No worries, lad. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve read about this in a magazine last year -and it ain’t even about samurais, but a group of modern mercenaries. Sure, same set up and story probably. But y’know it’s not the first time esp. in hollywood. Remember “The Magnificent Seven”?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814315/
No this movie is going to be a remake not just a similar title.
This movie will be an atrocity, written by the guy who wrote Hidalgo.
Take the investment money, and spend it on an upcoming artist who produces their own original thought provoking content…a remake. Let’s repaint da Vinci “The Last Supper”…..wouldn’t think of it right!? Because it was done right the first time!
Remake a classic film? Why not just remake Psycho while they’re at it?…Oh yeah that’s been done. Aside rolling in the dough, and a lack of creativity what’s the point? This is blasphemy and everyone involved should burn in cenima hell.
—
From that imdb description this remake sounds exactly like what they did with Magnificent Seven. A group of Blackwater-like contractors are hired by a town in Thailand to defend the villagers from an attack by a large military force. Take the basic idea, change the setting, time, and characters.
It sounds like utter shit, but certainly not a crime against cinema. Now if someone were to remake The Seven Samurai and have it be set in feudal Japan with a cast of hot young American movie stars, that would be something of a crime. Not unlike the upcoming 47 Ronin remake starring Keanu Reeves as an 18th century Japanese soldier who may or may not have magical powers.
So Kurasowa provides a complete analysis of the warrior class along with a criticism of bushido and it gets appropriated by some studio suit who thinks the original was an action picture that only lacked today’s attention deficit disorder style editing.
A disgrace.
I am surprised this is so surprising.
I came to this conclusion a few years ago: It is impossible to think that every artistic venue will be SOLD OUT every day…..though, it might be nice to think it would….oh crap, I opened up a subject whose innards house the longstanding debate of art/class and….oh hell.
there are very many more vile creatures of industry….and the people let them be. They need each other while the rest of us go crazy.
Howard Zinn has a nice lecture about Cinema. (I suggest buying it at G7welcomingcommittee.com
I know that it is a crime that many a young person will see this and think it is good then having watched the original (and be completely disappointed by its brisk ‘action’) and proclaim the remake better.
but its as simple as not going to go see it. It will not stand the test of time as the original or even the original remake The Magnifcent Seven. It will be release gobbled up and quickly forgotten regulated as a foot note on the page of this decades remakes and reimaginings.
Degalasse. There’s no better word for it in English.
It’s almost like an insult to remake the great work of Kurosawa. Whatever the case, this remake could only drown in the huge shadow “The Emperor” casts in the world of art and film.
Seriously, some things should just be “hands off”. It’s like Cinema sacrilege.
but also just thinking about it overall, Akira Kurosawa’s work is so untouchable, this is all nothing to stress over. This attempt at a “remake” may end up serving as a catalyst in bringing a slew of new fans to the body of AK’s work, and into a new realm of cinema, they’d never known before..
>>But y’know it’s not the first time esp. in hollywood. Remember “The Magnificent Seven”?<<
Not to mention BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS …
I have also read that the weinsteins are remaking The Lives of Others (2006 best foreign film). I can’t wait for Citizen Kane 2010, starring Dicaprio.
+1
and nicolas cage as the reporter… and ben affleck as Jedediah
Kurosawa constantly remade and reimagined other people’s work himself. While I understand regarding his, or many other filmmaker’s work as “untouchable”, a lot of this faux hatred and shock that such a thing could happen is a bit ridiculous.
Honestly, who really cares if some summer action film is based on Seven Samurai? Kurosawa certainly doesn’t, he’s dead. It’s not like this movie is going to replace the original, not to mention the fact that this is the FOURTH major remake of that particular film (Magnificent Seven, A Bug’s Life, and that sci-fi anime series I never saw being the other three).
I’m sorry, but a lot of this just sounds like nerds arguing over various changes to Star Wars, and demanding that Lucas be killed for ruining their favorite film from childhood.
I wholeheartedly agree, Bedaw.
