...please stop rehashing movies from my youth. I am sick of you raping my memories of what inspired me.I realize that this is a trivial subject, but to those who don't know the 'classics' the way they should be seen, have no business seeing them in the first place.
John Carpenter's The Thing from 1982, was a remake. The original was 'The Thing Form Another World' that came out in 1951. Which, in my opinion, was hokey at best.
It was a 50's sci-fi matinee movie. NOT the mind blowing bloodbath that John Carpenter graced us with in the early 80's.
It was a 50's sci-fi matinee movie. NOT the mind blowing bloodbath that John Carpenter graced us with in the early 80's.
The film is so overtly gory, so brazen in it's one up-ing of how messed up and clever the alien is, it can't be duplicated.
The sheer element of desperation that was continually played out over and over sucks you in and never lets go.
So why re-make it? Why not just release the 1982 film and let the people see the best?
I really don't know. I did hear that it's easy to remake films such as Conan The Barbarian, Fright Night, Clash Of The Titans, Red Dawn, The Karate Kid, They Live, Total Recall, Romancing The Stone, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday The Thirteenth, Arthur, The Mechanic, Conquest of The Planet of the Apes...do i really need to go on?
So what is it that brings these movies back in a most poor fashion?
1) The studio already owns the rights. They have these films on file and just sprinkle some new 'magic' on an old story.
2) CGI. It's supposed to add something to a movie. Sometimes it does. Other times it just overtakes an already thin plot line.
3) There are no good writers left. This is not at all true. But look at reason #1. Why pay someone for a story when you can re hash an already done thing.
Most of the movies from the 80's and 90's are from an era when the blockbuster was still a real blockbuster. All the studios are trying to do is re live the golden years and make a quick buck. The integrity that was put into making 1982's The Thing, where they actually shot on an research site in the middle of a blizzard, can be reproduced digitally. It took harder work to get get the results they used to get, but Hollywood doesn't want to do it in some cases. It just wants to fill seats.
The sad thing is, they had to pick the time period where i was seeing the real thing, no matter how hokey the films could be.
I shrugged when they started to remake t.v. shows into movies like Transformers and G.I. Joe.
I felt like my memories and innocence were being sucked out of myself and anyone else that had the toys and watched the shows.
I have relented, as the movies were FAR inferior to even those dated cartoons.
I'm not boycotting the whole remake idea. I really like the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre from 2003. That says a lot for me as the original Toby Hooper classic from 1974 is the greatest horror movie i have ever laid eyes on.
I know you won't be able to stop this from happening, these re makes, but i am always going to go back to these older, better movies no matter what.
They mean a lot to me and even if i know every frame of film, i'll be glad to pop in The Thing on a cold winter's day and revel in the fact that it's been with me in one form or another for the past 25 years.
By the way Hollywood: if you ever mess with Blade Runner, we will have some very serious issues.
Thanks for following me on this not-so-serious bit of news.
Sources:
2 comments:
Many of my co workers and friends agree: Hollywood has run out of ideas.
CGI crap it will be!!
Post a Comment