok on Tesla to some extent, but they asked me for a super-Tesla, who would have created inventions even Tesla never thought of. I did a number of "inventions" that would have appeared on later episodes, including Bartok's "fax" machine, to be used by Pratt to keep up with his publisher's demands, that would transmit his handwriting to the Western Union office and have copies burned into a moving roll of paper. As with all of Bartok's inventions, it would have been flawed- at high speed, it would accidentally light the paper on fire. We were talking about a sequel TV show before Mike Piller died. Maybe Rick will come out of his early retirement and play Pratt again.

John Potter
Hopewell Junction, New York

[–] MSaavik 17 years ago

Thank you for sharing this with us. You can't imagine how happy I'd be to see a sequel TV show (at least, if it had both leads in it).

[–] gil-65 17 years ago

We could only be so lucky. Alas, since Brisco County, Jr., and the Wild Wild West movie, audiences would only see it as a rip off even though it was first.

Too bad.

Maybe a feature film?

[–] pumpkinbomber 16 years ago

Legend was great, but it was not before The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. That show was aired in 1993, and Legend didn't first air until 1995, two years later almost to the day. I remember assuming at first that Legend was a rip of Brisco, but I was wrong in so many ways. Similar settings, different concepts. I want this one on DVD so bad!

[–] mrxavia 16 years ago

I agree, I would LOVE a sequel, or a movie, if as we get de Lancy and Anderson on board, this would be brilliant!

[–] cat-227 15 years ago

That would be so great! As would getting the series released on dvd, especially with the growing interest in all things steam-punk. Any chance this might happen?

Cat
San Francisco, CA