Edge of Darkness (1985)
vs. Edge of Darkness (2010)
In late 2009 I remember sitting in the theater and seeing a preview for a film called the Edge of Darkness produced by BBC Films. Since I like alot stuff the BBC puts out I thought this was another one of the British Films released months earlier and already on DVD before it comes out over here simalar to Taken with Liam Neeson in it. What I found out though was that this was a remake of the series produced 1985 with six 55 minute episodes that won six BAFTAs Best Drama/Serial, Best Actor for Bob Peck, Best Original Television Music for Eric Clapton/Michael Kamen, Best Film Cameraman for Andrew Dunn, Best Film Editor for Ardan Fisher/Dan Rae, Film Sound for Dickie Bird/Rob James/Christopher Swantoni/Tony Quinn. So this was one of those titles I kept in my mind for a later purchase. A few months had passed by and my friends wanted to go see a movie with them and there was not much out that weekand except for Edge of Darkness with Mel Gibson. The film was good enough to where I wanted to see the series to see which one I would prefer more and see the differances. The first thing we are going to look at is cast and crew attached to each project.
Cast
Character Ron Craven
Bob Peck
stars as London police detective Ron Craven, whose political-activist daughter is murdered right before his eyes. Meticulously following the trail of clues, Craven uncovers a dark conspiracy involving the government and the powerful American CEO of a nuclear power plant.
vs.
Mel Gibson
Thomas Craven, a single father, has been a Boston homicide detective for many years. His 24-year-old daughter Emma, his only child, is killed on the front steps of his home. At first it appears that Craven was the intended target. He soon uncovers evidence that leads him to think differently, and decides to pursue the information at all costs. He learns his daughter led a secret life that led to her murder. He quickly finds himself confronted with a shadowy world of corporate collusion with government-sanctioned murder.
Alot of plot points and characters were changed for the big screen adaption, but one despite some small changes to him remained pretty much the same was the main character Thomas/Ronald Craven. Bob pulls off the role magnificently right age, right attitude, and more almost as if this role is really who he is, but Mel do not get me wrong a decent performance is trying to hard to pull off a boston accent and more not to mention he seems a little too old for the role. Winner Bob Peck.
Joanne Whalley
vs.
Bojana Novakovic
Emma Craven again not much differance to the character herself, but the actual amount of story given to her in the original series was much larger and played a much more signifigance to the plot of the story. Whalley is an accomplished British actress and this was one of her first roles and she plays Emma wonderfully. Bojana plays Emma well, but the amount of time her character gets for the movie leaves me no choice, but to choose Whalley as the winner.
Zoe Wanamaker
vs.
No One
Zoe plays a character in the tv series called Clementine who does not appear in the film. Clementine is a nice character for the show added as a love interest for Craven is she essential for the story no, but she lightens the mood and keeps Craven from going completely mad. Would she have fit into the movie with the limited time in the film I think Campbell made the right decision not to include her. Even both ways.
Joe Don Baker
vs.
Ray Winstone
Darius Jedburgh is probably the character with the biggest change throughout the tv series and the movie. Baker plays a character that is just a complete jerk that simply wants to use Craven as inside man to find out all the info needed about the mines and what goes on inside with alterior motives without revealing too much. Compared to Winstone's Jedburgh who just wants to find out about what is going on inside and get it revealed and stopped while he seems to be playing part of the role of Clementine as a person to keep Craven sane he is there mostly to shadow and stop craven if he does anything insane. Winner much as I hate to say it Joe Don Baker b ecause in a lot of sense he is the villain of the tv series.
Danny Huston as Jack Bennett is the villain of the film and in a lot of ways his character replaces parts that Jedburgh was in the tv series. I like the direction they went here for the film because you don't want everything the same, but at times he was a little over the top. Jedburgh vs. Bennett as main villain Jedburgh winner.
Other known actors to watch out for in the tv series is John Woodvine who puts in a decent performance as well as Ian McNeice who plays a fairly large roll in the tv series. In the movie they already have all been mentioned.
