RESULTS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 1998

The results of the first 25 (or so) responses to the Unofficial Dirk Pitt Poll are in! They proved to be as wildly varied as expected with only a few people receiving multiple votes and a number of surprises thrown in as well.

DIRK PITT
We all know how Cussler describes Dirk Pitt but here's how his readers see him in the movies. George Clooney received the most votes with 4, followed closely by Mel Gibson with 3. Superstars Harrison Ford and Kevin Costner - and JAG's David James Elliott, were right behind with two votes each.

The votes broke down like this:

No response/no idea: 9

GEORGE CLOONEY: 4
MEL GIBSON: 3
HARRISON FORD: 2
DAVID JAMES ELIOT: 2

Receiving one vote each were:
Alec Baldwin ("Hunt for Red October")
Pierce Brosnan (James Bond in "Tomorrow Never Dies")
Tom Cruise ("Mission Impossible," etc.)
Thomas Gibson (TV's "Dharma & Greg")
Val Kilmer ("The Saint," "Batman Forever")
Christopher Lambert ("Highlander" the movie)
Matthew McConaughey ("A Time To Kill")
Adrian Paul (TV's "Highlander")
Steven Seagal ("Under Siege")
Kevin Sorbo (TV's "Hercules")
Michael T. Weiss (TV's "The Pretender")
Billy Zane ("Titanic," "The Phantom")

AL GIORDINO
The votes were thinner for Pitt's "barrel-shaped" friend as most Pitt fans think that it's even harder to cast Al than it is to cast Dirk. The range of the stars picked prove that. In the lead with only two votes each were Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone, neither of which is likely to take a supporting "buddy" role. The list of votes went like this:

No response/no idea: 13

SYLVESTER STALLONE: 2
BRUCE WILLIS: 2

The following received one vote each:
Jason Alexander (TV's "Seinfeld")
Franco Columbo (Arnold Schwarzenegger's buddy, "Pumping Iron")
Tony Danza (TV's "Taxi")
Dennis Franz (TV's "N.Y.P.D. Blue")
Ed Harris ("Apollo 13")
James Gandolfini ("Crimson Tide")
Bob Hoskins ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit")
Michael Hurst (TV's "Hercules")
Denis Leary ("Wag the Dog")
Michael Madsen ("Reservoir Dogs," TV's "Vengeance Unlimited")
Joe Pesci ("Good Fellas")
Brad Pitt ("Seven")
Jeremy Piven (TV's "Cupid" and "Ellen")
Robin Williams ("Good Morning Vietnam," "Good Will Hunting")

ADMIRAL JAMES SANDECKER
If a Dirk Pitt movie were made today and if the people taking our poll were choosing the cast, then the original movie James Bond, Sean Connery, would have the role of crusty Admiral Sandecker. Connery led the votes in this category with five, followed by Anthony Hopkins, Paul Newman and the Grandmaster of Adventure himself, Clive Cussler with two votes each. The voting looked like this:

No response/no idea: 6

SEAN CONNERY: 5
CLIVE CUSSLER: 2
ANTHONY HOPKINS: 2
PAUL NEWMAN: 2

The following had one vote each:
Sir Alec Guinness ("Star Wars")
Gene Hackman ("Twilight")
Charlton Heston ("True Lies," "Planet of the Apes," etc.)
John M. Jackson (TV's "JAG")
William H. Macy ("Fargo")
Al Pacino ("Scarface")
Jason Robards ("Raise the Titanic")
Roy Scheider ("Jaws," TV's "Seaquest")
George C. Scott ("Patton")
William Shatner ("Star Trek")
Tom Skeritt ("Alien," TV's "Picket Fences")
Donald Sutherland ("Virus" "Ordinary People")
Rip Torn (TV's "The Larry Sanders Show")

RUDI GUNN
More people chose not to respond or had no idea who should play Rudi Gunn than any other category: 14. And no one in this category received more than one vote. The votes broke down like this:

No response/no idea: 14

The following had one vote each:
Al Pacino ("Scarface")
Alec Baldwin ("Hunt for Red October")
Chad Lowe ("Life Goes On")
David Straitharn ("River Wild")
Marc Harmon (TV's "Chicago Hope")
Mitch Pileggi (TV's "The X-Files")
Richard Dean Anderson (TV's "MacGuyver," "Stargate SG-1")
Richard Gere ("American Gigolo")
Sam Neill ("Jurassic Park")
Tommy Lee Jones ("The Fugitive")

LOREN SMITH
We thought Congressperson Loren would be an easy one, but again responses were across the board. In the lead was Sharon Stone with three votes, followed closely by Sandra Bullock with two. The voting broke down like this:

