The best time for a Get Smartmovie would have been the late ’60s, when the original television series was still on the air. In fact, there was a theatrical Get Smart film in the works during the run of the show, but it was canceled when the theatrical release of Munster, Go Home!bombed at the box office. Many years later, in 1980, a Get Smart feature titled The Nude Bomb was released to theaters, but it also performed poorly.
Now we’re getting a remake version starring Steve Carell in the role that was so iconically defined by the late Don Adams. Will it do the show justice? Reportedly the budget was $80 million, a significant amount of which was probably put towards pointless effects. But the best thing Warner Bros. could have done with that money is to give a large amount to series creators Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, who probably even today could churn out a better script than Failure to Launchscribes Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember.
Despite its lack of original Get Smart talent, though, it could still be marginally funny. Yet the real problem is that it may be too outdated and obsolete for audiences to care. In the four decades since the show went off the air, there has been plenty of similar-themed movies, from spy spoofs to films with bumbling heroes. The following ten titles are the best evidence of why this new Get Smart movie is completely unnecessary:
Remember the Cold War, when we were led to believe that Americans and Russians are so different from each other? Turns out that all that time we could have just made peace in a movie theater, watching spoofs like The Naked Gunand Airplane! together. Well, I guess the Russians could have only grown to love these kinds of comedies in the last 16 years, since the fall of the Soviet Union. But in any event, this trailer for the new film Hitler Kaput! shows that senses of humor are currently equal on both hemispheres. Even if our own latest parody, Superhero Movie, performed rather poorly at the box office over the weekend.
Presently, there are no plans for Hitler Kaput! to be distributed in the U.S. (it opens in Russia on April 10), but were it not for the language barrier, it would easily be popular here. Seeming like a cross between the classic Zucker Bros. spy movie parody Top Secret!and any post-Scary Moviespoof film, it looks just dumb enough to appeal to the masses. Perhaps it could sell as a cult-ready DVD release if the dialogue is dubbed instead of subtitled. Actually, considering the fact that we can tell what is going on in the trailer, despite it being in Russian, we probably don’t need dubbing or subtitles. Visual gags like the silly dancing Hitler, the photo of Sean Connery, the swastika eye patch and plenty of slapstick bits make the movie exportable just the way it is.
Another bit of exciting news from Jason Bateman [again via MTV Movies Blog] regarding the Arrested Development movie: “the ball has started rolling down the hill again.” Okay, so it’s not too exciting, nor is it revelatory in the least, but at least he says all the creatives are on board. Meanwhile, the actor also commented on his role in the American movie adaptation of the British TV mini-series State of Play, which, combined with MTV’s other post about the American TV series remake/adaptation of the British TV series Spaced, has me putting a little thought into the subject of theatrical spin-offs versus movie adaptations.
Certainly those of us who are fans of a series would rather see it continued with all original talent on board (even if we arecynically fearing the result) than see it adapted into a movie version many years down the line, whether the approach be faithful or parody or an attempt at both. Try to imagine another cast playing the Arrested Developmentand Sex and the Citycharacters. Imagine the pointlessness a future X-Filesremake/adaptation compared with the immediate cinematic extension we received. Or live-action versions of The Simpsonsor South Parksomewhere down the line rather than the big-screen supplements.
The best time for a 
