Best replacement characters

I know it is off topic, but I've been rewatching some of the recent cinematic scifis and got inspired to point out the best actors portraying old roles. Interestingly, there aren't that many of them out there, so the list is short, but here are the best 5:



The New Spock.
He was true to the original character, but a little too emotional...

Dumbldore
When the first dumbledore was taken from us unexpectedly, so many people thought the movie series was going to end. And yet, the following movies proved that nothing is set in stone, and like the amazing return of ACDC after Bon Scott's death, a new dumbledore came to the screen, bringing the same sense of child-like silliness and wisdom beyond even his own years.

Most impressive.

Gandalf.
Everyone has seen this portrayal, and few others, but this is the most recent gandalf, and he did a damn fine job of that serious but still slightly humorous personality that made earlier portrayals, especially on the stage, so wonderful.

The New McCoy.
Oh dear lord, that was an amazing portrayal! I never though Deforest could be replaced, but I have been proven wrong. I bow to you, sir!

The New Obi Wan.
Guiness left big shoes to fill, and he did. The new Obi Wan saved the prequels.

I just did this list on the fly, so understand that I didn't put ANY effort into it, and don't hate me too much for my generic choices. I just felt like posting something this month. I might make a repalcement of this later, with better thought-out people.

MY COLLECTION

By the way, you'll come to notice that as time goes by Ill mention a LOT of creature features, both cinematic and novelized. This is because they are my greatest weakness. I can't get enough of giant gila monsters terrorizing the southern united states (Giant Gila Monster - a movie from the 40's and 50's fantastic giant monster movie craze) and bigfoot chasing bible-thumpers through the pacific northwest (Monster by Frank Peretti... expect to see this book show up soon in review. It's another one I don't have a copy of on hand right now).

My monster novel collection, in particular, is spectacular. (I am SO humble, huh?)

Seriously, though, I have relied so heavily on ebay it isn't even funny. Books like Swamp and Night of the Crabs are so rare I have to get them from online used book stores from Europe... Britain, mostly.

I will, perhaps, cover a good list of these novels at a later date, and a good selection can be found on my librarything account (the screenname is dracorotor on there, you should have a look around at anyone else's collections linked to the rarer books, though. Who knows what you can find), but I am putting it off a lot lately because I'm lazy. Yep. If anyone is really interested in a list, though, or a recomendation, I'll be happy to help. Leave a comment here and either use a blogger screenname I can contact you at with a response, an e-mail, or a facebook page. something like that.

FG: "Jaws 2" by Hank Searls

Now this is a gem, it really is.

Remember the second Jaws movie? The first shark is long dead and a new one has arrived at amity island, and once again the town refuses to accept a shark until the deaths start stacking up.

Well, this is the novelization of the screen play that is a sequel to a movie based on another book... and if that doesn't sound confused enough, this book references the first novel written by Peter Benchley. And yet, not only does this book not suck, it actually works on the same level or even a higher one than the sequel film.

In my opinion Jaws 2 is a long-forgotten gem of cinema and when I saw this book on a forgotten, dusty back shelf in a nearby used book store, I was excited to enjoy a direct novelization... and on that score I was disappointed, and I'm very happy about it. The story only vaguely resembles the movie as it appeared on film, covering other details like a children/teen ragatta, a bit of military research and corruption, the mafia and a casino being made in a last-ditch effort to regain the popularity the town had before the first shark's rampage.

I won't ruin the plot of this book, in the event you can come accross it at some point, but I'll suffice by saying that the story might cover some similar scenes, but the differences between the book and the movie it claims to be based on are so great that it might as well be the written form of a fifth movie (ignoring the italian rip-off movie called jaws five in my mental list of films).

Definitely pick it up, and keep a look out for any of the author's other works. I asked some people knowledgeable about authors around that time, and they tell me he was pretty popular for these novelizations, so I wouldn't be surprised if you were able to find other gems like this out there at your own used book stores.