Yes, I know what you think, Darthy. And I wouldnt be surprised if chatting about this smokes Jonesy out of his cave, because I know he's a True Fan of the original. But I watched the original again for the first time in years recently, and this is my opine:
The scripts are almost identical in places. So if you bag the script in the second, you bag the script in the first. Which leads me to wonder about the book...anyone read it? My guess is that both films are close to that.
John Wayne- his acting range is the acting equivalent of Lisa Mitchell's vocal range- she's made quite a career out of three distinctive notes. Having said that, JW is a true giant of the screen, isnt he? Poor old Jeff Bridges. What impossible shoes to fill.
Kim Darby and Hailee Steinfeld- are both completely and utterly awesome. Keep in mind tho, that Hailee Steinfeld was only FOURTEEN when she played Mattie. Kim was 21 and astonishing. But whovever forced Kim Darby to play the entire role with that glossy 1950s style helmet of a haircut needs to be tracked down by Rooster Cogburn and shot. It's an eyesore and completely detracts from her presence.
- I love the hollywood style grandeur of the first movie, and I love the visceral grittiness of the Coehn Bros version, combined with their nutty cameos. Both fabulous for their own reasons. Stilll dont see what anyone found saccharine about no 2. If no 2 is saccharine, then so is no 1 with that bloody haircut and the neat and tidy Wild West sets. Feel free to enlighten me...
gun toting is not my specialty - so I'll leave the comparisons to your learned self.
ReplyDeleteBut speaking of remakes, WTF are they doing with Footloose?