Post by Subspace on Feb 11, 2007 17:36:27 GMT -5
So I know we've been talking on and off about ISDoJ over the past few days but I wanted to post a more concise 'summary review' of it and open it for comments.
As follows:
1) Barbara Eden still looks great in the harem outfit! It's hard to believe, but she doesn't really look any worse in the harem outfit in 1991 than she did in the harem outfit in the 1960's (during the original series).
2) Barbara looks a lot older (i.e. her age shows) when she's wearing anything else, though. The hair was especially obvious - I thought they might have considered using a wig, to make Barbara's age less obvious.
3) During the original series, it was apparent that I Dream of Jeannie was not a series that was particularly concerned with maintaining continuity. An obvious example is Jeannie's Season 1 and Season 5 inability to be photographed, yet getting photographed multiple times in various episodes in the intervening seasons. Another example is a Season 1 episode where Tony Nelson's car, at the beginning of the episode, is unavailable since it's "in the shop, being repaired". At the end of the episode, his car is still unavailable since it's still "in the shop". Yet, in the middle of the episode, Tony drives his car home from NASA - apparently the writers had temporarily forgotten that Tony's car was in the shop!
But the original series' continuity errors were never that bad, and at least the premise and plot of each episode was, mostly, logical. In the movie, however...
CONTINUITY ERROR: In I Still Dream of Jeannie, T.J. has no powers at all - even though he had powers in the earlier made-for-TV reunion movie (I Dream of Jeannie - 15 Years Later), and even though he is still stated as being "half-djinn" in I Still Dream of Jeannie.
CONTINUITY ERROR: Without explanation, Haji, which the series and IDOJ - 15 Years Later establish to be the leader of all the djinn/genies, is gone and is apparently replaced by someone called 'Shamir'.
CONTINUITY/LOGIC ERROR: The sacred scroll 'three moons' clause. Are we to assume that Tony Nelson, one of NASA's premier astronauts as per the original series, has never remained in space for over 3 months before? One would assume that even on a non-secret/non-classified extended space mission, he wouldn't have wanted Jeannie to visit him up in space, or blink him back to Earth (additionally, see below - even if before Jeannie knew where Tony was in theory, she wouldn't be able to blink to him because she wouldn't have his exact coordinates/whereabouts, which the movie says is necessary for her to blink to him or blink him over. Even in the space station, for example, Tony'd be whizzing along at a very high speed). Wouldn't the issue of the clause have come up then?
LOGIC ERROR: Besides - even if for some reason the issue of the clause never had reason to come up before, why couldn't Jeannie try looking for Tony after learning about the rule from Shamir? Roger could have helped her with that - there's only a finite amount of places Tony could be in, after all, last I heard real-life NASA (and IDOJ NASA as well) hadn't developed FTL drives in 1991, or developed a means of sending live people (i.e. astronauts) beyond the Moon. Tony's either on the Moon, or he's on the space station, in orbit. And based on the type of rocket that was used to launch Tony (and Roger saw the rocket lift-off so he'd know what class it was), it should be easy for Roger to determine where Tony was headed.
LOGIC/CONTINUITY ERROR: In the series, Jeannie never needed to know where Tony was in order to 'blink' him or blink to him... she just needed to think of him and blink. Even assuming that this ability does not extend to deep space, one of the central plotpoints of the movie is Jeannie and Roger's attempts to retrieve Tony's file from General Westcott's office. Even if they had been able to retrieve that file, the file would only have general information on the goals of his mission and his general whereabouts (e.g. orbiting the Moon, high orbit of Earth, etc.). It would be impossible for that file to have the exact coordinates for Tony, since no matter where he is, it's almost impossible for him to be sitting still, not moving. And since Jeannie apparently needs to know his exact location to blink to him or blink him back, getting the file would hence be useless. (Even in a scenario where Tony was on a secret moon base and hence stationary, the file wouldn't convey where the base was. Hence the file would still be useless.)
