h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Island Of Dr. Moreau, I didn’t read that part. - A665444
Author: hatameiwaku - U172238

Removed from Peer Review 19/3/02

Author AWOL

Moving this up a little to tie in with this month's Create theme.

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A lot of this is personal opinion and I find it completely not understandable because I don't know the movie or the book. Not sure if anyone manages to clean this one up.

'Last Chance to Rescue' nominated...

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Yes, agreed.

Lately I've been sorting out the boxes upon boxes in the roof, theoretically sorting out the books but instead looking through all the VHS videos we have (it's easier to sort them out as any films we now own on DVD get chucked) and I discovered that we actually own the 1996 version of the film.

'The Island of Doctor Moreau' is a HG Wells novel I have not read yet, though. If I have time to read the book and watch the film, I might be in a position to actually decide if this is rescuable.

Hmmm...

It was all so clear cut before I started sorting.

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Sorting always takes longer than you think.

I'm torn with this one. On the one hand, I own and have read many novels by HG Wells, including 'The Time Machine', 'The War of the Worlds', 'First Men in the Moon' and 'The Invisible Man' and can't help but feel that I should really own and read 'The Island of Dr Moreau' too. I also have the film on video at home (although DVD would be better, as then you often get making ofs and director's commentaries etc, which vastly help when writing about a film).

As I work in a university, I've checked and the library has the 1932 and 1977 version available for me to borrow for free, so I am in a good position to compare the 1996 version of the film with previous ones.

The question is, if I read the book and watch the 1932, 1977 and 1996 versions of the film, would I find that this article a useful starting point?

There are several sections that I find a bit confusing:
' An example of these changes is Prendick, for starters, isn't Prendick, his name is Edward Douglas. ' - eh?

And I disagree with this bit
'Updating the story does sound like a great concept'
Does it? There are so many science fiction stories set in the modern day, it would be quite nice to have one set in Victorian England for a change. With such a plethora of alien-invasion-in-modern-America films, why adapt 'The War of the Worlds' in a way that makes it identical to 'Independence Day' and all the other films being constantly churned out? What I want to see is Steampunk vs Martians! With so much film and television set in American High Schools, why adapt Shakespeare so it is set in an American High School too - can't we let Shakespeare be Shakespeare, and HG Wells be HG Wells?

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I can understand your problems, and yes, I absolutely agree with you: not everything should get a modern setting in films. It's the same with operas and other things. They always try to make things look 'modern', but shouldn't things like that be seen from the perspective of when they were written?

And I also agree with you about the confusing sections in this Entry.

I've decided that I am going to read 'The Island of Doctor Moreau', watch the film adaptations and write about them. When I have done so, I will be able to judge whether this article is worthy of rescuing as part of what I write for the 1996 film version or not.

So for now I'll keep it in the Flea Market. Once I've read the book and seen the film and written the article, this will either be:

a.) A part of a flea market rescue. Or
b.) An article on the same topic as an entry in Peer Review, which, if accepted, would make this entry redundant.

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A new version can be seen here: A87806154 'The Island of Doctor Moreau' - the 1996 Film

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Now in Peer Review, see: F48874?thread=8308183

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Edited as: A87806154 'The Island of Doctor Moreau' - the 1996 Film
Well done!

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