Hey folks, Harry here. I have heard of both of these Indiana Jones scripts in the past but have yet to actually set eyes upon them. As for the review below on the Mel Gibson, FAHRENHEIT 451 script by Terry Hayes... this sounds very much like the draft I have read... which was about 11 months ago, the script might very well be completely different now... But at one time, this is what it was like. Well... Here's Deth...
Dear Harry,
First of all many thanks for your consistently cool coverage of all things up and coming in the wonderful world of film.
I read today's article re. Rick McCallum's comments on Indiana Jones 4 with interest. I've read two different Indy 4 scripts and from McCallum's comments about "watching the desert and the stars" it sounds like he's talking about the Jeb Stuart draft entitled "INDIANA JONES AND THE SAUCERMEN FROM MARS".
The script is sort of Indiana Jones Goes To Roswell and focuses on the discovery of an all powerful alien power source and the ensuing chases etc. that lead Indy across America. The script also sees cameos from all of Indy's previous love interests as well as his father. Oh, and he finally gets married. Don't want to give much else away but overall its a good script and very tightly written though some may not buy all the alien hokum which does not always make as much sense as it ought to.
The other Indy 4 script I read (allegedly written by Jeffrey Boam) was all to do with Excaliber and the Knights Of The Round Table and was not really so great. There is also a third Indy 4 script doing the rounds that is supposedly written by Chris Columbus but I haven't got hold of that one yet.
I read an article on Ray Bradbury and FARENHEIT 451 on your site about two weeks ago and felt I had to write as I have read one version of the script penned by Terry Hayes (though which draft it was is anyone's guess). I'm a big fan of the original story so my expectations were high for this one but alas were only partially met.
The story is set way into the future when the ice caps have melted and there is only one island city left on Earth. As always there is a kind of police/totalitarian state in place which more or less brainwashes everyone into drone-like compliance. Books are outlawed and those caught in possession are rounded up by Firemen who search and destroy all books. The Fireman are treated like sporting heroes and each time they are called into action they are pumped across the TV networks like the NFL. Captured readers are usually lobotomised and turned into zombie-like workers.
We follow the story of a disillusioned Fireman who begins to see through the facade of his reality and eventually finds himself protecting the very readers it is his job to weed out and destroy. His journey from iconic book-basher through doubt-riddled neurotic to sensitive champion of the underclasses drives the story. Its a journey of self discovery and redemption in the broadest sense and for the mostpart does ring true.
The script reads very nicely and certainly has enough action and cool hardware for most sci-fi fans. There are a couple of great set pieces including a chase sequence through the futuristic city that spanned almost 30 pages! The human story actually worked pretty well too but the actual content in terms of the more lofty ideas expressed in the story did not really deliver at all. Much was made of burning the books but there was hardly any time given to why this was actually being done - it seemed to really come out of nowhere in the script. The Firemen burned books and that was that. There is almost no backstory and this does leave a few too many holes in the story. This seemed a shame as I felt that these broader issues would have given the script some more much needed weight and focus. Cool though the effects will be I just felt I wanted a little more than your generic dystopia antics. I was hoping for something a little more adult and cerebral, more CONTACT than EVENT HORIZON (though it isn't anyway near as weak as that movie).
A robot dog creature called THE HOUND features heavily in the script and though it could work as a kind of Terminator on four legs the descriptions make it sound less promising and plausible (it has six legs and turns into a kind of jet-ski at the end of the script).
Overall the script was interesting but ultimately not all that satisfying due to the emphasis on spectacle over content. This said it is a lot more promising than most of the sci-fi drivel we've seen in the last couple of years (Lost In Space, anything by Paul Anderson, etc.).
I hope this is useful. I'll keep you up to date with more juicy script scoops soon.
All the best,
DETH.
