Have your say & ask the experts

Clare Newsome:

Totally agree re Oceans 11 remake being superior - and I say that as a massive fan of the Rat Pack ,who star in the (ncredibly self-indulgent) original.

[BTW - did anyone see the recent South Park Ocean's 11 pastiche re Barack Obama. Genius...] 

I can tolerate some Hollywood makeovers, but agree The Ladykillers was rubbish (a rare Coen Bros ***-up, too) , Aand can't stand history being re-written.

Worst example of this was U-571, where it appears the Americans captured the Enigma machine. Amazed they didn't relocate Bletchley Park to the old U S of A while they were at it....

I also detest the Hollywood habit of having to tell the audience exactly where anywhere out of the US is, whlle assuming a global audience knows where everywhere in America is. Eg 'Paris, France' vs 'Washington'... 

 

And Tom Hanks has a lot to answer for. . .Ahhhh!!

The remakes of The Thing and The Fly give your home cinema a better work out than the originals !

Ah "The Thing", what was the original called again?

Clare Newsome:

I also detest the Hollywood habit of having to tell the audience exactly where anywhere out of the US is, whlle assuming a global audience knows where everywhere in America is. Eg 'Paris, France' vs 'Washington'... 

 

Lovely place Washington, Tyne and Wear.

Going back to the original question, "The Departed" was okay, though I'd prefer "Infernal Affairs" over it any day.

Gwyndy:

"Infernal Affairs" over it any day.

Hang on I don't understand this, is Andrew Lau not the first? 

Octopo:

Ah "The Thing", what was the original called again?

Um, The Thing from Another World!

Re: Good Hollywood remakes. Akira Kurosawa's films seem to work, especially westerns, John Ford being an influence - The Magnificent Seven (Seven Samurai), A Fistful of Dollars (Yojimbo) and you could say Star Wars (Hidden Fortress).

lonely boy:

Um, The Thing from Another World! Re: Good Hollywood remakes. Akira Kurosawa's films seem to work, especially westerns, John Ford being an influence - The Magnificent Seven (Seven Samurai), A Fistful of Dollars (Yojimbo) and you could say Star Wars (Hidden Fortress).

Most of the originals were filmed / financed by USA. I harking on about America rehashing cracking British films and claiming how brilliant they are.

lonely boy:

The Magnificent Seven (Seven Samurai), A Fistful of Dollars (Yojimbo) and you could say Star Wars (Hidden Fortress).

Whooooaaa, hold on a second, Ocean's 11 is one thing but now we are taking on the greatest films ever made on both parts. Given that all films take inspiration from others (that's largely how progression works) I can't see a problem here. Films such as Seven Samurai have spurned a ridiculous amount of other movies, not intentionally copying it just taking inspiration from it's masterpiece. 

dont forget that hollywood also 'remakes' a lots of its own out put....

coming up soon is a frankly hallowed scifi film from the 50's remake 'the day the earth stood still'....

now this is a truly iconic scifi film that in no way relied upon SFX or action to deliver its message (which was something very different in the dasy of the 1950's scifi)

i have no doubt that the new version will be more SFX driven with more action and Gort kicking more butt....BUT although i am huge fan of the original; i am expecting something new on the story .... which is incedently based on a short story from the 1940's called farewell to the master....

Hated much of the latest kong remake. have to pinch myself and remind meself that it was a pet project of jackson's for some time before he did TLOTR trilogy, as it looks just like a vanity project to me. "Well Peter, you made us a beucket load of money, so here's some of it back. indulge yourself"!

That ridiculous chase sequence...everything in teh original looked more real than the animals in that. And i really didnt need to see him...er..."skating".

Saw the omen remake as it was on telly. totally toothless. i refuse to watch teh wicker man remake (tho could crack when its on telly, just for a laugh).

Clare Newsome:

I also detest the Hollywood habit of having to tell the audience exactly where anywhere out of the US is, whlle assuming a global audience knows where everywhere in America is. Eg 'Paris, France' vs 'Washington'... 

 

Must admit Clare, I think this is for the benefit of a lot of the stay at home Yanks - I think someone ought to really confuse them by filming one set in Washington, Tyne and Wear...


EDIT: I see someone else beat me to that one. A sequel maybe?!