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veronica_richIn 2000, I picked up a new TV show and fandom - reruns of "The A-Team" on TV Land. I didn't have cable at home, so I would use the TV and VCR in my company's workout room to tape it each night at midnight, then take the tape home at the end of the week and watch the episodes via IM with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
metalkatt. A couple of years later I spoke by phone to one of the creators at Top Cow Comics, which had bought the rights to the show and was working on a script for the movie - that's how much of a fan I was. At the time, the Top Cow guy told me they were thinking of various actors for the roles - for example, Jim Carrey was in mind to offer the role of Murdock; Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson were the desired possibilities for Hannibal, and Ving Rhames for B.A. (Nothing particular for Face, though I personally had mind-cast Greg Kinnear in the role.) Keep in mind this was almost a decade ago - at the time, these actors were all in the right age range, roughly.
I saw the movie Friday and again today. First, let me get the cameos out of the way - you have to stay after the end credits, but Dwight and Dirk ARE in it. Each gets to interact with their "character" - that is, the new actors playing Face and Murdock, in-character. (Dwight's is especially funny, as he is a doctor presiding over testing on Murdock, observing, "This guy Murdock is NUTS ...")
The storyline has been udpated for the modern decade, obviously. The guys all meet in Mexico - Hannibal and Face are Army Rangers working together, B.A. is some dude in a van they come across and Hannibal convinces to help because he is a former Ranger - who's been dishonorably discharged (but presumably reinstated on Hannibal's voucher after this mission) - and Murdock is in a mental hospital, but gets reinstated on Hannibal's orders because he needs a great pilot. Eight years and 80 missions later, we're in present-day Iraq, where the four are still working as a Special Forces team.
The CIA and the team's commander, General Morrison, have the team hijack counterfeit currency plates from Baghdad on behalf of the U.S. government (in the original TV show, the team robbed the Bank of Hanoi on orders from their commander, who was killed before he could vouch for their actions - and the bank robbery took place technically as the U.S. was ending its part in the Vietnam War, so it was termed an illegal act). Upon the team's return with the plates and currency, Morrison is killed, the currency evidence is torched, private security contractor Black Forest absconds with the plates, and the A-Team are court-martialed on false charges. The rest of the movie follows them escaping from three prisons and a German mental hospital and working with various parties to recover the plates and clear their names.
This was one of those movies you had to be REALLY careful about on the casting - the TV show was very popular when it aired and it wasn't all that long ago, relatively speaking, plus the original cast were unique characters (for the time) with well-suited actors. I thought all the actors in this one did the original characters quite well, though it seemed at times perhaps Sharlto Copley was maybe a little *too* nuts with Murdock - Dwight Schultz was a bit more subtle at working the viewer into Murdock's various psychoses and visions, but to be fair, he had 100 episodes or so, whereas Sharlto only had a 2-hour movie.
For anyone expecting the original characters as they were in the TV show, there are some differences, perhaps mostly in the fact that for half the movie, the characters are still military officers; and the other half, are working to clear their names of an immediate crime. The end gives the hint they're going to be fugitives on the run from the feds, which was what the show was all about - so, you don't have Hannibal the aspiring actor going through a multitude of disguises; you don't have Face with his Corvette and bevy of beauties, or B.A. with his van and helping underprivileged kids. You get a little bit of Murdock inside mental hospitals stirring up the other patients - but again, not much YET.
Also, they've done away with the character of Amy the reporter altogether. In her "place" so to speak - as the main female character, that is - is Army Captain Sosa, who is in charge of retrieving the currency plates from Baghdad. She helps the CIA manipulate the A-Team into helping her do this (hey, it IS the team's job after all), and is demoted when they are court-martialed, as well, so she also has to clear her name. I won't tell you any more how she figures into the whole thing, except to note that she and Face had a prior relationship that is referenced more than once.
Violence: Yeah, there's a lot more than in the show. But to be fair, in the show, the guys couldn't hit the broad side of a barn while shooting at actual people, which frankly, is not very realistic for gunfights and car chases; here, there's some blood and exploding bodies, but nothing too graphic. There's also casual swearing in this movie, and you old-timey fans might find it somewhat jarring to hear Murdock talk about a plan being "batshit insane" or B.A. saying something is "bullshit." But that's really as bad as it gets, other than two "motherfuckers" where the last part of the word is cut off by explosions both times.
Sex: Other than a couple of TV-mild references and a tongue-kiss, not really. We get to see plenty of Bradley Cooper's fine, fine physique, but that's OK by me.
