The Karate Kid remake

Another unnecessary remake.

After watching some great original films this year like Avatar, District 9, and Inglorious Basterds, I'm feeling pretty hostile toward remakes at the moment.
 
The studios seem not to want to take a chance on original ideas. I guess they figure that they have a built in audience for these remakes.
 
I think it has a lot going for it. Jackie Chan is the real thing vs. Pat Morita (great and missed character actor, but not really a martial arts/wushu guy).
Exotic location - China - where you can really believe that a small african american kid would be bullied.
Jaden Smith is a cute kid... but hasn't starred in a major picture like this. I guess it all rides on him whether this remake is successful or not!
 
Concerning re-makes, they suck, we hate them, and they're annoying. However, it's a safe bet for businessmen, and it introduces films to newer generations.

What's funny is that I was expecting this. I mean Karate Kid is a very notable film from at least 20 years ago, and it follows a very Hollywood formula. I kept wondering why they weren't doing a re-make, despite how awful it would be.

Concerning the trailer, it actually seems a little bit interesting, though it can easily go to the crapshoot and I agree, no Karate in sight. Besides, that's China...

Already too much wrong with this film...
 
People are forgetting something really important for independent films in this whole mess of remakes, etc. .... Hollywood makes a lot of money off this crap and this is the only way that money trickles down through all of the shingles that control the production/distribution of "independent" filmmaking.

Most people seem to think that if they get a deal with Joe Blow's production company that it's with some independent producer or distributor and not related to Hollywood, but the reality is that there are still only a small handful of people in Hollywood that control 90% of the money that trickles down to these smaller groups that help to buy and produce the smaller films.

Chances are that if you found distribution for your film through even a small sub-distributor that it's in some way related to the ridiculous money that is made off of remakes and Michael Bay films:)

There will always be a sub-culture in Hollywood that wants to find and nurture smaller, more risk-taking features, but it takes things like the remake of the Karate Kid to keep the wheels turning....so don't fight it, but embrace it and go out and make movies the only way you know how.

We all like to say that Hollywood sucks, but without it there wouldn't be much to hang our hats on. And lets face it most people that are against the "system" in some secret way wish that they were part of it. How many nerds wanted to sleep with the cheerleader ....or the quarter back of the football team? :)

Best,

J.
 
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insanityfw said:
People are forgetting something really important for independent films in this whole mess of remakes, etc. .... Hollywood makes a lot of money off this crap and this is the only way that money trickles down through all of the shingles that control the production/distribution of "independent" filmmaking.

Most people seem to think that if they get a deal with Joe Blow's production company that it's with some independent producer or distributor and not related to Hollywood, but the reality is that there are still only a small handful of people in Hollywood that control 90% of the money that trickles down to these smaller groups that help to buy and produce the smaller films.

Chances are that if you found distribution for your film through even a small sub-distributor that it's in some way related to the ridiculous money that is made off of remakes and Michael Bay films:)

There will always be a sub-culture in Hollywood that wants to find and nurture smaller, more risk-taking features, but it takes things like the remake of the Karate Kid to keep the wheels turning....so don't fight it, but embrace it and go out and make movies the only way you know how.

We all like to say that Hollywood sucks, but without it there wouldn't be much to hang our hats on. And lets face it most people that are against the "system" in some secret way wish that they were part of it. How many nerds wanted to sleep with the cheerleader of the quarter back of the football team? :)

Best,

J.
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good points.

however, i wish they would remake BAD movies and make them better, you know?
 
Trailer looks to me like if it was shot with DSLR not on film , maybe its RED, i dont know... anyone have the same feeling about the picture ?
 
I grew up watching the Karate Kid, and got my start in martial arts because of Daniel Larusso and The Cobra Kai antics. It is a staple of my childhood that I didn't want to see tarnished. I knew I wouldn't like the remake.. and seeing the trailer only added to that dislike.

Several issues here...

Its NOT a remake. All they did was take the genre generic "hero gets bullied, gets taught martial arts, and fights back" story and modernized it. Karate Kid wasn't the only movie to use this story premise. Its a staple in the martial arts genre... No Retreat No Surrender, Blood Sport.. I can keep going.

They took small "references" from the original and tossed them into a very different movie. I wouldn't even call this a remake, the characters names are not even the same.

This should have been called "KungFu Kid" as Karate is a japanese martial art, practiced in JAPAN! They are in China, learning kungfu. Sorry, some of us do know the difference. The charm that made the first one so great, is just not there with this one. Its like another "Step Up" movie.. or similar, just with martial arts instead of dancing. The characters in the original were memorable, and the catch phrases and one liners were everywhere.. making it a very memorable film, as cheesy as it was. You can't replace "Wax on, Wax off" with "Jacket Off"...its not even close to the same.

