I know, not slighting you. I am aware that's what the filmmakers are claiming but it's so blatantly obvious they're just cheaply imitating the feel of the original film and are probably switching out some plot elements so they can claim they are adapting the manga instead. It's the oldest trick in the book .
Totally agree with you, seen too many remake like that. I always prefer the original foreign film in the end.
The guy from District 9 is playing the "bad guy" but question about the original Spoiler Weren't Dae Sau and Leewoo suppose to be around the same age since they went to school together?
Departed, too much action, not enough soul. Best part of infernal affairs was that Andy Lee actually became a like-able person who wants to become "good" but had this bad past with him. Mark Walberg just didn't come across, infact you still rooted against him.
When the same story can be told in 3/5 the amount of time, 99% of the time the shorter version will be the better version. The Departed unfortunately does not belong in that 1%. Spoiler Also, Marky Mark's character totally changes the central theme of the movie. 1. When the dude is thrown off the roof top, that was the last person in the police force who knew the good cop is undercover, so his lifeline back to the world of light was totally lost (but the existence of Marky Mark in The Departed destroys that element). 2. Marky Mark killing the bad cop at the end ruins theme about conscience (in the HK version, bad cop lives and speaks at good cop's funeral, but all that time thinking he wish he were the good cop instead of being bad an living in fear). Now as to Old Boy- Spoiler I thought incest was the central theme, but there is something very uniquely Korean about the topic. I guess it's a more powerful psychological thing when everyone has the same last name, though Vietnamese don't seem to have the same hang up for some reason. I guess it's yet another example of Hollywood's wanton disregard for the spirit of the source material.
Can we all agree that Michael Imperrieoli is finally in a Hollywood movie??? I love this guy, yes love the original but come on, I'm curious to see Spike's version of Oldboy.
What's funny is that Scorsese doesn't even consider The Departed to be one of his best films or even 2nd tier Scorsese good. He has pretty much admitted that it was a paycheck job for him. I think you can tell that he's just going through the motions in that one. It's soulless in this respect.
I JUST watched the Korean version last month. Had heard nothing about it and loved it...right up until the end. Shiver. That said, what's the point of the movie if they change THAT aspect of the ending?
"American Twist" = Change all the Asian characters into white characters because white men typically can't stand seeing Asian men in lead roles and can't stand watching dubbed movies or subtitles. I wonder how Asians are able to cope...
Better luck tomorrow was more than 10 years ago and an indie film. Mentioning it as a movie with Asian male leads falls under "some of my best friends are black" status. Scorcese's twist at the end totally ruined what made the original IA great. He also killed any chance of a sequel, so maybe it's fitting then.