LOGIC ERROR: Why did Jeannie never simply blink into General Westcott's office? She knows where his office is located. Why did she have to physically walk up to the outer door, blink through, and physically open the inner door and then enter? Seems like it'd be easier if she simply blinked in, in miniature. If she would have tried blinking in, she wouldn't have had to find all sorts of ridiculous methods and excuses for being in Westcott's office, and getting Westcott out - she could have simply blinked in during the night. And she wouldn't have had to worry about leaving behind a train of witnesses who might remember seeing her walk up to the General's office, either. How about surveillance cameras, you ask? Well, what's the difference between an unauthorized entry during the daytime - which Jeannie tried multiple times, without getting caught - and an unauthorized blink-in entry during the nighttime? Obviously, surveillance cameras weren't an issue. Besides, genies aren't photographable.
Oh, and the ridiculous methods were themselves illogical, too. I mean, come on, telling the other ladies that there was tape in General Westcott's office, which she could get? Wouldn't it make more sense for any of them to ask a secretary for some tape? Even more illogically, the other ladies thought - or seemed to think - that Jeannie's idea was a good one.
LOGIC ERROR: Why did Jeannie blink more cigars for Westcott? Westcott wasn't nice to her, for one thing, and her action might get her in trouble, for another thing, and if Tony knew, he'd be mad too, for a third thing, because it would be yet another suspicious thing around NASA. For a fourth thing, giving Westcott those cigars didn't benefit Jeannie in any way. For a fifth thing, it isn't like Jeannie to do free favors for someone she's mad at.
LOGIC ERROR: The lack of security. If all those top-secret files were in General Westcott's office, from the Xenon file to Tony Nelson's file, then there's no way Westcott's wife would be allowed to carry a key to her husband's office. I mean, her having a key would allow her access to those top-secret classified documents. I just don't see the government - or Westcott - allowing Westcott's wife to have a key to the office. Moreover, if perchance Westcott did give his wife a key (through unauthorized means), Westcott's wife would certainly know better than to give/lend the key to anyone else - or even let anyone else know she had the key.
LOGIC ERROR: The lack of security. Westcott has an alarm button under his desk that's wired to set off alarms all over NASA, but when the alarm is actually triggered, no security forces respond? I would have thought that there would be ample security staff 24/7 at the Space Center, ready to respond in just the event that an alarm like Westcott's was triggered. But instead, we have to wait until the regular cops get in. If the cops hadn't already been heading toward the Space Center, it would have taken them so long to get there that any thief would have been long gone. As it was, by the time the cops had gotten there, Jeannie and T.J. had already gotten out of the complex, *after* solving a stand-off with the bad guys. This seems to be piss-poor security.
CONTINUITY ERROR: Since when did Mesopotamia become the place where genies that are 'abandoned' by their Masters go? In the series, whenever there was a problem with Jeannie staying with Tony, she was always going to be pulled back into 'limbo'. She never mentioned that 'limbo' was actually 'Mesopotamia'.
LOGIC ERROR: If, as Shamir says, even he cannot go against the sacred scrolls, how come he can give Jeannie an extension of a fortnight?
LOGIC ERROR: Taping private stuff like passwords and keys under the desk is the oldest trick in the book. I can't believe General Westcott would rely on such a device to provide security for all of those top-secret files in his office.
LOGIC ERROR: The lack of security. There's so little security around and in Westcott's office, he'd be court-martialed for not adequately safeguarding top-secret documents. Even those two inept crooks were able to get in and remove a file and get out, without being caught.
LOGIC ERROR: Jeannie II not being able to go to the 'plane of reality' unless Jeannie I returns to Mesopotamia/Limbo forever. Since when did that become a rule? Not only is it arguably against continuity, it certainly doesn't make any logical sense.
CONTINUITY ERROR: In ISDoJ, Shamir refers to Jeannie II as a genie who has never had a Master. However, in the original IDOJ series, Jeannie II is clearly stated to have a Master... we even see her Master on screen.
