That there movie

[randomgirl666.livejournal.com]

So I'm sure by now you've all seen and ranted about this elsewhere, and it's slightly off-topic given that this is supposed to be MOFFAT era Who we discuss here, but what the hey.

What are your thoughts on this here news?

And this typically Moffat-esque tweet?

Comments

[randomgirl666.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'll get it out of my system: cynical horrible cash-in move.

Why are the BBC even considering this? Past efforts to make Doctor Who into a movie haven't worked. The Peter Cushing movies showed that the episodic format of Who doesn't work when converted to movie form. The Paul McGann movie showed that trying to condense all of the necessary exposition into a movie format doesn't work. Since when is the BBC's commercial arm allowed to undermine the work of the BBC proper?

But never mind that, eh? Here's a chance to grab a big international audience.

Here's a thought, maybe... just maybe... Doctor Who doesn't stand a chance of ever appealing to a big blockbuster movie audience. I don't say that out of snobbery and it isn't meant as an insult. But frankly there is a limited audience for sci-fi as it is. And that audience becomes even more limited if you add "quirky" into the mix. The fact that Doctor Who has such a large audience in Britain is related to the show's history and its place in the nation's heart. In every other country it has been shown in, it remains a cult show. What the McGann movie demonstrated is that you can't give it "popular appeal" without watering it down beyond recognition.

Two things that particularly bug me:

"It needs quite a radical transformation to take it into the bigger arena." What a disrespectful thing to say to everyone involved in the current incarnation of the TV show.

"We want a British sensibility, but having said that, Steve Kloves wrote the Potter films and captured that British sensibility perfectly, so we are looking at American writers too." And at this point, I can't continue without being disrespectful to Harry Potter fans. So I will stop.

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Oh Harry Potter fans are well aware of how "faithful" Kloves' adaptations were...even my mom has enlightened her coworkers of how much the movies deviated from the books.

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

My sister was so lost by the later movies, I had to sit her down with Wiki entries on book 4 and on so she'd get it.

[randomgirl666.livejournal.com]

If I'm honest, I don't particularly care whether it's "faithful" or not. Continuity is not something I get too hung up on (I don't care, for example, if Moffat decides to subtly drop the "thirteen regenerations per timelord" thing without any further explanation). It's just the fact I can't see this film being any good.

And the Harry Potter thing... I don't mean to diss anyone's favourite films/books, but the films in particular very much represent an outsider's view of what Britain is like. I'm not saying all Americans are automatically going to misunderstand the "British sensibility" (whatever that means), but if we're going to assume that Americans CAN indeed work on a British property like Who, let's not put up Harry Potter as evidence.

[goldvermilion87.livejournal.com]

Haha!

I'm so glad you made that Harry Potter comment. I'm a huge fan of the books, and as such I was mystified by the statement that Steve Kloves... well... did ANYTHING right...