Taken

[F13 (F13)]

I just noticed that the logo for Steven Spielberg's new mini-series looks vaguely familiar! <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.electric-ent.com/bbs/messages/4/921.jpg" ALT="Taken logo">

[Chris Ceraolo (Chris)]

That would be the non-original Scifi channel at it again...

[Sheri Gordon (Sheri)]

Egads! <BR> <BR>LAWSUIT! ;-P

[Presiding over this court is Judge (F_U_N_G_U_S)]

You know, I think the more vague 'rough' silohuette in the Visitor icon looked better. <BR> <BR>So is "Taken" the prequel to "the Visitor"? ;Þ

[Will Finch (Shetan)]

Cool! Did you see the Emmy's? Band of Brothers needs to be made into a DVD (for those who didn't get to see all) And how about Eight Legged Freaks? Any word on a DVD there?

[Bambi (Agentpat)]

Eight Legged Freaks will be released on DVD on 10/29/02. Band of Brothers' street date is 11/5/02. :o)

[Will Finch (Shetan)]

Excellent! Payday. Thanks Bambi. <BR>-Jumanji

[Sheri Gordon (Sheri)]

What's Band of Brothers?

[Presiding over this court is Judge (F_U_N_G_U_S)]

It's a group... of... male siblings... <BR> <BR>go check the www.imdb.com

[Presiding over this court is Judge (F_U_N_G_U_S)]

<A HREF="http://us.imdb.com/Title?0185906" TARGET="_top">http://us.imdb.com/Title?0185906</A> <BR> <BR>It's actually a television movie (about WW2) directed by Tom Hanks.

[Mike]

Actually it's a TV Series

[Mike]

According to the Spielberg PR blurb: <BR> <BR>"The series details 50 years of abductions within three families. The series should hark back to other legendary Spielberg productions, as it starts in his favorite era, WWII, and takes us through key UFO event Roswell and into the modern day. One of the main characters in the series is a WWII fighter pilot "who encounters strange lights in the night sky while on a mission over Germany" and [has to] "cope with his abduction experience". Roy Neary meets "The Mission"? <BR> <BR>The stars of TAKEN include a host of up and coming actors such as Steven Burton (Dreamworks' SEMPER FI and THE LAST CASTLE), Julie Benz (TV's ANGEL and ROSWELL), Joel Gretsch (Dreamwork's THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE), and ERIC CLOSE (TV's NOW AND AGAIN) as well as respected veteran actor Michael Moriarty (TV'S LAW AND ORDER and Larry Cohen's THE STUFF). <BR> <BR>Taking on directing chores for the series is a list of TV veterans, most notably genre legend Tobe Hooper, who has twice worked with Spielberg, of course on POLTERGEIST, as well as AMAZING STORIES (the "Miss Stardust" episode that wrapped up the series), and Segio-Mimica-Geezan, who was Spielberg's 1st AD on every film since SCHINDLER'S LIST up to MINORITY REPORT. <BR> <BR>Joel Ransom, cinematographer on Chris Carter's extremely visual THE X-FILES and HARSH REALM series will be shooting the first five episodes, and the production will be designed by Chris Gorak, the art director of MINORITY REPORT. <BR> <BR>The miniseries was filmed in Vancouver (ironically, the first five seasons of modern alien abduction touchstone THE X-FILES were shot in the beautiful, visually appealing location), as production commenced in September of 2001 and wrapped in July of 2002. <BR> <BR>TAKEN will air on December 2, 2002. <BR> <BR>Now The Visitor similarity is.... where?

[Mike]

Okay, it's a pilot who encounters strange lights in the sky, 50 years ago, and is abducted. That seems to be where the similarity ends...

