The Ring vs Ringu

liquidrliquidr
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I'm a big fan of the Jap horror flick "Ring". I just saw the 'merican version and thought that they did a decent job on this remake. Higher production value, a little less subtle, pretty faithful to the original, covers the question of why it continues after finding the body, but doesn't cover why this girl is the perfect match for Damien.



Who's seen both? What did you think?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    The trailer to the american version is the best trailer EVAR.



    I have only seen the original movie so I know nothing.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    liquidrliquidr Posts: 884member
    From what I hear the US version is actually the 2nd remake. Apparently a Korean production company attempted a remake and named it Ring 3, I hear that it' not very good. I wasn't much impressed by Ring 2 either.



    The US version is actually very close in plot, structure and mood to the original.
  • Reply 3 of 4
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    I downloaded the Japanese one and watched the American one in theatres, so I don't know how fair a comparison on my part would be.



    I liked The Ring a lot, though. The Japanese version... was like a low-budget The Ring with Japanese actors that I was watching on a computer.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    In what is a huge change for me... I liked the American remake *much* better.



    1) The plotline, the *tapestry* of the story was much richer in the remake. There were many more details thrown in (the thermograms, etc) that made for a genuinely creepy film, whereas the Japanese version left me kind of cold. (I've heard that The Ring actually pulls material from Ringu, Ringu 2, and Ringu 0, so it had more base stuff to work with, and then they wove it together more coherently... I haven't seen 2 or 0, so I can't say.)



    2) The characters in the Japanese film were just *so* incredibly despicable, all around... the ex-husband was a complete *bastard*, the reporter was this prissy weak little TV-fluff-human-interest-piece talking head without a brain or spine... and the kid's part was almost nada.



    Contrast that to The Ring, where the reporter is genuinely into the mystery, you actually care about what happens to the ex-husband, and the kid is just creep-o-rama.



    3) The Ring was filmed in Seattle (my old haunt), for the most part, and they nailed the neogothic feel perfectly.



    I *will* give a nod to the final few seconds of Ringu... that was a brilliant touch... although again, it just makes the lead characters *that much more* despicable.
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