New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Ringu impressions - Page 3

post #61 of 84
3/5/03 at 3:56pm
I was not impressed with the original version "Ringu". It seemed like a lot of people were proclaiming how scary it was, but it just didn't do it for me. I personally think that the revealed deaths in the American Ring were much scarier. The faces in the original film were too simple and not enough gore for me.

I watched this movie alone at about 11 PM and had no problems going to bed. The Sadako character was not near as scary as Samara. Now the remake of the Ring really bothered me. I had trouble sleeping my first time watching it. To each his own I guess.

Augustin
Reply
post #62 of 84
3/5/03 at 3:57pm
Well, seeing as I was the one who first mentioned WM's site having "Ringu" in stock and the possibility of the B&Ms having it as well, I figured I'd post and say I went to two very large Super-WMs yesterday and came up with nothing. And, as is customary these days, when I asked an employee if they had any copies of it, I got the trademarked WM snide response of "We don't carry Japanese movies...unless it's anime." When I pointed out that it was a major US studio release, he said "WE DON'T CARRY JAPANESE MOVIES" and kind of laughed to himself about it.

I was more insulted at the enthnocentrism of this young man (and Wal*Mart) than I was at being laughed at (I get that a lot anyway ).

None of the other major retailers (Target, K-Mart, etc) had the Japanese version either. I finally found one lone copy at Barnes and Noble, but it was 31 dollars, which I easily passed on, came home, and ordered it online for about eight bucks cheaper. Needless to say, though, the American version (which I bought and enjoyed) was in great abundance. Both WMs I went to even had one of those big cardboard floor displays near the checkout registers for it. But no "Ringu" at the major retailers around here.

I guess I've learned my lesson; don't expect anything out of WM approaching diversity in film ever.
Reply
post #63 of 84
3/5/03 at 4:01pm
I think most people prefer the version they watched first! I know I do. I honestly don't know which version I would prefer most had I seen the Dreamworks version first.

I know my ideal 'Ring' film would contain elements from both versions (I prefer to think of the Dreamworks version as a 're-imagining' rather than 'a remake')

I must disagree with your assessment of Samara though, I found Sadako to be much more unnerving:

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
The Dreamworks version seems to spend a lot more time making Samara more sympathetic to the viewers.

Also, Sadako's walk at the end of the Japanese version was much more 'inhuman' than Samara's
Reply
post #64 of 84
3/5/03 at 4:58pm
I got the only copy they had at CC! But this was the first time I watched it and I didnt find it all that scary...not at all really...it was more of a thriller than it was a Horror film...still a great film...I think I enjoyed the American version more...any chance of the Japanese sequels comin out on DVD from Dreamworks? And any news on an American Ring sequel...seeing how much it made...
Reply
post #65 of 84
3/6/03 at 7:42am
I found the Japanese version much creepier in two vital aspects: Sadako and the tape itself. The Japanese tape is to my mind much more disturbing than the milder US version. And Sadako is just nightmarish.
Reply
post #66 of 84
3/7/03 at 10:45am
If anyone is interested, if you have an XBOX DVD player, you can play the UK Tartan discs - they are encoded R0, and like a computer DVD player the PAL -> NTSC is handled by the XBOX.

Personally I don't think much to Ring 2 - it's over complicated, tries to explain too much when it's best left unexplained and it must be said, the quality of the transfer is poor (and the white burnt in subtitles being hard to see over light backgrounds). Still, it keeps the oppressive atmosphere of the original and has some really good ideas hiding in it.

I must say, I love Ring 0:Birthday (the 'origin' story) but a lot of Ring fans don't. It have very little in common with Ring and Ring 2 so I can see their point of view. In some respects it's more like a love story... in fact if analysed the structure of the story has a lot in common with an old Universal Horror film IMOHO. The quality of the transfer of Ring 0 is leaps and bounds ahead of Tartan's other releases and the subtitles are player generated (and optional IIRC) - making them readable throughout.

