The Big Picture for this Remake

When I saw that SyFy had done a remake of a movie that had been done twice before, the original and the much better knock off The Final Countdown, I was disappointed. To see SyFy rehashing previously done content was a disappointment when there are so many original stories out there that could be executed well, and within the kinds of budgets available to this independent (studio-wise) channel.

My second disappointment, though largely unavoidable because of budgetary constraints, are the recycled Vancouver actors that have graced Stargate-SG1, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, Sanctuary, Battlestar Galactica and a host of other Sci-Fi/SyFy series. Don't get me wrong, most are fine actors who inhabit science fiction/fantasy properties very well. However seeing the same faces recycled so often easily forces viewers to suspend their suspension of disbelief.

The last comment I have about SyFy productions concerns the paucity of non-white faces seen on-screen to the extent that when one appears it's patently obvious that they were deliberately inserted in an effort to combat the very issue I mention. This is one bi-racial writer's opinion, and will not necessarily be agreed upon by many who read this. And looking at the demographics of Vancouver, B.C., you have to use what's at hand. :-)

I have carefully watched the SyFy channel struggle with profitability for over a decade now, and redoing The Philadelphia Experiment with today's special effects, current "scientific/science fiction" nomenclature and casting Michael Pare in a nod to the original, provided a brief measure of interest, but overall the abiding review for me came down to SSDD.

The execution of this made-for-TV movie was creditable, and probably made the plot more accessible to today's younger viewers, but I would have liked to have seen SyFy skip this remake in favor of producing something original.