The Grudge, The Poll

[McMurphy]

With the American version of The Grudge coming out in the beginning of October, it reminded me of a debate regarding Takashi Shimizu's other film, Ringu, and its Hollywood remake, The Ring:

Which version of The Ring(u) is better? The Japanese or the Hollywood version?


Honestly, I put in my vote for the Hollywood version. I don't think either of the films are incredibly well told, but I find the Japanese version is a bit sexist. The stereotypical hard-nosed female reporter may be a bit tired, but the Japanese version offers a main female character who is so meek and weak that she, an investigative reporter, had to have her slap-happy (the scene where he slaps her for being scared is just plain ugly) ex-husband do all the leg work.

[ravenus]

I seriously worry about why so many films are being remade...George Romero, Mario Bava, Jap horror flicks...Hollywood suddenly discovered the profit potential of scaring people and found itself so utterly short of ideas that it now has to go and buy established classics and remake them...very often ignoring the spirit of the original...Dawn of the Dead anyone?

[polymorphikos]

Remakes are bad and good. Nikita was a film remade that need not have been, but The Ring beefited, if only in being scarier. I am mostly annoyed by remakes and dramatisations of novels or stories that are, in reality, just an idea to use the name of the original to sell tickets to an entirely different film.

That said, I await King Kong with baited breath, and my first act if I won lotto would be to make a film suspiciously close to One Million Years BC, but with less desert (and a Martine Beswick look-alike as the lead, not a Raquel Welch one).

EDIT: The new Godzilla sucked, too. No message, just big scary monster. looked good, but once the dazzle of new effects weared-off it became very dull. Same with ID4 and the new Star Wars films.

Up next: Casablanca, staring Sarah Michelle Geller and Josh Hartnet, and Citizen Kane 2: Revenge of Rosebud.

[Foxbat]

Although the production quality of the Hollywood Ring was better, I found it to be seriously dumbed down when compared to the original. The telepathic (empathic?)relationship between father and son was completely removed - as were most motivations of Sadako herself. This resulted in your common or garden basic schlock horror film. I didn't find the female character weak or meek - but she had to show certain qualities which tied with the discovery of Sadako and all that culminated from that.

[McMurphy]

I completely agree with the notion that Hollywood is taking the easy way out in coming up with new ideas by remaking past successes. The only time I find a remake interesting is when it is done in a new light or if it is a new cultural twist to a foreign film. That is why I was interested in The Ring and now The Grudge.

I personally don't find the Hollywood remake of The Ring dumbed down in the slighest. In fact, due to added plotlines and subplots, I find it more complex than the original Japanese version. I have read reviews that have actually criticized its additions to the storyline.

I watched the Japanese version of The Grudge last night, and I was throughly disappointed. It isn't nearly as good as The Ringu. The limitations of the special effects are very evident and a sloppy effort was made in hiding them. I promise the bedroom full of obviously fake black cats will make you laugh out loud. While I appreciate the attempt to tell the story in a nonlinear fashion (telling it through chapters focusing on each character involved in the curse is a good idea), the story becomes a little confusing because not enough time is spent on smooth transitions, and there is too much time spent of dragging feet (narratively speaking) while centering on characters who are offered no character development. Some people will undoubtly start sighing by the fifth time you watch a new person investigate the scene of supernatural occurances in the exact same fashion done by the previous four.

I am interested in how Hollywood will reshape this story. Hopefully, it won't replace the original's mistakes by trite Hollywood traits.