Catch 22 - Channel 4 Thu 20 Jun 19

[L-H]

Apologies if this has already been mentioned elsewhere, I have looked but found nothing. Anyway, for those who may be interested a new adaptation of Joseph Heller's Catch 22 will be televised on Channel 4 from Thu 20 June 2019. The series was shown recently in the USA on Hulu, the previews look excellent and feedback from across the pond appears favourable.

Plenty of previews on youtube if you want to explore.

[Busta]

Difficult to beat the book and original film.

[ORAC]

That sounds like a major major major series......

[Sloppy Link]

That sounds like a major major major series......
Thank you

The Syndicate

[Chris Kebab]

He was going to live forever, or die in the attempt.

[treadigraph]

Where the hell's my parachute?

[ORAC]

Thank you

The Syndicate

​​​​​​​I’m not promoting it - for obvious reasons.....

[oldmansquipper]

I can't help but feel I have met most of the charactures in real life during my 40 year career. Most of them at HQ units

[dead_pan]

Some men have mediocrity thrust upon them

[pr00ne]

Best anti-war book ever written.

[Bull at a Gate]

Seen the new adaptation here in Oz. The book was better, much better.

[NutLoose]

Looking forward to it, we used to call the Sgt that was in charge of our T'bar Milo. :E

[tdracer]

Loved the book, the film not so much. I have a good friend who thinks the original film is one of the worst films ever made - I wouldn't go that far, but I didn't feel the film did the book justice.
Haven't seen the new flick, but it is very rare that a re-make improves on the original, so my expectations for the this would be pretty low.

[treadigraph]

I saw the film then read the book. I like both very much, though they are rather different. I think the calibre of the cast in the film is what makes it shine. Plus the opening title music... a few plaintive bird calls, then the asthmatic wheeze of R2600s coughing reluctantly into life...

[Training Risky]

I saw Clooney and the cast discuss this on the BBC a few weeks ago. They seemed genuinely impressed by the sight and sound of the B-25s on set and how they were flown across the world from museums in the US to get to Sardinia.
Looking forward to it!

[Pontius Navigator]

Read the book, seen the film, now seen episodes 2 & 3 of the series.

No surprises here, more a feeling of deja vous. It is a long time since I saw the film and without doubt there is much new film, but the impression is a 2 hour movie compressed into 6 45 minute chunks.

Yossarian looks exactly like Yossarian. The in-flight dream sequences seem identical with the same heavenly lighting. You wait to see if the little vignettes from your earlier memories will be there: they are. The death in the diving platform might have been a bit more gory but who cares for more blood. Milo still does his sales pitched on the runway oblivious of what is going on around him.

Get the film, save an hour of your life, 4 if you include adverts.

[NutLoose]

I sad as i am, I have noticed the odd error, when you see the B25's it appears the upper gunner has popped out for tea, also when you see the bombadier in the nose the whole of the nose gun breach is missing, the barrel shows on the external shots, also there are no feeders nor belts for the missing breaches. I did like what they did to Hugh Laurie LOL,,,

All of this is..... "pooof"..... gone


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/640x640/12af055a50dc7b078f0abccc453517fd_224c0be3581e7b45d8ed9fcbc40 2ff19bbb63200.jpg

[dead_pan]

Yossarian looks exactly like Yossarian

Hmm, I'm not so sure. He has me more in mind of Marlon Brando.

Have to say I'm not really warming to his character - he comes across as a rather humourless coward. Alan Arkin was a far more likeable rogue. But then Alan Arkin can do no wrong in my book (The Rocketeer, Argo etc etc)

[Pontius Navigator]

Dead_pan, that's it really, a shadow of the original. We have said it before, why do they think they can do a better job than the original. True, new audience and new technology, but new does not always turn out better.

Take the remake of the legendary Dambuster film. Undoubtedly the CGI will allow better visuals, but how do you improve on a script when the principal players are all gone? We should starve all the actors for two years, give them a few months boot camp, and only use actors of the same stature as Tom Cruise.

[tdracer]

Take the remake of the legendary Dambuster film. Undoubtedly the CGI will allow better visuals, but how do you improve on a script when the principal players are all gone? We should starve all the actors for two years, give them a few months boot camp, and only use actors of the same stature as Tom Cruise.

One of the reasons Band of Brothers is so good is that they took the actors and put them through an abbreviated boot camp - then had them talk to some of the Easy Company survivors (often letting them talk to their real life counterpart.

Not many bother to go through the trouble (and particularly not many big-name actors).

[Ascend Charlie]

Is there still a naked female on the raft? FFN(F)?*








*Full Frontal Nudity(Female)

[Sloppy Link]

The first major departure from the book, Doc Daneeka was on the manifest of McWatt’s aircraft so he could draw flight pay even though he was scared of flying. The current programme has McWatt in a solo aircraft, the Doc Daneeka storyline is a whole satire in itself.

[Lima Juliet]

I watched 2x episodes this morning on the All 4 app - it really was quite disappointing when it came to the script. The flying sequences were pretty good but the dialogue not so great - certainly no laugh out loud moments. I was hoping with so many good actors in it that it would be better but the screen-play, script and timing make it not very funny at all. I found the same recently with “Good Omens” with David Tennant and Michael Sheen - great actors but an awful screen adaptation of a great Terry Pratchett book.

This Catch - 22 seems to be getting get 3-star or 4-star approval ratings, which is probably fair, but it certainly isn’t a classic in my humble opinion. I’m not sure I’ll bother with the other 4 episodes.

[Tashengurt]

I see at the end credits they flash up a link for "Support". Can't snowflakes even see a bit of gore without counselling now?

[Chugalug2]

If Joseph Heller's book was simply a story, then this series is as though someone else is telling the same story but in their own way. Of course it isn't just a story but a sardonic take on war in general and WWII in particular, and this series doesn't do sardonic. It doesn't do humour either in my view, but for me most modern comedy doesn't either, so that is probably a comment on me rather than this series.

As others have observed, anyone who has served has known a Milo, Carthcart, Yossarian, etc. Anyone who lived through WWII would know them well. Unfortunately those who wrote and directed this did neither I suspect and simply took Heller's book as a story and rewrote it for their own purpose. No doubt they would do the same for the Goon Show if, God forbid, it were ever 'remade'. The Goons and Catch 22 were creatures of their time; WWII and Vietnam respectively. They do not take kindly to being refashioned by those who knew neither.

Just read the book, and don't get me started on the Italian Job....

[treadigraph]

but for me most modern comedy doesn't either, so that is probably a comment on me rather than this series.

Haven't bothered to watch the series but like you I mostly find modern humour lacking something. Humour I think. Witness the number of YouTube videos labelled "hilarious" that are anything but. Think I said earlier, I enjoyed the film and the book. The film script was excellent combined with an equally excellent cast and crew - and all those B-25s

Think i did see a remake of The Italian Job while on a trans-Atlantic flight. Or was it a remake of Get Carter? Caine had a cameo role, the film was crap.