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Home Entertainment Center => DVD's & Blu-rays => Topic started by: Chiprocks1 on February 22, 2013, 11:02:51 pm


Title: Footloose (2011)
Post by: Chiprocks1 on February 22, 2013, 11:02:51 pm
Footloose
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i266/Chiprocks1/Star%20Ratings/HTL_03halfstar.gif)

(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i266/Chiprocks1/DVD%20Covers%2002/Footloose/Footloose2011.jpg)

Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtjI6OHVk00

I've stated elsewhere on this site that seeing the remake of Footloose was very low on my 'to do' list. As I remember it, it wasn't even on my list. With all the remakes, reboots, relaunches that seem to come out on a weekly clip and nothing good to show for it, I had very low expectations for this one. Having just watched this as part of my Double Dose of Footloose (http://pennycan.createaforum.com/dvd's-blu-rays/footloose-(1984)/msg17224/#msg17224) marathon, I was surprised that this reboot is a literal scene for scene remake. Yes, they have added some new scenes and whatnot to flesh out the story a bit. But there is a good chunk of stuff in this one that is taken directly from the original: Dialogue, Characters, Scenes.

If it's not an outright swipe, they do mix in some nice winking nods to the first one. Loved the way they introduce Quiet Riot into the reboot, first with the Vinyl cover and then the iPod with Bang Your Head (Metal Health). Also liked that they brought back the yellow VW Bug with the passenger side door still getting stuck. Small touches like this made this more enjoyable. But there are also a lot of word for word lines being ported over from the original as well.

Overall, this was much better than I thought it would be. They did get a couple of things right for the remake. First off, the dancing is way better here as it's contemporary. The second thing they got right was Julianne Hough as Ariel. She alone makes this worth a Rent. So hot and damn talented. For those that don't know, she is one of the regular dancers on Dancing With The Stars. With that out of the way, I do still prefer the original over the remake, but that doesn't make this one anything less than a Rent for sure.
Title: Re: Footloose (2011)
Post by: Chiprocks1 on February 22, 2013, 11:03:19 pm
Footloose DVD Screencaps

Coming soon...
Title: Re: Footloose (2011)
Post by: Mac on February 23, 2013, 02:15:55 am
This reboot was worth it. I remember both and liked both, which says a lot about the quality of them.
Title: Re: Footloose (2011)
Post by: Neumatic on June 25, 2013, 12:32:31 am
I totally dug the remake.  I know there's a legitimate complaint that can be made about how much is a direct carbon copy, but I think it just speaks to the strength of the original that it didn't need that much "fixing," you know?  THere's some stuff like the learning to dance sequence, people would have been complaining if it HADN'T been "Let's Hear It For The Boy."  And the big D, of COURSE it had to be that.

What I liked about this (and one of the big reasons I watched this) is that it took an 80s idea and feel and set it in the present and made it work without bending over backwards, needing to break it or really super update anything.  I will say that the original was sort of old and showing it's age a little... this is sort of like a restored car.  I'm hoping the remake of Carrie will feel like that too.  This is the way to remake something that was good the first time (although I am of the camp that says you should remake what didn't work well the first time).

And as I said in the other thread, I am in love with the soundtrack, it's current but varied (I love the music playing when Ren rolls into town), and it's got this southern soul to the whole thing.  I had to listen to the "Fake ID" sequence twice because I dug that song and it seemed so appropriate for that venue and that scene.  It was just the thing I needed after being... not disappointed, but unimpressed with most of the soundtracks of movies I had been seeing lately.  Nothing really got my attention the way that music in this movie did, and that's something I miss.

I also dig that outside of Dennis Quaid and Andie McDowell (who I both quite liked in the movie), I had no idea who anyone else in the movie was.  I like that it was all fresh-faces getting a crack at it.  Who's the friend, the Chris Penn role (was it Chris Penn in the original?)  I quite liked him.  And maybe it's because I've still got the memory of Pretty In Pink in my head but I like that I'm not seeing the younger faced versions of faces I know real well, that's starting to throw me with these old movies that I'm seeing for the first time.

Watching the opening again and I just love how vital the dancing is, it's not just a camera looking at the feet but it's active, the floor is bouncing, the kids are singing along, the whole thing is full of life (and I noticed a subtle little touch, the drunk kids walking to the car are stepping in unison!) and there have just been so many movies where it feels like a presentation and that you're looking at a picture on a screen and I don't like that, I wanna feel INVOLVED and this movie does that... at least for me.
Title: Re: Footloose (2011)
Post by: Chiprocks1 on June 25, 2013, 04:16:35 am
Glad ya dug the remake and yes, Chris Penn was in the original.
Title: Re: Footloose (2011)
Post by: Neumatic on June 25, 2013, 10:17:03 am
I totally gotta get the soundtrack for this one.

Yeah, Julianne Hough... she kinda reminds me a little of those chicks in the ZZ Top music video you linked, "I Gotsta Get Paid, " probably all that denim.

And I also remember you talking about Flashdance and being disappointed by it, this is exactly how they should remake that movie when they eventually do (I can't say if they improve it for the musical as I haven't seen it, though).
Title: Re: Footloose (2011)
Post by: Chiprocks1 on June 25, 2013, 10:19:23 am
And I also remember you talking about Flashdance and being disappointed by it, this is exactly how they should remake that movie when they eventually do (I can't say if they improve it for the musical as I haven't seen it, though).

If it has a beginning, middle and end and can be called a 'story', then it would be 100% better than the original.
Title: Re: Footloose (2011)
Post by: Neumatic on June 25, 2013, 10:22:38 am
And of course the dancing in the remake feels original... you said it was "better" and I'm not sure I agree with that, the original was pretty choreographed, I would say that the remake (which I'm watching the opening of AGAIN!) has the dancing feel more NATURAL.  It doesn't feel like they're cutting to a body double or just totally shifting gears like it did in the original.  And I think Flashdance had that same problem.

So glad I finally decided to watch this... and it was just a lark.  I love discovering stuff that way.
Title: Re: Footloose (2011)
Post by: Chiprocks1 on June 25, 2013, 11:07:21 am
And of course the dancing in the remake feels original... you said it was "better" and I'm not sure I agree with that, the original was pretty choreographed, I would say that the remake (which I'm watching the opening of AGAIN!) has the dancing feel more NATURAL.

As a former Nite Clubber and dancer myself, the dancing in this movie is worlds above the original. I like to think I know a thing or two about something that I was passionate about for a long time. The original doesn't even come close to the remake when it comes to the moves. That doesn't invalidate what you're saying one bit. But for me, I stand by my statement 100%.
Title: Re: Footloose (2011)
Post by: Neumatic on June 25, 2013, 12:35:13 pm
I go to night clubs maybe one weekend a year.  Not nearly often enough, though I doubt I could be called a dancer.  I'm just slightly above "nerve disease victim" though.  Wedding weekend last year we danced every night for four days straight, that was a riot, I miss doing that sort of thing.

The empty warehouse scene where Ren dances to get his frustrations out, I just remember the original being so hokey, he's just gotta DANCE, but in this one you can see his mind replaying everything and he just screams out everything he wanted to say and starts burning off that energy, it's such a silly idea but it works.  And I loved that he fell off the hood of his car, did that happen in the original?