Anyways, on with the rant. Well, it all started when I watched the recent remake of Clash of the Titans. I really liked it. I found the action to be awesome, the music to be epic, the characters to be just developed enough for me to really care about them, and the creatures to be cool-looking and imaginative. I came back from the movie and looked online to see what other people thought of it, and I was shocked to see that it was mostly complaints, mainly about how it was nothing like the original, which I heard many times called a "classic" in these posts. The reasons why people didn't like the movie ranged from the characters not being fleshed out enough to the action being weak, or the climax being really short, or the actors not having a lot of fun, and so on. None of them really agreed on why they didn't like it, but they all agreed on one thing: the original was far better and a true classic, and the remake is just another mindless unoriginal idea from Hollywood.
Where to begin, where to begin...
I hate, hate, HATE it when people watch a remake of a movie and say how the original was far better, and that it was more character-driven and better-written, and better done all around, then go around and bash the remake endlessly. Why do I hate this, you might ask? Well, let's talk more about Clash of the Titans. The original came out in 1981. For those too lazy to do the math, that's twenty-nine years ago. Therefore, the people who like it so much have had twenty-nine years to appreciate the film, and in fact, most of the people grew up with it. How long ago did the remake come out? On the day I'm writing this, it hasn't even been a week yet. For those again too lazy to do the math, that means the original has been out around 1479 times longer than the remake. The general public hasn't had the time to let the remake movie even sink in! My point is, it's all nostalgia. I actually never saw the original until a few days ago, when someone from my college told me to see it, that it was (of course) far better than the remake. So I went in with a completely non-biased viewpoint of it. Seeing the original and the remake for the first time within days of each other. THAT is the way to review a movie and a remake. Anyways, I watched the original, thinking "c'mon, you timeless classic, show me what you've got!" And while it wasn't AWFUL, it was EXTREMELY cheesy. I'm aware in 1981 the special effects weren't nearly as good as they are now, so I'll ignore that part of it (and besides, the special effects sometimes were pretty impressive, considering it was all stop-motion). However, it felt too campy, and too goofy for its premise. It also really didn't have much explanation on why Perseus wants to save Andromeda so much, other than the fact that she's a hot girl and he's a young male. I'm glad they cut out that subplot in the remake. Anyways, I preferred the remake. Yes, I said it. I preferred the remake. They took all the good stuff in the original and amped it up to eleven, all the cheesy stuff and made it epic, and all the stop-motion effects and make them awesome CGI beauty. My point is, I absolutely failed to see how the original was more emotional and character-driven, and even how it's a better film. The people who praise it as a timeless classic with great characters and great emotion obviously fail to realize that it was really about Harryhausen's effects, just as the remake is (almost) all about modern CGI. It's all nostalgia. It's the same for all remakes, really. People who say that the old 1933 King Kong was far more emotional, far more beautiful, and far more epic than the 2005 remake (I'll ignore the awful 1976 version), obviously need to see some sort of help. The 1933 King Kong had three things in it: corny writing, an Ann who never does anything but scream, and dinosaurs. Peter Jackson's remake has problems of its own, such as pacing and filler, but overall it's just a much better movie. And let's take the 1978 movie The Poseidon Adventure, and its 2006 remake Poseidon. I don't really care for either of them, but the remake, in my opinion, is just a TAD better mainly because I'm a huge Klaus Badelt fan, and his score for Poseidon was mind-numbingly EPIC. My point is, I look at things from a non-biased point of view. I don't see one as a remake and one as an original: I see them both as movies. I think that's the way all people should view them.
Okay, that paragraph was immense. Snaps for those who made it all the way through it. Anyways, I've seen many people complaining that Hollywood is all remakes and sequels, and they don't have one original idea in their heads. Ummm, no. Last year we had several big movies that were original ideas, among them Up, G-Force, Zombieland, the Hangover, 2012, and, oh, what's that one I'm forgetting, oh, it's on the tip of my tongue, oh that's right, the HIGHEST GROSSING FREAKIN' MOVIE OF ALL FREAKIN' TIME, AVATAR?!?! None of them were based on a book, an older movie, a video game, or whatever. They were original ideas. You wanna know the big reason why Hollywood doesn't make as many original ideas? Because, like every business, it's all about money. People won't be as willing to go to a movie with no source material behind it than to a movie based on something they're familar with. It's all about moolah, and it's just safer to get that moolah doing something that's worked before than something that hasn't been tested yet. THAT'S why there are so many remakes. It's not rocket science.
You know, let's extend it and say that people just hate new movies and think old movies are always better. Again, it's all nostalgia. Of course you think older movies are better. And plus, there's a reason why you think all the movies of the past were better: you've forgotten the countless bad ones. Yes, a lot of crud came out last year, like 17 Again, Old Dogs, New Moon, and so on. But a lot of crud came out in the years that Godfather and Citizen Kane came out as well. You just don't remember it. Why? Because it was crud. It's the same now. People in the 2030s will say how everything in the 2000s was so much better than the crud that comes in out 2030. By then, they too will have forgotten about movies like 17 Again and Old Dogs, and instead focus on things like Avatar, Lord of the Rings, Dark Knight, and so on. And the whole process repeats itself again. However, what really ticks me off is when PROFFESSIONAL MOVIE CRITICS, who claim to be the best at their job, say the same thing. I recently looked at an AFI list of best movie quotes of all time. None of the movies in the top 50 came out after 1990. The top one came out in the late 1930s. Yes, the late 1930s (it was the infamous Gone with the Wind quote, in case you were wondering). Dude, it's all nostalgia! Can't people realize that? It drives me NUTS.
I apologize if you all think that I do nothing but fret about silly things. I just love writing rants. It makes me feel better. Anyways, I hope you enjoy my latest entry, and I'm hoping the mods don't get too angry about this one....
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