Rantings of an 80's kid.

[Thor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMsZM-MNI1A

Anyone alive in the 80's heck even people that were born in the late 90's probably loved the Karate Kid. But for someone like me The Karate Kid is a part of your life. I mean it was such a good movie and the cast just worked perfectly. Now after seeing the official trailer for the new Karate Kid movie I'm very let down. I heard that Will Smith's kid was going to be playing I thought well maybe it can work. Now I find that Jackie Chan will be playing Miyagi as I started watching the trailer I thought well it only makes sense that he would play the part.
As the trailer progressed I started to get depressed. All "Kung Fu movies" with kids have always turned out to be total crap. As I'm watching this kid I'm thinking he's going to be a bit to young for this to really work. I mean that CGI they tossed in there of him with the tennis balls was a bit over the top as far as realism goes. Then I started to think about Miyagi... well Noriyuki Morita was the perfect person to play that part. When I think of Jackie Chan I think of comedy or way over the top martial arts stunts.
And the sound track.... I HATE HIP HOP! The whole movie had better not be full of that crap!

[Data]

It looks like a cookie cutter movie. Seeing the trailer I know what this is all about and can predict the end long before it happens. Simple Formula. A boy tries talking to a girl who is owned by a bully who uses kung-fu to intimidate and assault his would be victims. It almost sounds like Popeye except in Popeye, Olive Oyl was dumb as a lamppost.

The new kid meets an older male mentor who happens to know kung-fu. Learning kung-fu gives the boy the confidence to challenge this bully at his own game to earn respect.

I haven't seen the end yet but it may result in something like the new kid works his way to the last tier where he gets a serious beating from his former asailants but never gives up and wins the match. The girl leaves both these muscle heads for a wrestler or a baseball player.

[Mister Zero]

Jake .. you just divulged the whole plot to Karate Kid! Amazing. Amazing. How do you do it?

Except at the end that girl leaves him for me. A much more handsome, more skilled karateman. ..yeah right.

I wasn't feeling this movie from the beginning. Recreating old movies today is NEVER a good idea. Modern directors, actors and producers have a terrible mindset that's nothing like their 80's counterparts. I hear they're giving this "modern re-do" treatment to Dirty Dancing, also.. They really need to just stop rehashing the old movies because they do a total botch job. Why not just spend the money on making a new movie altogether?

I agree that kung fu movies with kids are crap, but some of them have at least some stupid little reason to like them, maybe a cheesiness factor at least. Like, say, Three Ninjas or Surf Ninjas. Terrible movies, but sometimes fun to watch because they're so cheesy. This one seems to have none of that, coupled with the modern arrogance of "this is better than the old movie" that seems to be popular.

[E-Day]

Doing a remake of a movie from the 30s, 40's, 50's or even 60's makes some sense. Chances are most people didn't see the originals. But 80's movies? Lots of people still watch them. The 80's aren't that far behind us that we need to be remaking movies from that decade. The ones that people still love today - Karate Kid, Goonies, Breakfast Club, Dirty Dancing - like them because they saw them when they were younger, like the actors in it, like the 80's vibe of them, and like them because they are good movies. Maybe remaking bad 80's movies that tanked in the theatres makes sense, but re-making the classic 80's films and giving them modern day updates with crap music and overdone special effects is just foolish. What's next? Remaking Rain Man, another classic? Top Gun? At least with those, they could get the original actors which would make fans of those movies happy. But then what is the point of doing the same movie with the same people again?

If they are running out of ideas, there are plenty of movies from 60 years ago and older that people haven't seen.

[Thor]

I agree that kung fu movies with kids are crap, but some of them have at least some stupid little reason to like them, maybe a cheesiness factor at least. Like, say, Three Ninjas or Surf Ninjas. Terrible movies, but sometimes fun to watch because they're so cheesy. This one seems to have none of that, coupled with the modern arrogance of "this is better than the old movie" that seems to be popular.

The only one that I can agree with is Surf Ninja's but that's because Ernie Reyes Jr is a great martial artist. (I own that movie by the way). But that one at least only had one "kid" Ernie was 21 by the time that movie was made.

Doing a remake of a movie from the 30s, 40's, 50's or even 60's makes some sense. Chances are most people didn't see the originals. But 80's movies? Lots of people still watch them. The 80's aren't that far behind us that we need to be remaking movies from that decade. The ones that people still love today - Karate Kid, Goonies, Breakfast Club, Dirty Dancing - like them because they saw them when they were younger, like the actors in it, like the 80's vibe of them, and like them because they are good movies. Maybe remaking bad 80's movies that tanked in the theatres makes sense, but re-making the classic 80's films and giving them modern day updates with crap music and overdone special effects is just foolish. What's next? Remaking Rain Man, another classic? Top Gun? At least with those, they could get the original actors which would make fans of those movies happy. But then what is the point of doing the same movie with the same people again?

If they are running out of ideas, there are plenty of movies from 60 years ago and older that people haven't seen.

Like Englorious Bastards. I just watched that movie and thought it was good (not great but good). I was told today that is a remake of a movie from the 60's. So yeah that makes sense.

[Phillyman]

Hey Thor, at least they didn't remake "The Wizard".

[Areala]

Hey Thor, at least they didn't remake "The Wizard".

They will. Just wait until Nintendo unveils the Power Glove adapter for the Wiimote. They'll make millions.

*huggles*

Areala

[Thor]

Hey Thor, at least they didn't remake "The Wizard".

You better believe it. Though I don't know if your poking fun at that movie or if your happy they didn't do a remake because you enjoyed it.

I myself actually enjoyed that movie. I bought it for Laserdisc so I could turn it into a DVD. But then they released the DVD so I bought that instead. Now I just need the bluray version

[Mister Zero]

I, too, have Surf Ninjas. Another gem of the $5 Wal-Mart bin!

I hear the original Inglorious Bastards was not exactly the same movie. Plus it ended up having a sequel.

[Thor]

I never saw the original (obviously) but this remake was pretty good. Not the best movie I've ever seen but it was pretty good.