Extra fanservice deliciousness: For those of us who are really DIEHARD A-Team fans, there's a great bit where Murdock gets a DVD in the German mental hospital and 3-D glasses - he herds other patients into the movie room so they can watch the movie, cleverly titled "The Greater Escape" on a white wall. The "movie's" opening credits feature a Hummer driving through the brush toward the camera, and at one point, a real Hummer drives into the room breaking down the wall, to spring Murdock from the joint. (There's a great exchange following this as they're speeding away, very true to the TV show, in which Murdock sticks his head out the window while they're being shot at, still wearing his 3-D glasses, going, "WOW! These are great! It really looks like they're shooting bullets at you!" and B.A. calling back, "They ARE real bullets, fool! Get inside!")
ANYWAY - the fake "movie" opening credits feature the names of "actors" Reginald Barclay, G.F. Starbuck, and Thomas Banacek. I missed the rest of the scene with Murdock's escape on my first viewing because I was laughing too hard.
Overall, while the movie isn't the TV show, it retains enough of the orginal elements and spirit for me to give it a pretty good review and recommend it. With so much action crammed into two hours, it's hard to get much character development, but we do get bits and pieces of the guys' relationship with each other. There's also a nod to how B.A. might have become interested in teaching troubled kids a nonviolent lifestyle, while still being able to fight with the team.
metalkatt. A couple of years later I spoke by phone to one of the creators at Top Cow Comics, which had bought the rights to the show and was working on a script for the movie - that's how much of a fan I was. At the time, the Top Cow guy told me they were thinking of various actors for the roles - for example, Jim Carrey was in mind to offer the role of Murdock; Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson were the desired possibilities for Hannibal, and Ving Rhames for B.A. (Nothing particular for Face, though I personally had mind-cast Greg Kinnear in the role.) Keep in mind this was almost a decade ago - at the time, these actors were all in the right age range, roughly.I saw the movie Friday and again today. First, let me get the cameos out of the way - you have to stay after the end credits, but Dwight and Dirk ARE in it. Each gets to interact with their "character" - that is, the new actors playing Face and Murdock, in-character. (Dwight's is especially funny, as he is a doctor presiding over testing on Murdock, observing, "This guy Murdock is NUTS ...")
The storyline has been udpated for the modern decade, obviously. The guys all meet in Mexico - Hannibal and Face are Army Rangers working together, B.A. is some dude in a van they come across and Hannibal convinces to help because he is a former Ranger - who's been dishonorably discharged (but presumably reinstated on Hannibal's voucher after this mission) - and Murdock is in a mental hospital, but gets reinstated on Hannibal's orders because he needs a great pilot. Eight years and 80 missions later, we're in present-day Iraq, where the four are still working as a Special Forces team.
The CIA and the team's commander, General Morrison, have the team hijack counterfeit currency plates from Baghdad on behalf of the U.S. government (in the original TV show, the team robbed the Bank of Hanoi on orders from their commander, who was killed before he could vouch for their actions - and the bank robbery took place technically as the U.S. was ending its part in the Vietnam War, so it was termed an illegal act). Upon the team's return with the plates and currency, Morrison is killed, the currency evidence is torched, private security contractor Black Forest absconds with the plates, and the A-Team are court-martialed on false charges. The rest of the movie follows them escaping from three prisons and a German mental hospital and working with various parties to recover the plates and clear their names.
This was one of those movies you had to be REALLY careful about on the casting - the TV show was very popular when it aired and it wasn't all that long ago, relatively speaking, plus the original cast were unique characters (for the time) with well-suited actors. I thought all the actors in this one did the original characters quite well, though it seemed at times perhaps Sharlto Copley was maybe a little *too* nuts with Murdock - Dwight Schultz was a bit more subtle at working the viewer into Murdock's various psychoses and visions, but to be fair, he had 100 episodes or so, whereas Sharlto only had a 2-hour movie.
For anyone expecting the original characters as they were in the TV show, there are some differences, perhaps mostly in the fact that for half the movie, the characters are still military officers; and the other half, are working to clear their names of an immediate crime. The end gives the hint they're going to be fugitives on the run from the feds, which was what the show was all about - so, you don't have Hannibal the aspiring actor going through a multitude of disguises; you don't have Face with his Corvette and bevy of beauties, or B.A. with his van and helping underprivileged kids. You get a little bit of Murdock inside mental hospitals stirring up the other patients - but again, not much YET.
