7.
The Naked Gun
Based on “Police Squad”
It has been quite some time since I last watched The Naked Gun, but it’s a movie I have fond memories of and still remember my friends and I quoting it back when it first was released. It’s a comedy that speaks differently to all ages. Just thinking about it now makes me want to watch it again, knowing I probably won’t laugh at the same spots as I did when I first saw it and will probably laugh at moments I didn’t even get when I was younger.
6.
Traffic
I only remembered Traffic was based on the Australian TV mini-series “Traffik” in the process of putting this list together and on top of that, you can watch all six episodes of the show over at IMDb. To read the synopsis for the mini-series, the storylines are virtually identical, but it also is fascinating to not the similarities and still realize just how well Stephen Gaghan adapted the story for the United States… not that it was all that hard:
The Hamburg police arrest an international businessman, charging him with smuggling heroin from Pakistan. While he’s on trial, his trophy wife, a former Olympic swimmer, discovers steely ruthlessness within herself. In Pakistan, the British home minister tours the poppy-eradication project and returns to London to find that his daughter is a heroin addict. While trying to save her, and helped by a crusading attorney, he learns the limits of government policy. Fazal, a peasant burned off his land where he farmed poppies, goes to Karachi and works for Tarik Butt, a murderous drug lord. Fazal’s frankness and sense of worth are his strength and his liability. Stories cross and collide.
Unfortunately I couldn’t find any video from the original to accompany this write-up, but you can watch the complete mini-series at IMDb.
5.
The Fugitive
Based on “The Fugitive”
I think one of the most interesting things about The Fugitive has little to do with the fact it was based on a television show and more to do with not only was this action-thriller nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, but it actually earned Tommy Lee Jones and Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor. Looking back at some of the decisions made by the Academy it is only appropriate we throw our hands up in disgust at some of the awards they hand out and nominees they snub, it feels like eons ago when you could actually consider a film like The Fugitive would get a Best Picture nomination in a field of only five or a film like Silence of the Lambs could actually win. Genre features are a large part of the cinematic landscape nowadays and quality ones at that, and yet do you ever expect the Academy to notice? I don’t.
4.
Heat
Based on “L.A. Takedown”
Michael Mann may have disappointed in bringing Miami Vice to the big screen, but when he adapted his 1989 made-for-television movie “L.A. Takedown” into Heat he scored a winner and delivered one of the best heist films I’ve ever seen. I know some may say including this is a bit of a cheat considering it wasn’t a television series per se, but I felt it fit the list. If you think it doesn’t fit feel free to pretend it’s not even here.
It’s interesting, though, depending on where you read this was either originally intended to be a pilot episode for a television series that never came to pass, or Mann’s attempt at getting the story told in some way so it could be made into a feature film. Nevertheless, Mann was so upset with the way NBC cut the original TV feature down he disowned it, telling NBC, “You can call it a Michael Smithee or an Alan Mann movie” – but not a Michael Mann movie.
As for the clip I included from “L.A. Takedown” above, you can watch the remade armored car sequence from Heat right here if you’d like to do a little comparing.
