“Johnny Got His Gun” to be Remade? Why?!
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Loading ...Um, sure, why remake this at all? I mean besides the inspiration for Metallica's "One", this (the original) movie isn't good for a lot else. Unless they've got a plan to make it better, I don't see the point.... Bizarre and confusing would be an understatement.
After his stint on the teen drama series The O.C., Benjamin McKenzie has been preoccupied with several film projects. His latest endeavour involves playing the lead role in the remake of Johnny Got His Gun, a 1971 anti-war film based on the classic 1939 novel of the same name.Slated for release in 2008, Johnny Got His Gun explores individual morality and the interplay between science, medicine, religion and politics. It revolves around Joe Bonham, played by McKenzie, as a young American soldier hit by an artillery shell on the last day of the First World War. As a quadruple amputee who has lost his eyes, ears, mouth and nose, he lies in a hospital bed but remains conscious and is able to reason. He struggles to communicate to his to his doctors his wish to be put in a show in a carnival as a demonstration of the horrors of war.
Although the 28-year-old actor has played various roles in the past, this is his first time to tap into this type of character that explores strong anti-war, pro euthanasia and anarchist themes.
Aside from playing Ryan Atwood on The O.C., he has also made several guest appearances on television shows like JAG, The District and Mad TV. On the big screen, he has acquired roles in the comedy drama Junebug and the 2007 crime drama thriller 88 Minutes, alongside Al Pacino.
The upcoming film is the latest of version adapted from the 1939 novel written by Dalton Trumbo, who also directed his own 1971 film adaptation, which featured Timothy Bottoms, Diane Varsi and Jason Robards. On several occasions, it has also been referenced in popular culture and has inspired a few plays and songs as well.
Link: (BuddyTV): Former 'O.C.' Star Lands Lead Role in Anti-War Film
Technorati Tags: war movie news, johnny got his gun, benjamin mckenzie, movie remakes
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They’re obviously remaking it because the questions raised by the book Johnny Got His Gun are extremely timely, and most people aren’t familiar with the original book or film. Yes, the film is flawed; there’s a radio drama adaptation from 1940 which is much better: it was adapted by Arch Oboler and starred James Cagney.
In addition to the general questions of how wars are sold to the ignorant public with slogans like “war to end all wars” or “war on terrorism”, Joe Bonham’s plight should have a lot of resonance with the condition of many Iraq War veterans. Thanks to advances in battlefield medicine, lots of soldiers are surviving wounds which in previous wars would have been fatal. This is generally a good thing, but in some cases it means that soldiers are left alive but barely able to function. There are probably many veterans of the current conflict who have been left in conditions similar to those of Joe Bonham.
I’m delighted to hear that a new adaptation of Johnny Got His Gun is on the way. I hope that it lives up to the novel and radio adaptation.
http://pro.imdb.com/title/tt1078582/board/thread/84963245?d=89247230&p=1#89247230
Saw this on IMDB sheds some light. I like that it says 98% of the script for the new film is taken right from the book, which is awesome. I don’t know what to expect but the book sure is topical AND it was written in the 50′s!!
Actually, the book was written in the mid-’30s and published in 1939. But the point stands.
The interesting thing is the comment from the director that this film will tell the story “from the inside out” rather than looking at Joe from the outside, as a piece of immobile flesh. I get the impression it will be *more* dreamlike than the previous adaptation, which may make it work better. Certainly, if we (the audience) get to know Joe Bonham as a person before discovering the extent of his injuries it’ll be much more effective than merely being shown the injuries and then told to care about the person who received them.
Yeah, I agree, what I liked about reading the book was that I kept thinking about (or seeing in my mind) everything from his perspective. If the movie makes you feel like you’re trapped inside his head with him (which would make sense if it’s just the one guy in the movie) then that could be really powerful and kewl — if the guy’s a good actor and it’s not too friggin’ LONG! Some of the new movies like Jesse James & Into the Wild are just too long… I hope they don’t make that mistake. I’ll have to see if they have a running time on IMDB for it… The pictures on the web certainly make it look “dreamlike” as you said, good point.
Obviously they are going to remake this film because Hollywood doesn’t have an original bone left in its rotting corpse anymore. All they do is remake old films and sequels and television shows from the 70s and 80s. It saves them time and money on writing and advertising, duh!
Variety’s review of Johnny Got His Gun(2008 version)
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938652.html?categoryid=31&cs=1