Okay, the wifey and I caved and watched the remake of this beloved classic "horror musical" from the 70s.

It wasn't QUITE the total travesty that we'd feared. But it was just ever so slightly ... wrong.

I missed the topical folk music that was so important to the original. Cage is no Edward Woodward, but the new version dispenses with half the driving force of the original Howie character by dropping his religious zeal. And they made it abundantly clear he was no virgin sacrifice. :freak:

Setting it on an island off Washington State instead of an old Scottish isle with centuries of history also made little if no sense.

Also I must say I'm crushed they eliminated Willow's nude temptress dance, especially since they cast Leelee Sobieski in the Britt Ekland part. :( I miss the 70s' wild abandon with film nudity.

Okay, the wifey and I caved and watched the remake of this beloved classic "horror musical" from the 70s.

It wasn't QUITE the total travesty that we'd feared. But it was just ever so slightly ... wrong.

I missed the topical folk music that was so important to the original. Cage is no Edward Woodward, but the new version dispenses with half the driving force of the original Howie character by dropping his religious zeal. And they made it abundantly clear he was no virgin sacrifice. :freak:

Setting it on an island off Washington State instead of an old Scottish isle with centuries of history also made little if no sense.

Also I must say I'm crushed they eliminated Willow's nude temptress dance, especially since they cast Leelee Sobieski in the Britt Ekland part. :( I miss the 70s' wild abandon with film nudity.

DVR'd it the other night. Watched about 5 minutes before deleting it. Yes, dropping Howie's religious zeal and virginity is sort of like leaving the meat patty out of a hamburger. It ain't a hamburger any more.

Some movies are so utterly unique and tied to the period and circumstances under which they were made that they really should be left alone. I can't think of a better example than The Wicker Man.

DVR'd it the other night. Watched about 5 minutes before deleting it. Yes, dropping Howie's religious zeal and virginity is sort of like leaving the meat patty out of a hamburger. It ain't a hamburger any more.

Some movies are so utterly unique and tied to the period and circumstances under which they were made that they really should be left alone. I can't think of a better example than The Wicker Man.

It was definately one of the more memorable movies of what I think of as the golden age of midnight movies. I saw it once, then didn't see it again for years till it came out on video. While it truthfully wasn't quite as great as I remembered it, it's still one of the more original movies I can recall.

I have no interest in the remake what-so-ever, as soon as I heard they replacing Edward Woodward with Nic Cage I figured the chances of it not sucking were pretty slim.

I've not seen this version, tho have heard it was - at best - sorta "Meh...". I think they could have easily moved the location to the Washington Island in the movie, tho - give it a Native American background and the decsendants could have been a mix of White and Native ancestry, tie it to the land just like in the original and there you go. Removing the whole religion and virginity angle, tho...

Not right!

No, they kept the Celtic religion aspect by saying the matriarch's ancestors came there to escape persecution 100 years ago. Not entirely unplausible, but still less so than setting it in a Celtic homeland.

Oh, and, reason number 46b why I love my wife: the Saturday night after we watched the Nick Cage version we were trying to think of a movie to watch. Mary suggested the original Wicker Man to cleanse our brains of the remake. :)

If the Salmon of Knowledge and carnal puppets ain't in it, I ain't watching.

I haven't even heard of it. What day was it in the theaters?

Also I must say I'm crushed they eliminated Willow's nude temptress dance, especially since they cast Leelee Sobieski in the Britt Ekland part. :( http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/500/Leelee_Sobieski0.jpg

:mad:

Of course, Britt suppossedly used a stunt-butt in the original. But that was definitely her from the waist up.

Oh yah! Just watched it. She did the frontal, but apparently someone felt that her derriere wasn't up to the gyrating stern shots. Go figger.

Lots of viking blood in those northern isles, apparently - all three female leads were stunning nordic blondes. :)