Timeless A-Peel wrote:I still feel lucky that I was originally able to see the movie without any bias at all, due to the fact that at the time I didn't know there was a TV series called The Avengers, nor that it was a remake of said TV series. So I can say with total honesty that I enjoyed it as a straight-forward action movie, and I followed the plot just fine despite all the editing. It was only after I went back to it after the series that I saw how badly they had adapted the show. It's not a bad movie, just a bad Avengers movie.
I think it would have helped if they hadn't been sort of halfway between trying to reinvent it and copying the show by doing throwbacks to a handful of Emma episodes. And if they'd cast it better. Uma comes off worst--Emma Peel on Valium, as my mother would say.
It's interesting to hear Ralph talk about it all these years later, though. I'm surprised he's willing to discuss it. They were clearly hoping for a franchise, and now Jerry Weintraub has a grip on the rights, so it's doubtful we'll ever see another attempt in the TV or movie industry anytime soon.
I agree with you. I don't hate TA. I tend to think f it as the Rocky Horror picture Show of an Avengers movie. It's so bad you can't help but like it a little.
As I was saying, TA isn't the Avengers movie Avengers fans were hoping for. I think it's producers wanted to hop on the superhero movie craze of the day kicked off by Burton's Batman and they made a movie about the Avengers without knowing anything about the Avengers. And then you have Connery's meddling. He's killed two movies now with his meddling: TA and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I think Ralph is fine as Steed. I think the real travesty is the script (teddy bears and robot wasps?) and the horrible miscasting of Thurman.
Lets hope if ever again our beloved Avengers makes it into theatres it's done by someone who knows a little something about the damned show.
Dee