If they had released this with a different name. I'd watch it. I cannot support them using the name as a way to promote a very different movie that I grew up with as a kid.
 
insanityfw said:
People are forgetting something really important for independent films in this whole mess of remakes, etc. .... Hollywood makes a lot of money off this crap and this is the only way that money trickles down through all of the shingles that control the production/distribution of "independent" filmmaking.

Most people seem to think that if they get a deal with Joe Blow's production company that it's with some independent producer or distributor and not related to Hollywood, but the reality is that there are still only a small handful of people in Hollywood that control 90% of the money that trickles down to these smaller groups that help to buy and produce the smaller films.

Chances are that if you found distribution for your film through even a small sub-distributor that it's in some way related to the ridiculous money that is made off of remakes and Michael Bay films:)

There will always be a sub-culture in Hollywood that wants to find and nurture smaller, more risk-taking features, but it takes things like the remake of the Karate Kid to keep the wheels turning....so don't fight it, but embrace it and go out and make movies the only way you know how.

We all like to say that Hollywood sucks, but without it there wouldn't be much to hang our hats on. And lets face it most people that are against the "system" in some secret way wish that they were part of it. How many nerds wanted to sleep with the cheerleader ....or the quarter back of the football team? :)

Best,

J.
Click to expand...

So true... so very true.
 
Kholi said:
So true... so very true.
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What's also true is that you can make mainstream films that earn bucketloads of cash that are original or inspired by more worthy material. I know they are going to make crap, at least give me new crap, not previously eaten, digested, excreted and re-constituted crap.
 
Batutta said:
What's also true is that you can make mainstream films that earn bucketloads of cash that are original or inspired by more worthy material.
Click to expand...


You can and it's happening, just not as frequent as some people would like. A good example is Jason Reitman and how he's doing pretty well walking the same path as his father. He's doing pretty original content that's selling without all the VFX for the most part.

If Karate Kid and Clash of the Titans remakes keep this industry a massive one that people can sustain a healthy lifestyle on, I'm not complaining! Haha.
 
Kholi said:
If Karate Kid and Clash of the Titans remakes keep this industry a massive one that people can sustain a healthy lifestyle on, I'm not complaining! Haha.
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See, but even Clash of the Titans I can sort of understand because at least they're updating the effects for a new generation. I don't see what they're going to do to the Karate Kid that will improve it in any meaningful way.
 
If they'd just called it Kung-Fu Kid and reintroduced it that way, there wouldn't be all of this uproar. Maybe people would even support it, but someone somewhere thought it would be a good idea to just use the name since they already owned it AND it is a recognizable name after all. To us, the public it doesn't make any sense whatsoever especially given the content and placement of the actual film. I can respect them for making the film and taking a chance on the theme and story... but the use of the name is just pure laziness.

They seem to think they can do a Star Trek reboot, especially since the kid is so young but they've COMPLETELY missed the point.

EDIT: And Clash of the Titans NEEDED to be remade. Glad they're at least doing it right.
 
Batutta said:
See, but even Clash of the Titans I can sort of understand because at least they're updating the effects for a new generation. I don't see what they're going to do to the Karate Kid that will improve it in any meaningful way.
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Not sure I agree with that. A remake is a remake, a rehash is a rehash. It's still no more or less original than a Karate Kid remake. You could very well say that all re-makes these days are to draw in a new younger audience, they just aren't as "good" as they were years ago.
 
Rodney V. Smith said:
If they'd just called it Kung-Fu Kid and reintroduced it that way, there wouldn't be all of this uproar. Maybe people would even support it, but someone somewhere thought it would be a good idea to just use the name since they already owned it AND it is a recognizable name after all. To us, the public it doesn't make any sense whatsoever especially given the content and placement of the actual film. I can respect them for making the film and taking a chance on the theme and story... but the use of the name is just pure laziness.

They seem to think they can do a Star Trek reboot, especially since the kid is so young but they've COMPLETELY missed the point.

EDIT: And Clash of the Titans NEEDED to be remade. Glad they're at least doing it right.
Click to expand...

Clash of the Titans needed to be remade? Why? It's fine as it is, to me. So why "need"?

I think that "The Wushu Kid" point is a good one. It's actually kinda wrong to call this "The Karate Kid" for obvious reasons.
 
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