"To Introduce our Guest Star, that's What I'm Here to Do..." The Hensonverse Fan Contribution Thread
- Thread starter Geekhis Khan
- Start date
These are all great movies. Did Shakespeare in Love make as much ITTL as IOTL?
Also, will we get more details about the already mentioned movies like Alexander or The Ten Commandments?
Also, will we get more details about the already mentioned movies like Alexander or The Ten Commandments?
Pretty much yeah. Kubrick basically gets a slap on the wrist here because at the end of the day, he’s one of the biggest directors in Hollywood and already has a known reputation for being a hard to work with perfectionist. And even that slap on the wrist basically becomes meaningless when Hollywood basically gladly nominates his final film (publicly released after his death) a few years later for multiple categories.
Plus despite the earlier MeToo movement ITTL, there’s a unfortunate perception among some in the business that believe that if Molly Ringwald and Shelly Duvall didn’t want such as bad filming experience, they shouldn’t have worked with Kubrick.
Yes, I’ll fix that now.
About the same, yes, though obviously adjusted for the different inflation between 1996 and 1998.
Maybe? I might do a short movie review for both for @Geekhis Khan for 1999 and 2000. As for one of the other films mentioned, 1998’s Thermopylae, that might show up in another guest post I’m doing which will be about ITTL 1990’s Cult Classics.
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Also, its canon that the film Kandi won nest score ITTL you may want to change it.
Yes. Early production on the film is somewhat similar to OTL, with the big butterfly induced changes occurring after the film first goes into turnaround. In OTL, it stayed in turnaround for a number of years before Miramax picked it up. Here it’s picked up much earlier by Columbia, and only goes into turnaround again due to Eisner replacing Dawn Steel.
That being said, it’s script is not likely to be 100% identical as the one from OTL and it is further likely to have some script changes it never received in OTL due to moving through three different studios.
Yup, though not based on the comic, but rather a more historically accurate version.
In fairness, that's pretty much James Cameron's entire career (minus the 127 takes), but he hasn't been MeToo'ed either.
Random question, what's the name of the movies based on Max Brook's WW2 service? I'm doing a post based on it in Movies That Were Never Made
The End of the World as We Know It (and I feel fine)
Good Omens (1996), a Retrospective
Guest Post by @MNM041 with executive assistance of Mr. Harris Syed, @Plateosaurus and @Nathanoraptor
From Swords and Spaceships Magazine, December 2016
(Image Source: TVTropes.com)
If there was ever a film from the 90s that was controversial yet successful, then it's name would be 1996's Good Omens. Based on the 1990 novel Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Predictions of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens is a religious horror fantasy comedy about the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley as they work to prevent the end times from happening after the birth of the Antichrist (a.k.a. Adam Young) by posing as an ordinary nanny and a gardener to raise him as an ordinary boy but unbeknownst to Aziraphale and Crowley, Adam is with another family and begins to use his powers to change the world while the Four Horsemen assemble to initiate the Apocalypse. Along the way, Aziraphale and Crowley go on a journey to find the Antichrist/Adam with a young witch named Anathema Device, whose ancestor Agnes Nutter predicted the Apocalypse and wants to prevent it from happening.
—-----------------------
(CROWLEY looks at a book that AZIRAPHALE has in his hands after ANATHEMA is dropped off at Tadfield)
CROWLEY: What is this?
AZIRAPHALE: It’s a book called The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter. It was written by a witch, it contains information on how to prevent the Apocalypse from happening.
CROWLEY: Really?
AZIRAPHALE: Yes, really.
CROWLEY: How is a simple book from over 350 years ago going to stop the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from destroying the world?
AZIRAPHALE: We’ll just have to find out if Agnes’ prophecies are true or not. Maybe it might contain the secrets to save the world from the Devil or the Horsemen.
—--------------------------
Thought-provoking and hilarious, Good Omens is a film with it’s fair share of defenders and detractors with some countries such as the Islamic world and China banning it for it’s depiction of God and the supernatural. The film was written and directed by Terry Gilliam, a man who was no stranger to comedy and action as The Bureau and The Tempest can attest. Good Omens was greenlit by 20th Century Studios to capitalize on the success of the Discworld adaptations in the 1980s and 90s starting with Mort.
Although Good Omens has been largely considered one of the best works from Gaiman and Pratchett, there was a point in time when Pratchett never believed that film adaptations of his works would ever fully come to fruition. This of course changed after a glut of Discworld adaptations on the big and small screens. As a result, when 20th Century Studios was offered to adapt Good Omens as well, Pratchett and Gaiman leapt at the chance, though some sources indicate that some of the higher ups at Disney and Triad were hesitant for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that they were worried about how audiences would react to a comedic take on the End Times of Christian folklore. Nevertheless, by 1994, a script was approved by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam, who also ended up being tapped to direct. The film would later enter production with a release date of summer 1996.
