130 posts tagged “remake”

The stories are different enough that one could not accuse the Hong Kong film-makers of outright copying, but there is clear inspiration between the English Ooh, You Are Awful (or Get Charlie Tully), starring Dick Emery, and the first of the successful franchise 最佳拍檔 (Aces Go Places). The films are 10 years apart.
   The plot lines are similar: in the original, Emery has to find a Swiss bank account number, separately tattooed on four different girls’ behinds. In the later film, Sam Hui (the father of Canto-pop) and Karl Maka’s characters have to find a map reference, tattooed on two different girls’ behinds. The following is of two very similar scenes, one set at Waterloo Station in London, the other at a taxi company’s radio department, and subsequent scenes involving photographic booths, where one might be able to claim there was a fair amount of direct copying. Emery is more blue, while the later film is more slapstick with better pacing.
   And yes, that is the lovely Cheryl Kennedy in the first clip.
   In the 1970s and 1980s, it was highly unlikely for Hong Kong cinemagoers to have seen the Emery film.
   Head to 2.45 for the above scene in the first video; 0.43 in the second clip.

Following on from an earlier post about opening titles, here’s a quick examination of how things change when shows are remade.
   First up, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), with the original titles by Chambers & Partners and music by Edwin Astley:

I have blogged about this before, but didn’t post a clip. And it makes me wonder why the Brits need to remake Outrageous Fortune. Is the Kiwi accent that hard to understand?
   Don’t answer that.
   But this show is so West Auckland you couldn’t even remake it in Wellington.

One more remake. French Law & Order: Criminal Intent, or Paris Enquêtes Criminelles. I didn’t even want to watch the original sans Alicia Witt.

Does Death at a Funeral (with Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes) seriously need an American remake? Hollywood says yes.

Just to show that Brits remake American shows, too, and do just as lousy job of it as Americans do when UK shows cross the Atlantic. Anyone old enough to remember The Fosters, co-starring Lenny Henry as Sonny Foster?
   Click here to see a clip at TV Ark.
   It’s British Good Times, and Henry was in the J. J. Evans equivalent role played by Jimmy Walker, but it was less gritty.
   Equally forgettable were The Upper Hand (British Who’s the Boss?) and Married for Life (British Married with Children). The former I have featured on this blog because it did have its fans (Pussy Galore was in it); the latter is so bad that I could only find a single clip on YouTube:

For Lifers who wanted to know how the Spanish version of Life on Mars ended, Antena 3 has put up the closing minutes of La chica de ayer on YouTube. I blogged about this back in June; however, this should be easier for readers.
   My Spanish is pathetic at best, but a bit of context: the tunnel is a portal of sorts where Sam travelled from 2009 to 1977. In the final episode, he saves Ana from being killed by his father (the same as episode 8 of the UK original and episode 7 of the US remake). It appears this was the purpose of his trip back to 1977, and explains the meaning of the Spanish title. With that completed, the tunnel lights up again and Samuel has the chance to return to 2009. (Hence, it seems some sort of Divine Intervention or cosmic force is behind Sam’s trip back in time, and he is not in a coma or mad.) However, rather than the dark ending of the original, and the inexplicable one of the US remake, the Spanish have opted for something more upbeat:

Remember how fans of Life on Mars were putting together their favourite Gene Genie moments on to YouTube? The Spanish seem equally fond of their Gene Hunt, Inspector Jefe Quin Gallardo, in La chica de ayer, Spanish Life on Mars.

Of the American TV show remakes, this actually looks awesome. Jim Caviezel reprises Patrick McGoohan’s Number Six role in The Prisoner, and Sir Ian McKellen (OK, so it is intercapitalized!) plays Number Two.

Law & Order UK (from ITV) has started in New Zealand, and just like most remakes, it’s not as good as the original. It’s not bad, but proves again that sometimes, things should just remain in their original form.
   And before someone pounces on me by saying that Law & Order UK is not a remake, but a spin-off (as has happened on YouTube), then perhaps they could tell me why the script for tonight’s episode here is directly based on an American one (and even credits it)? Sorry, old chap, that makes it a remake, just like all those wonderful American shows and movies such as Three’s Company, Sanford & Son, Life on Mars, Coupling, Cosby, Ugly Betty, Three’s a Crowd, Eleventh Hour, Too Close for Comfort, The Office, Viva Laughlin, Kath & Kim, Payne, Amanda’s, The Prisoner, In Treatment, Worst Week, All in the Family, Good Behavior, State of Play …
   The credits are OK, and at least here there has been some departure from the original, though the trade mark noise that starts each scene is still present.