Jump to content

An A-team for the 21st Century


Michael Hopcroft

Recommended Posts

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

I'd just keep the old murdock. Say he's an old guy from vietnam, but can still fly anything. And still crazy. Funny crazy.

 

I say that because he was always my favorite. I wonder why the actor didn't go on to more stuff? Well, he was on Star Trek, but not often.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

I say that because he was always my favorite. I wonder why the actor didn't go on to more stuff? Well' date=' he was on Star Trek, but not often.[/quote']

But he had an extremely memorable character -- Reginald Barclay, neurotic engineer, amazingly gifted holodeck programmer, and the man who found a way to confirm to a disbelieving Starfleet that the crew of Voyager were still alive. In a universe in which it appeared that Man had ultimately conquered himself, Barclay was as refreshing as an ice-cold Coke.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

I was looking for an "A-team" thread to see how to translate it to Hero and had to put on my fanboy hat here.

 

The crime they were convicted of was robbing the bank of Siagon. They did rob it, but as dbsousa said, "Following orders is what soldiers do." They were ordered to rob it during the closing days of the war. The problem was that the guy who gave them the orders was killed and the paperwork destroyed in a shelling. So the US military, to save face, had them arrested.

 

If the A-team shot, instead of shot at, the bad guys, the effort to capture them would increase 10 fold. By not killing people, they have more of a folk-hero image and become less scary to good people looking for help. I also remember at least 4 episodes were the good guys were shot. In two episodes, Face and Murdock almost died.

 

Also if they killed people, it wouldn't be family TV viewing.

 

If you put this in the modern setting, you may need a fifth member to handle the computers. BA was more mechanics. (Actually he did just about everything but lead. Go figure.) I'd still have them doing a crime, but it was covered up to prevent embarassment. Maybe Face, his ability to con would translate to ID theft.

 

Murdock would be on an out-patient basis. Let's do a twist, he's another homeless vet. The VA had to release him due to budget cuts.

 

BA, keep him the same.

 

Hannibal, I'd merge him and Face. As leader, he runs some cons and fake IDs to keep them out of the public system.

 

New member, loyal soldier who prefers the direct approach and sticks to the plan. Is the second in command, but doesn't improvise well. This would be a foil to the other characters and plot/character development.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

Just to change it up, here's a possible cast if this was being done as a TV revival (instead of a big-name movie):

 

Hannibal: Gerald McRaney

Baracus: Jesse L. Martin

Faceman: Peter Krause

Murdoch: Jeremy Piven

 

Wrong.

 

Hannibal: Harvey Keitel

Baracus: Ving Rhames

Faceman: Christian Slater

Murdoch: Quentin Tarantino

 

Now THAT'S a cast.

 

(P.S. I hated the A-Team with a white-hot passion. It was aggressively, arrogantly, abysmally stupid. But I might watch something with the cast above....)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

Ben Browder or Jim Carrey as Murdock? Either would be pretty amusing...

 

 

A few years ago, when I was still living at my parent's place (and we had satellite), I had a hankerin' to paint minatures one weekend. Basically painted all day, every day for 2 1/2 days.

I like having the TV or radio on as sort of background noise, something to occupy my conscious mind somewhat while I plug away, so I was searching for something good on - what I found was an A-Team marathon.

 

Every episode.

 

Back-to-back.

 

I must have seen about 40 hours of A-team.

 

I dreamed I was Murdock for a week.

 

I found my dreams far more entertaining than the show - I don't recall Murdock having superpowers and fighting zombie furniture.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

Hannibal: Harvey Keitel

Baracus: Ving Rhames

Faceman: Christian Slater

Murdoch: Quentin Tarantino

 

Hannibal: Anthony Hopkins ("I love it when a plan comes together... with some fava beans and a nice Chianti")

B.A.: Ving Rhames is definitely a great choice.

Face: George Clooney

Murdoch: Gary Oldman

 

Although there's a huge part of me tempted to propose Katee Sackoff for Murdoch -- she does a great "Exceptional pilot who's pretty damaged."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

If the you want to run an A-Team world, the first thing ou have to do is remember that the series had severe continuity problems. So pick your reality and stick with it. I have always seen The A-Team as pulp characters, so "Pulp Hero" is probably the way to go. I would see it as a "period piece" and stay in the 80's. Just because it's recent history it doesn't mean it's not a "period". Besides the distance in time will make the basic unreality of the basic world less harsh. I figure, if you like the source material enough to use it why change it too drastically.

 

The non-lethal gun play and explosions can be recreated with creative use of Heroic Talents and Heroic Action Points.

 

If all of the players understand the tongue in cheek attitude and humor you are after, you should be able to recreate The Team. Ground rules on the Laws of A-Team Physics might be a good idea. Just explain carefully and let them know that rules lawyers are the first against the wall. Pulp is meant to be outlandish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

Character builds for a classic "A-Team" would be a serious number crunch, but if you're thinking of a campaign, why not do a "next generation" handoff where the original characters (and original actors) pass the torch to a new group who fight terrorists, organized criminals and ruthless businessmen, employing the same tactics as the original team? (Maybe with a team up for the first few adventures as the old dogs show how it's done while showing their age as well.)

 

That would probably satisfy the need to honor the old series and start somewhat fresh with a new one.

 

Matt "Yeah-I-watched-it-a-lot" Frisbee

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

I hated the A-Team with a white-hot passion. It was aggressively' date=' arrogantly, abysmally stupid. [/quote']

 

Yer speaking for me here. I guess I should thank the A-Team for all that extra fresh air and exercise I got as a kid, instead of staying insde with the TV

 

But ya know, what I always wondered was - if that bunch of buffoons is the *A* Team, what's the B-team? A bunch of WW1 vets in walkers?

 

Yeesh.

 

cheers, Mark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

Thread Necromancy!

 

A new A-Team Film has been announced for summer 2009, with the A-Team being Iraq War veterans.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429493/

 

Hannibal: Bruce Willis.

Murdoch: Woody Harrelson.

BA Barracus: Ice Cube.

 

Mark Wahlberg would round out the cast niucely as Face, IMHO.

 

I hope it stays a little on the light side and doesn't go too dark the way the Miami Vice remake did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

Heh. Didn't realize the thread had been raised from the dead until I saw Shaft's post.

 

My immediate thought upon reading the OP was that the idea had been more or less already tried out. In a comic.

 

The Losers, by Vertigo.

 

Very much a very dark (and I do mean dark) version of the A-Team. :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

Yer speaking for me here. I guess I should thank the A-Team for all that extra fresh air and exercise I got as a kid, instead of staying insde with the TV

 

But ya know, what I always wondered was - if that bunch of buffoons is the *A* Team, what's the B-team? A bunch of WW1 vets in walkers?

 

Yeesh.

 

cheers, Mark

 

IIRC, an "A-Team" was a generic term for a small group of special forces soldiers sent behind enemy lines in Vietnam. I don't know what the term meant (if anything), or if the term is still in use in the military today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

I've lately been considering Ice Cube for B.A. Good choice, IMO.

 

I'd still like to see Matt Damon as Faceman, Clooney as Hannibal, and Brad Pitt as Murdock. Damn me if Brad Pitt doesn't do a great crazy man.

 

Hmmm. Hannibal's 11. It's like Ocean's 11, but with guns!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: An A-team for the 21st Century

 

IIRC' date=' an "A-Team" was a generic term for a small group of special forces soldiers sent behind enemy lines in Vietnam. I don't know what the term meant (if anything), or if the term is still in use in the military today.[/quote']

 

It was once a term for a 12 man unit of Special Forces troops, but the term is no longer officially used.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_A-Team_(military)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...