Anyone who knows me know I love a good film. I do. I can easily loose myself for a few hours whilst watching, no matter how bad (with few exceptions for the really bad…that’s just ‘slit-your-wrist-time’ painful). And I'm usually open-minded regarding remakes – although you have to admit, they are sometimes a mute point.
Ok, there's a whole new generation out there, some who wouldn't give an older film the time of day, and so remakes will often appeal more to them (and what they can achieve these days compared to the likes of twenty years ago can really make a difference) but if you're a fan of the original, then remakes aren't always a good thing.
There are three remakes in the pipelines that have won my attention recently, two of which could be good, but one with the potential of being disastrous. These remakes are:
My all-time favourite is The Crow with Brandon Lee. It was one of the first films with an 18 rating that I ever watched, and was probably responsible the darker side of some of my thinking. I just fell in love with it right away. And the soundtrack, which I run out and bought on CD, is absolutely crazy with the likes of Nine Inch Nails and the Cure. For me, there wasn’t anything to not love about this film.
The follow-ons, however, I haven’t been too impressed about. City of Angels was not too bad. It wasn’t a patch on the first, and I’ve just watched Salvation for the first time. For me, Salvation was definitely verging on ‘Slit-your-wrist-time’ bad. What did they do!! The killed the Crow! As for the Wicked Prayer? I haven’t seen it.
Good thing about The Crow is that the franchise isn’t just about a specific character. It can be any unfortunate person who gains the power of the crow to seek vengeance on those who did them wrong, so the story lines can change, the circumstances can change, and the characters can change. They don’t have to make a 1994 reboot – and we’ve apparently been assured that it’s not going to be, so I’m quite hopeful. Let’s just hope they can get some actors who can act this time, unlike Salvation.
The other film was Ghostbusters. Again, I'm a big fan of the original with Bill Murray. And as a kid, not only did I love the film, but I recorded every cartoon episode and never missed one. For me this could go two ways. With new CGI technology it could be visually spectacular, but will my love for the first one give the reboot an unfair disadvantage? We'll just have to wait and see what they churn out.
And last but not least, Dad's Army. What are they doing?!!! What are they thinking?!!! This, I think, will be disastrous. Ok, they have a star-studded cast lined up with the likes of Catherine Zeta Jones, Bill Nighy and more, but come on. Dad's Army? Really? Captain Mainwaring was only adored because of Arther Lowe, and then with the likes of John Le Mesurier, Ian Lavender, James Beck and Clive Dunn, the cast was complete and Dad's Army won it's place in the nation's heart. You can't recreate that. You just can't. It's not like a film where people spend at most two hours and walk away thinking "oh, that's was good," and then look forward to reboot 10 years down the line This ran for years. We grew up with these faces, followed their characters and grew to know them. They were known in every household and still are in many - such as ours. You can't replace that, no matter how pretty Catherine Zeta Jones may be...
So what are your views on the above?
Ok, there's a whole new generation out there, some who wouldn't give an older film the time of day, and so remakes will often appeal more to them (and what they can achieve these days compared to the likes of twenty years ago can really make a difference) but if you're a fan of the original, then remakes aren't always a good thing.
There are three remakes in the pipelines that have won my attention recently, two of which could be good, but one with the potential of being disastrous. These remakes are:
The Crow
Ghostbusters
Dad’s Army
My all-time favourite is The Crow with Brandon Lee. It was one of the first films with an 18 rating that I ever watched, and was probably responsible the darker side of some of my thinking. I just fell in love with it right away. And the soundtrack, which I run out and bought on CD, is absolutely crazy with the likes of Nine Inch Nails and the Cure. For me, there wasn’t anything to not love about this film. The follow-ons, however, I haven’t been too impressed about. City of Angels was not too bad. It wasn’t a patch on the first, and I’ve just watched Salvation for the first time. For me, Salvation was definitely verging on ‘Slit-your-wrist-time’ bad. What did they do!! The killed the Crow! As for the Wicked Prayer? I haven’t seen it.
Good thing about The Crow is that the franchise isn’t just about a specific character. It can be any unfortunate person who gains the power of the crow to seek vengeance on those who did them wrong, so the story lines can change, the circumstances can change, and the characters can change. They don’t have to make a 1994 reboot – and we’ve apparently been assured that it’s not going to be, so I’m quite hopeful. Let’s just hope they can get some actors who can act this time, unlike Salvation.
The other film was Ghostbusters. Again, I'm a big fan of the original with Bill Murray. And as a kid, not only did I love the film, but I recorded every cartoon episode and never missed one. For me this could go two ways. With new CGI technology it could be visually spectacular, but will my love for the first one give the reboot an unfair disadvantage? We'll just have to wait and see what they churn out.
And last but not least, Dad's Army. What are they doing?!!! What are they thinking?!!! This, I think, will be disastrous. Ok, they have a star-studded cast lined up with the likes of Catherine Zeta Jones, Bill Nighy and more, but come on. Dad's Army? Really? Captain Mainwaring was only adored because of Arther Lowe, and then with the likes of John Le Mesurier, Ian Lavender, James Beck and Clive Dunn, the cast was complete and Dad's Army won it's place in the nation's heart. You can't recreate that. You just can't. It's not like a film where people spend at most two hours and walk away thinking "oh, that's was good," and then look forward to reboot 10 years down the line This ran for years. We grew up with these faces, followed their characters and grew to know them. They were known in every household and still are in many - such as ours. You can't replace that, no matter how pretty Catherine Zeta Jones may be...So what are your views on the above?
Dad's Army is an odd choice.
ReplyDeleteThe cast for the new Ghostbusters has me worried.
Agree that the first Crow was a masterpiece and the sequels fell way short. I don't expect the remake to be much better though. There is one thing they cannot recapture and that is the true tragedy surrounding the first film with the death of its star. That gave the original a quality that can't be duplicated.
Oh I agree. The nature of the story and the tragedy that surrounded it can't be matched. It's given the film 'legend' status. I suppose they could always try with the remake, but I don't think planning to murder your main cast member will go down too well...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about Dad's Army, despite the new talent. Some things are almost impossible to replicate. I'd put David Suchet's Poirot in the same bracket. Similarly, who in their right mind would consider recasting Frasier for the big screen?
ReplyDeleteAgain Frasier's face is too well known to be recast. As they say, it's better for people to be asking for more as opposed to doing it and ruining it all.
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