No response/no idea: 8

SHARON STONE: 3
SANDRA BULLOCK: 2

The following received one vote each:
Catherine Bell (TV's "JAG")
Lorraine Bracco ("Good Fellas")
Geena Davis ("The Long Kiss Goodnight")
Dana Delaney (TV's "China Beach")
Linda Fiorentino ("Jade")
Linda Hamilton ("Terminator," "Terminator 2")
Teri Hatcher (TV's "Lois and Clark" "Tomorrow Never Dies")
Lauren Holly ("Adventures of Ford Fairlane")
Helen Hunt (TV's "Mad About You," "As Good as it Gets")
Demi Moore ("G.I. Jane")
Michelle Pfeiffer ("One Fine Day")
Kathleen Quinlan ("Apollo 13")
Rene Russo ("Lethal Weapon IV")
Susan Sarandon ("Dead Man Walking")
Cybill Shepherd (TV's "Cybill")
Shannon Tweed (TV's "Frasier," "Assault on Devil's Island")

HIRAM YAEGER
He's a computer whiz, this is an internet poll: You'd think that Hiram Yaeger would have received more votes than he did but, no. 13 voters either chose not to respond or had no idea as to who should play NUMA's computer guy. Those who did vote, however, gave comic ranter Dennis Miller and "Jurassic Park's" Jeff Goldblum the lead with two votes each. The votes broke down like this:

No response/no idea: 13

JEFF GOLDBLUM: 2
DENNIS MILLER: 2

The following had one vote each:
George Carlin ("Outrageous Fortune")
Tommy Chong ("Up In Smoke")
Jeff Daniels ("Pleasantville")
Dean Hagland ("The X-Files")
Oliver Platt ("Flatliners" "Bulworth")
Brent Spiner ("Star Trek's" Data)
Jon Voight ("Runaway Train")
Weird Al Yankovich (TV's "The Weird Al Show," song parodist)


ST. JULIEN PERLMUTTER
Burt Reynolds' old buddy Dom DeLuise received the most votes (3) to play Dirk's research expert, followed closely by Sir Richard Attenborough, Bud Spencer (Italian actor of "They Call Me Trinity" fame) and Michael McShane (of "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves") with two each.

No response/no idea: 12

DOM DELUISE: 3
SIR RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH: 2
MICHAEL McSHANE: 2
BUD SPENCER: 2

The following had one vote each:
James Doohan ("Star Trek's" Scotty)
James Earl Jones ("Clear and Present Danger")
Nathan Lane ("Mouse Hunt")
John Rhys-Davies (TV's "Sliders," "Raiders of the Lost Ark")
William Shatner ("Star Trek's" Captain Kirk)
Peter Ustinov ("Death on the Nile")

BEST DIRECTOR FOR A DIRK PITT MOVIE
This was a tricky category, because some voters may not know directors as well as others. They know the big name directors because, well, because they're big names. Regardless, the responses were varied and interesting. Steven Spielberg, of course, topped the list with seven votes, followed closely by James Cameron with 4.

The votes broke down like this:

No response/No idea: 7

STEVEN SPIELBERG ("Jaws" "Saving Private Ryan"): 7
JAMES CAMERON ("Titanic" "The Abyss"): 4
MICHAEL BAY ("Armageddon" "The Rock"): 3
MARTIN CAMPBELL ("Mark of Zorro" "Goldeneye"): 2
RON HOWARD ("Apollo 13" "Willow"): 2
GEORGE LUCAS ("Star Wars"): 2
RICHARD DONNER ("Lethal Weapon" series): 1
JAN DUBONT ("Twister" "Speed"): 1
JOHN LANDIS ("The Blues Brothers" "Twilight Zone"): 1
MIMI LEDER ("The Peacemaker" "Deep Impact"): 1
SIMON WINCER ("Quigley Down Under" "The Phantom"): 1
JOHN WOO ("Face/Off" "Broken Arrow"): 1


BEST NOVEL TO MAKE INTO A MOVIE
Again, if a Dirk Pitt movie were made today and the people who voted in the poll the people who made the decision, INCA GOLD would be it. With 9 votes, it was far in the lead over FLOODTIDE, SAHARA and NIGHT PROBE with 4 each. The votes broke down like this:

INCA GOLD: 9
FLOODTIDE: 4
NIGHT PROBE!: 4
SAHARA: 4
TREASURE: 3
ICEBERG: 2
CYCLOPS: 1
MEDITERRANEAN CAPER: 1
VIXEN 03: 1

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