NationStates Jolt Archive

I was dragged along to watch Pulse the other day and it was fucking terrible. Hopefully its shows the death or at least the decline of these kind of films. What do you think about the Hollywood's recent obsession with these films and why they just don't seem to work?

I was dragged along to watch Pulse the other day and it was fucking terrible. Hopefully its shows the death or at least the decline of these kind of films. What do you think about the Hollywood's recent obsession with these films and why they just don't seem to work?

New?! Hollywood's been screwing over japanese films since Gojira. Ain't gonna stop anytime soon!

I was dragged along to watch Pulse the other day and it was fucking terrible. Hopefully its shows the death or at least the decline of these kind of films. What do you think about the Hollywood's recent obsession with these films and why they just don't seem to work?

For the same reasons that none of Hollywood's remakes of foreign films ever worked.

I was dragged along to watch Pulse the other day and it was fucking terrible.

Trying watching Pulse by Pink Floyd. Now that is good.

http://www.vangilseschool.nl/pictures/pulse1.jpg

For the same reasons that none of Hollywood's remakes of foreign films ever worked.

I don't know. The Departed was really good.

New?! Hollywood's been screwing over japanese films since Gojira. Ain't gonna stop anytime soon!

Indeed, there's nothing new about it. Hollywood has been making inferior remakes of foreign films (including Japanese horror) for ages.

Do you Americans actually have access to a lot of foreign films in cinema, or is everything remade and "Americanised". (Just Visiting, the American remake of the French film Les Visiteurs, was ridiculous. Same story, same jokes, same actors, same everything... but set in the US instead of France. Amazing.)

I guess people are slightly intimidated by the whole "world section" in DVD, CD or Cinema. I think it needs to be abandoned and foreign films can be put by what genre they roughly fit into rather than what country they come from.

I was dragged along to watch Pulse the other day and it was fucking terrible. Hopefully its shows the death or at least the decline of these kind of films. What do you think about the Hollywood's recent obsession with these films and why they just don't seem to work?

Are we talking about Japanese horror films remade by Americans? Or Japanese films that accidentally became horror films when remade by Americans?

It's not just films (Japanese or otherwise), either. TV programmes, too.

Did anyone else see the pilot episode of the American Red Dwarf? Appalling. Lister went from a Liverpudlian slob to a Yankee all-action hero. It was just wrong.

Why the need to remake perfectly good foreign things as bad American things? Especially British things, where you don't even need subtitles!

Why the need to remake perfectly good foreign things as bad American things? Especially British things, where you don't even need subtitles!

Because they wouldn't need to be original then. Steal ideas and plots from foreign films, Americanize it and sell it as your own.

Because they wouldn't need to be original then. Steal ideas and plots from foreign films, Americanize it and sell it as your own.

*Glares at The Matrix*

Not just Japanese films - look at the crap US remake of the Italian Job. Hollywood seems completely creatively bankrupt and now just does remakes or adaptations of comics and old tv shows.

Abre los Ojos = one of the best films ever

Vanilla Sky = one of the worst films ever

Abre los Ojos = one of the best films ever

Vanilla Sky = one of the worst films ever


The answer lies in Abre los Ojos, or Open Your Eyes, directed by Alejandro Amenabar, the 1997 Spanish movie of which this is a very close remake, and which had Penelope Cruz in the same role. Amenabar and his co-writer, Mateo Gil, are credited, but this movie loftily announces that it is "written for the screen and directed by Cameron Crowe" as if Open Your Eyes were some impossibly obscure European source material like a novel or a cave painting or something.

This is a cumbersome and bombastic film, lumbered with pseudo-futuristic ideas. Maybe Cruise got a taste for these from working with Kubrick. As for Abre los Ojos, it may, like George Sluizer's The Vanishing, go down in history as a neat arthouse thriller ruined by its Hollywood remake. Actually, Abre los Ojos doesn't completely work either, but it is certainly more distinctive than Cruise's mega-version.

Full article (http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,638653,00.html)


Now I really want to see that. Thanks.

What do you think about the Hollywood's recent obsession with these films and why they just don't seem to work?

