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E D I T O R I A L
Remakes and Rip-offs
Wednesday, June 6 — A light viewing week. Didn't feel up to a cinema visit (although my friends and co-workers raved about Moulin Rouge and have played the soundtrack at disturbing and computer-rattling levels during work hours). Instead, last Friday evening I cruised through local video stores looking for something to rent. This was the first time in over a year that I paid a visit to Blockbuster (large American video rental behemouth) and was pleasantly surprised to see a few HK films (all Region 1 releases of films I've already seen, except for the import version of A Better Tomorrow) amidst the usual American slagpile.Almost by default, I ended up renting two American films. Keeping the Faith is an enjoyable romantic love triangle involving a priest, a rabbi, and a woman (sounds like the beginning of an old joke, doesn't it?). The script is witty, the direction is excellent (by Edward L. Norton), and the performances (Ben Stiller, Edward L. Norton, and Jenna Elfman) exquisite. It's not as good as Comrades, Almost a Love Story but it was still worth the rental. Comrades is not as funny a film, yet it's superior because it has more on its mind, addressing broader societal as well as personal issues.
The other American film was much less successful. Vertical Limit is something that many American home theater enthusiastes will love, because it looks and sounds so good on DVD on a big screen and a booming sound system. Dramatically, however, it's incredibly ridiculous and ultimately insulting in its reductionist view of life (and plot). And it's saddled with the charmless and annoying Chris O'Donnell in its lead role. The additional features on the DVD, however, were more interesting than the film itself.
Vertical Limit was heavily influenced by Cliffhanger. That film was released in 1993 and features an opening sequence that still makes me clutch my heart every time I see it (probably at least a dozen times now), although the rest of it is raggedly uneven and, in parts, incredibly nasty.
Of course, many HK films can be seen clearly as being heavily influenced by Hollywood films and, in some cases, have apparently blatantly ripped off the plots. Three examples that spring to mind are Black Cat (actually, a French influence -- La Femme Nikita), Running Out of Time (compare the first half with The Negotiator), and The Bodyguard From Beijing (um, The Bodguard). More experienced fans could probably name a lot more. Since Hollywood relentlessly rips off itself and others, I see no problem with remakes in and of themselves, and HK remakes are often better than their source material.
What goes around comes around, so it should be no surprise that Hollywood has been ripping off Hong Kong for some years. Sometimes it's been fully credited, as with The Matrix, and sometimes not — I don't think that the influence of City on Fire on Reservoir Dogs was openly acknowledged by Quentin Tarantino, although he certainly talked and credited HK cinema in general as an influence. How long will it be before an American film comes along that has been clearly influenced by, let's say, Milkway Image productions (such as The Longest Nite)?
In the meantime, the remakes and rip-offs will continue. Most likely, HK fans will continue to enjoy the HK remakes and gnash their teeth at the American rip-offs. I know I will.
Upcoming reviews: I'm about to dive into a few Ringo Lam films. City on Fire was among the first HK films I saw, and I'll be interested in seeing if my view of it has changed, now that I've seen another 100 or so. It will be receiving a Region 1 release in July with, supposedly, the first Cantonese-language track on a DVD released by Disney/Buena Vista. Among his other films, I've seen just four: Full Contact (impressive but overrated in my admittedly minority opinion), Burning Paradise (fun with with dazzling kinetic energy), Maximum Risk (an American production starring Jean Claude Van Damme; Lam did not have final cut and was reportedly not happy with the results; I saw it a couple of years ago and and found it entertaining but badly flawed), and Full Alert (an engrossing and thoughtful experience). As to his recent activity, Lam has another American production completed and awaiting distribution (Replicant, also starring Van Damme), and yet another Van Damme flick called The Monk. Is Ringo Lam poised to be the next break-out (in America) HK director?
Please feel free to e-mail me your comments, whether positive or negative.
peter
Editor / Reviewer / Webmaster
Current Editorial | Current Index
Real Life Vs. Cinemas (5/30/01)
Dreaming in Cantonese (5/16/01)
The Echo of Small Children (5/3/01)
Hong Kong Film Awards: Who Won? (4/26/01)
A Tale of Three Directors (4/19/01)
Supermodels of the HK Film World (4/12/01)
What are you prepared to do? (4/6/01)
Academy Awards Special (3/26/01)
The Price of Success (3/19/01)
Is Jackie Chan Still the Man? part 1 (3/12/01)
Great Expectations (3/7/01)
In the Mood for Change (2/26/01)
Bronchitis on the Brain (2/12/01)
Hong Kong Sequel Blues (2/5/01)
Better or Best? (1/29/01)
To Dub or Not to Dub (1/22/01)
Scenes From a Fractured Skull (1/15/01)
Year-End Round-Up (1/7/01)
Briefly noted (12/31/00)
Wuxia Fantasies and the Black-and-White Western (12/24/00)
Raiders of the lost heart (12/17/00)
The movie week in review (12/10/00)
Redesigning A Better Tomorrow (12/3/00)
The fantasy begins again (11/26/00)
A return and a shortened work week, hurrah! (11/20/00)
That blasted job! (11/12/00)
Hollywood, Jet, Jackie, Fred, and Gene (11/6/00)
Did you want blood with that? (10/30/00)
Do you like cold pizza? (10/24/00)
Preparing for the Legend (10/16/00)
The pauper must pay (10/10/00)
A visit to Five Star Laser (10/05/00)
A brief vacation (9/25/00)
The editor's plea (8/20/00)
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