Directing
Martin Campbell
vs
Martin Campbell
Yes both the tv series and film were directed by Martin Campbell who directed both Bond revamps Goldeneye and Casino Royale. Campbell must of felt like he could of done certain stuff better and it would translate well into a film. All I can say if it is not broken do not touch it. Yes the movie is a decent film, but nowhere near as good as the tv series was he right in changing certain stuff. I will defend on that politics was different back then along with what the world liked.
Original Story
Troy Kennedy Martin
Need I say more as far as I am concerned he is one of the best writers for British TV and film in the histroy of the business. He is like Robert Holmes is for Doctor Who. Writer of such TV classics like ZCars, The Sweeney created by his brother Ian, and Rielly Ace of Spies. As well as the British film classic The Italian Job.
Vs
New Story
William Monahan another accomplished writer of Kingdom of Heaven, Body of Lies, and the Departed within the recent years
Original Plot/Story
Compassionate Leave
On a rainy night, Yorkshire police officer Ronald Craven (Bob Peck) and his daughter Emma (Joanne Whalley), a scientist and environmental activist, are confronted by man with a shotgun just outside of Craven's home. The gunman fatally shoots Emma with both barrels, and then escapes. Because Craven is a detective involved in many ongoing criminal investigations, and having conducted many other investigations in the past, his colleagues almost immediately conclude that he had been the target - the shooter being one of the men Craven had put away years earlier. Emma's death, they believe, was an accident. Going through Emma's belongings, Craven discovers a geiger counter and a gun - the gun clearly registering on the geiger counter, as does a lock of Emma's hair clipped by the pathologist. He also finds a radiation badge marked "IIF" - International Irradiated Fuels, LTD., a British company chartered to store radioactive waste at a low level radioactive waste facility known as "Northmoor". Emma's body and her possessions are also radioactive. Craven begins experiencing visions of his daughter. It is not clear if she is a ghost or a product of his imagination. Convincing his boss that the killer will end up heading for London, Craven heads for the city. There, he is contacted by Pendleton (Charles Kay), a polished official “attached to the Prime Minister's office,” who informs him that Emma was known to the government as a terrorist and that it may have been she, not Craven, who was the gunman's target. Pendelton later receives a visit from CIA agent Darius Jedburgh (Joe Don Baker), an associate who is also aware of Emma's activities.
Into the Shadows
Following the investigation in London, Craven has more intense visions of Emma to which he voices his frustration. Fingerprints on the getaway car used by Emma's killer match that of Lowe, a man Craven arrested ten years earlier. Meanwhile, Pendleton introduces Craven to his colleague, Harcourt (Ian McNeice), who informs him that Emma was a member of a subversive anti-nuclear group called GAIA. A team of six GAIA members, led by Emma, broke into Northmoor on May 8, 1985; all are now either dead or missing. Seeing Craven make a televised appeal for information about Emma's killer, Jedburgh contacts him, and shows Craven the CIA's file on Emma's activities. The file describes how GAIA and the CIA became suspicious of Northmoor when a nearby reservoir had become contaminated with radioactive material, leading them to believe Northmoor was illegally storing plutonium. Jedburgh is played as a hard-bitten professional with a wry sense of humour and an incongruous passion for watching ballroom dancing programmes on television. Along with Harcourt and Pendleton, he is keen to find the source and purpose of the plutonium, but there are signs that he has his own plans for Northmoor.
Burden of Proof
The police close in on their suspect, Lowe (Roy Heather). Although successfully apprehended, Lowe manages to break free, jumping from the window of his building. Dying of his injuries, Lowe tells Craven he was working with McCroon, a terrorist Craven had convicted in Northern Ireland - strengthening the official theory that Ronnie had been the target. Craven meets Emma's boyfriend, Terry "Tell" Shields (Tim McInnerny), a political agitator who is clearly under surveillance. Shields - more a socialist than environmentalist - tells Craven that Emma was investigating a hot cell in Northmoor; Shields is later killed - as is the occupant of a van that had been surveiling his home. Craven meets Harcourt and Pendleton at the House of Commons where an inquiry is taking place into the sale of IIF to "The Fusion Corporation of Kansas", owned by Jerry Grogan (Kenneth Nelson). Pendleton tells Craven that he believes Grogan was behind Emma's death. Craven refuses to testify in the IIF inquiry, but his presence there clearly unsettles Robert Bennet, IIF's managing director. Outside of the hearings, Craven is introduced to Clementine (Zoë Wanamaker), a friend of Jedburgh's. It is "Clemmy" who informs an incredulous Craven that Jedburgh created GAIA. Jedburgh confronts Grogan, warning him to stay out of Northmoor. It is clear both men know each other on hostile terms. Returning to Yorkshire for Emma's funeral, Craven is refused permission to seek a warrant to enter Northmoor - his superiors stubbornly adhere to the theory that Emma was killed by Lowe and McCroon, and suspect Craven of cracking. Returning home, Craven is observed by McCroon (Sean Caffrey).
