5 things we love: Best TV series made into movies - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Here at 5 Things, we found it much easier to come up with TV-to-movie flops (“Miami Vice,” “The Wild, Wild West,” “The A-Team,” “Dark Shadows,” “Lost in Space,” “The Lone Ranger” come to mind) than five we love. But, with “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” and “The Man From U. N. C. L. E. ” hot off the summer release list, we have persevered to name five of our favorite television series turned into movie magic. “The Fugitive” (1993): Based on the 1960s TV series starring David Janssen, Harrison Ford took over the role as a wrongly accused man on the lam and ran with it. The film was a best picture nominee, and Tommy Lee Jones, as his dogged pursuer, won... “The Untouchables” (1987): The Brian De Palma film stars Kevin Costner as G-man Eliot Ness (Robert Stack in the TV series), who with a hand-picked team battles organized crime. Sean Connery won a best supporting actor Oscar, and the film featured iconic scenes such as a baseball bat-wielding Robert De Niro as Al Capone and a baby carriage hurtling down steps during a shootout. “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982)/“Star Trek: IV: The Voyage Home” (1986): Without these early crowd-pleasers paving the way, there might not have been the J. J. Abrams’ franchise reboots with Chris Pine filling William Shatner’s big shoes... Source: www.post-gazette.com