LOGIC ERROR: Searching for a new temporary Master. I find it hard to believe that after being married to Tony Nelson, an astronaut, since 1970, Jeannie knows no single adult male who could be a temporary Master. After being married for over 30 years it stands to reason that Jeannie would be out and about in the world for the last 30 years and naturally she should know quite a few people, including single men.
CONTINUITY/LOGIC ERROR: Since when can a genie only have a male Master that is single and over 21? Plus, definitions of 'adulthood' have varied over the ages and in the era of ancient Baghdad and ancient Babylon where the genies still reside, I don't think the age of adulthood was 21 as it is today in the U.S. Why would the definition happen to set 21 as the age of adulthood?
LOGIC ERROR: So Jeannie does not know any viable candidate. She then sets out and tries to search for someone willing. She does a random search. I mean, how wise is that? She might very well get a Master who turns out to be like Roger Healey when he first realized she was a genie... a greedy, inconsiderate person who works her to death and would be unwilling to return her to Tony after he returns. There is also the fact that whoever she picks to be 'Master' would have to move in with her and T.J. and would then also become T.J.'s temporary Dad. So clearly not just anyone will do... it should require a lot of caution in selecting a suitable person. But she just went out and apparently thought just anyone would do. Even if Jeannie forgot the problems of finding a Master who turns out bad, Roger and T.J. should have known and reminded her to be careful. Any identified candidate should be screened thoroughly and put through 'sample situations' where he sees a genie (put him in a situation where he sees and opens a bottle and an apparent genie comes out)... see how the guy reacts. If he reacts unfavorably, erase his memory and send him on his way. If everything seems good then ask him.
4) The ending was bad. It should have ended with Tony returning and a joyful reunion. Or it should have at least ended after the school principal finds out Jeannie is a genie and turns out to be a good guy. I thought the place where it ended was really abrupt and surprising.
As follows:
1) Barbara Eden still looks great in the harem outfit! It's hard to believe, but she doesn't really look any worse in the harem outfit in 1991 than she did in the harem outfit in the 1960's (during the original series).
2) Barbara looks a lot older (i.e. her age shows) when she's wearing anything else, though. The hair was especially obvious - I thought they might have considered using a wig, to make Barbara's age less obvious.
3) During the original series, it was apparent that I Dream of Jeannie was not a series that was particularly concerned with maintaining continuity. An obvious example is Jeannie's Season 1 and Season 5 inability to be photographed, yet getting photographed multiple times in various episodes in the intervening seasons. Another example is a Season 1 episode where Tony Nelson's car, at the beginning of the episode, is unavailable since it's "in the shop, being repaired". At the end of the episode, his car is still unavailable since it's still "in the shop". Yet, in the middle of the episode, Tony drives his car home from NASA - apparently the writers had temporarily forgotten that Tony's car was in the shop!
But the original series' continuity errors were never that bad, and at least the premise and plot of each episode was, mostly, logical. In the movie, however...
CONTINUITY ERROR: In I Still Dream of Jeannie, T.J. has no powers at all - even though he had powers in the earlier made-for-TV reunion movie (I Dream of Jeannie - 15 Years Later), and even though he is still stated as being "half-djinn" in I Still Dream of Jeannie.
CONTINUITY ERROR: Without explanation, Haji, which the series and IDOJ - 15 Years Later establish to be the leader of all the djinn/genies, is gone and is apparently replaced by someone called 'Shamir'.
CONTINUITY/LOGIC ERROR: The sacred scroll 'three moons' clause. Are we to assume that Tony Nelson, one of NASA's premier astronauts as per the original series, has never remained in space for over 3 months before? One would assume that even on a non-secret/non-classified extended space mission, he wouldn't have wanted Jeannie to visit him up in space, or blink him back to Earth (additionally, see below - even if before Jeannie knew where Tony was in theory, she wouldn't be able to blink to him because she wouldn't have his exact coordinates/whereabouts, which the movie says is necessary for her to blink to him or blink him over. Even in the space station, for example, Tony'd be whizzing along at a very high speed). Wouldn't the issue of the clause have come up then?
