CHUD.com Community › Forums › THE MAIN SEWER › CHUD.COM Main › SEE ERIC STOLTZ AS MARTY MCFLY
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

SEE ERIC STOLTZ AS MARTY MCFLY - Page 2

post #51 of 74
10/13/10 at 1:39am
Yeah, and in that four seconds it looked like he was having a difficult time trying to find the commissary, not trying to figure out what time era he was in.
Reply
post #52 of 74
10/13/10 at 4:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Clark View Post
To be fair to Stolz, some of you are reading WAY too far into how he played these scenes based on about 4 total seconds of footage.
He got fired didn"t he? Obviously they thought his performance was bringing the picture down. And I doubt this Zemeckis giving bad direction since everyone in the final version brings their A game even down to the very minor characters. Lea Thompson had an interview where she mentioned that she knew something was wrong when the cast had a table read and at the end Stoltz was asked what he thought and he said he thought it was a tragic story.
Reply
post #53 of 74
10/13/10 at 9:59am
The thing is, it's nearly impossible to make that judgment from 4 seconds of footage of him running and looking surprised.
Reply
post #54 of 74
10/13/10 at 11:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dontEATnachos View Post
The thing is, it's nearly impossible to make that judgment from 4 seconds of footage of him running and looking surprised.
Right, but we already know the reason. History has made the judgment. So whether they show us 4 seconds or the entire 5 weeks of footage, we kind of know his choices as an actor were wrong on this particular movie. And the footage gives a tiny glimpse of that is all. I know there"s Eric Stoltz fans here but nobody re-casts 5 weeks into a picture unless their performance is unsalvageable. Imagine if the internet existed? There'd be petitions to shut the movie down.
Reply
post #55 of 74
10/13/10 at 12:04pm
The point is, there is not enough footage to make an INDEPENDENT assessment of their call. Given that it was 25 years ago now, memories are bound to be fuzzy and subject to change over time.

What is presented provides nothing to either dispute or prove their their call. And I'm not saying they made the wrong call, just that what we've been presented doesn't really change much except showing us the tiniest glimpse. It would really take more footage for us to reach that decision on our own.

Again, I am generally happy to accept their side of the story, the final product turned out great. BUT if the goal is for me to SEE why they made their decision, that hasn't happened.
Reply
post #56 of 74
10/13/10 at 1:15pm
Reply
post #57 of 74
10/13/10 at 6:33pm
I can't watch videos at work and I'm an HD DVD owner so can't get this upcoming disc (will get BR sooner or later), but as a long time BTTF fan, this is exciting news as this is footage I've longed to see for most of my adult life. Five weeks is quite a long time to film before reshooting, I wonder how much Stoltz footage exists? Could you ever recut the film with him in it, for at least the first 40 minutes or so? I don't know if they shot in sequence or not, but long ago I saw footage of Stoltz at Twin Pines Mall, so he at least made it up to that key sequence in the film
Reply
post #58 of 74
10/13/10 at 7:26pm
It's funny that sometimes the actor who wasn't the director's first choice ended up making the role legendary, like Fox did with McFly. I remember reading that Indiana Jones was supposed to go to Tom Selleck, but he had committments with Magnum P.I. so he had to back out, and Harrison Ford got the role instead.
Reply
post #59 of 74
10/13/10 at 7:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anger Management View Post
It's funny that sometimes the actor who wasn't the director's first choice ended up making the role legendary, like Fox did with McFly. I remember reading that Indiana Jones was supposed to go to Tom Selleck, but he had committments with Magnum P.I. so he had to back out, and Harrison Ford got the role instead.
Well, in that case my understanding is that Ford was considered early on, but Lucas objected saying that he didn't want Ford to become his "Bobby DeNiro". When Selleck dropped out, Mr Spielberg insisted Ford get a second chance
Reply
post #60 of 74
10/13/10 at 7:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anger Management View Post
It's funny that sometimes the actor who wasn't the director's first choice ended up making the role legendary, like Fox did with McFly. I remember reading that Indiana Jones was supposed to go to Tom Selleck, but he had committments with Magnum P.I. so he had to back out, and Harrison Ford got the role instead.
Not quite the case with Marty McFly. From Wikipedia:
Quote:
Michael J. Fox was the first choice to play Marty McFly, but he was committed to the show Family Ties.[8] Family Ties producer Gary David Goldberg felt that Fox was essential to the show's success, particularly with costar Meredith Baxter on maternity leave, and refused to allow him time off to work on a film. Back to the Future was scheduled for May 1985 and it was late 1984 when it was learned that Fox would be unable to star in the film.[4] Zemeckis' next two choices were C. Thomas Howell and Eric Stoltz, the latter of whom impressed the producers enough with his portrayal of Roy L. Dennis in Mask – which had yet to be released – that they selected him to play Marty McFly.[2] Because of the difficult casting process, the start date was pushed back twice.[9]

