SciFi Reflection
“Why the f**k would you bring that up?!”
That’s rather notoriously what the late (but great) actor James Caan said to the AV Club – as per Google.com – during their 2013 interview in a retrospective of his time in the screen spotlight. Though Caan had a limited track record in genre productions, apparently he took the role playing grizzled and – ahem – downright racist ‘Detective Matthew Sykes’ in the Twentieth Century Fox project – scripted by Farscape’s Rockne S. O’Bannon, no less – because he believed he was a low point in his career and needed screen work in order to both facilitate a comeback and earn a living. Regardless of the actor’s disdain for the film, Nation established itself as a well-done hybrid of SciFi and the traditional Hollywood cop/buddy flick. He and Mandy Patinkin – as immigrant Newcomer ‘Detective Sam Francisco’ trying to clean up the streets of Los Angeles, California – were indeed a pair, and the chemistry of the match-up made Nation a modest national sensation.
Now, fandom shouldn’t begrudge an actor for ultimately failing to embrace the realms of the Fantastic as much as they do.
As mentioned, Caan had some previous experience in Science Fiction and Fantasy that’s definitely deserving of mention. 1967’s Countdown – from revered director Robert Altman – may not have been the barn-burner of a genre feature the industry expected it to be, coming as it did in the middle of the famous US/Russia Space Race, but it brought a degree of reality to the screen when so much of what had come before involved bug-eyed aliens and/or low-grade special effects. 1975’s Rollerball – from equally acclaimed director Norman Jewison – delivered a satirical and harsh condemnation of corporate overreach and media violence, one that went on to gross a great $30M on a $5M budget. And there’s no doubt that the actor’s return to screens in Alien Nation helped to pave the way for 1990’s sensationally successful appearances in Dick Tracy and Misery, two of the bigger box office draws that year.
Indeed, Caan was back … in great form … so perhaps Alien Nation didn’t deserve so much of the ire he directed at it over the years. In fact, a Reddit user noted that the actor admitted surprise upon learning that the film was popular with audiences. Industry receipts alone clarify that the motion picture is classified as a modest success because – with worldwide grosses – it earned twice what it cost to produce, and that reception had the studio fast-tracking a TV follow-up that lasted a single season as well as shepherding in several telefilm sequels. The property – while clearly falling short of being one of genre’s top-tier franchises – remains a cult favorite, one that not all that long ago was still under consideration for a reboot. (Critical darling Michael Shannon was reportedly at one time attached to star as the alien detective.)
Whatever the case may be – and whether he likes it or not – fandom still holds a soft space in its heart for Caan’s work in Science Fiction.
Though he’s no longer with us, Caan was born on this day in 1940.
-- EZ
- James Caan
That’s rather notoriously what the late (but great) actor James Caan said to the AV Club – as per Google.com – during their 2013 interview in a retrospective of his time in the screen spotlight. Though Caan had a limited track record in genre productions, apparently he took the role playing grizzled and – ahem – downright racist ‘Detective Matthew Sykes’ in the Twentieth Century Fox project – scripted by Farscape’s Rockne S. O’Bannon, no less – because he believed he was a low point in his career and needed screen work in order to both facilitate a comeback and earn a living. Regardless of the actor’s disdain for the film, Nation established itself as a well-done hybrid of SciFi and the traditional Hollywood cop/buddy flick. He and Mandy Patinkin – as immigrant Newcomer ‘Detective Sam Francisco’ trying to clean up the streets of Los Angeles, California – were indeed a pair, and the chemistry of the match-up made Nation a modest national sensation.
Now, fandom shouldn’t begrudge an actor for ultimately failing to embrace the realms of the Fantastic as much as they do.
As mentioned, Caan had some previous experience in Science Fiction and Fantasy that’s definitely deserving of mention. 1967’s Countdown – from revered director Robert Altman – may not have been the barn-burner of a genre feature the industry expected it to be, coming as it did in the middle of the famous US/Russia Space Race, but it brought a degree of reality to the screen when so much of what had come before involved bug-eyed aliens and/or low-grade special effects. 1975’s Rollerball – from equally acclaimed director Norman Jewison – delivered a satirical and harsh condemnation of corporate overreach and media violence, one that went on to gross a great $30M on a $5M budget. And there’s no doubt that the actor’s return to screens in Alien Nation helped to pave the way for 1990’s sensationally successful appearances in Dick Tracy and Misery, two of the bigger box office draws that year.
Indeed, Caan was back … in great form … so perhaps Alien Nation didn’t deserve so much of the ire he directed at it over the years. In fact, a Reddit user noted that the actor admitted surprise upon learning that the film was popular with audiences. Industry receipts alone clarify that the motion picture is classified as a modest success because – with worldwide grosses – it earned twice what it cost to produce, and that reception had the studio fast-tracking a TV follow-up that lasted a single season as well as shepherding in several telefilm sequels. The property – while clearly falling short of being one of genre’s top-tier franchises – remains a cult favorite, one that not all that long ago was still under consideration for a reboot. (Critical darling Michael Shannon was reportedly at one time attached to star as the alien detective.)
Whatever the case may be – and whether he likes it or not – fandom still holds a soft space in its heart for Caan’s work in Science Fiction.
Though he’s no longer with us, Caan was born on this day in 1940.
-- EZ
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