What he meant by this is that no one in the production of a movie, not the writers, producers, directors, or actors, really have a handle on how good it’s going to be (or more accurately, how many people are going to want to see it) before the movie is finished.
Remember that movies aren’t filmed in one continuous take or series of takes. Scenes are filmed many times from different angles and not necessarily in sequence. Nowadays a lot of these scenes are in front of green screens. Special effects are added later. So no one sees the final version until late in the production.
And a good movie is not necessarily a function of the script or the special effects – some of it is just the chemistry between the actors and the atmosphere on the set – something that can’t be predicted in advance. Casablanca was just another film while they were shooting it.
Now I’m sure that people can tell when a film is in trouble – when the number of screenwriters keeps mounting and the lead actors are throwing whiskey bottles at each other in between takes and the producer’s girlfriend is given a big speaking part. But by that time, money has been committed and all you can do is make the best of it.
And movies have a lot of the production costs upfront, well before filming actually starts. Even once you realize the movie isn’t going to be any good, its usually better economic sense in the long run to finish it off and attempt to recoup some of your expenses, then to shitcan it and write off all the money you’ve spent as pure loss.
I know in the case of Uwe Boll movies, some kind of tax dodge is involved. Of course I’ve also heard that the German tax laws have changed to plug that loophole, so I really can’t excuse them anymore.
I love how this thread basically pops up every month, like there’s some arbiter of taste acting as a Hollywood gatekeeper, making sure that “obvious” shit never gets made. There’s a bunch of dudes who want to make a bunch of money and they don’t really give a shit how or why it gets done. Each person on set has a specific job and nobody has the job of making sure a movie meets standards beyond “Will this movie make money?”
I love The Day the Earth Stood Still. Keanu Reeves was irrelevant to me; I liked Jennifer Connelly and the kid who played her stepson. It was the human story that worked for me.
Have you looked into major Hollywood productions? I mean, this is an obvious overstatement, but it’s pretty true that studios meddle like crazy to make sure movies meet a perfect lowest common denominator audience.
This has apparently gotten doubly true since worldwide money is making up a bigger part of the picture – movies are increasingly being designed to appeal to international audiences, meaning they have to be broad, very easy to understand, and not have anything that would alienate other cultures or get lost in translation.
I’m confused - in the original movie, the Chinese were American allies. Why would the remake play that down in order to appeal to the Chinese market? Shouldn’t they play that up?
Since the original was made in 1984 the USSR collapsed, which kind of kills the idea of a red Russian invasion. The remake was filmed with a Chinese invasion, but that has been changed to North Korean in post-production, due to objections from distributors.
I agree. It wasn’t that bad. I enjoyed it. It was no Oscar contender, but for mindless escapism, it filled it’s purpose. This was no The Day After Tommorow.
No shit? Wow. That’s an amazingly sucky idea. Even by the standards of a Red Dawn remake. I mean, I’m a lefty pinko socialist coward, and even I’m offended by the idea that North Korea could kick our ass. I can’t imagine how the film’s target audience would react to that.
This. Not for me, I love old movies. But trying to get kids to sit through a movie made 30 or 40 years ago is nearly impossible. It’s easier to get them to go watch a remake.
Why didn’t they change the ending so the Chinese win? They could always use the American win ending for the domestic market. You might as show the people what the alternative to American hegemony is. You could also make the same movie with an ending of the red flag going up over Washington and just pitch it as a tragedy in the United States.
I’ve made a pledge to myself - rather than supporting pointless remakes of my favoriet movies, I will just rewatch the original movie. I think everyone should do the same. (yeah, yeah - I’m a fogey, give blood a chance - well bah. maybe 1% of the remakes/redos/reboots are worth it)