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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2023 10:23:53 GMT -5
I debated if this topic made more sense for the movies area of the forum, but that's a pretty lightly traveled area and I "think" enough of this question hooks into classic comics themselves (unless any disagrees).
I'm laid up sick today watching old cartoons, and got some 60's Jonny Quest on. And it occurred to me, part of my love for this particular iteration of Quest (the original obviously) is just the "60's action vibe" it captures. It's a look/feel thing, even beyond the actual action itself. Kind of like when I watch Westerns, or period military shows and films.
Which got me to thinking, when classic comics (and I'm focused on action/superhero fare but it doesn't have to be limited to that) have some of their material adapted in modern shows/movies, a lot of times it's modernized to work for, well, modern audiences. Makes sense, can't question the commercial success of say an MCU. But if you COMPLETELY disregard the economics of it all, likelihood something like this would ever get made, etc., etc., what do you think about "true" period piece adaptations of classic material, and which material do you think might be particularly interesting and work well (I use that last term very subjectively, success might be more like "Sundance" level, respected but not "media empire" building).
I'll give an example I've thought about for a long time. I'd love to see a pretty straightforward early-60's Fantastic Four adaptation with emphasis on capturing the Cold War feel, space race, and all of that. Still want some of the superhero action of course, but would love for it to capture the era and take us back to a different world. And I might as well clear the air on something up front...let's just assume they can do it somehow "respectfully" in terms of what some consider politically correct today but still capture the classic essence of the era. I'm thinking maybe it adapts material from first 3-5 issues or so. In terms of production, CGI and other modern stuff is fine to the extent it adds to the storytelling, but not the modern over-extended action scenes, gratuitous "slow motion frames" in the middle of action, the cheesy "bass drop" sound effect, or stuff like that.
I think the X-Men First Class and Days of Future Past were interesting attempts at older eras, first Captain America MCU film obviously spent time in WW II, and then stuff like WW 1984. But in terms of what I described above, do you have classic material you'd love to see a more straight-forward "period piece" version of...old Spidey, or whatever? Would love to hear any ideas.
The only rule to this thread is no "it couldn't work today" comments. Besides being a complete classic fanboy, I do "strategic ideation" for a living and those words are always banned in any planning discussion. It's always better to dream up a lot of stuff and then figure out the practicalities later.
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Post by Calidore on Sept 27, 2023 11:00:30 GMT -5
I debated if this topic made more sense for the movies area of the forum, but that's a pretty lightly traveled area and I "think" enough of this question hooks into classic comics themselves (unless any disagrees). I'm laid up sick today watching old cartoons, and got some 60's Jonny Quest on. And it occurred to me, part of my love for this particular iteration of Quest (the original obviously) is just the "60's action vibe" it captures. It's a look/feel thing, even beyond the actual action itself. Kind of like when I watch Westerns, or period military shows and films. Which got me to thinking, when classic comics (and I'm focused on action/superhero fare but it doesn't have to be limited to that) have some of their material adapted in modern shows/movies, a lot of times it's modernized to work for, well, modern audiences. Makes sense, can't question the commercial success of say an MCU. But if you COMPLETELY disregard the economics of it all, likelihood something like this would ever get made, etc., etc., what do you think about "true" period piece adaptations of classic material, and which material do you think might be particularly interesting and work well (I use that last term very subjectively, success might be more like "Sundance" level, respected but not "media empire" building). I'll give an example I've thought about for a long time. I'd love to see a pretty straightforward early-60's Fantastic Four adaptation with emphasis on capturing the Cold War feel, space race, and all of that. Still want some of the superhero action of course, but would love for it to capture the era and take us back to a different world. And I might as well clear the air on something up front...let's just assume they can do it somehow "respectfully" in terms of what some consider politically correct today but still capture the classic essence of the era. I'm thinking maybe it adapts material from first 3-5 issues or so. In terms of production, CGI and other modern stuff is fine to the extent it adds to the storytelling, but not the modern over-extended action scenes, gratuitous "slow motion frames" in the middle of action, the cheesy "bass drop" sound effect, or stuff like that. I think the X-Men First Class and Days of Future Past were interesting attempts at older eras, first Captain America MCU film obviously spent time in WW II, and then stuff like WW 1984. But in terms of what I described above, do you have classic material you'd love to see a more straight-forward "period piece" version of...old Spidey, or whatever? Would love to hear any ideas. The only rule to this thread is no "it couldn't work today" comments. Besides being a complete classic fanboy, I do "strategic ideation" for a living and those words are always banned in any planning discussion. It's always better to dream up a lot of stuff and then figure out the practicalities later.
"You may ask yourself, 'How do I work this?'" 
So looking to movies just for examples, do you mean a straight modern period piece like L.A. Confidential, and/or something more stylized retro-modern like Streets of Fire, that kind of thing?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2023 11:08:52 GMT -5
I actually don’t know either of those, so not sure! Literally I was thinking of, if the comic was set in the 60’s, like my FF example, it takes place in the 60’s. Old JSA story set in WW II? Takes place during WW II. Open to other interpretations, but that’s what I was thinking!
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Post by mikelmidnight on Sept 27, 2023 11:22:29 GMT -5
I've thought for a while that'd be the best way to do a Fantastic Four film: it's distinguish it from the earlier (less than blockbuster) versions, and would also capture the concept of the FF as influential, founding heroes while explaining why they didn't predate the Avengers.
I figure in the last 15 mins of the film they can escape from the Negative Zone and arrive in the present day.
