posted
Did anyone see the Poseidon Adventure remake on NBC tonight? I watched the whole thing--THREE HOURS LONG. Yipes. It could've been cut down to at LEAST two if they didn't add all of this terrorism stuff I didn't care about. There may be spoilers ahead, so if you don't want it ruined, stop reading now.
I haven't read the book both movies are based on, so I don't know if the new movie was closer to the book or just added in things to separate it from the original movie, so this is just coming from a chick who's seen the 70's version of the flick.
I hated the new terrorism plot, simply because it just seemed like an excuse for some tough talk and a lot of bad filler which wasn't really exciting. Yes, the bombs were what blew the holes in the ship and thus, well, the "survivors on a sinking ship" plot needed that to actually happen, but I see nothing wrong with what they used in the first one. It certainly got things going a lot more quickly--Did we really need to sit through an hour and a half of exposition to get to the sinking boat?
The tough cop/military man/secret agent/whatever shtick is kinda cliche. I didn't like that character. Otherwise, the characters weren't bad. Yay, Steve Guttenberg! Though his character was hard to be sympathetic with because right off the bat he's cheating on his wife, but since we didn't see him fighting with his wife any (if at all) before he started having sex with the massage lady it was hard to see his side of it and why he'd cheat on his wife. He did come through in the end, which, incidentally, was pretty good.
The whole first hour and a half of the movie is only good to see what relationships they're referencing later, but otherwise, I really didn't care for it. It wasn't just the lack of action (I actually liked all of the first Jurassic Park, including the long exposition.), it just wasn't that interesting. I think it was just because the two main focuses were 1) Guttenberg cheating on his wife and 2) Cliched tough guy hunting down the terrorists/the terrorists plotting on bombing the ship.
Once it got to the survival was where it got interesting. It was pretty good, though the deaths had less impact, especially of (and forgive me because I don't know any of the character names) the older lady who was a swim champion. In the first one her death was extremely sad and made you feel for her, but in this one it was quite a bit watered down and less sudden.
Interestingly (and I think fortunately--I liked those characters) the singer and the other guy (y'know, uh . . . that guy) were kept in with about the same personalities, which was a nice touch because those were my favorite characters in the original. The bishop survived in this one, which I think was either because it was in the book or because a lot of people just thought he should live this time around. He was a neat character too, although quite a bit different than the one in the original.
Was it wrong that I thought it was funny imagining the man with the broken arm swimming? Because he was like, "I can't stand up or I'll lose my balance." but he's like, "Swim? All right, no problem." The special effects weren't that great, but it's as much as can be expected from a TV movie. Whenever someone fell into the fire it was like, "AAAAAAAAAAH*POOF*" The death of the massage woman was very anticlimactic, because you had a feeling she was going to die but the actual turn out was a little disappointing. She basically was hanging on a ladder and said, without trying to climb or showing any sign that she's trying to pull herself in an upward direction, "I can't do it." And lets go and falls to her death. Very quick and you didn't care too much about it because of all the other stuff that's happened beforehand. Even the last terrorist's death was more dramatic than that, even if it was a bit corny. ("If I die, I'm taking you with me!!!" "Not today!!!")
But, I guess it wasn't all bad. I liked when the family all came together in the end, and there were a lot of times (more often than not) that you felt for Guttenberg's character. I liked when he had to steal the dead man's shoes (which were conveniently his size), because his reluctance to take them seemed exactly like what someone would feel like.
I liked also when they used the computer to send out a message for help, which was a good modernization that worked well (unlike the dumb terrorism plot).
Hated the music. Music can make or break a film and it just didn't work for me. Made for TV music = bad. It's just not tolerable for three hours. I actually like silence in films sometimes, it's not like there's needs to be music playing for every scene. Take American Werewolf in London, for example. There's one score, which only plays during dream sequences, and a total of about three or four songs in the whole movie. The movie is just as effective without the music. I just don't know, it just kills me when there's a really emotional scene and it's ruined by a constant drum beat playing that doesn't fit the scene.
Ah well. I do complain a lot, but the movie wasn't really bad. It's nice to see a different take on The Poseidon Adventure, although the original still holds up much better. It's worth a look at least once, but I don't think it'll stand the test of time.
Yay Guttenberg!
[ 20. November 2005, 21:41: Message edited by: Spooka Lupa ]
Posts: 1830 | From: Land Under the Bed | Registered: May 2004 | Site Updates: 0
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Kash
Kash : Aha! He'll save every one of us...
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Nice review Lupa, think I’ll avoid this movie at all costs; of course there was going be trouble on board: don’t they remember what happened the last time C. Thomas Howell and Rutger Hauer went travelling together? Wolfgang Peterson’s big-budget Poseidon remake (with Kurt Russell, Emily Rossum et all) looks better than expected, and may be worth a look in the summer.
Steve Guttenberg is back…kind of, with ‘Police Academy’ (yep, Steve has come full circle and appears to be redoing his old movies) not much info on the story or whether it’ll be a sequel or remake; most of the original cast are back too. Very strange.
Posts: 2041 | From: The Ice Planet Hoth | Registered: Jul 2001 | Site Updates: 0
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Very impressive review. SPOILERS for those of you who have not seen the original.
I didnt see the one on TV but the original was spectacular. Hackman was simply magnificent in the film. I still cant stand the scene where he dies. It is a tough moment to watch him fall to his death.
I am hoping the remake will be good. It looks like they have thrown a lot of money and special effects into it.
What did you guys/gals think of the original?
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Agree with you there, Miyagi-Turbo, the original was awesome. Even after 30 something years, the boat-flipping scene is terrific, even if the special effects aren't considered that special anymore.
I watched the miniseries and it was terrible. The only part I thought was actually clever and interesting was when they came across the computer lab, and climbed up to the computers to send an email calling for help.
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Wolfgang Peterson’s big-budget Poseidon remake (with Kurt Russell, Emily Rossum et all) looks better than expected, and may be worth a look in the summer.
