How do I feel about this? I'm all for it. If a computer can make sure we get to see the last performance of OLIVER REED completed, instead of ending up on the cutting room floor and recast... Well then... I'm all for it. What I'm shady on is the idea of say... making a new movie... one that perhaps Oliver Reed might not have wanted to be in... and casting the digital version of himself in the role. Thus mocking him in death. That's where the real issue lies with me...
CK Dexter Haven reporting.
I had the great privilege to interview actor John Hurt in Toronto yesterday (Friday, June 4). The star of The Elephant Man and Midnight Express was in town to promote the 20th anniversary re-release on video of the classic horror movie Alien. When I asked Mr. Hurt (I can't imagine calling him John) if he still remained in contact with Alien director Ridley Scott, he told me that he occasionally runs into him at airports but that's about all.
Now get this. You know how it's been rumoured that eventually actors like Humphrey Bogart or James Cagney are going to be brought back from the dead digitally in a feature film? (Of course, this sacrilege has already happened in commercials.) Well, it looks like it's going to happen, and the first lucky (?) actor to receive this digital resurrection is... Oliver Reed.
Reed's untimely death in a Maltese bar (natch) during the filming of Scott's epic Gladiator has left the director stumped. Mr. Hurt said that Scott is too far into the production to simply replace Reed. So instead Scott is planning to have Reed replaced by a digital counterpart.
Now I don't know you feel about this move, Harry. I'm not sure how I feel, either. It's not like the original scenario everyone envisioned, where they would take Bogie, say, and pair him up with Jim Carrey or someone to create a brand new film. Reed, legendary boozer that he was, had completed most of the principal photography on Gladiator when he died unexpectedly. Should Scott simple recast the character and reshoot his scenes? Most likely, he can't; the cost would be prohibitive. Then again, how much will it cost to digitize Reed? How are they going to do it? Is Gladiator screwed? What do you think, Harry?
I'm not an authority on Oliver Reed. David Cronenberg's The Brood is about the only film I had ever seen him in until last week when Ken Russell's The Devils was on TV. Reed was magnificent, majestic, classy and damn good. How is Scott going to get a great performance out of a computer? Big question.
Sincerely,
CK Dexter Haven
