I'll be the first to say that it didn't come close to the original. We all knew it wouldn't going in, but it was an ok movie. Stop being so defensive of the original and making it out like this movie was pure sh*t when it wasn't. It was a decent remake that didn't live up to the original, but it wasn't horrible.
shareIt was too sanitized, too safe. And it was also quite pointless, seeing as how the original is still playing quite regularly at midnight in places all over the country. My only hope is that seeing this watered-down Disneyfied version will drive people to go to a theater and check out the real deal.
-Jennifer
It was a cringe fest. Where the *beep* was Eddie's slash on his forehead from having his brain cut in half to give to Rocky?
They didn't even do the Time Warp dance. Why does Eddie have an African American uncle with no German accent? I couldn't tell that Riff Raff and Magenta were brother and sister.
Laverne was trying to hard to imitate Tim Curry's Dr Frank-N-Furter and add no personality of her own take on the character.
Columbia is meant to be upbeat, romantic and a fan girl of Dr Frank-N-Furter. This rendition makes her a sad sulky emo.
I have to agree it was to "clean" there was no real violence, the puny surgeons knife was to tame to the pick axe of the original and the "gore" of the blood trail left by Eddie and where was the sexual references or taboos. Remember the sexual tension between Riff Raff and Magenta in the original it wasn't there in this production. Sure there is group hugs and kissing in the pool but it is to tame.
Poor Tim looked so unwell, I am aware he had a stroke and he is a trooper for making his appearance as the Narrator.
So many things were so wrong with the remake or "tribute". Glee did a better tribute then this tripe of a remake.
I agree with everything you just posted.
shareYou guys keep comparing it to the original. That's the problem we're having here. At LEAST half the things people are grumbling about are because they are comparing the remake to the original. If THIS movie were the original, if you had never seen the first Rocky Horror, no one would be complaining or criticizing this movie anywhere near as much as they are. That's the problem with most remakes in general. They love the original, the remake does something new that the original did better, and people automatically declare that it "sucks".
shareSorry, but if this movie was the original, I would still think that it sucked. Just like most of the fare that Kenny Ortega churns out. This feels very teenybopper, very much like 'High School Musical', and everyone knows how abysmal that was.
shareIf this was a completely new entity I still wouldn't be fan. This version stripped the story to its bare bones and removed everything that was good about it. Rocky is not something that can be remade and changed to fit a modern audience. It doesn't work out of context. The stage play works because it maintains the context, casts bring something new to the table all the time but they don't remove the context. Frank can not be a woman. He CAN be played by a woman but he still needs to be played MALE. There is nothing shocking about seeing a woman in fishnets and a corset. There is nothing shocking about Brad discovering his "forbidden" desires for Frank when Frank appears and identifies as a woman. This version stripped Rocky of any of its orginality. It pushes no boundries, it breaks no conventions and Rocky without that is nothing.
Its something you'll get used to a mental mind *beep* can be nice!
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If this movie were the original (I guess you mean the original movie version of the stage musical?) then it would be a quite bad rendition, where most of the magic would be lost. Besides everything else even the music arrangements and the singing were not so great.
But, on the other hand, if you make a remake of a movie you cannot expect the result not to be compared with the original. It's the nature of the game.
Me too. Perfectly said.
sharejoisepeterson is right on point about all of those points. I expected a few good highlights, though I was preemptively negative. In fact I was scared I'd have to come back on here and say, "It wasn't that bad." No, it was worse!
And I'm a FAN of most remakes, on my dvd shelf I have two different versions of "Gypsy", "Oklahoma", "Sweeney Todd", "Bye Bye Birdie", "South Pacific", "Rent" and soon to be "Hairspray"!
So it's not "remake fear", though like many others here I classify RHPS as a property that shouldn't be re-made ever, for whatever reason. And if it did someone should have had the balls to do a live or pre-recorded stage version (like BBC last year) with some talented stage veterans and a no-hold barred adult approach. Don't water it down (and yes, a safe, bland trans-woman is "safer" than many male actors who've played Frank) but fire it up for 2016. Make it so scorching you burn those snowflake SJW's right up out of their hidey-holes!
It was that bad. A few of the songs were OK, I didn't totally mind Reeve Carney as Riff Raff and the new Brad and Janet were alright, everything else was an abomination. I knew it wouldn't be like the original and I was prepared to give it a chance, but it was just a big miss. Speaking of Big Miss, the casting of Laverne Cox was such a mistake and to have the character actually be a woman was a huge misstep.
