The Wicker Toilet - sorry, The Wicker Man

[jont]

Why can't they have "our" Wicker Man, since we already have "their" Scary Movie/ Leathal Weapon/ Terminator 3/ whatever else you can care to think of.

[Woolly]

Because "they" have been brought up with a media that tells them: old = shit

Most of them simply refuse to watch old films. Sad but true.

[Woolly]

Ps. Lethal Weapon & Terminator 3 are both ace!
:p

[Buttonman]

I've been surprised that there have been no comments on here about this long awaited remake - to judge something as shit without seeing it is unforgivable. That's what they do in Russia.

I saw it today and have to say I enjoyed the overall experience if not exactly on the basis that the makers would have wanted.

>>>>>>>>>Complete Spoliers follow

[Buttonman]

That's annoying my great observations were chopped off - who stuck on a quality filter!

To summarise it was quite entertaining but undeniably rubbish and a poor bastard relation of the original.

Main gripe would be the total absence of Britt Eckland's character and the wimpy '12' certificate which meant no sex, hardly any violence and only one 'fucking'.

Cage playes a cop called Edward and he gets a letter from his former love Willow Woodward - subtle touch there! Her daughter Rowan has gone missing and she askes for his help. Although just a patrolman he pitches in despite being on a sickie after failing to save a mother and child in a car wreck.

'Summers'isle' is virtually all women with only a few warty men to do the heavy lifting. Rather than the original's apples the isle makes honey which is a shame for bee allergy sufferer Cage who quickly drives his push bike into a hive.

The rest is pretty much as you know apart from a few largely pointless changes. The schoolroom scene is virtually word perfect except the beetle in the desk is now a crow and the hare in the grave is now a doll.

The funniest bit is at the end when instead of wearing the appropriate 'Fool' costume Cage wears a big gorilla suit!

There is also a disturbing '6 months later' scene that sets the whole thing up for a sequel.

Overall it was enjoyable tosh and a real must see for fans of the original - you'll be tittering throughout!

And look out for the 'missing person' poster in the police station - blow me, it's Sargeant Howie!

[Oddboy]

Ive tried watching the original with my ex's kid and her mates (aged 14-16 at the time).
All they kept saying was 'I cant get into this, its too old!'


Did you tell 'em it's got nudity?!

[Tweak72]

Not bothered by the remake or bothered to see it as despite the cast I always thought the original was a big steaming cup of w*nk. Now the devil rides out on the other hand is a good film

[TordelBack]

"...the original was a big steaming cup of w*nk"

Well, yes, but that Brittbodydouble sequence is the best bit!

[DavidXBrunt]

From the director of Whicker Man

Link: http://www.parkentertainment.com/projects%20in%20development.htm" target="_blank">Cowboys for Christ.

[ming]

I don't generally dismiss things out of hand, but unnecessary remakes of great films do tend to piss me off.  Anyway, recent reviews do suggest that the new Wicker Man isn't likely to achieve cult status:

From the Grauniad a few days back:
Writing in the Toronto Star, Peter Howell dubbed the film "an unholy mess" full of moments of "unintended hilarity". He added, "The updating of this tale of ritual sacrifice on a godless island named Summerisle is wrong in just about every way it could be."

Ah.

[thinky]

When it was on Tv i was always drunk and fell asleep.

i've never seen it either, and that's the *exact* reason why

i was listening to Mark Kermode's film review and he was so vehemently dead against it that it may well be worth seeing... then again it's got nicholas cage in it, so maybe not

thinky

[I, Cosh]

My opinion of the original is that the pre-credit sequence with the extended aerial shot of the Scottish coast is awesome but it's downhill all the way from there.

[Adrian Bamforth]

What I often wonder about is, are there some things that are just SUCH a bad idea, such as remaking The Wicker Man in America with Nicolas Cage, that it overides the assessment of the film in it's own right?

Take The Pink Panther for instance - even if it was actually really funny, as it might have been if it had been better developed, the idea of it being remade is SO insulting surely it can never be judged favourably.

ADE

[ming]

Exactly, Ade.  Other examples of great originals that no-one in their right mind would consider fiddling with include:

Sergeant Bilko  Steve Martin was funny for 20 minutes in the 80s and the vengeful corpse of Phil Silvers should rise and throttle him for this - and the subsequent Pink Panther re-make is just depressing.

The Ladykillers The original had Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom.  The re-make had, erm, Forrest Gump.  That this came from the brains behind The Big Lebowski is astonishing.

Have I seen any of these?  Have I fuck.  I don't need to drink lumpy milk to know that it's off.

[Satanist]

Get Carter
The Italian Job
Pink Panther
Sgt Bilko
Dawn of the Dead
Psycho
Mr Deeds goes to Town
Rollerball

All these get remade and yet there's still no new Dr Strangelove.

in colour.

with Martin Lawrence.