Breakthrough
McCroon, as Craven had expected, breaks into Craven's house intent on killing him. McCroon, with a shotgun to Craven's head, admits killing Emma while trying to kill Craven. Much like Craven's superiors, McCroon insists the guilt is his own - revenge for Craven's work exploiting and then abandoning informers in Northern Ireland. Craven appears unafraid, certain he can get McCroon to tell him who he is working for but McCroon is shot by a police marksman before he can say anything. Craven is briefly hospitalized when he suffers a breakdown, but he is soon released. Returning home, he finds a list of train stations written by Emma - possibly directions for breaking into Northmoor. Meanwhile, Harcourt and Pendelton investigate the recovery of a woman's body from a reservoir near Northmoor. Though the cause of death was drowning, the body is irradiated. A pathologist will later testify that the body shows signs of having been in proximity to concentrated fissile material, of the kind found in a reprocessing plant, and that this coincided with an exposure to a "criticality accident". With the help of a colleague, Craven gains access to a terminal connected to the MI5 computer. He checks the MI5 records for GAIA, Northmoor and Emma and learns that McCroon was acting on the orders of Northmoor Security. He also obtains a three-dimensional map of Northmoor from the computer, and narrowly avoids arrest with Clemmy's help when Police investigate the security breach. Craven also confronts Godbolt, a mining union functionary whom he had already begun investigating on suspicion of rigging a union election. Godbolt wilts when Craven tells him of his investigations of Northmoor. Godbolt, knowing that disclosure of Northmoor will ruin him, confesses his role in IIF and Emma's death, and the origins of Northmoor. Craven reunites with Jedburgh - who is just returning from a mission in El Salvador - and the two discuss Jedburgh's role in creating GAIA, and Craven's plans to break into Northmoor.
Northmoor
Over breakfast, Grogan informs Bennet of Jedburgh's planned breakin to Northmoor. With the help of Godbolt, Craven and Jedburgh penetrate Northmoor through old mines. Tipped off, IIF security try to flood the tunnels - but this requires tons of water needed to cool their reactor rods. Surviving the floods, Jedburgh and Craven proceed to Northmoor - on the way, they stumble on the irradiated bodies of the GAIA team. Reaching the "hot cell", which sends Craven's geiger counter into a frenzy, the two find the signs of an horrific radiation accident. The bodies of fatally irradiated personnel still lie where they died. Jedburgh, under orders from the CIA, enters the hot cell and steals the plutonium. Meanwhile, at the House of Commons inquiry, Bennett (Hugh Fraser) is forced to admit the presence of plutonium at Northmoor and the deaths of the GAIA team. He had informed neither the police nor the civilian nuclear regulatory authorities of this - in violation of regulations and IIF's charter - because, he says, the plutonium belonged to the Ministry of Defence. Back at Northmoor, as the two intruders escape the hot cell and flee from IIF security forces, Jedburgh gives Ronnie some of the plutonium as evidence, then orders Craven to split from him. Craven - having been warned by Godbolt to stay on his guard about Jedburgh - wants to know what the CIA man intends to do with the rest of the material. Jedburgh, telling Craven that he plans to go to Scotland, reiterates his order at gun point and the two part ways. Craven flees for a bunker - a disused nuclear weapons fire control site. Now feeling the effects of the radiation, and with the IIF forces flooding the bunker with gas, Craven desperately seeks out a working telephone - the only one he can find dials directly to a disused basement at 10 Downing Street. A bemused security guard answers the call as Craven screams "Get me Pendelton!"