As said, there's nothing new to this. It's just Hollywoods way to continue brainwashing the American public that Hollyweird is the only place in the world to create movies.

holywood should leave everyone elses films alone. they always fuck them up.

what is it with remakes anyway? what's the point? the italian job, the wickerman, the grudge, every other film they've remade, were brilliant before they got raped and pillaged by holywood. all they ever manage is cheap parodies.

holywood should leave everyone elses films alone. they always fuck them up.

what is it with remakes anyway? what's the point? the italian job, the wickerman, the grudge, every other film they've remade, were brilliant before they got raped and pillaged by holywood. all they ever manage is cheap parodies.

Again, while Hollywood remakes are generally really terrible, there are some exceptions. The Departed (a remake of Internal Affairs), and The Magnificent Seven (a somewhat remake of The Seven Samurai) were good.

Again, while Hollywood remakes are generally really terrible, there are some exceptions. The Departed (a remake of Internal Affairs), and The Magnificent Seven (a somewhat remake of The Seven Samurai) were good.

But The Magnificent Seven wasn't just a remake. Sturges deliberately set out to retell the story in a format more familiar to American viewers, who simply wouldn't get many of the subtler aspects of the Kurosawa epic, such as the scene where one of the Samurai allows his head to be shaved. Rather than ripping off Kurosawa, Sturges was honestly reimagining the same story.

But most of Hollywood's "remakes" are just ripoffs.

I guess people are slightly intimidated by the whole "world section" in DVD, CD or Cinema. I think it needs to be abandoned and foreign films can be put by what genre they roughly fit into rather than what country they come from.

So I can grab a movie, take it home, and find out its got subtitles?

Bad move.

I was dragged along to watch Pulse the other day and it was fucking terrible. Hopefully its shows the death or at least the decline of these kind of films. What do you think about the Hollywood's recent obsession with these films and why they just don't seem to work?

*shudders at the rape that is "The Grudge"*.

Just saw the Wicker Man-Hollywood version, absolute crap compared to the original....

The Vanishing as well, euro version was far superior.

So I can grab a movie, take it home, and find out its got subtitles?

Bad move.

No, they just put a label on it

I was dragged along to watch Pulse the other day and it was fucking terrible. Hopefully its shows the death or at least the decline of these kind of films. What do you think about the Hollywood's recent obsession with these films and why they just don't seem to work?

the problem is that Japanses stories are GHOST stories. they don't rely on the blood and gore that American films require.

the closest thing to a Japanses horror story would be 6th Sense. very little blood, but alot of suspenseful moments.

So I can grab a movie, take it home, and find out its got subtitles?

Bad move.

Hey, Subtitles are much better than watching some Kung Fu movie, and seeing a big buff guy say
"Hey, I hear you beat up some friends of mine, I'm gonna kick your ass!"
in the squeakiest and most feminine voice you can imagine.

It's bad enough that Hollywood is raping my own childhood, I don't see why they need to rape the rest of the world as well.

Worst idea in production: Wachoski (sp) bros remaking Speed Racer to "bring it to a whole new generation." ?? It's out of touch so that's why it's been consistently on TV for decades.

I cry when I realize it's only a matter of time before Battle Royale will be remade by Michael Bay and will star Topher Grace and Jessica Biel.

It will never stop. Not until Hollywood ceases to be.

It will never stop. Not until Hollywood ceases to be.
Remakes and sequels traditionally suck. They're just done for the $. Look at the lousy remake of Psycho that was done a few years back. Or Sabrina.

I think what the OP is really complaining about is American adaptations of Japanese films. There are a very few standouts, like the Magnificent Seven already mentioned, but there are any number of failures.

Do you Americans actually have access to a lot of foreign films in cinema, or is everything remade and "Americanised". (Just Visiting, the American remake of the French film Les Visiteurs, was ridiculous. Same story, same jokes, same actors, same everything... but set in the US instead of France. Amazing.)
I can't think of any cinemas where I live that show foreign films. I have somewhat better luck with renting foreign films, but even then the selection tends to be small. As for Americanising foreign films... The Birdcage is another example of a blatant rip off. Exact same movie as La Cage aux Folles, but set in Florida instead of St. Tropez. (I did enjoy both of them, though.)

Abre los Ojos = one of the best films ever

Vanilla Sky = one of the worst films ever
Agreed.