I would recommend the films are viewed in production order - Ring, Ring 2 and Ring 0.
Reply
post #67 of 84
3/7/03 at 3:22pm
This is trivial and pointless.
Reply
post #68 of 84
3/7/03 at 4:06pm
Ring 2 and 0 are also sequels to the Korean remake, and not Japanese
Reply
post #69 of 84
3/7/03 at 5:04pm
I saw it last night and think the American version is better. Ringu is great as a visual blueprint for the Ring. There are some lines that are alomst word for word and shots that are shot for shot, but I liked The Ring better because of the visual style. In the American version, I always had this feeling that something was going to happen no matter where they were. In the Japanese version, I felt nothing. Maybe it's because the music was not so great, but my biggest problem is how they figured out everything so quickly. At least in the American version, they make it look like they're detectives.
Reply
post #70 of 84
3/8/03 at 3:12am
Quote:
Ring 2 and 0 are also sequels to the Korean remake, and not Japanese


Jeff, how can you say that when Ring 2 features a number of the same actors from the Japanese 'Ring', and none of the actors from the Korean remake?

I am aware that 'Ring 2' is not the true sequel to Ring - but they are both Japanese not Korean. For one thing the Korean 'Ring Virus' featured a naked Sadako (waits as every Home Theater Member rushes to www.koreandvds.com to to import Ring Virus )

Quote:
Rasen (aka The Spiral, aka (confusingly) Ring 2), directed by Iida Jôji, is the second film in the Ring series, and the original sequel to the phenomenally successful Nakata Hideo movie. The film was released in 1998 at the same time as Ring, presumably to give the audience who loved the first movie an instant sequel and rake in the money off the back of Ring's major box-office success. However, things didn't quite work out that way: Rasen bombed at the box-office and people stayed away from the movie in droves. In fact, the film flopped so hideously that Asmik-Ace (the production company behind the series) hastily buried the movie and simply pretended it had never happened. That should give you some idea of how maligned this film is.

Of course, Asmik-Ace decided to call Nakata Hideo back in, along with all the original cast from Ring (many of whom actually refused to take part in Rasen), ditch the entire Rasen storyline outright, and eventually the "official" sequel Ring 2 appeared... and the rest, as they say, is history. My guess is that audiences reacted badly to Rasen for one major reason: it's not Ring. Nothing could have come close to the magic of the original film, and to blame that completely on Iida Jôji is at best unfair.
Reply
post #71 of 84
3/8/03 at 7:51am
I like the story, I like the visual... but I"m still waiting for the scary part.
Reply
post #72 of 84
3/8/03 at 9:07am
"Eight days a week..."

Before you die, you see Ringo.
Reply
post #73 of 84
3/8/03 at 10:05am
I just got finished watching the Japanese Ring and I thought that the American version was FAR superior. The two films are very similar (as they should be) and many of the shots are almost exactly the same. I found the origin of Samara/Sadako to be much more plausible in the American version.

As far as scares go, the Japanese Ring is a huge failure. It lacked suspense and the video was too short and not disturbing at all. I guess it can be argued that I thought the American version was more suspenseful because I saw it first, but I have seen it about three times now and it has not yet lost its impact.
Reply
post #74 of 84
3/8/03 at 1:15pm
Quote:
I found the origin of Samara/Sadako to be much more plausible in the American version.


I think the story behind Samara was more fleshed out, but it was still unclear where she came from in The Ring. The Morgans can't have children, then they go away and when they return, they "magically" have a child. I assume it's adopted but what did they do to get it? Where did they go? Samara is a strange child and it seems like there was a story lurking there but was never followed up on. This is the one think about Sadako that helped me believe in what happened to her more realistically. Her mother is considered a monster because of her psychic abilities and because Sadako also has psychic powers, she is a monster as well and that is why her father does what he does (which is much, much more shocking than what happens to Samara in The Ring).

Bruce
Reply
post #75 of 84
3/8/03 at 1:42pm
I also thought that the Japanese version had more plot holes. I don't believe it even mentioned what "the ring" symbolizes. And why did the phone ring in the cabin, but not the apartment?

Quote:
The Japanese tape is to my mind much more disturbing than the milder US version.
Wow, I felt the exact opposite. What was on it that you found so disturbing?
Reply
post #76 of 84
3/8/03 at 5:16pm
The Morgans can't have children, then they go away and when they return, they "magically" have a child. I assume it's adopted but what did they do to get it? Where did they go?