Fusion
Craven wakes up in a hospital on an American Air Force base - showing signs of massive radiation poisoning. Jedburgh hasn't been found, and Craven can't tell them where to look. The Americans are searching for Jedburgh as well - but he kills at least 4 agents sent to get him. In Scotland, Jedburgh is also suffering from radiation poisoning, and may be becoming delusional. Rather than golf, Jedburgh's plans in Scotland involve an appearance at a NATO conference on directed energy weapons held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland. Also present at the conference is Grogan who arrives with the news that the British government has approved the purchase of IIF. Before a roused audience, Grogan delivers a coldly passionate address on the power of fusion, invoking the spirit of historic explorers and boldly proclaiming man's destiny to become a "celestial warrior" and establish a "solar empire". The audience of military and civilian officials applauds but Jedburgh, in U.S. Army uniform, takes the podium to denounce Grogan's vision for a nuclear state. Finishing his speech, he gleefully reveals two bars of the plutonium stolen from Northmoor, yelling "Get it while it's hot". The audience, bemused at first, breaks into a panic and flees the room. With only Grogan left, Jedburgh brings together the two bars, causing a criticality accident and irradiating Grogan.
With Clemmy's car, Craven drives to Scotland. His sickness worsening, Craven stops near a stream, where Emma appears. She tells Craven of a time in Earth's distant and frigid past when black flowers grew, warming the Earth and preventing life from becoming extinct. These same black flowers have returned, she says, to save Earth from its latest enemy - mankind. Once the flowers have spread, the absorbed heat will melt the polar icecaps, washing mankind away. Tracking Jedburgh down to a remote country house, Craven learns that the American has weaponized the remaining plutonium. Unbeknownst to both men, a hit squad is nearing the house. Among other things, they carry a coffin shaped box carrying radiation warning labels. Inside the house, the pair have a final rambling conversation - touching the appearance of the black flower, the song "Time of the Preacher" and the likely victor in the battles of good and evil, and between Earth and mankind; Jedburgh is convinced that mankind will find a way to survive, but Craven doubts this, and declares that if it comes to war between mankind and the planet he's on the side of the planet. Jedburgh, expecting the assassins, leaves Craven when they break into the house, determined to get as many as he can, ultimately falling to their bullets; Craven clearly expects them to kill him too, but they spare him, the squad leader pointing out that he's "on our side". Outraged, Craven bellows "I am not on your side!" as they leave.[1]
In the final scene, Pendleton and Harcourt observe IIF's retrieval of the plutonium from a nearby loch, where Jedburgh had hidden it. A voiceover by Harcourt, in the form of a letter to Clemmy concerning the events, reveals that Grogan is also dying from the radiation exposure he received at the hotel. Pendleton and Harcourt spot Craven watching the retrieval operation from a nearby hill. Harcourt laments his inability to comfort Craven, reassure him that Gaia will be safe and that good will triumph over evil - knowing that Craven simply wouldn't believe it. As he watches the recovery team leave the area, and knowing his life is at an end, Craven wails Emma's name one last time.
Time passes. The waves lap against a nameless shore over nights and days. The camera pans against the side of snow covered hill where black flowers bloom, harbingers of Gaia's coming war against mankind.
New Plot/Story
By moonlight, three bodies float to the surface of the Western Massachusetts stretch of the Connecticut River. At South Station, Boston, Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) picks up his daughter, Emma (Bojana Novakovic), who has returned home to visit. She vomits while getting into the car. At home, as Thomas prepares a meal, Emma starts to nosebleed and vomits again, and then says that she needs to see a doctor and tell him something. When they stop at the porch, as they hurriedly leave to find a hospital, a masked gunman yells "Craven!" and then fires simultaneous shotgun blasts at Emma before driving away. Blasted through the door, she dies in Thomas' arms.