Many people were scouted to play the lead roles of Aziraphale and Crowley. For the fussy Aziraphale, many actors auditioned - including Nathan Lane, Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, RIk Mayall and even Paul Reubens were all considered, before Robin Williams would be cast as Aziraphale. For Crowley, Gilliam’s first choice, Johnny Depp, turned the role down, due to conflicts with The Mummy - however, he agreed to appear in the smaller role of Beelzebub. Tim Roth, John Travolta and Kurt Cobain were also considered for the role, before, finally, Gary Oldman was cast.
In adapting the novel to the big screen, some changes were made for the sake of plot and characterization. While Aziraphale was kept a book store owner, Crowley was now given the job of nightclub owner (and keeping with the running joke, even the music in his club became Queen eventually).
Special attention was also paid to the casting of Adam Young, the result of the Antichrist getting a normal upbringing, as well as his group of friends. Jake Lloyd was cast as Adam after the young actor was seen in an episode of ER following his brief appearance in Casper as the titular character’s human form. Lindsay Lohan and Haley Joel Osment, who by that point had both already been acting and modeling for several years, were cast as Pepper and Wensleydale, while Jonathan Lipnicki was cast as Brian. The four child actors ended up becoming real friends between casting and production, and Terry Gilliam noted that it led the scenes with the kids to take on an almost Goonies-like quality[1].
Other notable cast members of the film included Morgan Freeman as God[2], David Bowie as the Archangel Gabriel, Patrick Stewart as Shadwell, Cassandra Peterson as Madame Tracy, Malcolm McDowell as Satan[3], Paul McGann as Hastur, Lee Evans as Ligur, Selena Perez as Anathema Device, Nicholas Brendon as Newt Pulsifer, Alan Rickman as The Metatron, Christopher Lee as Death (reprising his role from Mort), Caroline Williams as War, Tony Todd as Famine and Famke Janssen as Pollution.
Pictured, the three main stars of Good Omens; Robin Williams, Gary Oldman and Jake Lloyd (Image sources “pinterest.com” and “notrecinema.com”)
While Gaiman and Pratchett approved of some of the changes and casting, they wanted assurance that the film wouldn't be too Americanized, which Henson and Gilliam complied with, attempting to cast British actors wherever possible and getting the Americans coaching to do convincing English accents. Some of the non-British actors such as Lloyd, Williams and Lohan would adopt a Received Pronunciation or Cockney accent for their roles.
A year before the film was released, a short film also directed by Gilliam and starring Oldman and Williams was released. The ten minute short, entitled (Mostly) Good Omens showed Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship throughout history, starting with when they first met at the Garden of Eden, before showing their relationship's growth ranging from Noah's Ark and the Crucifixion of Jesus through 1960s Soho. They cross paths in Ancient Rome, Medieval England, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Revolutionary France, and London during the Blitz. At some point, they strike up an arrangement which lets each do some of the other's work, saving time and travel. (Mostly) Good Omens proved controversial for a number of reasons, such as the fact that then-unknown black actors Idris Elba and Thandie Newton[4] were cast as Adam and Eve and a scene which showed the two protagonists watching the Crucifixion in a darkly comedic manner.
—------------
(AZIRAPHALE and CROWLEY watch continue to watch the Crucifixion play out, their faces only displaying mild discomfort at the sight.)
CROWLEY: What did he even say to get this many people this angry at him?
(AZIRAPHALE winces at what they are watching before answering his question.)
AZIRAPHALE: He said… be kind to each other.
CROWLEY (tuts and rolls his eyes): Provocative bastard.
—------------
The film picks on the story 11 years before Armageddon. Crowley delivers the Antichrist to a Satanic coven, where the baby is to be given to an American diplomat and his family. However, a mix-up occurs and the Antichrist ends up with a middle-class British family who also happened to be at the convent, the Youngs. Crowley and Aziraphale meet to discuss the coming apocalypse. Aziraphale reluctantly agrees to work with Crowley. They decide that if each works to influence the boy warlock, whom they believe to be the Antichrist, he will be neither good nor evil, just normal. In the present day, Crowley and Aziraphale attend his 11th birthday party, but realize they have the wrong boy when the hellhound fails to appear. Meanwhile, the hellhound has found his master, Adam Young. Adam names him "Dog" (which changes him into a small terrier), unknowingly initiating Armageddon.
—------------
(AZIRAPHALE and CROWLEY are confused when the hellhound doesn’t appear to meet it’s supposed master. They realize that the boy they’ve raised to be normal is not the Antichrist)
AZIRAPHALE: Where’s the hellhound?
CROWLEY: Maybe we got the wrong boy.
AZIRAPHALE: (worried) Oh no.
