Would you believe that the new movie adaptation of “Get Smart” was originally intended to have a made-for-DVD sequel? Well, it appears they missed it by…that much. Based on a release schedule that was going to have it released to DVD ten days after the movie premiere, it’s nowhere to be seen on Amazon.com–nor any press releases that it’ll be released at all. Perhaps it’s better for the sake of art and the satiric dignity of “Get Smart” that may be smeared anyway with the movie version. On the other hand, the idea behind the straight-to-DVD sequel has some interesting possibilities and was intended as part of a media plan concocted by Warner Brothers.
When reports were out a year ago (see here for one: http://geeksofdoom.com/2007/04/20/get-smart-gets-smarter-dvd-sequel/) that there would be a DVD sequel to “Get Smart”, it probably generated some interest considering the cast has the popular Masi Oka from “Heroes” playing his first movie role as a tech guy who will be a background character in the first “Get Smart” feature. Hearts may have sunk, though, when they saw the very contrived title to the DVD sequel: “Get Smarter: Bruce & Lloyd…Out of Control.” Add to that Oka having a geek sidekick named Lloyd (played by Nate Torrence) and you probably had some mixed feelings from not only “Get Smart” fans but also Warner Brothers themselves who don’t want to waste their time with a dud in their new DVD sequel arm.
And what an arm it is. Warner calls this new media branch-off their Premiere DVD Division with actually some interesting potential for the straight-to-DVD market. In this sequel, they attempted to get high-minded and once said the intention is to make it akin to the famous Tom Stoppard play “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead” where the background characters in “Hamlet” received the focus for a play. It’s probably safe to say that Bruce and Lloyd aren’t going to be as witty or have a script that’s anywhere near Tom Stoppard level.
Then again, we all should reserve judgment, especially for something so potentially creative with some reported bells and whistles. Apparently Warner Brothers is planning a whole series of DVD sequel tie-ins to other high-profile films from the past and upcoming. For “Get Smarter”, the plan was to have Bruce and Lloyd in various situations that connect to scenes seen in the movie “Get Smart” to fill that sense of curiosity of what characters are doing in the background. If only it dealt with existentialism, art vs. reality or even use a sense of metatheatre that “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead” used to great success on the stage and in its movie adaptation. Imagine the satiric possibilities of these two characters being able to comment on the sequel itself and giving some irony to the proceedings just to make us feel that the $16 we paid to see it bought a little sophistication.
It’s a safe bet that it’s probably a lot of bumbling slapstick and toilet jokes aplenty if still fun just in connecting the scenes from the movie becoming the background. Well, I just sold the DVD, didn’t I? Based on the strange disappearance of “Get Smarter” from press releases, it’s likely now that Warner Brothers figured it was a turkey and didn’t want it to interfere with the success of “Get Smart” in theatres. It’s either that or the production of it was delayed. But that seems unlikely when it was filmed over a year ago according to above media link from spring of 2007.
The creative possibilities of Warner Brothers’ Premiere DVD’s…
According to press releases, Warner Brothers is putting a lot of effort toward making their straight-to-DVD market higher quality than the public has been giving it for the last ten years. Some might blame Disney and their wrong directions of creating DVD sequels to their classic films. Warner Brothers is doing the same thing, though with some interesting features that makes it a bit more creative. An upcoming DVD sequel to the 1999 remake of “House on Haunted Hill” is supposed offer the opportunity to select alternate plotlines and endings.
Sure, that’s been done before, but it’s more effort than usual for straight-to-DVD movies. Of course, it doesn’t mean that a well-written script shouldn’t be top priority. Hopefully my sixth sense that all the DVD gimmicks supersede anything actually well-written is wrong.
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In the meantime, someone will have to track down what exactly happened to “Get Smarter.” For once, maybe a major media corporation lived up to the title of this sequel. But it may just be an anomaly when the Premiere DVD Division’s mission statement is that these DVD sequels will keep the movie counterpart around longer in theatres.
Activate the Cone of Silence…
