The Ring (remake)

director: Gore Verbinski

cast: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Daveigh Chase

The last 2 films i have seen at the cinemas have been remakes, its like the fucking music industry, cant anyone think of their own stuff these days? Good 'old' songs make into bad pop songs or even worse remixes, topping the charts, its like a mob of barbies are taking over the show. but i think im actually happy to say the film industry takes a bit more care in what they remake.
The 2 filmes i viewed were Red Dragon and The Ring. Hearing about how quite lame 'Man Hunter' was i still havent seen it yet and dont really know what they have changed in 'Red Dragon', but from what i have heard its a lot better than Man hunter, and after hearing that, now i really dont want to see it. If that made sence to you then you would now know that i didnt really think too much of Red dragon.
The second film was The Ring. I saw that it had box officed at number 2 in the US and kept wondering if the majority had actually seen the original 'ring' (ringu) or just there to see a new 'scary movie'. For this little boy, I am a great fan of the original Japanese film. It actually scared me the first night i watched it. Such a cool myth, just the idea of a video tape that, after you watch it the phone rings and then a week later, you die.... from what? no body knows, but you soon find out.
So going to see this i had mixed feelings about what they were going to do to such a good film. As soon as i found out there was going to be an english remake i kept askign myself, 'why remake it?'. I dont really see the point in remaking a really good film, what is there to do to a really good film? make it worse? cant make it better. But they have remade it and at first i wasnt that happy but 'this' remake is actualy pretty darn good.

Like anyone would expect, not everything was the same in the film but it does stay quite core to its original. It starts off the same as the original with 2 girls talking about a so called myth one had heard about a certain video tape that, when you play it, all these horrific images flash across the screen like someones nightmare and when it stops, the phone rings and says you have 'seven days to live' (a week), and 7 days later at that exact time .. you guessed it. There was were 2 main significant changes that i saw throughout the movie, one being the actual story behind the video tape and the way the remake differs from the originals simplicity and slower burn through the whole movie. These two things are fine though, with a remake you would think its not going to be exactly the same. Other small things are the faces of the victims, they are alot mor graphic, some awsome make-up creds go out, they will have you squirming in your seat thats for sure. Something that surprised me was that they also chucked in a couple of scenes from the mental ward from Ring 2. One change that I wasnt too impressed with was the 'Samara exiting the television screen' scene, it seemed rushed, unlike the original where it is alot slower, shows alot more of Sadako, and is the only time you will see any part of her face. Samara also looks like a hologram, doesnt become real. Dont get me wrong, its still a sweet scene for new comers, but after watching the original im sure you will be a little disapointed.

Down to the performances and I'm pretty glad to say they were all pretty impressive if not just good. Watts was great as Rachel Keller and i just want to say has a killer scream in her, one of the best i have witnessed. Both Brian Cox and Shannon Cochran were good as Richard and Anna Morgan, but weren't really given that much to work with. Martin Henderson was good as Noah, Rachels former lover and father of Aiden, and so are the two girls at the start of the film (Rachell Bella and Amber Tamblyn). Now to the two young actors, David Dorfman as Aiden and Daveigh Chase with the ever so big boots to fill as Samara. For one, Dorfman was a little too, 'I see dead people', for me, just that bit too cute while up against his japanese counterpart, Yoichi, who was silent and creepy, something that added to the original film. NowDaveigh as Samara, the little girl who causes all this strife! First of all I just want to state that I think they should never have shown her face untill her final television scene, that is about the only time it didnt look cute, also she should have never talked either. But overall she was great as Samara but what made the original so darn creepy was the long black hair over Sadakos face, not knowing what was under there, not knowing what or who had done this.

I liked this film, I dont think I was always going to but now I do and I am telling you to go and see this film, if you are a fan and have seen the original or if you havent, it is still a fun film. Oh and its only PG in America so it cant be all that scary can it? .. pfft just you see.

go here ... http://ringworld.somrux.com/index.htm ...