Look at the lousy remake of Psycho that was done a few years back. Or Sabrina.
The remake of Sabrina was pretty bad. What made it even worse was that my friends dragged me to see it in the theatres, and they loved it. When I asked how they could possibly compare Harrison Ford and Greg Kinnear to Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, they asked me who the latter two actors were. :(

At least they haven't tried making an American version of a Miike film. I can't even begin to imagine what the Americanized version of Audition would be like...
...Starring J-Lo. Since she's a dancer.

The remake of Sabrina was pretty bad. What made it even worse was that my friends dragged me to see it in the theatres, and they loved it. When I asked how they could possibly compare Harrison Ford and Greg Kinnear to Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, they asked me who the latter two actors were. :(

I've had a crush on Audrey Hepburn, ever since I saw her in Roman Holiday. So even Julia Ormond was a disappointment.

Your friends have a whole world of great cinema that they need to see.

At least they haven't tried making an American version of a Miike film. I can't even begin to imagine what the Americanized version of Audition would be like...
...Starring J-Lo. Since she's a dancer.

I was tempted to rent Audition... should I?

I've had a crush on Audrey Hepburn, ever since I saw her in Roman Holiday. So even Julia Ormond was a disappointment.
My favourite quote from that movie is still when she says "pyjamas!" with such delight when he hands them to her. :p

Your friends have a whole world of great cinema that they need to see.
I'm working on it.

I was tempted to rent Audition... should I?

Depends; it's probably the single most disgusting movie I've ever seen. The downside is it takes forever to get going. Check the box though... the rated version isn't worth piss. It has been the only movie (besides Pink Flamingos) to give me the vomits.

Ichi the Killer was my personal favorite of the Miike films.

I can't think of any cinemas where I live that show foreign films.

That's just sad. :(

I was dragged along to watch Pulse the other day and it was fucking terrible. Hopefully its shows the death or at least the decline of these kind of films. What do you think about the Hollywood's recent obsession with these films and why they just don't seem to work?

I really wish American media companies would stop trying to remake foreign movies. It almost never works out.

What makes these movies great is, in part, the culture from which they arise. If you try to make it American it's not the same thing. And since it is being produced by people who don't get it (otherwise they'd have already created something similar) it usually turns out crappy.

Yes, The Ring was a pretty good adaptation of Ringu, but that botched abortion of a film Feardotcom was Hollywood's first attempt to remake it, and far more representative of the results of this sort of filmmaking.

Britain had a very popular Sitcom called Coupling. It was really funny. Like Friends except good (and funny). So popular and funny in fact that someone had the idea to make an American version. How did they make it American? They took all the humor and accents out. The jokes they left in had to be given explanitory prefices so while the joke remained, the humor was still removed. Why didn't they just bring over the original? Don't Americans still like British accents?

I can't believe I'm going to praise Quentin Tarentino for something to do with film, but when he saw a movie that he thought deserved an American audience (Jet-Li's Hero) he didn't try to make his own crappy version of it. He just imported it as it was. That's the way you expose foreign media to a wider market. Just show it too them.

I don't know. The Departed was really good.
Ever see the original though?
The Departed pales in comparison.

Anyway, this Hollywood obsession with remaking foreign films has been going on since Hollywood started.
It comes and goes in waves.
One filmmaker remakes a film from a particular country which is well-received and becomes very profitable. This causes interest in said country's films, which Hollywood picks up on and proceeds to rape, sodomnise and generally violate every single movie said country has put out until finally the audience has had enough and stops watching.
Then Hollywood carries on putting out it's own sub-par tripe until the next popular remake comes along and the whole sorry cycle starts up again.

In a way, we can't blame Hollywood. For one thing, the amount of money that is needed these days to make a Hollywood production is frightening. Because they want a return on that investment the backers tend to play it safe when choosing which movie project to greenlight. A remake is a good financial choice. They know they'll get a certain number of people watching it because of this.
The 2nd reason is the US audience: as long as you lot refuse to go along and watch a foreign movie simply because it has subtitles, you'll continue to have to accept these inferior remake cash-ins that Hollywood pumps out.

At least they haven't tried making an American version of a Miike film. I can't even begin to imagine what the Americanized version of Audition would be like...
...Starring J-Lo. Since she's a dancer.
And in the end, she falls in love with the producer guy which stops her sick killings/tortures.
Hollywood's always gotta have a happy ending.

In the sequel, the tongue left in the bar comes back and attacks J-Lo.