—--------------
Aziraphale assures his superiors, the Archangels Gabriel and Sandalphon, all is well with the Antichrist. A parcel delivery man is sent to gather the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; War, in the form of a war correspondent, receives an ancient sword. In 1656, the prophetess Agnes Nutter is burned at the stake by Witchfinder Thou-Shalt-Not-Commit-Adultery Pulsifer; Agnes causes an explosion, killing everyone present. Her book, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, is left to her family and passed through the generations. Agnes' descendant, American occultist Anathema Device, studies the prophecies in order to find the Antichrist and save the world. Pulsifer's descendant, Newt, meets Shadwell, a modern-day witchfinder. Invited to join his crusade, Newt meets Shadwell's landlady, Madame Tracy, a part-time harlot and medium. Visiting the former convent, now a corporate paintball retreat, Aziraphale and Crowley learn that all records were destroyed in a fire. Drawn to Tadfield, Anathema meets Adam and his friends. Aziraphale and Crowley collide with Anathema on the road and give her a lift home. She forgets her book in Crowley's car and Aziraphale reads it, realizing he holds the key to finding the Antichrist.
At Jasmine Cottage, Adam and Dog find Anathema, upset at losing her book. Inviting them inside, she discusses environmental issues, which fascinates Adam. He leaves with a stack of magazines. Aziraphale and Crowley separately contract Shadwell to locate the Antichrist. Newt, a member of the witchfinder army, is sent to investigate the village of Tadfield. The second Horseman, Famine, in the form of Dr. Raven Sable, receives his package, a set of scales. Crowley and Aziraphale meet to discuss progress on finding the Antichrist. Aziraphale sidesteps the question of knowing his whereabouts. They argue and Aziraphale ends their "arrangement". That night, Adam falls asleep after poring over the magazines. His latent powers cause a nuclear reactor to vanish.
Adam's dreams bring several magazine articles to life, including Atlantis and the Kraken. His controlling behavior worries his friends. Aziraphale fails to convince Gabriel to stop Armageddon while his superiors question Aziraphale's loyalty after seeing proof of his meetings with Crowley. He tries to talk Aziraphale into leaving Earth together. The last two Horsemen, Pollution and Death, are summoned. Driving to Tadfield, Newton crashes his car, and Adam and his friends take him to Anathema's cottage. Warlock's family arrives in Megiddo, Israel. There is no hellhound and Hastur realizes Crowley lied about the Antichrist. Hastur and Ligur confront Crowley at his apartment where Ligur is disintegrated by holy water. Aziraphale phones Crowley admitting he's found the Antichrist, but Crowley is too preoccupied with Hastur and hangs up. Hastur becomes trapped in Crowley's answering machine while Crowley grabs his keys and runs out. On the street, the angels Michael, Sandalphon, and Uriel physically confront Aziraphale, accusing him of "consorting with the enemy". At his bookshop, Aziraphale contacts God to try to stop Armageddon. Shadwell watches through the letterbox and, believing he is a demon, enters and confronts Aziraphale, who accidentally steps into the open portal and is transported to Heaven. As Shadwell leaves, he slams the door knocking over a candle, which ignites the bookshop.
Crowley races through London to find the bookshop in flames, with no sign of Aziraphale. In Heaven, Aziraphale refuses to join the war and, determined to stop Armageddon, leaves without a body. Crowley is getting drunk in a pub when Aziraphale's apparition appears. He learns his bookshop has burned down, but Crowley saved Agnes Nutter's book, with which Aziraphale worked out who and where the Antichrist is. They arrange to meet at Tadfield Airbase after Aziraphale finds a body to inhabit. He chooses Madame Tracy's body during a seance and convinces her and Shadwell to help stop Armageddon. Crowley is stuck on the M25 as a ring of fire surrounds London. Hastur, having escaped from the answering machine, appears next to him. Crowley drives the Bentley through the flames, using his imagination to believe the car is not on fire, while Hastur is discorporated and returned to Hell. Adam comes fully into his powers, scaring away his friends and Dog. This rejection returns Adam to his "human self". Anathema and Newt arrive at the air base, joining Shadwell, Aziraphale/Madame Tracy, Adam, and his friends. The Four Horsemen arrive and take over the base's global communications hub. Crowley arrives in his flaming Bentley as Adam declares: "I'M HERE!"
—-----------------
CROWLEY: (exasperated) Adam, listen to me!
ADAM: What is it?
CROWLEY: The Four Horsemen are about to initiate the Apocalypse. You must do something to save our world from destruction.
—----------------
Aziraphale is ready to shoot Adam, but the weapon fires into the air when Madame Tracy cannot let him shoot a child. Learning they are two people in one body, Adam separates them. His friends defeat War, Pollution, and Famine, while Death takes his leave. Lord Beelzebub and Gabriel appear to ensure Adam re-starts Armageddon according to God's Great Plan, but he refuses. Aziraphale steps forward and asks if the Great Plan and God's ineffable plan are the same thing. Realizing they are not sure, both sides stand down. Satan emerges, but is renounced by Adam who restores the world including Aziraphale's bookshop, Crowley's Bentley, and the lives recently lost. Found guilty of treason by their respective superiors, Aziraphale is ordered to be destroyed by a hellish flame and Crowley is forced to enter a tub of holy water. To everyone's shock, both survive. Afraid of what Crowley and Aziraphale have become, Heaven and Hell agree to leave them alone on Earth. Sitting on a park bench, Aziraphale and Crowley go back to their original bodies, revealing that the two essentially swapped bodies. Agnes Nutter's final prophecy stated "you must choose your faces wisely" providing the key to surviving their death sentences. Anathema receives an updated book of prophecies, but decides to destroy it and get on with her life. Madame Tracy and Shadwell decide to retire together in a cottage outside of London. The film ends with Aziraphale and Crowley enjoying brunch with Adam and Anathema at the Ritz, making a toast "to the world".
