[I’m half human. On my mother’s side.]
Tonight someone I know online posted that they were going to watch the Doctor Who movie, the American one with Paul McGann. I have a copy of it myself, mostly because I have a good deal of love for him by way of Withnail & I and the Horatio Hornblower series, but had never managed to watch the Who movie because so many people had gone on and on about how horrible it was. (Also, because so far I have managed to avoid watching any of the Old Who. It is a slippery slope, okay? I would do well to be concerned!)
And. So. They’re right. But the key point which they forgot is that I love bad movies. It’s true. And there was a LOT to love about this one. (Vague spoilers after the jump)
The 90s American TV production values, of course. How when the Doctor first steps out of the Tardis in San Francisco, of -course- he gets shot. All of the wanky hospital stuff, especially the “double exposure” excuse for the two-heart x-ray. The mindnumbing horror of Eric Roberts in the first place, let alone as the Master. His final costume (dying of the laughing, I was). The gag with the cop on a motorcycle going into the Tardis — brilliant! San Francisco Mean Time? What the hell? There was so much awful, but it was funny awful, and -that- I am pretty much always down with.
All that said, I really did dig McGann as the Doctor. I understand that there are 8th Doctor audios with him, so I suppose I will have to seek them out.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:20 am
come on! san francisco mean time, of course!
September 4th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
The thing that must be borne in mind is that while New Who is a very self-aware product of Cool Britannia, Old Who can be painfully, painfully campy.
For example, if you thought Eric Roberts’ Master was unbearable, you might want to shield your eyes from his predecessors. Anthony Ainley’s version of the character was basically Snidely Wiplash–all in black, rubbing his gloved hands together, throwing his head back with a hearty “mwah-hah-hah”. (I don’t think he ever went so far as to twirl his moustache, but I could be wrong.) Roger Delgado was a James Bond villain–a droll, supercilious character with a conquistador beard and a Nehru jacket. Cooler than Ainley, but we’re not talking method acting.
I haven’t seen the more recent versions of the Master, but I have to assume that Derek Jacobi made him somewhat less of a cartoon character than the previous three.
McGann’s interpretation of the Doctor was pretty credible, though, huh? He actually does seem like a missing link between the more clownish/less sexy Doctors of the old days and Cool Britannia updates like Eccleston and Tennant.
September 4th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
We’ll see. Maybe if I go backwards I can stomach it
Also, part of my problem just might be Eric Roberts.
I could expound on the new Master, but I don’t really want to be spoilery. It was an awesome arc, though.
I quite liked McGann.