*Glares at The Matrix*

Eh? The Matrix was good and not foreign.

Oh wait. You’re probably one of those people that thinks anime is important enough to steal from. Okay.

Did anyone else see the pilot episode of the American Red Dwarf? Appalling. Lister went from a Liverpudlian slob to a Yankee all-action hero. It was just wrong.

No, I didn't see that. I don't suppose you have a link handy. Darn!

I was dragged along to watch Pulse the other day and it was fucking terrible. Hopefully its shows the death or at least the decline of these kind of films. What do you think about the Hollywood's recent obsession with these films and why they just don't seem to work?

Hehe. One of the benifits of living here is I can catch the originals the first time around. The downside is no subtitles (my Nihongo is OK, but TV and films are usually a lot of work.)

As for US remakes of Japanese film, I'm more familiar with the western reimnagings of the chanbaras.

New?! Hollywood's been screwing over japanese films since Gojira. Ain't gonna stop anytime soon!

The 1956 US release scew it up too bad, and at least they didn't remake it for a long time. But I still refuse to see the remake. :upyours:

I think what the OP is really complaining about is American adaptations of Japanese films. There are a very few standouts, like the Magnificent Seven already mentioned, but there are any number of failures.

Not to mention the Yojimbo redos, which have a mixed bag. Sergio Leone did it well, Walter Hill's remake was OK, but the rest were pretty bad. (Funny thing about Yojimbo was that it was itself lifted from Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest. Also, it was a better version than the first film made of that story.)

The remake of Sabrina was pretty bad. What made it even worse was that my friends dragged me to see it in the theatres, and they loved it. When I asked how they could possibly compare Harrison Ford and Greg Kinnear to Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, they asked me who the latter two actors were. :(

:eek: That's just sad.

I've had a crush on Audrey Hepburn, ever since I saw her in Roman Holiday. So even Julia Ormond was a disappointment.

Your friends have a whole world of great cinema that they need to see.

Audrey was great - a true beauty, inside and out.

Eh? The Matrix was good and not foreign.

Oh wait. You’re probably one of those people that thinks anime is important enough to steal from. Okay.

Anime is held with the same reguard as any major motion picture in Japan.

and if anything, Matrix took it's format from Comic Books. not Anime.

Anime is held with the same reguard as any major motion picture in Japan.
And what does this tell us about Japan?
and if anything, Matrix took it's format from Comic Books. not Anime.
Meh. I've heard anime fans btich about it.
Anyway, the plotline of the matrix is something every pot head's thought of at some point.

Eh? The Matrix was good and not foreign.

Oh wait. You’re probably one of those people that thinks anime is important enough to steal from. Okay.
Matrix was crap, and they stole every damn fight scene off Jet Li. Only difference being Jet Li can actually fight, unlike pretty boy Reeves who just looked like a lump of half-chewed toffee in his fight scenes.
Watch 'Fist of Legend' if you don't believe me.

I'm glad someone else mentioned remaking the italian job.

Way to shit on my childhood hollywood!!!!:mad:

Matrix was crap,
Nope. It was entertaining. Certainly not good cinema, but good enough.
and they stole every damn fight scene off Jet Li. Only difference being Jet Li can actually fight, unlike pretty boy Reeves who just looked like a lump of half-chewed toffee in his fight scenes.
Watch 'Fist of Legend' if you don't believe me.
Kung-Fu movies are funny.
Fist of Legend, the name’s almost innocent, like its unaware how utterly cliché and ignorant it sounds.

Nope. It was entertaining. Certainly not good cinema, but good enough.

Kung-Fu movies are funny.
Fist of Legend, the name’s almost innocent, like its unaware how utterly cliché and ignorant it sounds.
It was not entertaining, nor good cinema. It was dull, bloated and self-indulgent. The sequeals were so bad they somehow made each previous flic interesting in comparision.

As for 'Fist of Legend', that's only it's appalling English version title which just goes to show how cliched and ignorant the Western world is when it comes to understanding foreign movies and culture.
Really the title was either just a desperate attempt to cash in on the Bruce Lee, "Fists of Fury" or some hick thinking that every Kung Fu movie has to have 'Fist' in it's title.

The real title is 精武英雄, which makes far more sense, as I think you'll agree.

