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Comparison to 1994 Roger Donaldson's remake

posted 18 years ago by DabacTSP
12 replies | jump to latest

Donaldson's 'Getaway' is an example of remake really close to original without altering almost anything. It was shot primarily to boost the career of new happy couple Baldwin-Basinger at that time and offers not much but their hot love scene. The storyline sticks to the original all the way till the end, so if you saw the original there is absolutely no need to see the remake.

Movie remakes compared to original
http://www.movie-remakes.com

[–] foster1234 18 years ago

I Thought the remake sucked

Neither Baldwin or Basinger can act

I'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney, than driving with Ted Kennedy

[–] dragonruncrew 18 years ago

It wasnt anywhere near the orginal. Baldwin does not compare to McQueen on any level

[–] floydpinque 18 years ago

dragonruncrew--
Amen on that. Baldwin was/is smarmy and that's no acting. McQueen was the very essence of understated cool in reel life and real life.

DILLINGER GOT KILLED. YEAH BUT NOT IN A BANK.

[–] lightfootsalive 18 years ago

See the original. Skip the remake.
Even Michael Madsen's sinister "Rudy" doesn't get this one going.

"Okay if I put the pussy on the bed?"

[–] JustPassingTime 17 years ago

The only thing I've ever seen Alec play convincingly is a mean prick. His brother Steve is a decent actor.

[–] nicver 17 years ago

He matured well and he's a good "fit fat guy" type.

He's pretty good in Along Came Polly and in the Departed.

He's nothing like McQueen, though.

This is the exact example of the remake that should not have been. Why?

Another example: the Hitcher.

I am expecting a Casablanca remake one of these days. Seriously.

[–] OldeSkool 17 years ago

I saw the remake before the original. It wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. I think it helped that Donaldson followed the script page-per-page and didn't see the orginal before hand. Anybody could've played Baldwin and Bassinger parts but I really liked Tilly who showed to me that she could act while Madsen seen to be in "Mr. Blonde mode throughout.

[–] pacwarbuff 14 years ago

The original, of course, crushes the insipid 1994 remake. But the one scene that shows this to be true is the part where Baldwin, Basinger, Madsen, and Seymour-Hoffman are going over the robbery details. Missing from the '94 film is all of the tension, pacing, and meaningful pauses that made the Peckinpah version of the scene so great.

In the earlier film, we know from that scene that Doc (McQueen) and Rudy (Al Lettieri) do not get along. When Rudy shines the flashlight in Doc and Carol's face followed by McQueen's loading of his handgun which compels Lettieri to immediately turn off the light is nothing short of brilliant. We know more about Lettieri's Rudy than we'd ever know from Madsen's dopey take on the role twenty plus years later. The 1994 version plays the scene almost exactly the same except it's rushed and strictly by-the-numbers. No tension, no insight into characters, nothing.

Consilio et prudentia

[–] astroclone 18 years ago

"I really loved the Getaway back when I was eight, that pussy Alec Baldwin sucked in the remake!"
Drive By Truckers - Steve McQueen

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] meguroutsubo 8 years ago

It was shot primarily to boost the career of new happy couple Baldwin-Basinger at that time and offers not much but their hot love scene.

In spite of her hot nude scenes, I didn't think much of their take. Absurdly enough, because of PC rules, in the big confrontation after Beynon dies, they have an argument and she slaps HIM instead of the other way around... just because they didn't want to "glamorize" male assault on women. But it makes no sense to recast Doc McCoy" as a sensitive, new-age male, wrestling with his feelings during the middle of a heist gone wrong.

However, Philip Seymour Hoffman did add some life to the film. He played the Bo Hopkins character (Jackson) but he was sniffling constantly, like a cocaine addict. When he was introduced to Baldin's Doc, I thought, oh-oh, HERE'S a f--kup waiting to happen...

The only reason to make a remake, as we all know, is to capitalize on the existing "marquee value" of the original. There was no significant way to improve on the story.

[–] yatzo376 8 years ago

The only thing I remember about the remake is PSH (rip)

"You work your side of the street, and I'll work mine"