+ bermuda triangle +
'THE TRIANGLE'
8 to 10 p.m. tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday on Sci Fi.
- - -
Science fiction has spent plenty of time worrying about distant worlds and fictional galaxies. Now it's fretting about something closer to home.
"The Triangle" opens at 8 tonight as a three-night, six-hour miniseries on the Sci Fi Channel.
This doesn't need a far-away setting. People agree that there's a Bermuda and that ships and planes have disappeared near it. They just disagree on whether it's something eerie or just bad weather.
"It's estimated that in the past 200 years, some 8,000 people have actually vanished without a trace in that legendary vortex," says Bonnie Hammer, the Sci Fi president.
Naturally, her channel prefers the more exotic explanations. That's what science fiction offers.
"It gives us a platform to allow our minds to be more playful," says "Triangle" producer Dean Devlin.
"It's 'what if' and being able to be a child again for the few hours that you're watching," said Catherine Bell, one of the stars.
The channel has drawn praise for its mini-series, particularly "Taken," "Dune" and "Battlestar Galactica." For this one, it has some science-fiction heavyweights.
Devlin has co-written and co-produced "Independence Day," "Stargate" and "Godzilla." He came up with the "Triangle" idea. Rockne O'Bannon -- creator of "Alien Nation" and "Farscape" -- wrote the script; both men are producers.
O'Bannon's notion was to do the story through the eyes of people who don't believe the triangle legends. He says he wanted "a set of characters who went into it with [a] jaundiced view."
A shipping magnate (Sam Neill) is tired of losing ships in the triangle. He assembles a reporter (Eric Stoltz), an ocean resource engineer (Catherine Bell), a psychic (Bruce Davison) and a scientist/ adventurer (Michael Rodgers) to investigate. Except for the psychic, all are doubters.
In real life, Bell seems happy in either camp.
"I do believe that there is more to the universe than we can see," she says. "But I was studying to be a scientist or a doctor, so I guess I wish there was a way to prove it."
Instead, specifics are sketchy. People agree that on Dec. 5, 1945, "Flight 19" -- five U.S. military planes -- disappeared during what seemed like a simple mission on a sunny afternoon near Florida. Since then, the triangle has been defined as an area (140,000 square miles) between Bermuda, southern Virginia and the Florida Keys.
"Triangle" begins on the 60th anniversary of Flight 19 and runs for three consecutive nights, from 8 to 10 p.m.
The characters studying the triangle are flawed people, which is a key part of the story. "If it's just special effects, it's not going to fly," Davison says.
Even Devlin -- who has made a fortune with effects-filled movies - - agrees with that. "I think we became a little obsessed with what we could do with these new toys," he says.
By now, the actors are accustomed to big effects. In a studio, they stare at an empty green screen and pretend to be reacting to something that will be added later.
"You just have to make it real to you," Bell says. "Looking at a green screen and pretending there's a monster is just like looking at a person and pretending this is the love of your life," says the actress.
All of this is a jump from her original plans. At UCLA, Bell says, she was studying to be a doctor or a biomedical engineer.
Then modeling work and commercials began. Bell, after all, has a distinctive look.
From her dad's side of the family (English), she is 5-foot-10 and athletic-looking. From her mom's side (Iranian), she is a dark- haired beauty. The combination made her a busy model.
The acting roles were slower until "JAG" came with the towering David James Elliott. For eight seasons, she was his character's law colleague, friend and -- finally -- fiancee.
Now Bell has gone from lawyer to engineer. "I'm getting a lot of intelligent roles now," she says.
It's just that this is the kind of intelligence that also involves facing the eerie unknown.
Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2005
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
AUTHOR :
by Mike Hughes
'THE TRIANGLE'
8 to 10 p.m. tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday on Sci Fi.
- - -
Science fiction has spent plenty of time worrying about distant worlds and fictional galaxies. Now it's fretting about something closer to home.
"The Triangle" opens at 8 tonight as a three-night, six-hour miniseries on the Sci Fi Channel.
This doesn't need a far-away setting. People agree that there's a Bermuda and that ships and planes have disappeared near it. They just disagree on whether it's something eerie or just bad weather.
"It's estimated that in the past 200 years, some 8,000 people have actually vanished without a trace in that legendary vortex," says Bonnie Hammer, the Sci Fi president.
Naturally, her channel prefers the more exotic explanations. That's what science fiction offers.
"It gives us a platform to allow our minds to be more playful," says "Triangle" producer Dean Devlin.
"It's 'what if' and being able to be a child again for the few hours that you're watching," said Catherine Bell, one of the stars.
The channel has drawn praise for its mini-series, particularly "Taken," "Dune" and "Battlestar Galactica." For this one, it has some science-fiction heavyweights.
Devlin has co-written and co-produced "Independence Day," "Stargate" and "Godzilla." He came up with the "Triangle" idea. Rockne O'Bannon -- creator of "Alien Nation" and "Farscape" -- wrote the script; both men are producers.
O'Bannon's notion was to do the story through the eyes of people who don't believe the triangle legends. He says he wanted "a set of characters who went into it with [a] jaundiced view."
A shipping magnate (Sam Neill) is tired of losing ships in the triangle. He assembles a reporter (Eric Stoltz), an ocean resource engineer (Catherine Bell), a psychic (Bruce Davison) and a scientist/ adventurer (Michael Rodgers) to investigate. Except for the psychic, all are doubters.
In real life, Bell seems happy in either camp.
"I do believe that there is more to the universe than we can see," she says. "But I was studying to be a scientist or a doctor, so I guess I wish there was a way to prove it."
Instead, specifics are sketchy. People agree that on Dec. 5, 1945, "Flight 19" -- five U.S. military planes -- disappeared during what seemed like a simple mission on a sunny afternoon near Florida. Since then, the triangle has been defined as an area (140,000 square miles) between Bermuda, southern Virginia and the Florida Keys.
"Triangle" begins on the 60th anniversary of Flight 19 and runs for three consecutive nights, from 8 to 10 p.m.
The characters studying the triangle are flawed people, which is a key part of the story. "If it's just special effects, it's not going to fly," Davison says.
Even Devlin -- who has made a fortune with effects-filled movies - - agrees with that. "I think we became a little obsessed with what we could do with these new toys," he says.
By now, the actors are accustomed to big effects. In a studio, they stare at an empty green screen and pretend to be reacting to something that will be added later.
"You just have to make it real to you," Bell says. "Looking at a green screen and pretending there's a monster is just like looking at a person and pretending this is the love of your life," says the actress.
All of this is a jump from her original plans. At UCLA, Bell says, she was studying to be a doctor or a biomedical engineer.
Then modeling work and commercials began. Bell, after all, has a distinctive look.
From her dad's side of the family (English), she is 5-foot-10 and athletic-looking. From her mom's side (Iranian), she is a dark- haired beauty. The combination made her a busy model.
The acting roles were slower until "JAG" came with the towering David James Elliott. For eight seasons, she was his character's law colleague, friend and -- finally -- fiancee.
Now Bell has gone from lawyer to engineer. "I'm getting a lot of intelligent roles now," she says.
It's just that this is the kind of intelligence that also involves facing the eerie unknown.
Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2005
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
AUTHOR :
by Mike Hughes
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