UHM - Review - The Ring

Well I saw the original Japanese film about a year and a half ago and I never really expected there to be an American remake and when I first heard about it, I was quite skeptical. After seeing pictures and finally the trailer I had new hope for the film. I knew I'd like it, but the question was if I'd like it better than the original. Now having seen the remake I have to say I like the original a little more. The movie starts out pretty similar to the original film. Two girls talk about the legend of the cursed tape that will kill you within seven days of viewing it. One of the girls reveals that she has seen it... Fast-forward a little and a reporter who happens to be the aunt of the now-dead girl visits her funeral, where she is then asked by her sister to research why her daughter died at such a young age. She partners up with her old boyfriend, who is also a video major, and they find out the truth behind the tape, while in the process viewing the tape themselves. Now they only have a week to find a way to lift the curse. Here are some changes in the story compared to the original:

The mother in the original film had ESP and so it explained a little about how Sadako had the powers she did. In this film the "mother" was just a simple horse-trainer.

Also the ex-boyfriend in this film was actually an ex-husband in the original and he had some psychic powers that let him see images of what really happened with Sadako and her mother. The director decided to ditch the whole "psychic" thing in this film, but it played a major part in the original story; although the boy in this film seemed to have some special abilities.

The images on the tape have changed quite a bit and are apparently longer than the original cursed video.

They also changed the look of the corpses after seeing "Samara" and Samara herself looked different compared to how Sadako looked in the original. Also Samara is a child in this film, but Sadako was in her late teens.

They changed a lot of other stuff in the movie as well, but I don't want to reveal too much without giving away important points to the story, to those of you who haven't seen this yet. I liked the original better than this remake mainly because I liked the story a little more and it seemed to have a darker atmosphere, even though this film was pretty dark as well. They also explained which seemed to be a little more, about the story behind Sadako and her Mother.

So does this film live up to the original? Yup. It's suspenseful and creepy in parts. I thought the ending in this film was a little creepier, but Sadako looked much freakier. The story is good and it was interesting to see it go in a slightly different direction. The directing was very well done and I liked some of the subliminal messages that were thrown around in the film. The big question now is will there be a sequel?.. It depends on if they are up for it. There have already been talks on a sequel and the original spawned a sequel and a prequel. I wouldn't be surprised if they do a sequel to this film. I know I will see it.

OVERALL

Good movie that lives up to the original, but in the end I still like the original better. This remake took a slightly different direction with the story and still remains to be creepy and suspsenseful. Check this and the original out for some good horror.

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goreslut666 :

Posted 78 days ago

Yeah all I'm going to say is this is one of the most overrated horror movies ever. The Grudge was better, and still even that movie isn't close to spectacular.

Beshem :

Posted 96 days ago

I agree Ash, this movie sucks. After I finished watching it (because my g/f at the time made me) I said, "And people think this movie is good because why?" Nonetheless, I didn't bother to see the sequel and The Grudge was just as disappointing so I didnt see the sequel to that one either. Besides, movies about ghosts seeking revenge has been done. And Amreican remakes of Japanese films just doesn't work. Hasn't worked since the Godzilla movies.

ash :

Posted 309 days ago

this movie just flat out sucks. i don't like the ring one or 2 nor did i like the grude 1 or 2. these remakes of japanese films just all suck. all the ghosts and shit look the same and the plots are all pretty similiar too. i didn't like this movie at all and the only part that got me sort of worked up was when the horse jumped off the damn ferry.

todd :

Posted 329 days ago

this movie blows

J Roark :

Posted 333 days ago

I really didn't find it scary or entertaining, just not my thing.

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