No, the new version doesn't have to be like the original, but it shouldn't crap all over the original either and that's what this one did. What makes Frankenfurter such an amazing character is that he's a man and a rather masculine one at that, wearing make up, garters and stockings and he not only manages to pull off the look, but transcends it and winds up infinitely sexier and more alluring than many a conventionally attractive male or female. A woman, trans or otherwise, playing a woman, dressed up like a woman totally sanitizes and takes away the character's spirit. Even Richard O'Brien said that they totally missed the point with this version.
While the miscasting of Dr Frankenfurter was the worst blunder, it certainly wasn't the only one. Adam Lambert's take on Eddie was was too polished and pretty. Meatloaf's was gritty and grimy. He was overweight,a bit nasty and dirty and yet, like Frankenfurter, he's somehow able to take what shouldn't be attractive and make it alluring and sexy.
I could go on, but this post would wind up as long as War and Peace if I tried to detail everything that was wrong with the movie. I think I've written enough to make my point and I'll just leave it at that for now.
It isn't a matter of not being 'as good as'. Even if we ignore the original this remain a lifeless mess filled with bad performances and unispired choices all around ( from the director, to the one in charge of the music, to the costumes...), lacking any spark and edge and all those key elements that are crucial to what RHPS is and represent.
The biggest flaw in this production is Cox's Frank - hers is not an intriguing or interesting or shocking or funny or complex character. No charisma, no presence, no nuances. Boring. And for how the story is written, and how central the character is, if Frank doesn't work than everything else is doomed. No matter how great/good/okay the others are.
If, as you say, THIS movie was the original people would be here criticizing it just as much (maybe more because some things would have been even more puzzling had people not know anything about it)- and we'd never heard of it again if not for the random appareance on some list about bad movies.
So no, I don't have to admit anything - I loved Riff Raff and liked Brad but this remake is still 'objectively' painfully THAT bad.
The problem I see is that it's just not really possible to re-create what made the original a cult-classic. Times have changed alot since the original was released, and we're no longer shocked by transvestites and fetish/sexual themes. It's not edgy anymore and has absolutely no shock value. If the original was aired today with no backstory, it would also fail horribly. It exists in it's bubble, and can't be re-created out of that and survive. I love the original, but not because of it's cinematic quality, but because of my experiences when I went to live shows in the theaters. You just can't fake/re-create that on TV without it being cheesy and dumb, which this completely was.
shareStill the original, even if some of its aspects have lost part of the shock value/edge they had when it was first released, keeps capturing younger generations -- because there is more than that in it. It's also about what these characters represent and not just how shocking they are or can be. And that more is where the remake should have worked and focused on.
Today you, viewer, can be less shocked than Brad and Janet (and the public at that time) in seeing Frank in his 'attire' the first time but still feel more or less uncomfortable/surprised. The general atmosphere created up to that point is crucial in this aspect - it needs to be quirky and somewhat unsettling in order to make you 'empathize' with the couple.
And then everything is in the hands of the one playing Frank - he/she has to capture your attention and charm you to the point you end up forgetting about everything else and lose yourself in that world.
Yes, it is not possible to re-create it exactly how it was but it is possible to at least capture the essence and create something that mantain the original message and make the viewer have a similar journey.
Are you saying a production like this would be considered tamed and dated by today's standards?
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Not the way that I first saw it, no.
shareCompletely and totally, and in a way that's a good thing, because it means we are dropping our prejudices against transvestites and fetishes. You see this kind of thing being addressed on very tame sitcoms these days, which would have never happened back then, so yes.
sharei am possibly one of the few people that was looking forward to it AND who even though cox wouls have been a good choice.
damn, was i wrong. overall it was watchable, but not enjoyable. what annoyed me the most was that all the actors tried to outdance and outsing each other constantly, leading to a lot of cringeworthy moments.
cox in general was sexy as expected, but her singing voice was even more masculine than currys, killing it for me. the scenes in the film theatre were annyoing as well.
the seconds with curry were awesome, columbia was the highlight of the show and the scene towards the end with riff raff and magenta was great as well, proving that it could have been much better if they all acted more as an ensemble than trying to cram more dance moves and more voice gimmicks in there.
I admit, it WAS that bad.
((Damn the remakes, Save the originals.))
This was much worse than I expected, honestly. Almost painful to watch.
shareIt was OK. I had a problem with the casting. Except for Brad and Janet. I liked them.
Brad was hot.
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