Why such theft? - Farscape (1999) Discussion

[–] dsrtrosy-1 10 years ago

No one stole anything. Those of us who watched from the beginning knew exactly why it was filmed in Australia--higher quality talent at lower prices. SciFi went out on a limb to produce it's first original show ever with a pretty tight budget, but with a production company (Jim Henson Productions) that wasn't willing to skimp on production value...so they could either film in America with mediocre talent and spend a bundle, or take it to Australia where they could craft something really amazing on a shoestring. Quality won out, and we're all the richer for it.

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[–] mpadpy 10 years ago

The last scifi show filmed in the US was I think star trek.. They can be produced for half the price in canada and for even less in australia. How much do you think it would have cost to make the matrix in the US? It took 25 mil just for the first 10 minutes.

C

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[–] Alpha86 10 years ago

Farscape was suppose to be made in America.

Says who?

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[–] RockinRickyRialto 10 years ago

thunderokc, apparently.

The simple fact is, producers and stars have said multiple times that Farscape wouldn't have had its incredible level of production quality if not for the financial incentives of shooting in Australia at the time. Not only did keeping a manageable budget allow for so many incredible alien worlds, but also gave them the liberty to hire the talent who best fit the roles.

If it had been made in America, we might be looking at Farscape with Lorenzo Lamas.

The wise man's tools are analogies and puzzles.

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[–] danzig138-668-939218 10 years ago

we might be looking at Farscape with Lorenzo Lamas.

Which would have been awesome and fabulous, and far better than what we got. Which was neither awesome nor fabulous.

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WORDS MEAN THINGS!

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[–] SkaterDave 10 years ago

Which shows that you have absolutely no taste or class.

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[–] shompa 10 years ago

Lets hope for a US remake.
Lorenzo Lamas + CGI puppet = Winning.

CGI beats out Australia.

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[–] mpadpy 9 years ago

Puppets win out over CGI everytime. You dont notice it unless they are compared side by side. Which they did in the last season. Although for things like talking and actions CGI feel smoother and more natural, the acting and feel for the show is much better with puppets. For the longest time I had no idea that pilot was a puppet, I think it was chewie in a costume working for some extra credits in between his star wars scenes.

C I Am Not a 'Chicken shiet'

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[–] scubadivergeek 9 years ago

<<
If it had been made in America, we might be looking at Farscape with Lorenzo Lamas. >>

With a bunch of worthless American bimbo actresses playing the female characters. Maybe you could have gotten Jessica Alba (who in 1999 wasn't nearly as famous as she is now) to play...who? Maybe Jool or Chiana, but everyone else would be played by chicks who barely have the requisite talents needed to be a Playboy centerfold.

(Oh, and I bring up Jessica Alba deliberately, because the first time I ever saw her was on the 90's version of Flipper, which was also shot in Australia, and on which both Lani Tupu and Virginia Hey both guested, and one of the other regulars on the show, Anja Coleby also guested on Farscape...probably other actors and probably crew too overlapping between the two shows)

And I agree, Jim Henson Workshop puppetry beats anything you could do with a laptop. Period. The only people who think CGI would have looked better are those who are "too young to remember" Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, or any of the Ray Harryhausen movies.

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[–] lexyladyjax 9 years ago

Farscape was suppose (sic) to be made in America. Why did Australia take it?!

Nope. Australia all the way.

Great white sharks are attracted to death metal music.

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (19664510) 9 years ago

Why such theft?

There was no theft.

Farscape was suppose to be made in America.

No, it wasn't--and it's "supposed," not "suppose." Your sentence makes no sense.

Why did Australia take it?!

It didn't.

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[–] snoho 8 years ago

I can't imagine this show without Claudia Black. And they already had a ridiculously tight budget so filming in the US would've been disaster.

Plus it's not as if a lot of American productions aren't shot in other countries anyway. The X-Files was shot in Canada and the locations fitted the aesthetic of the show much more than LA did (where they moved to in Season 7 I think?). Farscape was about an American experiencing foreign cultures anyway so shooting in a different country was quite fitting (I think Ben Browder said this in one of his commentaries too).

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