Movies or TV Series You`d like to see made

[mal123]

Anyone of the Stainless Steel Rat books

[penfold007]

A sequel to Serenity

Jonny Mnemonic done properly. It's a short story masterpiece, that whistles along at a breakneck speed. It deserves to be a better film than the turgid effort we currently have.

Mathilde a sequel to Leon set 20 years on. No idea about the story, just like the idea of seeing what became of her.

Originally Posted by mal123

Anyone of the Stainless Steel Rat books

But who would play Angelina?

[Mal Hombre]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

An aspect of the war insufficiently dramatised in film, partly I suspect because the fight of the Merchant Marine was largely one of endurance in the face of unremitting deadly peril. They seldom got the chance to hit back, except in the crucially important but unglamourous triumph of delivering the cargo. There is one obscure but rather good British movie called San Demetrio, London which celebrated the exploit of the crew of a British tanker badly damaged by a German aircraft who abandoned ship when it looked like the aviation fuel cargo was about to explode but then (with great difficulty) re-boarded, put out the fires, re-started the damaged engines and sailed independently through U Boat infested waters all the way to Liverpool and safety. This really happened and was a typical example of what the Allied merchant marines did to help pull down the Axis powers.


There is a reasonably good Hollywood film called Swingshift with Goldie Hawn (not usually my favourite actress but credit where it's due: she puts in a good turn here); Ed Harris as her initially unlikeable US sailor husband who learns an awful lot from his active service in the Pacific war about what matters most in his life; Kurt Russell as Hawn's co-worker in the aero-engine plant and the face of Ol' Temptation.

The re-union scene when Harris walks onto dry land not knowing if his errant wife will show, and Hawn presents herself to him not really thinking he will take her back is very touching. Harris isn't delighted about all that gone on while he has been away, but Hawn is there. She chose him. This matters enormously. They are going to be OK.

If they made San Demetrio nowadays they'd make an american the hero,though as i recall there was an american character

[squigg58]

I'd like to see how Hollywood handled the Battle of Hürtgen Forest ... then again, maybe I'd rather NOT have Hollywood do it. Leave it to someone who doesn't have the same tendency to distort history.

If you've never heard of Hürtgen Forest, I'm not surprised. It was the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought in its history, so is of major significance, but it's rarely mentioned for the simple reason that history is always written by the victors. Look it up ... it's makes sobering reading.

[Mal Hombre]

Originally Posted by blondifan

With a special appearence by John Howard (former Australian Prime Minister) as 'The Fist"

And Tony Blair as a butt-plug

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

And Tony Blair as a butt-plug

I see Tony Blair as The Lubricant. He's slimy enough.

[electile disfunction]

I've always believed that modern civilization needs a series of films of the book Our Bodies, Ourselves.

I will likely come up with others, soon. (One came to mind but I am not sure if I would actually suggest it: Gilbert and Sullivan's Patton.)

e.d.

[haldane4]

Originally Posted by eelcat

Yes they certainly got a raw deal. That TV show "Not Forgotten" opened my eyes to raw deal the soldiers got...especially when they returned home. A very sad and sobering series that was.

Perhaps a film about the 1926 General Strike is in order.

[blondifan]

I'd like to see a film about Eva Cassidy (R.I.P) a great talent taken way too early and only made popular after her passing.

There was a Nightline special that seems to have been pulled from Youtube?, and another documentary which I have yet to see

I personally think it may be best if they used original (dubbed) vocal takes for performances, as her voice was unique.
But then Hollywood is a most likely a Chain of Fools

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

If they made San Demetrio nowadays they'd make an american the hero,though as i recall there was an american character

HMS Jervis Bay



I have seen San Demetrio, London again and I mis-remembered the circumstances under which the tanker was originally damaged. In fact she was hit by 11 inch shells from the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer and severely damaged, set on fire and her steering knocked out. The film did not do justice to the original battle, in which convoy HX84 was attacked by Admiral Scheer south of Greenland and Iceland. There was no warship whatsoever protecting the 38 merchantmen: it is terrifying to realise how naked Britain was on November 5th 1940. Not one destroyer, not one corvette, not even an anti-submarine trawler.

The only escort was a passenger liner commandeered from the Aberdeen and Pacific Line, mounted up with 8 six inch field artillery pieces left over from the Boer War, aimed and fired locally by their gun crews using open sights which Nelson's sailors would have been able to understand and operate. She could manage 15 knots flat out with her safety valves screwed shut. Her name on the navy list was HMS Jervis Bay. Her captain, a 49 year old Navy Commander with the acting rank of Captain, was Edward Fegan: he was a very experienced officer who cannot possibly have had any illusions about the outcome when he gave the order to engage Admiral Scheer, but his order to convoy HX84 was to scatter. He sacrificed his own life and in total 190 men of HMS Jervis Bay died, but their attack on Admiral Scheer delayed the pursuit of the scattering convoy for about half an hour and she also laid down a smoke screen to conceal her convoy and spoil the aim of the German guns. 31 ships escaped when night fell. Admiral Scheer sank 6 and knocked the SS San Demetrio about so savagely that everyone, including her own crew, was convinced she stood no chance. Given extra time, there is no telling how many more of the convoys ships would have been destroyed. The sacrifice made by the men of HMS Jervis Bay was not in vain, but it was a tragic battle in lonely waters.

A neutral Swedish merchantman rescued 65 survivors of the Jervis Bay, at considerable risk to her own safety because she was testing the limits of neutrality by intervening. Had she passed by on the other side, not one man of the crew of the Jervis Bay would have survived. Captain Fegan was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for valour. The film San Demetrio, London was made in 1943 and I dare say there was not much propaganda mileage in telling the British that their navy in 1940 was so bankrupt that the safety of 38 merchant ships was left up to a passenger liner with a few antique six inch guns. But the incredible feat of this sick joke of an imitation warship, slugging it out and protecting her convoy against a 28 knot pocket battleship armed with 11 inch guns should go down, not in history, but in legend. I'd like to see a film about Captain Fegan and his ship and his men.