At first, everyone believes that Thomas, a police detective, was the gunman's target, but when Thomas finds Emma had a pistol in her night stand, he starts to suspect that Emma was an intended target. He checks the ownership of the pistol and finds that it belongs to her boyfriend David (Shawn Roberts). David fears the company Northmoor where Emma worked, and Thomas discovers that Emma realized that Northmoor was manufacturing nuclear weapons, intended to be traced to foreign nations if they are used as dirty bombs. Following the failed break-in of the activists, Emma was poisoned with thallium through a carton of organic milk. Burning her effects in his backyard, Thomas encounters Jedburgh (Ray Winstone), a "consultant" tasked to prevent Craven from discovering Emma's information, or kill him. Liking each other, instead, Jedburgh leaves Thomas to investigate. Throughout the film, Thomas repeatedly imagines he hears and sees his daughter, even having short conversations and interactions with her.
Thomas also has several encounters with Northmoor mercenaries, and he eventually discovers through Emma's activist contact that Jack Bennett (Danny Huston), head of Northmoor, ordered the murder of his daughter, as well as the activists Emma was working with to steal evidence of the illegal nuclear weapons (the bodies in the opening). Northmoor personnel kill a hitman marked as a fall guy after he is set up for killing Emma's boyfriend, and attempt to murder another activist who gave Emma's information to Thomas. Thomas confronts a lawyer and senator that Emma contacted, revealing that they know almost everything that happened. At night, Northmoor operatives somehow break into Thomas' home, taser and kidnap him, take him to Northmoor, and poison him with thallium, as his daughter was. Thomas manages to quickly escape the facility and returns home.
Ill from the poison, Thomas arrives at Bennett's house and kills the mercenaries, one of whom Thomas realizes is the man who shot his daughter. Bennett shoots Thomas, but Thomas tackles Bennett and pulls out the radioactive milk. He forces it down Bennett's throat and collapses. Bennett runs to his cabinet to get pills to counteract the radioactivity but Tom drags himself over and shoots Bennett in the throat, killing him.
Thomas is hospitalized for the gunshot wounds and radiation poisoning. Jedburgh, who is revealed to be suffering from a terminal illness, meets with Moore, the Senator (for whom he had been working) and the political advisor who assigned Jedburgh to eliminate Craven. He listens to their suggestions as to how to play the Northmoor incident in a positive light. He tells them that he is done and then suggests an assassination attempt on the Senator should be the feature story, to drive Bennett’s death out of the tabloids. They are happy to go along with the story until Jedburgh tells the senator that he is on the wrong side of the equation. Jedburgh then pulls out a gun and shoots all three men dead before a young Massachusetts State Police officer enters. Jedburgh points his gun at the officer and asks if the young man has a family and kids. The officer says yes, so Jedburgh lowers his gun but is instantly shot dead by the officer.
As Thomas lies dying in the hospital, Emma is shown walking into his room and leaning down at his bedside and whisper in his ear. Across town, a young reporter opens a letter from Thomas with DVDs revealing the conspiracy, with Thomas's "good luck" wishes, ensuring the company's end. As he dies, Emma comforts him. Then the father and daughter are shown leaving the hospital together, walking down the corridor (where two seated policemen are waiting, but appear to not notice them) and toward a bright, white light.
Overall because of the length of tv series it really works out for the better of it to develop characters and much more of a feel for it. The movie's story works, but at times stuff is just rushed. Winner the Tv Series.
I am not going to compare the two much anymore and am now going to focus on the TV Series Region 2 DVD release
Edge of Darkness is presented on a two-disc set with the original six episodes complete and unedited. The picture and sound has been improved, too, though the 4:3 image still suffers from the graininess of having been shot on 16 mm film and the sound is still unspectacular mono. The main extra is an excellent new 35-minute documentary, "Magnox: the Secrets of Edge of Darkness", with input from producer Michael Wearing, writer Troy Kennedy-Martin, composer Michael Kamen, stars John Woodvine, Charles Kay and Ian McNeice and archive footage with Bob Peck and Joe Don Baker. A notable bonus for fans of Eric Clapton and Kamen's highly atmospheric score is an isolated music track, unfortunately in mono. Less significant are a routine photo gallery, an alternative edit of the final end title and promotional segments from Breakfast Time and Pebble Mill. A BAFTA Award feature (the series won six) is more engaging, as is a roundtable review from Did You See?.
Price was 7 pounds after shipping to the US so about 10-11 US Dollars
Compared to the Region 1 release 25.49 before shipping from Amazon.