It was not entertaining, nor good cinema. It was dull, bloated and self-indulgent. The sequeals were so bad they somehow made each previous flic interesting in comparision.
Obviously, you just don’t get it.
The real title is 精武英雄, which makes far more sense, as I think you'll agree.
English always makes more sense than one of the most inefficient languages still in use.
Fine military hero, yes that sounds much better.

Ever see the original though?
The Departed pales in comparison.

I agree. But to say The Departed is on the same level as other remakes like The Grudge, is silly.

very few remake actually work, one execption might be Dawn of the dead.

But The Magnificent Seven wasn't just a remake. Sturges deliberately set out to retell the story in a format more familiar to American viewers, who simply wouldn't get many of the subtler aspects of the Kurosawa epic, such as the scene where one of the Samurai allows his head to be shaved. Rather than ripping off Kurosawa, Sturges was honestly reimagining the same story.
Of course. Sadly, it seems Hollywood is more intent on stealing foreign films and taking the credit rather than honestly trying to pay homage to the original film.

But most of Hollywood's "remakes" are just ripoffs.
I'm surprised no one has brought up the absolute horror of the Japanese Anime remmake of The Seven Samurai. I'm sure most here will disagree with me but after seeing a couple episodes I was left feeling ill.

Depends; it's probably the single most disgusting movie I've ever seen. The downside is it takes forever to get going. Check the box though... the rated version isn't worth piss. It has been the only movie (besides Pink Flamingos) to give me the vomits.

Ichi the Killer was my personal favorite of the Miike films.

mine too! though i'd love to see (the unrated) Audition

And what does this tell us about Japan?

Meh. I've heard anime fans btich about it.
Anyway, the plotline of the matrix is something every pot head's thought of at some point.
What it tells us is that Japan doesn't just look at the surface but at the story.
sure it's a cartoon, but I've seen Animated drama as compelling as any award winning American Dramas. I've seen action/Adventure that would give the Blockbusters a run for their money.

I've seen stories that were better than their American counterparts.

Fine military hero, yes that sounds much better.
Well done on being able to use babelfish.
Now go learn Chinese, find out what it really means and then get back to me.

As for, "I don't get it" re: Matrix. You're wrong there. I did get it.
I got the idea that we had two talentless brothers being given a shitload of money by unimaginative movie studios and free rein to indulge themselves in their leather-and-latex fetishes, rip off 1/2 a dozen far superior movies and generally bore the audience into submission with long drawn-out dull speeches and contrived storyline.
And then at the end, have lots of cool pretty explosions to wake the audience up and enthrall the less able-minded amongst us and fool them into thinking they'd spent the better part of 2 hours watching a neato movie with a really deep message.

I agree. But to say The Departed is on the same level as other remakes like The Grudge, is silly.
That's very true.
But the premise still stands that Hollywood remakes can never be as good as the original.
Ones like 'The Magnificent Seven' worked because it wasn't a remake, more a homage.

I dunno, I've yet to see either a Jap horror flick or a Hollywood remake of a Jap horror flick that engaged me on any particular level. And I'm a regular at my local video/convenience store. They just don't seem to push the right buttons in me.

Well done on being able to use babelfish.
Now go learn Chinese, find out what it really means and then get back to me.
Nope.
As for, "I don't get it" re: Matrix. You're wrong there. I did get it.
I got the idea that we had two talentless brothers being given a shitload of money by unimaginative movie studios and free rein to indulge themselves in their leather-and-latex fetishes, rip off 1/2 a dozen far superior movies and generally bore the audience into submission with long drawn-out dull speeches and contrived storyline.
And then at the end, have lots of cool pretty explosions to wake the audience up and enthrall the less able-minded amongst us and fool them into thinking they'd spent the better part of 2 hours watching a neato movie with a really deep message.
Eh? I never thought it was deep, clever at points yes, but mostly just fun.
What it tells us is that Japan doesn't just look at the surface but at the story.
sure it's a cartoon, but I've seen Animated drama as compelling as any award winning American Dramas. I've seen action/Adventure that would give the Blockbusters a run for their money.
You can't be serious. I’ll admit that I do enjoy a few of the series, notably Ghost in the Shell, but for the vast majority of anime, you have to be honest with yourself and accept the sheer amount of intellectually insulting material and recognize why it doesn’t appeal to most Americans and is thus unimportant as far as the US is concerned.