| Year: 1985 Director: Martin Campbell Writer: Troy Kennedy Martin Editing: Ardan Fisher & Dan Rae Director of photography: Andrew Dunn Original music: Michael Kamen & Eric Clapton Cast: Bob Peck, Joe Don Baker, Joanne Whaley wikipedia  | Year: 2010 Director: Martin Campbell Writer: William Monahan & Andrew Bovell, based on the original teleplay by Troy Kennedy Martin Editing: Stuart Baird Director of photography: Phil Meheux Original music: Howard Shore Cast: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Houston imdb  |
The two versions of Edge of Darkness allow us to make several different and interesting comparisons: the thriller made in the 80s versus the thriller of the 00s; the television format versus the cinema format; the british point of view versus the american remake; and, for the sociologist, the relation between humankind and environment.
Edge of Darkness is an original mini-series filmed by the BBC in 1985. Writen by Troy Kennedy Martin and directed by Martin Campbell (who later became specialized in James Bond movies (Goldeneye, Casino Royale) and blockbusters (like the two parts of “el Zorro”).
The film depicts the quest of a policemen, Ronnie Craven, to find the killers of his daughter. What in the beginning appears to be an accidental murder by someone who tried to have revenge on the policeman, becomes far more complex, involving secret agents from the UK and the USA, the government and dark companies with secret interests.
Bob Peck, a theater actor, shines as Ronald Craven, as well as Joanne Whaley as his daughter Emma. The rest of the cast are at the same level. But is the character Darius Jedburgh, played by Joe Don Baker, who steals the show in almost every scene.
The writer, Troy Kennedy Martin, said about “Edge of Darkness”: “I am writing this story about a detective who turns into a tree” [Wikipedia], ending that he actually did write; but in the end it was changed to the ending finally shot. Kennedy Martin was influenced by the political clima of the time; the “thatcherism” can be almost felt; as well as the “cold war” though the russians do not even appear in the plot, which is another point of interest of “Edge of Darkness”, because it is almost impossible to find another spy movie/book/series from that time where the russians are not the “bad ones”.
Another point of interest is the music, which was composed by Michael Kamen and Eric Clapton, that collaborated later in the Lethal Weapon series too.
The series was received with enthusiasm, both by the critics and the public.
In 2010 was released the american remake, directed by Martin Campbell again, but with a totally different cast and crew. Starred by Mel Gibson, it simplifies the plot to reduce the original series’ 317 minutes into the 117 minutes of the movie. In the way the plot looses deepness and interest, but, of course, wins in rhythm and action. But that may be one of the problems of the movie, some action scenes (especially Craven’s kidnapping) don’t make any sense; evidently some clever mind decided that it was necessary to put a little more action than in the original series.
The saddest thing of the movie remake is the loose of importance of Jedburgh’s character, one of the great achievements of the original series. Not only Jedburgh, the interaction between Craven and the rest of the characters gives the best moments of the series; in the movie, Craven fights almost alone against the “bad ones”.
As a curiosity mention that the main character Craven, changes its first name from Ronnie, in the brittish original, to Tom in the american remake.
[SPOILERS AHEAD] Another interesting analysis, but more for sociologists, is about the depiction of the “bad ones” in the series and the movie; whilst in the series the responsible for the death of Craven’s daughter is a company that is manufacturing secretly and illegally plutonium, in the movie the same company (Northmoor) is producing nuclear bombs to be used by someone unknown pretending to be terrorists.
And one last change is the name of the terrorist organisation that Craven’s daughter is part of; in the original it is called “Gaia”, after the hypothesis by James Lovelock; in the movie the name is “Night Flower”, which is far less strong and powerful than “Gaia”.
In the end I strongly advise to watch both the series and the movie; the series because it shows that there was always interesting things on the television; and the television because, besides it is not a despicable movie, it will be interesting to see the differences that 25 years, another country and another format have brought.
Edge of Darkness is an original mini-series filmed by the BBC in 1985. Writen by Troy Kennedy Martin and directed by Martin Campbell (who later became specialized in James Bond movies (Goldeneye, Casino Royale) and blockbusters (like the two parts of “el Zorro”).
The film depicts the quest of a policemen, Ronnie Craven, to find the killers of his daughter. What in the beginning appears to be an accidental murder by someone who tried to have revenge on the policeman, becomes far more complex, involving secret agents from the UK and the USA, the government and dark companies with secret interests.
Bob Peck, a theater actor, shines as Ronald Craven, as well as Joanne Whaley as his daughter Emma. The rest of the cast are at the same level. But is the character Darius Jedburgh, played by Joe Don Baker, who steals the show in almost every scene.
The writer, Troy Kennedy Martin, said about “Edge of Darkness”: “I am writing this story about a detective who turns into a tree” [Wikipedia], ending that he actually did write; but in the end it was changed to the ending finally shot. Kennedy Martin was influenced by the political clima of the time; the “thatcherism” can be almost felt; as well as the “cold war” though the russians do not even appear in the plot, which is another point of interest of “Edge of Darkness”, because it is almost impossible to find another spy movie/book/series from that time where the russians are not the “bad ones”.
Another point of interest is the music, which was composed by Michael Kamen and Eric Clapton, that collaborated later in the Lethal Weapon series too.
The series was received with enthusiasm, both by the critics and the public.
In 2010 was released the american remake, directed by Martin Campbell again, but with a totally different cast and crew. Starred by Mel Gibson, it simplifies the plot to reduce the original series’ 317 minutes into the 117 minutes of the movie. In the way the plot looses deepness and interest, but, of course, wins in rhythm and action. But that may be one of the problems of the movie, some action scenes (especially Craven’s kidnapping) don’t make any sense; evidently some clever mind decided that it was necessary to put a little more action than in the original series.
The saddest thing of the movie remake is the loose of importance of Jedburgh’s character, one of the great achievements of the original series. Not only Jedburgh, the interaction between Craven and the rest of the characters gives the best moments of the series; in the movie, Craven fights almost alone against the “bad ones”.
As a curiosity mention that the main character Craven, changes its first name from Ronnie, in the brittish original, to Tom in the american remake.
[SPOILERS AHEAD] Another interesting analysis, but more for sociologists, is about the depiction of the “bad ones” in the series and the movie; whilst in the series the responsible for the death of Craven’s daughter is a company that is manufacturing secretly and illegally plutonium, in the movie the same company (Northmoor) is producing nuclear bombs to be used by someone unknown pretending to be terrorists.
And one last change is the name of the terrorist organisation that Craven’s daughter is part of; in the original it is called “Gaia”, after the hypothesis by James Lovelock; in the movie the name is “Night Flower”, which is far less strong and powerful than “Gaia”.
In the end I strongly advise to watch both the series and the movie; the series because it shows that there was always interesting things on the television; and the television because, besides it is not a despicable movie, it will be interesting to see the differences that 25 years, another country and another format have brought.
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