Although this fits firmly into the "It Could Have Been Worse" dept., one has to wonder if Hollywood has completely run out of original ideas, or if re-working old classics has become a cottage industry to lazy scriptwriters in these dark times.
And while it's probably not very objective of me, I could not help comparing the newest Warner Bros. release, "Poseiden," with its predecessor, 1972's "The Poseiden Adventure." This comparison occurred before, during and long after I viewed the screening of the $160 million revision. And, needless to say, the side-by-side examinations were not favorable to the latter version.
First of all (and I fully realize most people out there under 20 the core group this film is aimed at have never heard of, let alone seen, the original film), let's talk about the cast.
In 1972, despite a somewhat goofy script, we still had Academy Award winners Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons and Jack Albertson in leading roles. Even four-time Oscar nominee Arthur O'Connell had a cameo role, Leslie Neilson (before he discovered comedy) was the ship's captain, and Carol Lindley, Roddy MacDowell, Stella Stevens and Eric Shea (the little kid who was the voice of Linus in the early "Peanuts" cartoons) rounded out the competent ensemble.
That movie even had the Grammy-winning, No. 1 single, "Morning After" as its theme song.
Today, we have Oscar winner (for 1977's "The Goodbye Girl") Richard Dreyfess, as a gay architect; Kurt Russell, as a former fireman and Mayor of New York (that's what I said); Josh Lucas (fresh off "Glory Road" as a Navy veteran who seemingly knows everything about luxury liners); Emmy Rossum ("Phantom of the Opera"), as Russell's promiscuous daughter, Jennifer; her empty-headed boyfriend, Christian (Mike Vogel, "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"); and Jacinda Barrett ("Bridget Jones: On The Edge Of Reason"), as single mom, Maggie James, towing her annoying offspring, Conner (Jimmy Bennett) along with her. You don't have to be Neptune to see this latest group just does not match up.
After a "rogue" wave capsizes the ship just after New Year's Eve, this group disobeys the captain (Andre Braugher) and heads down, I mean up, to find an escape route through the propeller shaft.
Okay, here's another problem I had with this version. In the original, we are told of an earthquake off the coast of Greece, which caused a tsunami. The crew was alerted to be on the lookout for a possible huge wave (although the curling action we see in both movies is physically wrong for a wave in the middle of the sea). It appears on the ship's radar, and though the passengers know nothing of it, we feel the tension of seeing the huge wall of water engulf the vessel.
Here, there is no tension because the wave appears out of nowhere (I suppose that's why they call it "rogue," but still ...). All of the same effects are in effect when the boat tumbles over - people and objects being thrown about, guys falling into skylights, water flooding various compartments, fire and explosions under water (don't ask), and various extras being crushed, drowned and/or roasted like peanuts. The one interesting scene is when the wave hits, there are a group of people washed out of the top deck's swimming pool.
Like the '72 picture, the gang is plagued with many obstacles, a few interesting twists, some really claustrophobic and lung-aching moments (as much of their time is seemingly spent underwater), while a few of their number is quickly reduced by death. And there are certainly many more gruesome demises than in the first picture, to be sure. Plus, the FX are newer, although not necessarily better.
Another thing that bothered me was the complete lack of character development. We're told that Lucas is a veteran (who works better alone), and that Russell was a firefighter (who thinks his daughter is too young for sex), but that's about it. Then there's Dreyfus' character calling his lover and crying, getting no message back and tossing his cell phone overboard.
No explanation necessary from director Wolfgang Petersen ("Das Boot") about this whole storyline, I guess. Or the scene where Dreyfus is ordering a $5,000 bottle of wine for his dinner guests and mumbling about the "war scare" being over. What was he talking about?! Then there's the completely unnecessary inclusion of a drunk, male chauvinist Kevin "Platoon" Dillion, whose death is right of the "Ha ha, he got what's coming to him," notebook.
The sequence where the little boy is suddenly washed under some kind of wire enclosure also boggles the mind, since we know nothing of how he gets there, or how he is ultimately saved. It just happens. And, of course, as soon as the captain convinces everyone to stay where they are, we know that's the death knell for these unfortunate dopes.