LOGIC ERROR: Besides - even if for some reason the issue of the clause never had reason to come up before, why couldn't Jeannie try looking for Tony after learning about the rule from Shamir? Roger could have helped her with that - there's only a finite amount of places Tony could be in, after all, last I heard real-life NASA (and IDOJ NASA as well) hadn't developed FTL drives in 1991, or developed a means of sending live people (i.e. astronauts) beyond the Moon. Tony's either on the Moon, or he's on the space station, in orbit. And based on the type of rocket that was used to launch Tony (and Roger saw the rocket lift-off so he'd know what class it was), it should be easy for Roger to determine where Tony was headed.
LOGIC/CONTINUITY ERROR: In the series, Jeannie never needed to know where Tony was in order to 'blink' him or blink to him... she just needed to think of him and blink. Even assuming that this ability does not extend to deep space, one of the central plotpoints of the movie is Jeannie and Roger's attempts to retrieve Tony's file from General Westcott's office. Even if they had been able to retrieve that file, the file would only have general information on the goals of his mission and his general whereabouts (e.g. orbiting the Moon, high orbit of Earth, etc.). It would be impossible for that file to have the exact coordinates for Tony, since no matter where he is, it's almost impossible for him to be sitting still, not moving. And since Jeannie apparently needs to know his exact location to blink to him or blink him back, getting the file would hence be useless. (Even in a scenario where Tony was on a secret moon base and hence stationary, the file wouldn't convey where the base was. Hence the file would still be useless.)
LOGIC ERROR: Why did Jeannie never simply blink into General Westcott's office? She knows where his office is located. Why did she have to physically walk up to the outer door, blink through, and physically open the inner door and then enter? Seems like it'd be easier if she simply blinked in, in miniature. If she would have tried blinking in, she wouldn't have had to find all sorts of ridiculous methods and excuses for being in Westcott's office, and getting Westcott out - she could have simply blinked in during the night. And she wouldn't have had to worry about leaving behind a train of witnesses who might remember seeing her walk up to the General's office, either. How about surveillance cameras, you ask? Well, what's the difference between an unauthorized entry during the daytime - which Jeannie tried multiple times, without getting caught - and an unauthorized blink-in entry during the nighttime? Obviously, surveillance cameras weren't an issue. Besides, genies aren't photographable.
Oh, and the ridiculous methods were themselves illogical, too. I mean, come on, telling the other ladies that there was tape in General Westcott's office, which she could get? Wouldn't it make more sense for any of them to ask a secretary for some tape? Even more illogically, the other ladies thought - or seemed to think - that Jeannie's idea was a good one.
LOGIC ERROR: Why did Jeannie blink more cigars for Westcott? Westcott wasn't nice to her, for one thing, and her action might get her in trouble, for another thing, and if Tony knew, he'd be mad too, for a third thing, because it would be yet another suspicious thing around NASA. For a fourth thing, giving Westcott those cigars didn't benefit Jeannie in any way. For a fifth thing, it isn't like Jeannie to do free favors for someone she's mad at.
LOGIC ERROR: The lack of security. If all those top-secret files were in General Westcott's office, from the Xenon file to Tony Nelson's file, then there's no way Westcott's wife would be allowed to carry a key to her husband's office. I mean, her having a key would allow her access to those top-secret classified documents. I just don't see the government - or Westcott - allowing Westcott's wife to have a key to the office. Moreover, if perchance Westcott did give his wife a key (through unauthorized means), Westcott's wife would certainly know better than to give/lend the key to anyone else - or even let anyone else know she had the key.