Critical reception to the film was far more mixed, with the performances of Williams and Oldman, in particular, being praised, with Roger Ebert saying, “Robin Williams and Gary Oldman’s back-and-forth is what elevates dialogue that, in lesser hands, would be lackluster, to a great comedic level and Chicago Sun Times journalist Richard Roeper said, “It’s a screwball comedy with an angel and a demon - what’s not to like?” Other reviewers were far more negative, with The Daily Mail saying, “Good Omens is an above-average screwball comedy featuring Robin Williams and Gary Oldman… pity that’s all it seems to aim to be” Some die hard fans of Gaiman and Pratchett profoundly disliked certain changes , with many claiming that the changes made Americanized the source material. In addition, both the short and the film itself would draw the ire of conservatives, with many claiming that the two main characters were in fact in a gay relationship though the scene in question was merely a joke made by Crowley and there’s no evidence that Aziraphale is attracted to him.
--------------------------------------
AZIRAPHALE: We're not friends! I don't even like you!
CROWLEY: Are you sure about that?
--------------------------------------
"Funnily enough, we decided pretty early on we were gonna play them like an old married couple." Robin Williams told Conan O'Brien during an interview on The Tonight Show with Gary Oldman. Because of this, the film has become very popular with the LGBT community, a fact that has been embraced by both Oldman and Williams as a rebuttal to critics.
"Yes, Robin and I sat down very early on and worked out on how we were going to play the characters - we immediately came on the idea of playing them as an old gay couple. I even put a little bit of Paul Lynde in my performance as Crowley." Oldman added.
Despite some fan backlash to the changes, the one exception was the change in the relationship between Newt and Anathema. In the book, there's a rather infamous scene where the two characters have sex for seemingly no reason other than it's predicted in the Agnes' book that they do so. Newt's refusal to go along with it in the movie, as Jim Henson put it, actually aided their storyline and made their relationship feel more believable.
---------------------------------
NEWT: What are you seriously saying that your book says…
ANATHEMA: Yes, apparently.
(ANATHEMA begins to take her shirt off)
NEWT: No, no! Stop, stop, stop!
ANATHEMA: Not the reaction I would expect…
NEWT: Do you not realize how insane this sounds? You've shown absolutely no romantic interest in me, and yet you want to shag me just because of a book, which was written back when we still did witch burnings, said to do it?
ANATHEMA My family has basically taken everything in this book as law since before I was born.
NEWT: Well, I don't think the world will end if you ignore your granny's instructions to give me a pity shag. Do you hear how weird that sounds?
(NEWT leaves the room as ANATHEMA sits down on the bed. She looks through the book and there's no mention of what transpired.)
ANATHEMA: What the hell was that?
---------------------------------
Still, despite of, or possibly because of the controversies, Good Omens would prove to be a massive hit for 20th Century Studios grossing $210 million on a budget of $75 million at the box office and did fairly well with audiences, to the point that Pratchett and Gaiman were paid by Triad to write a sequel, Good Omens: Meet the Beast[5], with the promise that it would also be adapted. That movie would end up seeing Aziraphale and Crowley continuing to watch over Adam as he began to use his Antichrist powers for minor mischief that continuously spirals out of control while Anathema attempts to adjust to a life that isn't dictated by Agnes. The success of the Good Omens franchise would also lead to some of Neil Gaiman's other works being adapted, such as The Sandman and American Gods.
"They didn't realize it but we were already ahead of them there." Prachett joked in a 2000 interview with us on the first and second installments of Good Omens.
[1] On the subject of child actors, Lindsay Lohan IOTL had appeared in over sixty commercials for companies such as Calvin Klein and Pizza Hut (most notably a Jello Grape ad with Bill Cosby, which has a different actor in the Hensonverse) as well as an appearance on the soap opera Another World as Alexander “Ali” Fowler from 1996 until 1997 prior to her breakout role in The Parent Trap. Likewise, Jonathan Lipnicki made his onscreen debut as Ray Boyd in Jerry Maguire. Lohan will also get some early recognition as Pepper and Lipnicki’s film debut will be Good Omens thus butterflying his appearance in Jerry Maguire (which became Game in TTL). As for Jake Lloyd, he already appeared in Casper as the character’s younger self and the Antichrist/Adam Young will be his big breakout role and unlike what happened with Anakin Skywalker, he won’t get so much backlash that it causes him to quit acting. For Lohan, stay tuned for what she will do next and whether it involves TTL’s version of The Parent Trap.
