Escape From New York is going to Die Hard. Very hard.
Posted by Matt Holmes
Well it’s now been confirmed. The Hollywood Reporter say Len Wiseman is in talks to direct the Gerard Butler led Escape From New York remake.
I can’t believe how well Wiseman’s Live Free or Die Hard went down with audiences. It was pathetic. It was lame. It was boring as hell. Had the lamest cliched plot in history. No characters. The worst villain in movie history, played by a shit actor. A crap third act which had no idea when to end and it was so over-the-top, I started to think I was watching an MTV parody of Die Hard.
It aimed for the lowest intelligence possible and you people lapped it up like there was no tomorrow. You should be ashamed of yourselves and well are all going to suffer the consequences of movies like that for years to come.
It really worries me that Die Hard and Transformers went down so well with people. It worries me for the future. If that’s the baramoter studies are looking too for their flicks then we are all in trouble. Not least this Escape From New York remake.
What you gonna do Wiseman? PG-13? More shaky camera work and awful colour scheme?
Any hope that I had from the positive script reviews of Ken Nolan’s (Black Hawk Down) work has totally been shattered now. Wiseman is just about on the other end of Carpenter’s methodical film-making style. If different from the original is what they want… then it’s different they are going to get.
No word on whether the other rumor of Wiseman directing Gears of War is true.
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With Wiseman at the helm, I reckon that the EFNY movie will be so far removed from what made the original a fun, “cult” movie some of us 30 somethings will disregard it. Escape From LA, whilst wearing it’s low budget on it’s sleeve was still entertaining.
Some films should never be remade and this is one of them.
I also thought Die Hard 4.0 was a waste of time. There was no real fun in it like 1-3 and it didn’t feel like a John McClane movie. The scene with McClane against a jet fighter was laughable. It was made for the XBox360 generation and was no better than a series of High Def game cut scenes. I’m a big fan of Bruce Willis and he looked bored in places.
I still don’t see why Kurt Russell can’t return in a Escape From Earth movie. Death Proof showed that he’s still got the look for it.
OK, if not Wiseman, then who would you suggest direct EFNY?
Well after watching Batman Begins… Christopher Nolan is the perfect guy for the job but in fairness this movie is completely beneath him. Not the original mind you, just this shitty remake.
John Hillacot, the guy who directed The Proposition… if he was interested I think he would have been a great choice. I loved the pacing and the nostalgic style of that movie.
D.J. Caruso seems hungary. I haven’t seen Disturbia but it seemed to go down pretty well and from what I hear he’s a guy who has his head screwed on to the business.
Apart from that I dunno. The Wiseman decision to me sparks of the studio heads looking for someone who can deliver them a money making movie… and not a worthy piece of cinema.
Which is fine and all, I mean it’s there money. But it’s not too good for those who go into the theatre with some intelligence.
I’d like to see a Director like Christopher Nolan take the reins, as he’s shown through Batman Begins his ability to trust the source material of an established character.
Otherwise, like I have said already, ditch the idea and make Escape From Earth, with Kurt Russell.
Really, an remake of EFNY without Russell is like remaking Evil Dead without Bruce Campbell, as was rumored some time back. (probably from a net geek with too much time on his/her hands)
Oh Richard I agree entirely and we said such things when the movie was first annnouced.
Kurt Russell is in great shape and hell John Carpenter isn’t doing much these days except sign the checks that allow his movies to be remade.
That would have been a nice reunion.