[Agent Pat (Agentpat)]

That's where the synopsis for the series ends, too. The rest of that PR blurb is name-dropping and production credits. <BR> <BR>Come ON! A WWII fighter pilot? Couldn't they have been a little more original? Seriously. Is THE VISITOR that obscure that *nobody* drew the parallel when this series was in the greenlight phase? Sorry, I just don't buy it. <BR> <BR>While I doubt that the protagonist(s) will exhibit new and improved abilities as a result of their being "taken," I'm sure they will have rather interesting, and perhaps familiar, stories to tell about their abductions. <BR> <BR>And while I doubt that they will be seen fleeing from various governmental agencies, I'm sure those agencies will be involved in the story somehow. <BR> <BR>It's going to be hard to *not* draw any comparisons when even their LOGO is setting viewers up for a trip down memory lane. <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="http://www.electric-ent.com/bbs/messages/4/923.jpg" ALT="pic">

[Chris Ceraolo (Chris)]

Hey Dean- <BR> <BR>you're on the scifi board, what the heck are they thinking?

[Mike]

Mel Gibson also played a WWII Fighter pilot, unleashed to the world 50 years later...except he was in suspended animation (by humans) for that time, before thawing out. I don't hear any one complaining. Probably because we've seen it. <BR> <BR>It's released on December 2. Let's wait till then to pass judgement, heh?

[Mike]

as for the title logo... probably was the same guy or company that did The Visitor title. <BR> <BR>Only Spielberg and Dean would know for sure!

[Agent Pat (Agentpat)]

But Mike, Mel Gibson's character in "Forever Young" was not abducted by aliens? ;o)

[Mike]

No. he was abducted by a kid. (Though some kids can be mistaken for aliens - especially teenagers) ;)

[Will Finch (Shetan)]

No,no,no, Mel Gibson's characters kid, Gabriel, was abducted by the Dragoons. ;-) <BR> <BR>I think the Taken logo might have come from Richard Harris' electrifying ritual in A Man Called Horse. Just my pennyworth.

[Mike]

Then it must be the same company that does the titles... Looks they've run out of ideas and are delving into the archives.

[Agent Pat (Agentpat)]

I'm watching a "making of" show on Sci-fi right now about Spielberg's TAKEN, and lemme tell ya, I'm positively WRITHING with anger. WTF? I mean really, What. The. ****!!!!! There are scenes, camera angles, graphics, characters - you name it - "taken" right out of THE VISITOR. How can they get away with this???!!! <BR> <BR>Dean, please watch this show when it airs... with your ATTORNEYS!!!!! <BR> <BR>I love Spielberg. I do, I really do. But this show is right out of a college text book on what NOT to do to avoid being sued.

[Sheri Gordon (Sheri)]

Shall we boycott them? <IMG SRC="http://www.electric-ent.com/bbs/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":)"> Visitors take arms!!!

[Agent Pat (Agentpat)]

Well, I don't have a Nielsen box in my living room, so my watching or not watching is not gonna make a whole helluva lot of difference. Clearly, they spent boffo bucks producing the show. Having said everything I did above - and I'm still pissed - the series *does* look very good, which is probably why it angers me so much. If this were a flash in the pan, I wouldn't even bother posting about it it, nonetheless watching it. Indeed, if it weren't for my interest in the subject matter, I wouldn't have ever watched THE VISITOR either. [This coming from somebody who hasn't seen "Signs" yet LOL]

[Mike]

Copyright states that the whole has to be significantly different; characters, dialogue etc. That's why spoofs can get away with what they do.

[Javier Ariel Garza (Jag)]

Bambi- <BR> <BR>If what you say is true -- guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I've seen the promos but I forgot when it airs -- Dec. 1st? <BR> <BR>I'm sorry, I respect Spielberg -- I think he's done some wonderful work -- but all this drooling and bru-haha over "AI" was overdone. <BR> <BR>The effects were good, but it put me to sleep, yet people were frothing at the mouth over it. Go figure. <BR> <BR>-=JAG!

[Mike]

Yes, it airs December 1st.

[Will Finch (Shetan)]

Its just a Tuatara. It looks like a lizard, but its not a lizard. Mike, you've probably seen one, they're from New Zealand. <BR> <BR>Some boys I know (mine one of them) made their own "Tuatara" several months ago. The little nut-zoids! Imitated the Blair Witch Project in a 10 minute version. Except they used Catsup. I sure hope some attorney (most of which I'm fed up to the freakin' gills with) doesn't try to sue him, cause I'd hate to waste the rest of my life trying to make his a living H***. Bwahahaha.