[2] So yeah, Morgan Freeman still played God ITTL, are you really surprised?
[3] Malcolm McDowell played the Devil in the 2011 movie Suing The Devil. Honestly, he was such a perfect Devil that I honestly couldn't picture anyone else playing him in this movie.
[4] Newton had previously appeared in a few films in the 1990s such as Flirting and Interview with the Vampire and Elba had only recently started his acting career with a few bit parts on British television shows as early as 1994 not making any appearances on the big screen until 1999. The fact that Good Omens is mostly shot in the UK, the original novel’s country of origin, and that both Newton and Elba are black, not to mention that Adam and Eve are small supporting roles, will give them a chance to appear in a high-profile movie before gaining greater recognition.
[5] Gaiman and Pratchett did consider writing a sequel to Good Omens titled 668 - The Neighbor of the Beast but because Gaiman had moved to the United States, it never got made. Since the Good Omens movie was a success, the sequel will be written under a different name and adapted to the big screen like it’s predecessor.
Guest Post by @MNM041 with executive assistance of Mr. Harris Syed, @Plateosaurus and @Nathanoraptor
From Swords and Spaceships Magazine, December 2016
If there was ever a film from the 90s that was controversial yet successful, then it's name would be 1996's Good Omens. Based on the 1990 novel Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Predictions of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens is a religious horror fantasy comedy about the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley as they work to prevent the end times from happening after the birth of the Antichrist (a.k.a. Adam Young) by posing as an ordinary nanny and a gardener to raise him as an ordinary boy but unbeknownst to Aziraphale and Crowley, Adam is with another family and begins to use his powers to change the world while the Four Horsemen assemble to initiate the Apocalypse. Along the way, Aziraphale and Crowley go on a journey to find the Antichrist/Adam with a young witch named Anathema Device, whose ancestor Agnes Nutter predicted the Apocalypse and wants to prevent it from happening.
—-----------------------
(CROWLEY looks at a book that AZIRAPHALE has in his hands after ANATHEMA is dropped off at Tadfield)
CROWLEY: What is this?
AZIRAPHALE: It’s a book called The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter. It was written by a witch, it contains information on how to prevent the Apocalypse from happening.
CROWLEY: Really?
AZIRAPHALE: Yes, really.
CROWLEY: How is a simple book from over 350 years ago going to stop the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from destroying the world?
AZIRAPHALE: We’ll just have to find out if Agnes’ prophecies are true or not. Maybe it might contain the secrets to save the world from the Devil or the Horsemen.
—--------------------------
Thought-provoking and hilarious, Good Omens is a film with it’s fair share of defenders and detractors with some countries such as the Islamic world and China banning it for it’s depiction of God and the supernatural. The film was written and directed by Terry Gilliam, a man who was no stranger to comedy and action as The Bureau and The Tempest can attest. Good Omens was greenlit by 20th Century Studios to capitalize on the success of the Discworld adaptations in the 1980s and 90s starting with Mort.
Although Good Omens has been largely considered one of the best works from Gaiman and Pratchett, there was a point in time when Pratchett never believed that film adaptations of his works would ever fully come to fruition. This of course changed after a glut of Discworld adaptations on the big and small screens. As a result, when 20th Century Studios was offered to adapt Good Omens as well, Pratchett and Gaiman leapt at the chance, though some sources indicate that some of the higher ups at Disney and Triad were hesitant for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that they were worried about how audiences would react to a comedic take on the End Times of Christian folklore. Nevertheless, by 1994, a script was approved by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam, who also ended up being tapped to direct. The film would later enter production with a release date of summer 1996.
Many people were scouted to play the lead roles of Aziraphale and Crowley. For the fussy Aziraphale, many actors auditioned - including Nathan Lane, Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, RIk Mayall and even Paul Reubens were all considered, before Robin Williams would be cast as Aziraphale. For Crowley, Gilliam’s first choice, Johnny Depp, turned the role down, due to conflicts with The Mummy - however, he agreed to appear in the smaller role of Beelzebub. Tim Roth, John Travolta and Kurt Cobain were also considered for the role, before, finally, Gary Oldman was cast.
In adapting the novel to the big screen, some changes were made for the sake of plot and characterization. While Aziraphale was kept a book store owner, Crowley was now given the job of nightclub owner (and keeping with the running joke, even the music in his club became Queen eventually).
Special attention was also paid to the casting of Adam Young, the result of the Antichrist getting a normal upbringing, as well as his group of friends. Jake Lloyd was cast as Adam after the young actor was seen in an episode of ER following his brief appearance in Casper as the titular character’s human form. Lindsay Lohan and Haley Joel Osment, who by that point had both already been acting and modeling for several years, were cast as Pepper and Wensleydale, while Jonathan Lipnicki was cast as Brian. The four child actors ended up becoming real friends between casting and production, and Terry Gilliam noted that it led the scenes with the kids to take on an almost Goonies-like quality[1].
