grapeshot wrote:It seems to me that one essential aspect to the Magnum story is that these are all Viet Nam vets. Making the new characters be Gulf War vets makes it a completely different story, because Vets from 'Nam carry around a vastly different set of baggage than Vets from the first Gulf War.
You are close, but, IMHO, the central theme to the show was the comradery of a group of buddies who shared life threatening experiences and literally owe their lives to each other. This is with the exception of Higgins, of course, but he had plenty of similar experiences of his own which allowed him to relate to the rest of the group, and them to him.
So I don't think it is important that they cling to the Vietnam war as the backdrop, any more than it is important that Magnum drive a 308GTS -- it doesn't even have to be a Ferrari, it just needs to be some kind of
flashy red car that Magnum can't afford to buy or maintain himself!
Far more people alive today (aka moviegoers) can relate to the Gulf War than Vietnam, including most of the cast of the movie, so I think it is a good choice. In fact, when the original show first aired it had only been 6 years or so since the US pulled out of Vietnam. By the time the movie comes out it will be almost 20 years since the Gulf War -- maybe the Iraq war or Somalia would be better.
Frankly, I like the casting, including Matthew McConaughey. He has done some good stuff, like Sahara and Contact. I can't think of anyone they could have picked to do it instead. Bill Macy is a great actor and will do a fabulous job (and he is older than the rest of them, unlike Giamatti, as some have suggested for this part), and I like Steve Zahn for Rick. I know nothing about Tyrese Gibson (he seems to be too young for the part), but who knew anything about Roger Mosley before Magnum, either?
I think I would like the idea of a remake a lot less if they tried to make it too close to the original. At least that has been my experience in the past. Now, if it was a reunion film, obviously they would have to pick up where they left off, but it seems that nobody (especially Selleck) from the original series had any interest in doing it that way. It would be sorta cool to see some cameos, though! Maybe they could put Selleck in a red 308GTS driving down the Pali Highway in traffic with Magnum (McConaughey) driving Robin's
RED Lamborghini LP640 Roadster!
BTW, when are they supposed to start filming? There is no mention of it on IMDB, at least not on
McConaughey's page. In fact, it looks like he is lined up for 4 different films next year, so I am guessing it would be 2009 at the earliest.