The unnecessary reboot/remake of the week thread

[DarrenTR1970]

I managed to get a hold of a used copy of First Blood back in the mid-eighties and one of the things I remember most about it, is that John Rambo is not the sympathetic character he is onscreen.

He definitely goes out of his way to kill people, namely the police officers and others, and, in the end, you wind up rooting for Brian Dennehy's character in the novel to kill Rambo for all the death and property destruction he's caused.

 

[Captaindemotion]

James Cameron says he’s “been tasked with writing” a new Terminator film but it doesn’t sound like we’ll be seeing it anytime soon

Terminator: James Cameron Reveals Why He’s Having Issues Writing Script

James Cameron has given an update on the potential of a new Terminator movie, and it might disappoint fans. What did James Cameron say about the new Terminator movie? In a recent interview with CNN about his upcoming movie on Hiroshima, Cameron said he had been tasked with writing a “new...

www.comingsoon.net

 

[Owain Taggart]

He definitely goes out of his way to kill people, namely the police officers and others, and, in the end, you wind up rooting for Brian Dennehy's character in the novel to kill Rambo for all the death and property destruction he's caused.

Watch it again and you might see it differently. He only retaliates out of necessity after being backed into a corner by the police officer's relentlessness. I was definitely not rooting for the police officer. At the start of the movie, he quite clearly wants to be left alone. If there's any damage and destruction, the police offcer's to blame for baiting him and he's just as much at fault.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Watch it again and you might see it differently. He only retaliates out of necessity after being backed into a corner by the police officer's relentlessness. I was definitely not rooting for the police officer.

I said the novel was different from the movie in that Rambo goes out his way to kill people.

In the novel, the sheriff buys him a take out lunch at the diner then escorts him out of town.

Rambo intentionally comes back looking for a fight.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Oh, missed the fact you were talking about a book. Didn't even realize there was a novel, to be honest. Was the movie based on the book or vice versa? Either way, that would account for differences, and he's definitely portrayed sympathetically in the movie.

 

[Aragorn]

I liked the fourth Rambo, but think the sequels go in a wildly different direction from the original. Like if Commando were the sequel to A History of Violence.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Oh, missed the fact you were talking about a book. Didn't even realize there was a novel, to be honest. Was the movie based on the book or vice versa? Either way, that would account for differences, and he's definitely portrayed sympathetically in the movie.

Book came first.

Huge spoiler for an almost 50 year old book:

Spoiler

Rambo dies at the end of the book. Despite the fact that the sequel novel was obviously at odds with his book, Morrell wrote the novelisation of the movie (which he had no hand in writing).

 

[Owain Taggart]

Well, to be fair, it's fair enough that he would have had, given that the story itself is structured in a self-contained manner. I don't think I would have expected a sequel after the original either way, and it's pretty clear they had a different idea about the character by the time the sequel did roll around. But that said, I prefer the way he was portrayed in the original movie as it becomes more of a character study of a guy who's trying to overcome the effects of war and settle down. The other version of the character seems to me to be quite tragic.

 

[Aragorn]

Oh man, I was so disappointed in that movie. The pacing didn't work partly because the setting itself didn't work. The concept itself, ie arson detectives, could have been an interesting one, but they really dropped the ball on the execution. Arriving on-site after the action has already happened doesn't make for a great setup, but that's what the bulk of the movie ended up being.

How do you make a movie called Backdraft 2 and not have fires? It would be like Fury 2 without tank battles or Everest 2 without any mountain climbing.

 

[Owain Taggart]

How do you make a movie called Backdraft 2 and not have fires? It would be like Fury 2 without tank battles or Everest 2 without any mountain climbing.

I know, right? People want to see the fires! A Backdraft 2 without the fires is like having a Batman without the crimefighting, only the aftermath of all the action that was committed offscreen. Or a Ghostbusters movie without the ghostbusting, only the damage they've caused through their efforts.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

How do you make a movie called Backdraft 2 and not have fires? It would be like Fury 2 without tank battles or Everest 2 without any mountain climbing.

I know, right? People want to see the fires! A Backdraft 2 without the fires is like having a Batman without the crimefighting, only the aftermath of all the action that was committed offscreen. Or a Ghostbusters movie without the ghostbusting, only the damage they've caused through their efforts.

I smell a 'Damage Control' movie.