beneath the triangle

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Friday 1 September 2006

Beneath The TTrriiaannggllee

Hollywood executive producers Dean Devlin andBryan Singer, together with a strong cast, unravelthe mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle. >> 22--33

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IT WOULD appear that childhooddreams do come true. At least thiswas the case for Dean Devlin,

executive producer of The Triangle.Devlin had, while in high school, written

a scene about the Bermuda Triangle anddidn’t know what to do with it. Manyyears later, after producing blockbusterssuch as Independence Day, The Patriot andGodzilla, he was able to use that scene inthe new miniseries, aptly called TheTriangle.

“A couple of years ago, Bryan Singer wasin my office and I pitched the scene tohim,” Devlin said. “Bryan had a brilliant,quick mind ... and within that fewseconds, he had the whole story in hishead.” Singer, of course is the notabledirector behind the first two X-Menmovies and more recently, SupermanReturns.

“I watched him, and I was like, ‘We haveto do this,’” Devlin added.

Singer, as a kid, had a similar interest inthe Bermuda Triangle. In

retrospect, onecan’t help but

wonder whythese twonever gottogetherearlier toproducesomethinglike this.

After all,both have

been friendsfor a long time,and more

importantly,they

havegreat

respect for one another.This was obvious when Singer was told

about the compliment Devlin gave himabout how fast his mind works.

He replied: “I’ll have to pay him acompliment in return. He creates a certainkind of energy in the room ... he’s one ofthose people that when you’re aroundhim, ideas just kind of flow.”

Indeed, Devlin and Singer may haveknown each other for many years, butthey have never worked together untilthis project.

“We’d always wanted to work together,”Devlin explained. “When I first met him(Singer), I was working with RolandEmerich.”

The wonder pair of Devlin and Emerich,his co-producer/director for Stargate,Independence Day and Godzilla, was busymaking headlines, and when Devlinbranched out on his own, Singer wascaught up with the X-Men franchise.

“I think it was a matter of finding theright project and at a time we could doit together,” Devlin said.

For Singer, it all started almost ona whim.

“It began as just a casualsuggestion, almost a humoroussuggestion on what we could dotogether,” he explained. “Sort

of a way to start workingtogether that might not be afull feature but somethingmore tangible.”

This project would beThe Triangle, a US$22mil(RM81mil) six-hour mini-series. The premise of TheTriangle revolves aroundbillionaire Eric Benirall(played by Sam Neill) who

keeps losing his cargo shipsand crew at a frighteningplace. Wanting answers, thetycoon brings together ateam of experts from

various fields to solve themystery.

While the miniseries wasspawned out of Devlin and Singer’simagination, they relied on a lot offacts and research to pull the storythrough.

“We had someone do an extensiveresearch portfolio of the last 500 yearshistory of the Triangle, back to the days ofColumbus to modern time disappearances– at least all the recorded disappearances.

“You have to imagine that in theTriangle there’s a lot illegal shipping,refugees and drug trafficking that there’sprobably a great deal of disappearancesthat go unrecorded.

“So we basically began with looking atthe facts related to the disappearancesand then the theories,” explained Singer.

Devlin said: “Because The Triangle wasenormously ambitious, it cost twice asmuch as it would to make a six-hourmovie and we said, ‘let’s see if we can doit’.”

And succeed they did. Not only was TheTriangle a hit when it aired on the SCI FIChannel in the United States, the twomanaged to even surprise themselves.

When the channel wanted to do thepremiere of the show in the cinema,Singer was worried that the effectswouldn’t translate well onto the bigscreen.

By the end of the screening, the answerwas clear.

It wasn’t just the effects that surprisedthe executive producers though; it wasthe whole process of making a show forTV as opposed to the big screen,something that they have little experiencein.

The show has also built up a prettystrong fan base, leading to the executiveproducers contemplating a possiblecontinuation of the miniseries.

“If the fans keep asking for it, then itmakes sense to continue the story,” Devlinsaid.

Putting big budget and special effectsaside, Devlin feels that it is the charactersthat viewers will most relate to.

“While (the show) has 800 digital effectshots and truly spectacular imagery thatviewers would not normally see ontelevision ... the biggest surprise and thebiggest gift are the characters.”

■ Catch the making of The Triangle on StarMovies (Astro Channel 42) today at 9.30pm.The first part will be aired tomorrow (10pm)and subsequently on Saturdays at 10pm.