Other notable cast members of the film included Morgan Freeman as God[2], David Bowie as the Archangel Gabriel, Patrick Stewart as Shadwell, Cassandra Peterson as Madame Tracy, Malcolm McDowell as Satan[3], Paul McGann as Hastur, Lee Evans as Ligur, Selena Perez as Anathema Device, Nicholas Brendon as Newt Pulsifer, Alan Rickman as The Metatron, Christopher Lee as Death (reprising his role from Mort), Caroline Williams as War, Tony Todd as Famine and Famke Janssen as Pollution.
Pictured, the three main stars of Good Omens; Robin Williams, Gary Oldman and Jake Lloyd (Image sources “pinterest.com” and “notrecinema.com”)
While Gaiman and Pratchett approved of some of the changes and casting, they wanted assurance that the film wouldn't be too Americanized, which Henson and Gilliam complied with, attempting to cast British actors wherever possible and getting the Americans coaching to do convincing English accents. Some of the non-British actors such as Lloyd, Williams and Lohan would adopt a Received Pronunciation or Cockney accent for their roles.
A year before the film was released, a short film also directed by Gilliam and starring Oldman and Williams was released. The ten minute short, entitled (Mostly) Good Omens showed Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship throughout history, starting with when they first met at the Garden of Eden, before showing their relationship's growth ranging from Noah's Ark and the Crucifixion of Jesus through 1960s Soho. They cross paths in Ancient Rome, Medieval England, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, Revolutionary France, and London during the Blitz. At some point, they strike up an arrangement which lets each do some of the other's work, saving time and travel. (Mostly) Good Omens proved controversial for a number of reasons, such as the fact that then-unknown black actors Idris Elba and Thandie Newton[4] were cast as Adam and Eve and a scene which showed the two protagonists watching the Crucifixion in a darkly comedic manner.
—------------
(AZIRAPHALE and CROWLEY watch continue to watch the Crucifixion play out, their faces only displaying mild discomfort at the sight.)
CROWLEY: What did he even say to get this many people this angry at him?
(AZIRAPHALE winces at what they are watching before answering his question.)
AZIRAPHALE: He said… be kind to each other.
CROWLEY (tuts and rolls his eyes): Provocative bastard.
—------------
The film picks on the story 11 years before Armageddon. Crowley delivers the Antichrist to a Satanic coven, where the baby is to be given to an American diplomat and his family. However, a mix-up occurs and the Antichrist ends up with a middle-class British family who also happened to be at the convent, the Youngs. Crowley and Aziraphale meet to discuss the coming apocalypse. Aziraphale reluctantly agrees to work with Crowley. They decide that if each works to influence the boy warlock, whom they believe to be the Antichrist, he will be neither good nor evil, just normal. In the present day, Crowley and Aziraphale attend his 11th birthday party, but realize they have the wrong boy when the hellhound fails to appear. Meanwhile, the hellhound has found his master, Adam Young. Adam names him "Dog" (which changes him into a small terrier), unknowingly initiating Armageddon.
—------------
(AZIRAPHALE and CROWLEY are confused when the hellhound doesn’t appear to meet it’s supposed master. They realize that the boy they’ve raised to be normal is not the Antichrist)
AZIRAPHALE: Where’s the hellhound?
CROWLEY: Maybe we got the wrong boy.
AZIRAPHALE: (worried) Oh no.
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Aziraphale assures his superiors, the Archangels Gabriel and Sandalphon, all is well with the Antichrist. A parcel delivery man is sent to gather the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; War, in the form of a war correspondent, receives an ancient sword. In 1656, the prophetess Agnes Nutter is burned at the stake by Witchfinder Thou-Shalt-Not-Commit-Adultery Pulsifer; Agnes causes an explosion, killing everyone present. Her book, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, is left to her family and passed through the generations. Agnes' descendant, American occultist Anathema Device, studies the prophecies in order to find the Antichrist and save the world. Pulsifer's descendant, Newt, meets Shadwell, a modern-day witchfinder. Invited to join his crusade, Newt meets Shadwell's landlady, Madame Tracy, a part-time harlot and medium. Visiting the former convent, now a corporate paintball retreat, Aziraphale and Crowley learn that all records were destroyed in a fire. Drawn to Tadfield, Anathema meets Adam and his friends. Aziraphale and Crowley collide with Anathema on the road and give her a lift home. She forgets her book in Crowley's car and Aziraphale reads it, realizing he holds the key to finding the Antichrist.
