Judgment Time: Originals vs. Remakes - Round 2

Welcome to round 2 of me vs. people that want to remake movies.  This time around I will attack three new subjects, some of which excelled and others that did not do so well.  It is the curse of the remake that it should always be judged as inferior to the original, but there are times (as much as I hate to admit it) where a redo on an old film actually brings the subject to life.  Usually this has to do with new special effects to make something look prettier, but sometimes there is such a great person behind the remake that it actually holds water.  And the opposite holds true as well, unfortunately.  For even new special effects can not always save a film from being complete crap.  Read on and enjoy.

Every Asian Horror Film vs. Every American Remake of Those Films -

It was a huge movement about ten years ago that Hollywood would grab up every top-dollar Asian horror film and try to remake them with an American spin.  This did not work out very well, for in almost every case the remake was inferior to the original.  Okay, to be fair, EVERY last American remake sucked compared to the original, even if the box office numbers said otherwise.

The classic example is The Ring.  Originally a spooky horror flick about demonic creepiness that seeped into the world of VHS (hah!  remember those?), the American remake tried to replicate the Japanese horror element but failed to understand that there’s a distinct cultural feel to those Asian horror stories.  In fact, it’s pretty much the same failing that affects every remake of an Asian horror film.  Sure, they’re creepy as hell when taken in context, but when you try to make the Western equivalent, tweaking and twisting them so that people understand what you’re trying to say, it loses a lot of the core essence.

Some may say that these movies need to be translated for people to appreciate them, but if you look at the Rotten Tomatoes scores for the original Ringu (97/79%) versus the scores for the US version, The Ring (71/51%), you’ll realize that people do indeed understand what they’re watching, particularly when it comes to whether it’s of a superior quality or not.

My final judgment - Watch the damn originals already!

Infernal Affairs (2002) vs. The Departed (2006) -

This comparison has me somewhat frustrated, as when I first watched The Departed I wanted to hate it.  Despite being a Martin Scorsese film, I loved Infernal Affairs so much that I was convinced that there was no way for someone to create a remake that could come anywhere close to the original.  As it turns out, I was mostly wrong.

While I still think that Infernal Affairs was the superior movie, the combination of Scorsese, Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio (screw Mark Wahlberg) added up to a movie that was truly great despite its copycat nature.  I still have some major disagreements with the way the remake ended, but the presence of some superior acting and Scorsese’s amazing directorial talent did the original justice if not quite capturing the gritty and bleak feel.

If you look at the Rotten Tomatoes scores, you’ll see that Infernal Affairs ranks a 95/94% and The Departed pulls in 92/92%, which is pretty much dead-on to the way I myself would rate the films.

My final judgment - Watch both, but watch Infernal Affairs first.

Clash of the Titans (1981) vs. Clash of the Titans (2010) -

This one has the potential to make some people angry, but the difference between these two films is really one of core essence.  The original Clash of the Titans, though it was not acted amazingly and had some pretty crap-tastic special effects, followed the story of the Greek myths and left us with something that was, if not pretty or well done, fun to watch.  The remake was also fun to watch, but the difference here was that its appeal revolved around things looking very shiny.

In comparison, neither could be said to be a masterpiece.  There were no great actors, both scripts were mediocre at best and the directors for each couldn’t be said to be geniuses.  It was, ultimately, that the 1981 version was an adventure and the newer version an FX-fest that set the two apart.  Personally, I would choose the first any day of the week, but I think there’s something to be said for each of them, even if the remake is just another installment of man vs. mythological bad guys.

My final judgment - I think that Rotten Tomatoes score of 66/68% for the original Clash of the Titans is a little low, but their score of 28/43% for the remake is probably a bit closer.  I would recommend watching both, though definitely start with the 1981 version.

Photo Credits -           

The Ring courtesy of dvdactive.com

Clash of the Titans courtesy of examiner.com