Sometimes, The World Looks Perfect - Nothing to Rearrange
In honour of the currently playing Sex and the City (already past the US$120 million mark at the box office as of this writing), I thought I'd take a look at that rarest of categories to which it belongs: the feature film which exists in the same continuity as the television series which spawned it.
We've all noticed how many television series have been "reimagined" for their feature film incarnations. The "classic" Masters of the Universe is an early example (though the practice goes at least as far back as Dr Who and the Daleks), but this trend really got going in the early 1990's, with films like The Fugitive, Maverick, and The Flintstones (the latter two released only a week apart). Fortunately or unfortunately, the trend died out before coming back in full force over the past few years with newer titles, such as Starsky & Hutch and Thunderbirds, which sometimes took "faithfulness to the original source material" to comedic extremes.
Every once in a while, though, a television series is allowed to simply continue its timeline on the silver screen, maintaining the same fictional universe and advancing that story. Of course, both approaches to television material are still going strong in this summer's upcoming releases, as evidenced by tomorrow's Get Smart and the return of Mulder and Scully, which I'll get into more in a moment.
Here are ten highlights of the same-continuity approach:
(N.B. I've left out any feature films based on comedy sketches, like Strange Brew or Wayne's World, as well as projects which were intended for television but had a theatrical release internationally, like the original pilots for Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and even Twin Peaks itself, which solved the murder of Laura Palmer in its theatrical version!)
Now that I've got this linking extravaganza out of the way, have I neglected any of your favourites from this category...?
We've all noticed how many television series have been "reimagined" for their feature film incarnations. The "classic" Masters of the Universe is an early example (though the practice goes at least as far back as Dr Who and the Daleks), but this trend really got going in the early 1990's, with films like The Fugitive, Maverick, and The Flintstones (the latter two released only a week apart). Fortunately or unfortunately, the trend died out before coming back in full force over the past few years with newer titles, such as Starsky & Hutch and Thunderbirds, which sometimes took "faithfulness to the original source material" to comedic extremes.
Every once in a while, though, a television series is allowed to simply continue its timeline on the silver screen, maintaining the same fictional universe and advancing that story. Of course, both approaches to television material are still going strong in this summer's upcoming releases, as evidenced by tomorrow's Get Smart and the return of Mulder and Scully, which I'll get into more in a moment.
Here are ten highlights of the same-continuity approach:
- Batman (1966) is the earliest example of this phenomenon that comes to mind. The casting of Lee Meriwether as Catwoman might make this placement arguable, but the fact that she was played by two other actresses in the series seems to nullify that argument.
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and its sequels are probably the best-known examples, and definitely the most successful. Star Trek: Generations (1994) brought the TNG crew into the same arena, sticking around through Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). From all accounts so far, next year's Star Trek will stay within the canon.
- The Transformers: The Movie (1986) is essentially the ultimate episode of the show, offering a level of animation (and swearing and violence) not present or even possible on television of the period...along with one seriously hard-rocking soundtrack. Many a child of the 1980's can still remember being traumatised by the death of Optimus Prime.
- Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) provided a rather inscrutable prequel to the series, filled with David Lynch's typical signature weirdness. One of the Holy Grails for Peaks Freaks is the large number of deleted scenes filmed for this movie, so much so that there's an entire site devoted to making sure they see the light of day.
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) made it into cinemas based on the success of its parent animated series, and fits snugly into the DC Animated Universe.
- The X-Files (Fight the Future) (1998), set between the fifth and sixth seasons of the show, upped the production values and offered a first look at how filming in Los Angeles would differ from filming in Vancouver, but otherwise stayed safely within the confines of series mythology (to the point that the "Previously on The X-Files" recap in the next episode to air included clips from the film). The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008) returned to Vancouver for filming and will presumably let us in on what the characters have been up to since the series ended.
- South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (2000) is basically an expletive-filled, extra-long musical episode of the show. My use of "continuity" might be debatable where something like South Park is concerned, but various elements introduced in the movie have since appeared in the series.
- Highlander: Endgame (2000), unlike its cinematic predecessors, continues the story of Highlander: The Series protagonist Duncan MacLeod and passes the torch to him from his clansman Connor. It's possible that Highlander: The Source (which I still haven't watched) also exists in the continuity of the series, but (even sight unseen) I would be quite in favour of creating yet another new Highlander continuity to accommodate that film, based on everything I've heard.
- Serenity (2005), naturally, has to be included in a list like this, as it provided the Big Damn Heroes of Firefly new life in the cinema...not that that worked out so well for them, at least from a financial perspective. Hope springs eternal for a sequel.
- Strangers with Candy (2006) serves as a prequel to the Comedy Central series. It's a little easier to follow than Fire Walk with Me in that regard, though both movies feature series characters who have either been recast or gone missing.
(N.B. I've left out any feature films based on comedy sketches, like Strange Brew or Wayne's World, as well as projects which were intended for television but had a theatrical release internationally, like the original pilots for Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and even Twin Peaks itself, which solved the murder of Laura Palmer in its theatrical version!)
Now that I've got this linking extravaganza out of the way, have I neglected any of your favourites from this category...?