Friday 1 September 2006

STARTWO

TVT2


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A style of his own

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EDITOR: Alistair TanCONTACT: [email protected]:Janet Khaw ([email protected]), (03) 7966-8221Peter Hoe ([email protected]),(03) 7966-8236Jeanie Chiew ([email protected])(03) 7966-8224


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Linda Cadwell, BruceLee’s widow, and theirdaughter Shannon,carefully control theuse of his name, likeness and works.They won’t licensetobacco products,alcohol or weaponswith his image.

By combining lyric soprano and indie rock,Shara Worden, or better known as MyBrightest Diamond, is an artiste taking a singular style for a spin.

Paul Stewart, the drummer for British bandThe Feeling, has wonderful people skills. It’sgreat for the band, really, since The Feelingis barely a year old.

Selling Bruce

A real gem

Unbiased war report

Dream come trueNIKI CHEONG meets up with TheTriangle executive producers DeanDevlin and Bryan Singer to gainsome insight into the miniseries.

Bryan Singer(left) and DeanDevlin finallyfound a projectthey couldwork ontogether in TheTriangle.

19

9

Eric Stoltz plays Howard Thomas, a down-and-out journalist hired toinvestigate the mysterious disappearanceof ships in the Bermuda Triangle.

WHETHER we believe in it or not, many of ushave had, at some point of our lives,discussed the Bermuda Triangle. Perhaps theaverage layman may not have debated it asintensely as the experts; nevertheless, thislocation has been a point of interest to manypeople since it was first “discovered”.

The question that begs to be asked,however, is if it was discovered in the firstplace.

Yes, people have been talking about it foryears and most agree that it is located in theAtlantic Ocean, roughly bounded by Miami,Bermuda and Puerto Rico.

The Bermuda Triangle was first cited byChristopher Columbus who mentioned thesighting of dancing lights on the horizonwhere most people agree lies the BermudaTriangle. This cannot be taken as fact becauseuntil today, studies of the Triangle indicate avariation in terms of its size – from 500,000square miles (1.3 million sqkm) to threetimes that.

There is only one fact when it comes to theBermuda Triangle and that is nobody reallyknows what to make of it.

Because most of the disappearances of shipsor planes in that area have been labelled as“mysterious”, there is little evidence of itsexact existence.

Co-producer of The Triangle Dean Devlinwas a sceptic at first.

“But after hearing stories about thingshappening there ... I’m not sure what iscausing this, but obviously something ishappening there,” he said. “There is enoughhappening in a confined area that has to openyour mind to the possibility that there mightbe something beyond your imagination.”

Of course, Devlin is also quick to attribute itto nature, stating that it could also be assimple an answer as rocky seas and big rocks.

Devlin’s co-producer on the miniseriesBryan Singer shared this opinion, but thinksthat there might be something to the myth.

“Personally, I think that the more you

investigate these things, there often is atangible explanation. But when it comes tothe ocean, there’s so much going on, in thatunruly and unexplored part of our planet,that anything could happen,” said Singer.

Since the Bermuda Triangle waspopularised by author Charles Berlitz in hisbook The Bermuda Triangle, which chroniclesnumerous mysterious disappearances, manypeople have come up with different answers.

One of the more prominent theories is thatof the Lost City of Atlantis. It indicates thatthe mythological city sank where theBermuda Triangle now lies, and thatwhatever is left of Atlantis is causing thesedisappearances. Two people have been notedto make these claims.

Dr Ray Brown claimed to have found a hugepyramid of a mysterious jewel held by twometallic hands while diving in the BermudaTriangle.

Then psychic Edgar Cayce, who became theUnited States’ most prominent advocate of afactual Atlantis, claimed to be able to lookinto the future and identify hundreds ofpeople who are reincarnated as Atlanteans.

His most interesting claim was that Atlantiswas situated near the Bermuda island ofBimini, and that the city had “fire-crystals”that Atlanteans harnessed for energy.

Interestingly, Cayce once prophesised that“elements of Atlantis would rise in 1968 and1969. The Bimimi wall was discovered off thecoast of Bimimi in 1968.

There have been other such extraordinaryclaims, including that of time travel portalsand aliens. But for every theory that soundslike science fiction, there are equally as manytheories, which experts claim explain the

mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. It must be noted that despite all these

theories, the mystery remains unsolved. Thishas paved the way for many sceptics.

