USA: DIRECTOR JOHN FRANKENHEIMER SPEAKS ABOUT HIS REMAKE OF 'THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU'

Record ID: 386582

  • Title: USA: DIRECTOR JOHN FRANKENHEIMER SPEAKS ABOUT HIS REMAKE OF 'THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU'
  • Date: 15th August 1996
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA (AUGUST 15, 1996) (REUTERS TELEVISION - AVAILABLE ALL) FRANKENHEIMER SAYS THE BIG PROBLEM FOR ME IN THIS MOVIE WAS TO CREATE THE REALITY THAT THE AUDIENCE WOULD BUY INTO. WE HAD TO MAKE OUR WORLD, WE HAD TO CREATE A SPECIAL WORLD IN THIS PICTURE, THE WORLD OF DR MOREAU AND WE HAD TO HAVE THE AUDIENCE BUY INTO THAT REALITY. AND IT WAS ACCOMPLIS
  • Embargoed: 30th August 1996 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA7285NYSAW2YAK0UFO5ZN0KAPD
  • Story Text: The balance of nature is put to the ultimate test in the latest remake of the science-fiction classic thriller "The Island of Dr. Moreau," starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer and directed by John Frankenheimer.

    Based on the haunting novel written by H.G. Wells, the prescient father of science fiction, the explosive storyline in this film version has been updated and set in the near future to incorporate recent developments in genetic engineering. While 1996 marks the centennial anniversary of this literary classic, it still remains a relevant warning for our time.

    Brando plays brilliant, Nobel prize-winning geneticist, Dr.

    Moreau while Kilmer plays his slightly unstable assistant Montgomery. The story begins when diplomat Edward Douglas, played by David Thewlis, crash-lands his plane in the South Pacific not far off a mysterious island owned by the Doctor. Montgomery rescues him and brings him to the island.

    Not long after his arrival, Douglas stumbles upon Moreau strange and eerie work: gene-splicing research on animals being conducted to create a superior breed of human being. The result is an island populated almost entirely by a race of half-man, half-animal creatures who are ruled over by Moreau and Montgomery using high-technology security systems and old-fashioned religious scare tactics.

    Of course, the creatures wise up and find a way around those security systems proving the one law that Moreau failed to take into account: the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest.

    Oscar-winning makeup and creature creator Stan Winston was chosen to create the various creatures in the film. He developed more than 80 distinctly horrific yet still poignant characters for the film. Many of these creatures were actually actors underneath extensive makeup and prosthetics, which took many hours to apply.

    The crew also brought in an animal behaviourist by the name of Peter Elliott to work with both the main cast and the hundreds of extras, teaching them how to move and behave as the beasts they were supposed to portray.

    Director John Frankenheimer joined the production after the previous director, Richard Stanley, was fired from the set after only three days of production. Stanley was the original writer of the screenplay as well. This isn't the first time Frankenheimer has picked up a film already in progress. He took over two of his most famous films, "The Birdman of Alcatraz" and "The Train," following the dismissal of their first directors. His other credits include "Black Sunday" and "The Manchurian Candidate." This 40-million-dollar version of the story follows two previous films. Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi starred in "Island of Lost Souls" in 1933 and in 1977, Burt Lancaster and Michael York tackled the leads in "The Island of Dr. Moreau."
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