At Jasmine Cottage, Adam and Dog find Anathema, upset at losing her book. Inviting them inside, she discusses environmental issues, which fascinates Adam. He leaves with a stack of magazines. Aziraphale and Crowley separately contract Shadwell to locate the Antichrist. Newt, a member of the witchfinder army, is sent to investigate the village of Tadfield. The second Horseman, Famine, in the form of Dr. Raven Sable, receives his package, a set of scales. Crowley and Aziraphale meet to discuss progress on finding the Antichrist. Aziraphale sidesteps the question of knowing his whereabouts. They argue and Aziraphale ends their "arrangement". That night, Adam falls asleep after poring over the magazines. His latent powers cause a nuclear reactor to vanish.
Adam's dreams bring several magazine articles to life, including Atlantis and the Kraken. His controlling behavior worries his friends. Aziraphale fails to convince Gabriel to stop Armageddon while his superiors question Aziraphale's loyalty after seeing proof of his meetings with Crowley. He tries to talk Aziraphale into leaving Earth together. The last two Horsemen, Pollution and Death, are summoned. Driving to Tadfield, Newton crashes his car, and Adam and his friends take him to Anathema's cottage. Warlock's family arrives in Megiddo, Israel. There is no hellhound and Hastur realizes Crowley lied about the Antichrist. Hastur and Ligur confront Crowley at his apartment where Ligur is disintegrated by holy water. Aziraphale phones Crowley admitting he's found the Antichrist, but Crowley is too preoccupied with Hastur and hangs up. Hastur becomes trapped in Crowley's answering machine while Crowley grabs his keys and runs out. On the street, the angels Michael, Sandalphon, and Uriel physically confront Aziraphale, accusing him of "consorting with the enemy". At his bookshop, Aziraphale contacts God to try to stop Armageddon. Shadwell watches through the letterbox and, believing he is a demon, enters and confronts Aziraphale, who accidentally steps into the open portal and is transported to Heaven. As Shadwell leaves, he slams the door knocking over a candle, which ignites the bookshop.
Crowley races through London to find the bookshop in flames, with no sign of Aziraphale. In Heaven, Aziraphale refuses to join the war and, determined to stop Armageddon, leaves without a body. Crowley is getting drunk in a pub when Aziraphale's apparition appears. He learns his bookshop has burned down, but Crowley saved Agnes Nutter's book, with which Aziraphale worked out who and where the Antichrist is. They arrange to meet at Tadfield Airbase after Aziraphale finds a body to inhabit. He chooses Madame Tracy's body during a seance and convinces her and Shadwell to help stop Armageddon. Crowley is stuck on the M25 as a ring of fire surrounds London. Hastur, having escaped from the answering machine, appears next to him. Crowley drives the Bentley through the flames, using his imagination to believe the car is not on fire, while Hastur is discorporated and returned to Hell. Adam comes fully into his powers, scaring away his friends and Dog. This rejection returns Adam to his "human self". Anathema and Newt arrive at the air base, joining Shadwell, Aziraphale/Madame Tracy, Adam, and his friends. The Four Horsemen arrive and take over the base's global communications hub. Crowley arrives in his flaming Bentley as Adam declares: "I'M HERE!"
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CROWLEY: (exasperated) Adam, listen to me!
ADAM: What is it?
CROWLEY: The Four Horsemen are about to initiate the Apocalypse. You must do something to save our world from destruction.
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Aziraphale is ready to shoot Adam, but the weapon fires into the air when Madame Tracy cannot let him shoot a child. Learning they are two people in one body, Adam separates them. His friends defeat War, Pollution, and Famine, while Death takes his leave. Lord Beelzebub and Gabriel appear to ensure Adam re-starts Armageddon according to God's Great Plan, but he refuses. Aziraphale steps forward and asks if the Great Plan and God's ineffable plan are the same thing. Realizing they are not sure, both sides stand down. Satan emerges, but is renounced by Adam who restores the world including Aziraphale's bookshop, Crowley's Bentley, and the lives recently lost. Found guilty of treason by their respective superiors, Aziraphale is ordered to be destroyed by a hellish flame and Crowley is forced to enter a tub of holy water. To everyone's shock, both survive. Afraid of what Crowley and Aziraphale have become, Heaven and Hell agree to leave them alone on Earth. Sitting on a park bench, Aziraphale and Crowley go back to their original bodies, revealing that the two essentially swapped bodies. Agnes Nutter's final prophecy stated "you must choose your faces wisely" providing the key to surviving their death sentences. Anathema receives an updated book of prophecies, but decides to destroy it and get on with her life. Madame Tracy and Shadwell decide to retire together in a cottage outside of London. The film ends with Aziraphale and Crowley enjoying brunch with Adam and Anathema at the Ritz, making a toast "to the world".