Then there is also the fact that anotherauthor, Kusche, revealed numerousinconsistencies and inaccuracies in Berlitz’sbook.

In Kusche’s The Bermuda Triangle Mystery –Solved, he also made several conclusions suchas how the number of ships and aircraftsreported missing in the area was notsignificantly greater, in proportion, than anyother part of the ocean.

In Devlin and Singer’s The Triangle, whichthey co-produce with screenwriter/directorRockne S. O’Bannon, there is some sort of aconclusion to the phenomenon ofdisappearance at the Bermuda Triangle.

“We basically began with looking at thefacts related to the disappearances and thenthe previous theories that had to do with theBermuda Triangle,” Singer explained.

Devlin said: “So we came up with ananswer that fit our story but left thepossibility that there might be more than that... It’s not fair to take them (the viewers) on asix-hour journey without a fulfillingconclusion.”

Singer, though, was quick to mention thatthe miniseries does not intend on giving thefinal answer to what causes the BermudaTriangle.

“They (the viewers) get an answer to thatparticular phenomenon (in the show) butwhat’s also set up is the notion that this is acontinual dilemma and that the threat of thatarea still exist after the resolution.” – By NikiCheong

1 September 2006 Friday

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TV T3

The Triangle mystery

WHEN shipping tycoon Eric Benirall startslosing ships in the Bermuda Triangle, he’sdetermined to get to the bottom of things.Not only is he losing a lot of money becausehis ships have disappeared, his company’sreputation is affected as well.

When one of his ships is found, theydiscover all the crewmen dead and mutilated.Benirall acts by assembling a team to uncoverthe truth about the Bermuda Triangle andhopefully, save his shipping empire.

Most of these experts are in trouble oneway or another, and Benirall probably chosethem just because they are desperate. Whoelse will agree to Benirall’s insane plan to risktheir lives and head towards the BermudaTriangle, an area of sea where many shipshave mysteriously disappeared?

The de facto leader of this group is HowardThomas (Eric Stoltz), a journalist in thedoldrums of his career. Forced to write forsupermarket tabloids, the days where he canaim for a Pulitzer Prize are long gone. And ifthat’s not bad enough, his family life is inshambles.

Emily Patterson (Catherine Bell of JAG fame)has just been fired from her job with an off-shore drilling company. The tough, risk-taking ocean resource engineer would havepooh-poohed Benirall’s offer if she hadn’tbeen so desperate for money.

Meanwhile, Stan Lathem is a genuinepsychic who peddles self-promotional tapesat New Age fairs to earn a living. He is therein case the Bermuda Triangle has a“supernatural” explanation.

Only Bruce Geller (Michael Rodgers) seemsto be in it for the adventure. The Australianprofessor of meteorology first joined the teamfor the US$5mil pay cheque, but soon growsenthusiastic about unravelling the mysterythat is the triangle.

Although the list of characters assembledhere is downright stereotypical, one wouldimmediately be swept away by the bizarreevents from the get go.

Indeed, it is not difficult to be awed by theopening sequence of The Triangle whereChristopher Columbus is awakened on astormy night to see something out of thisworld sailing next to his ship!

The team is initially sceptical aboutBenirall’s intentions and believe that theBermuda Triangle is nothing but an elaboratehoax. But nevertheless they are enticed by theUS$5mil (RM18.5mil) ... things really change,however, when every one of them starts toexperience strange events while in theBermuda Triangle.

However, unlike them, environmentalactivist Meeno Paloma (Lou Diamond Phillips)is alone when he encounters his spate ofweird events. He survived a “Triangle event”which killed the crew members of two ships,but is now paying for it with his sanity. Hereturns to his family, but they seem differentand a little “off”. He doesn’t recall events thatsupposedly happened, and worse – he doesn’tremember the son that he supposedly has.

This slick miniseries has lots of specialeffects to please the sci fi fan, but will theexplanation it offers for the mystery of theBermuda Triangle please conspiracytheorists? Tune in and find out.

Offering one explanationBy ELIZABETH TAI

Lou Diamond Phillips (centre) plays Meeno Paloma, an environmental activist who survives anexperience in the Bermuda Triangle and returns a different man. Lisa Brenner (left) is Helena Paloma

while Mitchell Obermeyer plays Ruben.

beneath the triangle

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