Four weeks into filming, Zemeckis decided Stoltz was miscast. Although he and Spielberg realized reshooting the film would add $3 million to the $14 million budget, they decided to recast. Spielberg explained Zemeckis felt Stoltz was too humorless and gave a "terrifically dramatic performance". Gale further explained they felt Stoltz was simply acting out the role, whereas Fox himself had a personality like Marty McFly. He felt Stoltz was uncomfortable riding a skateboard, whereas Fox was not. Stoltz confessed to director Peter Bogdanovich during a phone call, two weeks into the shoot, that he was unsure of Zemeckis and Gale's direction, and concurred that he was wrong for the role.[4]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art Decade View Post
Hahahahahaha, that image just looks SO wrong. Fox has become so iconic in the role that it's wrinkles my brain to see someone else in that spot. That photo just looks like a stranger is standing next to Marty's brother and sister thinking, "Are you my family?" His older brother poses like a 5 year old.
Reply
post #61 of 74
10/13/10 at 7:58pm
Folks on Twitter who've got review copies are saying what's in the clip is all there is of Stoltz on the Blu-rays.
Reply
post #62 of 74
10/13/10 at 8:00pm
Drat. wadew1 was right. wadew1 is always right... (sulks off)
Reply
post #63 of 74
10/14/10 at 1:06am
All this talk about "the laughs" and "comedic sensibilities". Can anyone expalin exactly what was comedic about Michael J. Fox in BTTF? All my years I always looked at it as a great adventure film with some humorous moments with Doc Brown but I don't find anything comedic about Marty McFly. Could someone elaborate on his "comedic sensibilities"?
Reply
post #64 of 74
10/14/10 at 1:10am
Michael J. Fox's performance simply had a spazzy energy that served the comedic sensibilities of the entire film well. I think it was simply a particular vibe he gave off as an actor that worked really well with Christopher Lloyd and the story. What Stoltz had seemed to be combating what Zemeckis was going for.

Seeing as how Fox was Zemeckis' first choice to begin with, perhaps he tried to get a MJF performance out of someone who was not a MJF.
Reply
post #65 of 74
10/14/10 at 1:59am
Stoltz played it as a straight sci-fi flick; either the comedy didn't make sense to him or he figured playing it smaller against such a broad concept (The Zeppo to the story's Groucho), but I also can't really say that he looked bad in that clip, just that he looks like he thinks he's in a different movie. Like Bob Gale says, he was probably giving "a fine dramatic performance," except that the film's a comedy.
Reply
post #66 of 74
10/14/10 at 9:53pm
Tomorrow's EW:

Reply
post #67 of 74
10/14/10 at 10:02pm
Motherboy XXX!!!

EDIT: I know they've pulled a bit of retouchin' on Lea Thompson, but she's aged pretty well. She looks like how I imagine Helen Hunt would've aged.
Reply
post #68 of 74
10/14/10 at 10:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcnooj82 View Post
Drat. wadew1 was right. wadew1 is always right... (sulks off)
I wanted to be wrong!
I don't think we'll ever see any significant Stoltz footage, though. In the old Devin article, Zemeckis seemed annoyed that he even had to include those little snippets. And studios don't like to dwell on mistakes like that.
Reply
post #69 of 74
10/14/10 at 10:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wadew1 View Post
Zemeckis seemed annoyed that he even had to include those little snippets. And studios don't like to dwell on mistakes like that.
It was 30 years ago! Unless Stoltz is really embarrassed by it or uncomfortable with it, I say put it out there. It's film history.
Reply
post #70 of 74
10/14/10 at 11:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zak chase View Post
It was 30 years ago! Unless Stoltz is really embarrassed by it or uncomfortable with it, I say put it out there. It's film history.
I'm sure he's just doing it out of respect for Stoltz. I'm sure he doesn't care, and I'm sure Stoltz doesn't care, but he probably thinks Stoltz cares. You know? That could be it. I don't think it's even a studio thing. I just think it's his sole decision.

Also, he just wants to talk about and present the movie he actually made but all people care about and want to ask about the Stoltz footage. I can understand why he'd be annoyed in that sense.

Still, I'd kill a man to see that recut and shown in all its glory.
Reply
post #71 of 74
10/15/10 at 12:03am
He also probably doesn't want people second guessing him. How sucky would it be to have people 25 years later look at a decision you made and then pelt you with questions about why you made it?
Reply
post #72 of 74
10/15/10 at 4:52am
Michael J. Fox Recreates the Classic 'Back to the Future' Teaser Trailer

Fuck yea!!!
Reply
post #73 of 74
10/15/10 at 11:35am
Video from the EW photo shoot.

Lea looks pretty damn good.
Reply
post #74 of 74
10/15/10 at 12:05pm
Oh my... the dimples! I'm verklempt!
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: CHUD.COM Main
CHUD.com Community › Forums › THE MAIN SEWER › CHUD.COM Main › SEE ERIC STOLTZ AS MARTY MCFLY