LOGIC ERROR: The lack of security. Westcott has an alarm button under his desk that's wired to set off alarms all over NASA, but when the alarm is actually triggered, no security forces respond? I would have thought that there would be ample security staff 24/7 at the Space Center, ready to respond in just the event that an alarm like Westcott's was triggered. But instead, we have to wait until the regular cops get in. If the cops hadn't already been heading toward the Space Center, it would have taken them so long to get there that any thief would have been long gone. As it was, by the time the cops had gotten there, Jeannie and T.J. had already gotten out of the complex, *after* solving a stand-off with the bad guys. This seems to be piss-poor security.
CONTINUITY ERROR: Since when did Mesopotamia become the place where genies that are 'abandoned' by their Masters go? In the series, whenever there was a problem with Jeannie staying with Tony, she was always going to be pulled back into 'limbo'. She never mentioned that 'limbo' was actually 'Mesopotamia'.
LOGIC ERROR: If, as Shamir says, even he cannot go against the sacred scrolls, how come he can give Jeannie an extension of a fortnight?
LOGIC ERROR: Taping private stuff like passwords and keys under the desk is the oldest trick in the book. I can't believe General Westcott would rely on such a device to provide security for all of those top-secret files in his office.
LOGIC ERROR: The lack of security. There's so little security around and in Westcott's office, he'd be court-martialed for not adequately safeguarding top-secret documents. Even those two inept crooks were able to get in and remove a file and get out, without being caught.
LOGIC ERROR: Jeannie II not being able to go to the 'plane of reality' unless Jeannie I returns to Mesopotamia/Limbo forever. Since when did that become a rule? Not only is it arguably against continuity, it certainly doesn't make any logical sense.
CONTINUITY ERROR: In ISDoJ, Shamir refers to Jeannie II as a genie who has never had a Master. However, in the original IDOJ series, Jeannie II is clearly stated to have a Master... we even see her Master on screen.
LOGIC ERROR: Searching for a new temporary Master. I find it hard to believe that after being married to Tony Nelson, an astronaut, since 1970, Jeannie knows no single adult male who could be a temporary Master. After being married for over 30 years it stands to reason that Jeannie would be out and about in the world for the last 30 years and naturally she should know quite a few people, including single men.
CONTINUITY/LOGIC ERROR: Since when can a genie only have a male Master that is single and over 21? Plus, definitions of 'adulthood' have varied over the ages and in the era of ancient Baghdad and ancient Babylon where the genies still reside, I don't think the age of adulthood was 21 as it is today in the U.S. Why would the definition happen to set 21 as the age of adulthood?
LOGIC ERROR: So Jeannie does not know any viable candidate. She then sets out and tries to search for someone willing. She does a random search. I mean, how wise is that? She might very well get a Master who turns out to be like Roger Healey when he first realized she was a genie... a greedy, inconsiderate person who works her to death and would be unwilling to return her to Tony after he returns. There is also the fact that whoever she picks to be 'Master' would have to move in with her and T.J. and would then also become T.J.'s temporary Dad. So clearly not just anyone will do... it should require a lot of caution in selecting a suitable person. But she just went out and apparently thought just anyone would do. Even if Jeannie forgot the problems of finding a Master who turns out bad, Roger and T.J. should have known and reminded her to be careful. Any identified candidate should be screened thoroughly and put through 'sample situations' where he sees a genie (put him in a situation where he sees and opens a bottle and an apparent genie comes out)... see how the guy reacts. If he reacts unfavorably, erase his memory and send him on his way. If everything seems good then ask him.
4) The ending was bad. It should have ended with Tony returning and a joyful reunion. Or it should have at least ended after the school principal finds out Jeannie is a genie and turns out to be a good guy. I thought the place where it ended was really abrupt and surprising.
As far as Barbara, I think she felt that her role was just to act, she left everything else up to the writers and the producers. As Patterson Lundquist mentioned in another thread recently, Bill Daily when he first looked over the script mentioned that Jeannie never needed to know where Tony was to blink to him or blink him over... he said that basing the entire plot of the movie on that point, which was in violation of series continuity, was sort of dumb... well, everyone else, including Barbara, just stared back at him and made no comments.