Critical reception to the film was far more mixed, with the performances of Williams and Oldman, in particular, being praised, with Roger Ebert saying, “Robin Williams and Gary Oldman’s back-and-forth is what elevates dialogue that, in lesser hands, would be lackluster, to a great comedic level and Chicago Sun Times journalist Richard Roeper said, “It’s a screwball comedy with an angel and a demon - what’s not to like?” Other reviewers were far more negative, with The Daily Mail saying, “Good Omens is an above-average screwball comedy featuring Robin Williams and Gary Oldman… pity that’s all it seems to aim to be” Some die hard fans of Gaiman and Pratchett profoundly disliked certain changes , with many claiming that the changes made Americanized the source material. In addition, both the short and the film itself would draw the ire of conservatives, with many claiming that the two main characters were in fact in a gay relationship though the scene in question was merely a joke made by Crowley and there’s no evidence that Aziraphale is attracted to him.
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AZIRAPHALE: We're not friends! I don't even like you!
CROWLEY: Are you sure about that?
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"Funnily enough, we decided pretty early on we were gonna play them like an old married couple." Robin Williams told Conan O'Brien during an interview on The Tonight Show with Gary Oldman. Because of this, the film has become very popular with the LGBT community, a fact that has been embraced by both Oldman and Williams as a rebuttal to critics.
"Yes, Robin and I sat down very early on and worked out on how we were going to play the characters - we immediately came on the idea of playing them as an old gay couple. I even put a little bit of Paul Lynde in my performance as Crowley." Oldman added.
Despite some fan backlash to the changes, the one exception was the change in the relationship between Newt and Anathema. In the book, there's a rather infamous scene where the two characters have sex for seemingly no reason other than it's predicted in the Agnes' book that they do so. Newt's refusal to go along with it in the movie, as Jim Henson put it, actually aided their storyline and made their relationship feel more believable.
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NEWT: What are you seriously saying that your book says…
ANATHEMA: Yes, apparently.
(ANATHEMA begins to take her shirt off)
NEWT: No, no! Stop, stop, stop!
ANATHEMA: Not the reaction I would expect…
NEWT: Do you not realize how insane this sounds? You've shown absolutely no romantic interest in me, and yet you want to shag me just because of a book, which was written back when we still did witch burnings, said to do it?
ANATHEMA My family has basically taken everything in this book as law since before I was born.
NEWT: Well, I don't think the world will end if you ignore your granny's instructions to give me a pity shag. Do you hear how weird that sounds?
(NEWT leaves the room as ANATHEMA sits down on the bed. She looks through the book and there's no mention of what transpired.)
ANATHEMA: What the hell was that?
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Still, despite of, or possibly because of the controversies, Good Omens would prove to be a massive hit for 20th Century Studios grossing $210 million on a budget of $75 million at the box office and did fairly well with audiences, to the point that Pratchett and Gaiman were paid by Triad to write a sequel, Good Omens: Meet the Beast[5], with the promise that it would also be adapted. That movie would end up seeing Aziraphale and Crowley continuing to watch over Adam as he began to use his Antichrist powers for minor mischief that continuously spirals out of control while Anathema attempts to adjust to a life that isn't dictated by Agnes. The success of the Good Omens franchise would also lead to some of Neil Gaiman's other works being adapted, such as The Sandman and American Gods.
"They didn't realize it but we were already ahead of them there." Prachett joked in a 2000 interview with us on the first and second installments of Good Omens.
[1] On the subject of child actors, Lindsay Lohan IOTL had appeared in over sixty commercials for companies such as Calvin Klein and Pizza Hut (most notably a Jello Grape ad with Bill Cosby, which has a different actor in the Hensonverse) as well as an appearance on the soap opera Another World as Alexander “Ali” Fowler from 1996 until 1997 prior to her breakout role in The Parent Trap. Likewise, Jonathan Lipnicki made his onscreen debut as Ray Boyd in Jerry Maguire. Lohan will also get some early recognition as Pepper and Lipnicki’s film debut will be Good Omens thus butterflying his appearance in Jerry Maguire (which became Game in TTL). As for Jake Lloyd, he already appeared in Casper as the character’s younger self and the Antichrist/Adam Young will be his big breakout role and unlike what happened with Anakin Skywalker, he won’t get so much backlash that it causes him to quit acting. For Lohan, stay tuned for what she will do next and whether it involves TTL’s version of The Parent Trap.
[2] So yeah, Morgan Freeman still played God ITTL, are you really surprised?
[3] Malcolm McDowell played the Devil in the 2011 movie Suing The Devil. Honestly, he was such a perfect Devil that I honestly couldn't picture anyone else playing him in this movie.
[4] Newton had previously appeared in a few films in the 1990s such as Flirting and Interview with the Vampire and Elba had only recently started his acting career with a few bit parts on British television shows as early as 1994 not making any appearances on the big screen until 1999. The fact that Good Omens is mostly shot in the UK, the original novel’s country of origin, and that both Newton and Elba are black, not to mention that Adam and Eve are small supporting roles, will give them a chance to appear in a high-profile movie before gaining greater recognition.
[5] Gaiman and Pratchett did consider writing a sequel to Good Omens titled 668 - The Neighbor of the Beast but because Gaiman had moved to the United States, it never got made. Since the Good Omens movie was a success, the sequel will be written under a different name and adapted to the big screen like it’s predecessor.
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