Those Who Forget The Past
I recently watched Independence Day. It wasn't quite as bad as I remembered. It got me thinking.
It was the biggest hit of the year, and director Roland Emmerich could pretty much do whatever he wanted. Two years later, he comes out with a remake about a classic giant monster, Godzilla, and it's a big disappointment. Bad career move.
Several years later, Peter Jackson directs The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, each film a gigantic hit. He can pretty much do whatever he wants. Two years later, he comes out with a remake about a classic giant monster, King Kong, and it's a big disappointment. Bad career move.
To any Hollywood blockbuster directors reading this, consider it a word to the wise.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:54 AM
6 Comments:
Was it a good career move for the person directing the original King Kong?
Actually, two guys directed the original, Merian C. Cooper and
Ernest B. Schoedsack. The film saved RKO. The story behind Cooper's life is even better than the movie. Let me recommend a bio published a few years ago, "Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper, Creator of King Kong."
I always liked Independence Day. I know techno-geeks get all upset about the impossibilities in the story, but for me, what I don't know lets me enjoy the film. I've never seen Godzilla - was it that bad?
Now Peter Jackson's King Kong I know was disappointing in the box office, but personally I think it is a great remake. It is ligt years ahead of the 1970s version, and I think it has everything the original had but with good acting and great special effects. I bought the extended version DVD, and unlike the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I think the theatrical release was better (damn fine editors on King Kong). Why do you think the King Kong remake was not well received? It was long, but so were the LOTR films.
Peter Jackson's King Kong failed because it took too long to see the monkey and a little of Jack Black (at least in this film) goes a long way. Lose two-thirds of the first hour and it might have been effective. When I saw it, the audience was tired, bored and irritated by the time the fun stuff finally started
I liked the Dino De Laurentiis' Kong movie. Jessica Lange fully realized her potential. The depressing falling apart NYC of the 70s comes across better than the Disney-fied version of the 1930s(?) city in the new one.
A friend's son once asked me to give an example of a deus ex machina ending, and Independence Day was the very first (and best) thing I thought of.
Godzilla was just annnoying. The trailers were great, but the movie didn't live up to them. Godzilla attacks New York, then hides, then attacks again. Just how does Godzilla hide?
The original King Kong is a great movie, and is fun all the way through, not just once they get to the Island. It's also half as long as the remake.
Peter Jackson's version is way too long and poorly cast. Jack Black doesn't pull off the tough guy role and Adrien Brody (as a rather stupid writer) has nothing to do, since Jackson has made it a love story between beauty and the beast. And how they're not both squashed by stampeding dinosaurs I don't get. Naomi Watts is okay, though I don't see how she could have been carried that far that fast by Kong without receiving brain damage.
Actually, the best sequel to King Kong is "King Homer" from the Simpson's Treehouse Of Horror:
Smithers: I think women and seamen don't mix.
Burns: We know what you think!
Reporter: What kind of show you got for us, Mr. Burns?
Burns: Well, the Ape's going to stand around for three hours or so. Then we'll close with the ethnic comedy of Dugan and Dershowitz.
Reporter: Sen-sational!
In the hotel, after the ape has run amok.
Burns: I'm dreading the reviews, I can tell you that.
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