Besides the updated special effects, however, there is really no reason to see this one as long as the original still exists, so why bother? Just rent or buy the '72 version and get ready for some hokey lines, but an overall much better adventure than this sterile film can offer.
And while it's probably not very objective of me, I could not help comparing the newest Warner Bros. release, "Poseiden," with its predecessor, 1972's "The Poseiden Adventure." This comparison occurred before, during and long after I viewed the screening of the $160 million revision. And, needless to say, the side-by-side examinations were not favorable to the latter version.
First of all (and I fully realize most people out there under 20 the core group this film is aimed at have never heard of, let alone seen, the original film), let's talk about the cast.
In 1972, despite a somewhat goofy script, we still had Academy Award winners Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons and Jack Albertson in leading roles. Even four-time Oscar nominee Arthur O'Connell had a cameo role, Leslie Neilson (before he discovered comedy) was the ship's captain, and Carol Lindley, Roddy MacDowell, Stella Stevens and Eric Shea (the little kid who was the voice of Linus in the early "Peanuts" cartoons) rounded out the competent ensemble.
That movie even had the Grammy-winning, No. 1 single, "Morning After" as its theme song.
Today, we have Oscar winner (for 1977's "The Goodbye Girl") Richard Dreyfess, as a gay architect; Kurt Russell, as a former fireman and Mayor of New York (that's what I said); Josh Lucas (fresh off "Glory Road" as a Navy veteran who seemingly knows everything about luxury liners); Emmy Rossum ("Phantom of the Opera"), as Russell's promiscuous daughter, Jennifer; her empty-headed boyfriend, Christian (Mike Vogel, "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"); and Jacinda Barrett ("Bridget Jones: On The Edge Of Reason"), as single mom, Maggie James, towing her annoying offspring, Conner (Jimmy Bennett) along with her. You don't have to be Neptune to see this latest group just does not match up.
After a "rogue" wave capsizes the ship just after New Year's Eve, this group disobeys the captain (Andre Braugher) and heads down, I mean up, to find an escape route through the propeller shaft.
Okay, here's another problem I had with this version. In the original, we are told of an earthquake off the coast of Greece, which caused a tsunami. The crew was alerted to be on the lookout for a possible huge wave (although the curling action we see in both movies is physically wrong for a wave in the middle of the sea). It appears on the ship's radar, and though the passengers know nothing of it, we feel the tension of seeing the huge wall of water engulf the vessel.
Here, there is no tension because the wave appears out of nowhere (I suppose that's why they call it "rogue," but still ...). All of the same effects are in effect when the boat tumbles over - people and objects being thrown about, guys falling into skylights, water flooding various compartments, fire and explosions under water (don't ask), and various extras being crushed, drowned and/or roasted like peanuts. The one interesting scene is when the wave hits, there are a group of people washed out of the top deck's swimming pool.
Like the '72 picture, the gang is plagued with many obstacles, a few interesting twists, some really claustrophobic and lung-aching moments (as much of their time is seemingly spent underwater), while a few of their number is quickly reduced by death. And there are certainly many more gruesome demises than in the first picture, to be sure. Plus, the FX are newer, although not necessarily better.
Another thing that bothered me was the complete lack of character development. We're told that Lucas is a veteran (who works better alone), and that Russell was a firefighter (who thinks his daughter is too young for sex), but that's about it. Then there's Dreyfus' character calling his lover and crying, getting no message back and tossing his cell phone overboard.
No explanation necessary from director Wolfgang Petersen ("Das Boot") about this whole storyline, I guess. Or the scene where Dreyfus is ordering a $5,000 bottle of wine for his dinner guests and mumbling about the "war scare" being over. What was he talking about?! Then there's the completely unnecessary inclusion of a drunk, male chauvinist Kevin "Platoon" Dillion, whose death is right of the "Ha ha, he got what's coming to him," notebook.
The sequence where the little boy is suddenly washed under some kind of wire enclosure also boggles the mind, since we know nothing of how he gets there, or how he is ultimately saved. It just happens. And, of course, as soon as the captain convinces everyone to stay where they are, we know that's the death knell for these unfortunate dopes.
Besides the updated special effects, however, there is really no reason to see this one as long as the original still exists, so why bother? Just rent or buy the '72 version and get ready for some hokey lines, but an overall much better adventure than this sterile film can offer.