Also, they've done away with the character of Amy the reporter altogether. In her "place" so to speak - as the main female character, that is - is Army Captain Sosa, who is in charge of retrieving the currency plates from Baghdad. She helps the CIA manipulate the A-Team into helping her do this (hey, it IS the team's job after all), and is demoted when they are court-martialed, as well, so she also has to clear her name. I won't tell you any more how she figures into the whole thing, except to note that she and Face had a prior relationship that is referenced more than once.
Violence: Yeah, there's a lot more than in the show. But to be fair, in the show, the guys couldn't hit the broad side of a barn while shooting at actual people, which frankly, is not very realistic for gunfights and car chases; here, there's some blood and exploding bodies, but nothing too graphic. There's also casual swearing in this movie, and you old-timey fans might find it somewhat jarring to hear Murdock talk about a plan being "batshit insane" or B.A. saying something is "bullshit." But that's really as bad as it gets, other than two "motherfuckers" where the last part of the word is cut off by explosions both times.
Sex: Other than a couple of TV-mild references and a tongue-kiss, not really. We get to see plenty of Bradley Cooper's fine, fine physique, but that's OK by me.
Extra fanservice deliciousness: For those of us who are really DIEHARD A-Team fans, there's a great bit where Murdock gets a DVD in the German mental hospital and 3-D glasses - he herds other patients into the movie room so they can watch the movie, cleverly titled "The Greater Escape" on a white wall. The "movie's" opening credits feature a Hummer driving through the brush toward the camera, and at one point, a real Hummer drives into the room breaking down the wall, to spring Murdock from the joint. (There's a great exchange following this as they're speeding away, very true to the TV show, in which Murdock sticks his head out the window while they're being shot at, still wearing his 3-D glasses, going, "WOW! These are great! It really looks like they're shooting bullets at you!" and B.A. calling back, "They ARE real bullets, fool! Get inside!")
ANYWAY - the fake "movie" opening credits feature the names of "actors" Reginald Barclay, G.F. Starbuck, and Thomas Banacek. I missed the rest of the scene with Murdock's escape on my first viewing because I was laughing too hard.
Overall, while the movie isn't the TV show, it retains enough of the orginal elements and spirit for me to give it a pretty good review and recommend it. With so much action crammed into two hours, it's hard to get much character development, but we do get bits and pieces of the guys' relationship with each other. There's also a nod to how B.A. might have become interested in teaching troubled kids a nonviolent lifestyle, while still being able to fight with the team.
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-14 03:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-20 07:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-14 04:10 am (UTC)I watched it back in the early 80's. (Though I couldn't tell you what network it was on.) My initial reason for tuning in was Dirk Benedict (even now, I kinda have a crush on his TOS:BSG Starbuck), but I hung on for the sum total that came with it. Damn, that's been almost 25 years now. (And it could have been less. I did have 'TV Land' around the time you mention watching it there, but I never realized they were showing it.)
Thanks for the heads-up on a few things. (It will be a bit weird having them actually be military.) I'll be watching like a hawk for those Dirk Benedict and 'Starbuck' moments. XD
I have no idea what 'the critics' are saying about it, but, besides you, I've had several folks (at work) tell me it's hilarious. With all the nods to the old series you've pointed out, now I'll have get out to see it before it leaves theaters.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-20 07:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-22 03:02 am (UTC)I've known for a while that you were a fan of Dwight Schultz. *thumbs up* I used to assume that you'd first seen him in The A-Team (mostly because that's where I first saw him - everybody shares my experience, right?). It would have given you that much more reason to love him when he later appeared on ST:TNG (as it did me).
Now it looks like you dove into The A-Team, for the very first time, in concert with metalkatt in 2000. And if I recall correctly you've been active in fandom with her since your time in TNG fandom. So, you must have fallen for Dwight thanks to TNG and then (maybe) followed the actor to an older series of his when it became available to you. (Again, this is my M.O. - otherwise I'd have never watched something like Dawson's Creek.)
So, am I right? Or just completely self-centered. (lol. Like the latter isn't painfully obvious.)
no subject
Date: 2010-06-22 03:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-24 12:45 am (UTC)And I'm thinking you said you found Red Dwarf on PBS. Again, I had no idea that I might have watched it
for free!on television that was readily available to me at the time. :-/ (When I was stationed in England in '89 I 'accidentally' caught an episode of it. I never watched it there again, because the penalty for watching British television without paying for the license was staggering - for me, at the time. So, I puzzled over it, off and on, for years, before finding a couple of books in the states, and, later, the dvds at B&N.)no subject
Date: 2010-06-19 09:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-20 07:22 am (UTC)