That was Robocop's standard advice to the public; and with news of a remake (yes, yet another remake!) currently in the pipeline it could be interesting to take a quick peek at it.
The cast includes big names such as Gary Oldman and Samuel L Jackson, along with our own 'House' export to Hollywood, Hugh Laurie, while Murphy/Robocop is being played by an unknown to me: Joel Kinnaman.
As usual with these things, I cannot as yet see the point in re-working something that worked so well (if somewhat violently) in its first incarnation – but shall reserve judgement until it's released. Most but not all 're-imaginings' (as they are often termed these days) have been relatively poor, and the originals have usually worked better.
Sometimes the new version stands on its own as merely a different take on the same theme, without either invalidating or being overshadowed by the original work. The newer Battlestar Galactica series, flawed though it was, is one such. The new V series is also very good, despite some variable-quality scripting and acting, and can co-exist with the original – which has been shown again only this month on one of the Cable/satellite channels.
In the current case, there are several memorable aspects of the original that will no doubt be impossible to substitute, let alone replicate, including the top-notch performances from the likes of Miguel Ferrer and Ronny Cox, and certainly the outstanding performance of Kurtwood Smith as Clive Bonniker. That's out of reach, I'd suggest...
"As usual with these things, I cannot as yet see the point in re-working something that worked so well..."
ReplyDeleteAnd so quickly after the original!
Relatively, yes, especially as there have been sequels, a TV series and a mini-series since the original film.
DeleteHowever, the real question has to be: what is to be gained by re-doing on old story? Flashier effects? That seems to be the main driver behind a lot of re-makes during the past decade or so, though not all, thankfully...