Remakes In Comparison

They don't make remakes like they used to. Thank God! The remakes we get now are done so after years of its' original being in existance. This wasn't the case twenty years ago.

Recently, I watched Point of No Return with Bridget Fonda. I had seen it before, but it was long time ago. This movie came out in 1993. It is a remake of La Femme Nikita, the French original. The original came out in 1990. So director John Badham (Bird on a Wire, Another Stakeout) waited 3 years to release his remake.

Let me interject with this: a remake should be based on the original but with your own inspiration and creativity put into it. Point of No Return was a carbon copy of La Femme Nikita. I guess Hollywood film makers in the early 90s had the brass to think they could do better than a foreign film. Guess what? They were way off.

Flag on the play! Improper use of film and acting talent.

Honestly, it is a spot-on copy of the original. There are differences. I will give you that much. The major difference is the original is so much better. The acting, the way it is filmed (gritty, dark) all better than the American version. Yeah, I said it. I'm not going to refer to the remake as a "Hollywood" version when someone misses the mark like that.

Here is an example of a remake of an original that stuck to the storyline, but took it's own path: The Amityville Horror. Well done. A) They waited 26 years and B) It was different. As it should be. Twenty-six years had gone by. Therefore, the original can stand on its' own because it came out in 1979. Hello! It should have a different look in 2005.

I'm glad 20 years have passed since Hollywood's days of making carbon copies of foreign films. Now, if a Hollywood version comes out (i.e. The Ring) it looks a little different. Foreign films have improved with time and some are more worth watching than any film released in the U.S.

All of that being said, I recommend La Femme Nikita. That's it. Stick with the original.