Stop projecting your bloated sense of self-importance onto filmmakers who will never even know (or care) you existed, people. You don’t have any stake in this, other than the fact that you dug the movie. Get over it, you’re not special; we all dug the movie.
Everything is so bloody sacred, these days! I wish that every person who whined about their childhood being raped, could experience that sensation literally.
And do you really believe that the beneficiary’s of Kurosawa’s estate are going to have trouble accepting those Hollywood royalty checks? Are you the one that’s going to take the food out of their mouths?
Now shut up and go create something beautiful of your own. Then, when it’s optioned by Paramount for a million bones, come back here, with some credibility, and tell us how you feel about it.
Oh, and in regards to the prospect of a Citizen Kane remake mentioned earlier, and the suggestion of how terrible such a thing would be… it already happened, and it’s called Velvet Goldmine.
See, nothing terrible happened to the world of cinema, and Welle’s debut film is still held in the highest of regards. The universe didn’t explode, and no Hollywood producer broke down your door, killed your family, and stole your Citizen Kane dvd.
I’m waiting for when people begin to re-make Kubrick’s movies.
3001: A Space Odyssey
Those will be some unforgivable re-makes. The sad thing is that it probably will happen one day.
Flasback to circa 1940: “Didja hear that idiot Huston is gonna remake SATAN MET A LADY! And he’s casting that nobody Bogart in the lead along with some guy named Greenstreet taking the Alison Skipworth role. Boy, is that gonna stink!”
With all the teeny-weenie vampire flicks and tv shows recently, it’ll be just a matter of short time before hollywood put out their own version of that recent wonderful Swedish vampire film “Let the Right One In”. The horror!
@Brandon-You are also forgetting Battle Beyond The Star from 1980
@Noel-The rights to Let the Right One In have already been bought.
@Nate – 3001 is the third sequel to 2001, and it’s written by Arthur C Clarke, so I wouldn’t mind that too much, actually. The other two are 2010, and 2061.
http://www.amazon.com/3001-Final-Odyssey-Arthur-Clarke/dp/0345438205/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233357508&sr=8-1
In response to Noel:
There is a “Let The Right One In” remake already in the cards. American production company bought the rights, should be coming our way in 2010. Apparently they think itll go over better than a subtitled film. I argue that it will be shit…to each his own.I know! We’ll remake The Rules of the Game ! Except, instead of an interesting and brilliant indictment of the bourgeoisie, we’ll make it into a murder mystery! And instead of being set in France, we’ll make it set in English (so people can speak in English), but everything else will be COMPLETELY ripped off from the film! And then, we’ll make it try to look original. And instead of making it good, we’ll only make it seem good, even though it’s really not! And then—-Oh wait…
Gosford Park
I’ve got it!
Lets adapt… MONOPOLY!
or CLUE..wait… to late. NO ON SAMURAI REMAKE. Why do we destroy classics? I mean didn’t Fist Full of Dollars practically remake it.
A remake will only immortalize Seven Samurai that much more.
Sincerely,
The Manchurian Candidate, Psycho, and 12 Angry Men
Urgent: To those who have called this Forum stupid, the point of this is to get perspective of the nature of remakes. Take a great film, and a remake bound to be terrible. I am not trying to get this message to the people making the remake. I merely want to see what people have to say about this one. Why it’s bad (or good), and what effect will it have on the original film. The forum is open to people on all sides. And yes Samuryan you make some somewhat valid points but you exagerate. Plus I shall beat you at your own Game. Why are you commenting on this Forum about this Forum? you’re doing what you denounce!
Nothing is sacred. Mad comic book did a parody of Picasso; Homer Simpson nailed Carlos Castaneda; Fanfan la Tulipe did to swashbucklers what needed to be done. But these are parodic and serious only in their humor. If you want to parody Seven Samurai, that would be fine with me; it could be pretty funny. But to remake the film (like Psycho) is a travesty. But Mr. Bedaw is right; it will come, and it will go.
stewart SFA Adams
I couldn’t believe it when I heard it. The bastards. How could they? if you want proof of this atrocity go to imdb.