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Post by Prince Hal on Sept 27, 2023 11:25:30 GMT -5
I've mentioned this on the boards before, but I think a Batman movie set in the pre-Robin 1940s is an obvious choice.
And since I'm dreaming, give me a Blackhawk movie set during World War Two and a Tomahawk movie done a la Michale Mann's "Last of the Mohicans."
When I watched Batman: The Animated Series and when I rewatch "Desperate Journey" (1942) and "Mohicans," respectively, I sort of mentally squint and it's almost as if I'm watching those movies I'm dreaming of. It helps, it helps a bit.
Your idea about the FF should be green-lit ASAP, @supercat2099 .
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Sept 27, 2023 11:36:09 GMT -5
I've said for a long-time now that I would love to see a Spider-Man live-action TV show set in early-to-mid '60s New York City like the first Lee/Ditko and Lee/Romita comics were, with all the good period attention to detail and period-appropriate dialogue of a show like Mad Men. I think that would be an amazing thing to watch.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2023 11:44:21 GMT -5
Yes, yes, and YES to everything posted here!
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Post by tarkintino on Sept 27, 2023 11:52:07 GMT -5
I actually don’t know either of those, so not sure! Literally I was thinking of, if the comic was set in the 60’s, like my FF example, it takes place in the 60’s. Old JSA story set in WW II? Takes place during WW II. Open to other interpretations, but that’s what I was thinking! I've always wanted to see a Fantastic Four film set in the early 1960s. Some will argue that the basic origin concept would work in any era (the 21st century FF films just called to say, "No, it did not work in any era!"), but the Cold War period of wild scientific experimentation and the kind of post-WW2 personalities in Reed and Ben were perfect unions that has never proven to work (specifically the origin story) beyond the 60s.
Another comic that would hit it out of the park as a 1960s film is the Doom Patrol, which has never enjoyed an adaptation that captured the strange, outcast / unforgiving world feel from the original comics.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Sept 27, 2023 11:52:15 GMT -5
Yeah, the idea of having an FF movie set in the 1960s has been floated around quite often in the comics blogs and forums I've frequented (I was certainly the subject of one, but possibly two - I'm too lazy to look it up - posts at the Atomic Junk Shop). And yeah, it's a *really* good idea. One I know I've mentioned on this forum more than once (and elsewhere as well), but I would have loved a "Heroes for Hire" movie, featuring Cage/Power Man, Danny Rand/Iron Fist, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, set in the mid-1970s with a suitably groovy soundtrack and done as an homage to that era's Blaxploitation and martial arts movies. p.s. Prince Hal, I very enthusiastically second your Blackhawk and Tomahawk suggestions. Blackhawk in particular would be so awesome if done right. |
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Post by tartanphantom on Sept 27, 2023 12:38:40 GMT -5
I've always thought that Vertigo's Sandman Mystery Theatre would make an excellent period piece noir series. The source material is excellent, mature storytelling, and even though it's been done to death in some other films, producing it with a muted color palette and added "film grain" would actually look totally in place with this title. I'm thinking more in terms of serial TV than film, though. |
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Post by jester on Sept 27, 2023 13:02:36 GMT -5
I've said for a long-time now that I would love to see a Spider-Man live-action TV show set in early-to-mid '60s New York City like the first Lee/Ditko and Lee/Romita comics were, with all the good period attention to detail and period-appropriate dialogue of a show like Mad Men. I think that would be an amazing thing to watch. Yeah, I would love to see this. I also think a Doctor Strange TV show set in the mid to late 60s would be cool, placing his mystic occult adventures in the context of hippie counterculture and psychedelia. We could even be treated to a depiction of the in-canon meeting of Doc and Tom Wolfe.  |
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Post by MDG on Sept 27, 2023 13:17:27 GMT -5
A real-budget Batman movie set in the 30s-40s is an obvious choice. The technology available at that time (mainly art direction and stuntwork) existed for his kind of superheroics, so things could stay grounded. And the original incarnations of the Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, and (second) Two face would work well. As EdoBosnar said, an FF movie set in the early 60s would work great, maintaining Reed and Ben's WWII backgrounds. I'd like to see this mimic the technology available at the time (or slightly more advanced). So, in dialog scenes, Ben is a guy in a suit, but when he has to fight a big--but not too big--monster, he and the monster are both stop-motion figures (like the elephant in 20 Million Miles to Earth). Flying, flaming Johnny is obviously animated. This would obviously work best in B&W. Spider-Man would be set later in the 60s, in color, with a lot of Pop Art influences--before the Big Apple started to lose its shine and slide into the Taxi Driver era. More grounded than the Batman TV show. Wonder Woman would be great in this environment as well--either version. |
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Post by driver1980 on Sept 27, 2023 13:32:22 GMT -5
I've said for a long-time now that I would love to see a Spider-Man live-action TV show set in early-to-mid '60s New York City like the first Lee/Ditko and Lee/Romita comics were, with all the good period attention to detail and period-appropriate dialogue of a show like Mad Men. I think that would be an amazing thing to watch. Okay. This must happen. We need to pool together and buy Disney. This should be made, forthwith. |
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Post by driver1980 on Sept 27, 2023 13:34:17 GMT -5
The first incarnation of Scooby-Doo was released in 1969. If they do another live-action movie, let’s set it in the 60s.
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Post by jason on Sept 27, 2023 14:53:42 GMT -5
Since we're not limiting ourselves to superheroes, an Archie film set in the 40s could be interesting. Kind of a dark horse candidate as well, but how about a Dazzler film set in the disco era (or even the New Wave/Synth Pop era since the Dazzler comic came out near the waning days of Disco)?
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