Dear GODS, NOOOOOOO WHYYYYY???!!!!!

[Ignatz]

. . .Last Man Standing was awesome. . .

You must have seen the extra special director's cut because the one I saw sucked the big one. It was just about the stupidest movie I ever saw. If I ever run into Bruce Willis I will bash him with a shinai until he gives me my two hours back.
Well maybe one hour because I never bothered to watch the whole thing.
The original made sense in Japanese but trying to adapt it to America was just dumb. Dumb, dumb dumb.
That being said, guess what I think of the rest of your post.

[Newbie]

But those remakes, Magnificient Seven and... damn. Can't remember the names of the others. One was done of Yojimbo etc. were remakes into Good Ol' Westerns and classics in their own right. My two favourite types of movies - Samurai and Westerns.

But I mean, c'mon. George Clooney in Seven Samurai? Makes me wanna cry.

[Rob W.]

You must have seen the extra special director's cut because the one I saw sucked the big one...

Eh to each his own. It's pretty much a line for line remake of Yojimbo from what I remember. I like Yojimbo, and I like Bruce Willis, so...

[Nash]

Eh to each his own. It's pretty much a line for line remake of Yojimbo from what I remember. I like Yojimbo, and I like Bruce Willis, so...

No movie starring Toshiro Mifune should be remade, as no modern actor has the emotive capacity to do any of his characters justice, Bruce included.

As Kurosawa once said "The ordinary Japanese actor might need ten feet of film to get across an impression; Mifune needed only three."

In my opinion very few Western actors come close either.

[Rob W.]

Agree, Mifune has an amazingly expressive ability. Have you heard the story that he was almost rejected after his first screen test because the producers thought he was too skilled and would be haughty and difficult to work with?

My friend works as a projectionist and has a huge poster for his theater's showing of Kill! and Sword of the Beast in his living room. Last time I was at his house we were discussing how Mifune's gregarious everyman perfectly ballances the aristocratic coolness of Nakadai. The two best leading men of 60's Japanese cinema IMHO.

[Rob W.]

And re-reading my first post, what I was trying to say was remaking classic films almost always comes short of the original, substituting flashy production and modern actors-of-the-minute where the original had a style or soul that withstood the test of time. My brain can get a bit jumbly after 9 hours at work in a small muggy room with recycled air.

[Nash]

Agree, Mifune has an amazingly expressive ability. Have you heard the story that he was almost rejected after his first screen test because the producers thought he was too skilled and would be haughty and difficult to work with?

My friend works as a projectionist and has a huge poster for his theater's showing of Kill! and Sword of the Beast in his living room. Last time I was at his house we were discussing how Mifune's gregarious everyman perfectly ballances the aristocratic coolness of Nakadai. The two best leading men of 60's Japanese cinema IMHO.

Yes I've heard this, I believe the story goes that he drew on his memories from the war to portray the emotion of anger, and was very impressive, apparently too impressive.

I am jealous of your friend and am pondering tracking him down and stealing his posters.

[bolson]

George Clooney is a pretty good actor. You people are a bunch of snobs and with no really good reason. You are more like a bunch of otaku.

Oh, and I liked Last Samurai. It's a movie you stupid twits, not an assault on your religion.

Fret not. Tom Curse has not ruled out an appearance.

[JoDuncan]

Any movie featuring George Clooney and Zhang Ziyi is gonna suck balls, because they both in fact suck balls.

Fuck George and Zhang Ziyi, fuck them in their stupid asses.

Points for the reference!

Just messin. I think George is good in a few movies like "O brother where out there" and some other cohen brothers thing. Zhang Ziyi, pretty.... pretty..... pretty...pretty goooood.

[Hisham]

George Clooney playing a samurai "convert" in a story like The last samurai (which i did like) maybe but in a remake of seven samurai, that would be like going back to the days when indian ,black ....etc americans were portrayed by white americans in movies.

[Kenzan]

If anything, they need to make a really big budget Hollywood/Toho movie about Sakamoto Ryoma.

[Oroshi]

If anything, they need to make a really big budget Hollywood/Toho movie about Sakamoto Ryoma.

Now you're talking.

[Nash]

If anything, they need to make a really big budget Hollywood/Toho movie about Sakamoto Ryoma.

Leave the Hollywood out of it and I'll be there.

[Aden]

Emotion here may be a little overwrought since this is a quote from the Clooney link above:

Well.... reading

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryId=13&cs=1

which said

The Weinstein Co. will remake Kurosawa's 'The Seven Samurai.'

and

With the Weinstein Co. effort under way to remake Akira Kurosawa's 1954 classic "The Seven Samurai," scribe John Fusco has been tapped to pen the script for the redux. [snip] Overseeing for the Weinsteins, are execs Michael Cole, Ben Famiglatti and Colin Vaines.

Then looking at Fusco in the IMDB database
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0299301/ where it lists 7 samurai as his current pre-production project and his previous..


While I have nothing against remakes, homages or adding to franchises in principal I am perturbed by this.

Aden

[Hisham]

If anything, they need to make a really big budget Hollywood/Toho movie about Sakamoto Ryoma.

I second Nash on the "no hollywood involvement" part.
A big budget shinsengumi "realistic" movie would be an interesting project.