Well, if you look closely at the forms that various people look at in "The Ring", you can tell that Samara was, in fact, a live birth, born to the Morgans. This came after many failed attempts at conception. Even the doctor says that "they claimed she was adopted. Or so they said." (I'm sure I've got that wrong, but that's the gist of it)

Someone at the somrux.com/ringworld website did a partial translation of the kanji that Noah looks at while at the mental hospital and it has something to do with fertility drugs. If you want to see what it is exactly, just go to the remake FAQ on that page, which is an extremely well put together and informative resource for all the "Ring" inspired films and literature.

But, in summation and to answer your question, it appears that the Morgans went to Japan to seek the help of a fertility specialist, who prescribed some type of drug to assist conception. They were finally able to conceive and by the time they returned to Moesko Island, Samara had been born. So there you go. Samara's a live birth to Anna Morgan and her husband.
Reply
post #77 of 84
3/11/03 at 1:16pm
Quote:
I found the Japanese version much creepier in two vital aspects: Sadako and the tape itself. The Japanese tape is to my mind much more disturbing than the milder US version. And Sadako is just nightmarish.
I also liked "Sadako" better than "Samara" (particularly the walk), and I was more impressed by how she spilled out of the TV screen in "Ringu" (a simpler effect, I think, and more effective).

But I don't agree at all with your assessment of the video being "more disturbing" in RINGU, and "milder" in the THE RING. Did I see an edited version of RINGU, perhaps? I only recall the shot of "the ring", the oval mirror on the wall/hair brushing shots, the word "Eruption", and the final shot of the well as Sadako starts climbing out... but nothing more. None of the thousands of writhing bodies, none of the severed thumbs in a box, none of several other things I can't quite recall as I haven't seen it since the theatrical release. But, IMO, this is one area in which THE RING really bested RINGU.
Reply
post #78 of 84
3/11/03 at 1:44pm
The details are vague in my mind now (haven't revisited Ringu since seeing the Dreamworks version; I really should), but I seem to recall a group of hooded people that look as if they're being executed en masse, and something burbling, among other images. Maybe someone who has looked at the original more recently can fill in my faulty aging memory....
Reply
post #79 of 84
3/12/03 at 8:17am
I just saw it this past weekend, and must have missed those details (already sent it back to Netflix). But this is definitely not an edited version, right?
Reply
post #80 of 84
3/12/03 at 9:56am
Was there a group of hooded people? I can only recall one hooded person who ended up showing up later in the film, pointing at the womans purse.

Bruce
Reply
post #81 of 84
3/12/03 at 10:57am
Oh right, the pointing guy with the blanket over his head! I do remember that...
Reply
post #82 of 84
3/25/03 at 6:31am
I watched Ringu last night and I have to say that the American version is superior in all respects except the final scare involving Sadako's walk.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
In the US version, Samara's final walk occurs in a much larger space whereas in Ringu, it takes place in a much smaller apartment which made it feel a lot more confining and much more unnerving. It projected a much more convincing sense that the victim had absolutely no chance to escape. It also helped that they didn't show her face....just the empty gaze of a dead eye through her hair. Creepy.


That said, I'm glad I have this in my collection.
Reply
post #83 of 84
3/25/03 at 7:25am
Just to throw in my 2 cents-worth, I was sorely disappointed with the American version versus the original. The American version seemed to be trying too hard, whereas the original seemed much more natural with a better mood and overall impact. We bought the American version used, and will more than likely be selling it back this week.
Reply
post #84 of 84
3/25/03 at 9:49am
No accounting for taste, of course, but I do disagree... I think the American version really managed to achieve the same mood, the same sense of quiet dread that the Japanese version was so effective in creating.

For myself, I couldn't say which I prefer, only that I like them both. Certain details were better in one or the other of the two, or at least I preferred them, but both films are mightily effective, particularly in how they played with genre expectations while delivering "sincere" chills, all without going completely arthouse. Considering how rote and unimaginative most of the horror genre is, I don't really mind having two good versions of the same exceptional film!
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Archived Threads 2001-2004