Price Differance A for the Region 2 release again another reason why I go with the the UK release.
Video Quality - B+ This is actually one of the best releases on DVD when it comes to video quality it suffersfrom very little artifacting and it is a nice transfer. As mentioned above it seems to suffer from the original source being shot in 16mm film gives it a bit of graininess to it which adds to the shows effectiveness at times, but takes away at other times.
Story - A I would love to give it an A+, but I can't there are some cliffhangers mainly between the episodes Northmoor and Fusion that leave you wanting to pick it up where it left off and it doesn't. Also the ending while powerful, but can leave some people confused.
Special Features - B Well this show has more than most people want on a DVD from back then and if you are a Who Fan special effects man Matt Irvine is featured in some of the interviews of the 35 minute documentary. Sadly Bob Peck passed away before this DVD was released so we couldn't get more input from him. I liked the majority of the special features and it didnt have too much that i couldn't spend a few minutes extra before and after the show to watch them.
Overall this release gets an A- well put together and seems like somthing that the Restoration Team of Doctor Who would of released and been proud of today. If your looking for great television and like cop/thrillers this a nice release for you at a very affordable price.
Next on the review agenda is a British Tv series from recent years called the Inbetweeners Series 1&2
followed by a review of the Keys of Marinus of Doctor Who featuring William Hartnell
and Terry Nation. William Hartnell gets the honor of being the first man to play the Doctor as many people know. Does this mean Hartnell is the best out of all the men who have played the Doctor? No it does not if you ask any person who their favorite Doctor is it will be different I would pick either Jon Pertwee or David Tennant depending on the day. However with that said I always say respect the past and in the case of Hartnell he was the first and in a lot of ways because of his portrayal of the Doctor the show still survives today. Without Hartnell there would be no Pertwee, Tennant, and for that matter any other actor playing the Doctor. However, credit should not go completely to Hartnell and for that matter anyone else. Doctor Who over the years is a team effort from writers, directors, actors, and producers who work together on a small budget to make good quality productions. Terry Nation while in my opinion not the best writer of the original series he gets the credit of creating the first alien/monster used in the show that caused a nation to hide behind their sofas. Of course I am talking about the Daleks. The Daleks remain to this day the Doctor's number one foe. Todays DVD I am looking at is The Keys of Marinus Region 2 DVD release of 2009
. The Keys of Marinus was written by Terry Nation and one of only two times he wrote a story for Doctor Who that did not involve the Daleks. The Keys of Marinus features William Hartnell as the Doctor, Carol Anne Ford 
as Susan, William Russell as Ian
, and Jaqueline Hill as Barbara. Watchout for an appearance from Francis De Wolff 
in the fourth episode called The Snows of Terror. Francis is probably best remembered today for his portrayal of Jedikiah 
the first villian used in the Tomorrow People 
a sci fi children's show that ran on ITV in the 70's for eight series. Marinus is the fifth serial of the enitre Doctor Who series and falls inbetween Marco Polo in which every episode is missing and The Aztecs. For more info on missing Doctor Who episodes go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_missing_episodes. This serial was directed by John Gorrie who seemed to have somewhat of a decent career in directing British TV, but as far as Doctor Who goes he only directed this serial and part 3 of the Reign of Terror. As far as Marinus it is a very unusual story because each adventure is its own mini-adventure in pursuit of a larger goal. In a lot of ways you can call this story the original Key to Time. Which was a Doctor Who saga that took six serials instead of six episodes to tell the whole saga. Quite honestly I am not sure completely Verity's intention of this serial, but it could of made a nice pilot for the series when you think about it. A lot of Hartnell's serials have the misfortune of being six or more episodes long and because of the time they were filmed a very stage play like feeling by the settings and the way the actors portrayed their characters. Marinus in a lot of ways tends to break the common problem I see in a lot of Hartnell's serials by the quick setting changes 
and mini stories
. Verity and Terry seemed to be saying hey look what we can do and go all out with what they could afford. A very ballsy move by any producer back then not to mention a female whose neck was on the line with the production. Verity and Terry I got give them kudos where kudos are do.
. Fearful of its immense power falling into the hands the wrong hands, its sole guardian has scattered the machine's operating keys across the planet.
