The Ring

[Coldfusion]

I was really disappointed by the Hollywood remake of 'The Ring'. I loved the original and the Hollywood version just lacked the atmosphere of the Japanese version. Which do you think is the superior version Japanese or American?

[Spanner81]

Japanese no question, kept you hanging on and was far more tense than the US version. If you liked it try The Eye, its a chinese movie, and V. Good!

[LeMarchand]

If I hadn't seen the Japanese version first, I think that I would have thoroughly enjoyed the US remake, but as I knew pretty much what would happen... As it stands, I am one of the few people that prefers the remake, as I feel it is more coherent, better acted and has much higher production values. However, I am not a big fan of Japanese cinema in general - I find that while some of the ideas are great, the movies are hampered by their odd (and sometimes sadistic) sense of humour and the films always look "flat" (not sure whether it is the cinematography or the film stock). I have seen a number of "classic" Japanese live action and anim� movies (including "Violent Cop" and "Battle Royale"), and the only one that I haven't felt was not overrated was "Akira". I am beginning to suspect that Japanese films (especially in the horror genre) are this decade's equivalent of French art-house movies in the 70's - no matter how much they stink, their "foreigness" automatically elevates them in many peoples' eyes to greatness. Or maybe I'm sick of hearing (on other sites) 14-year old boys wittering on about how great every movie/show/group from the Land of the Rising Sun is. Anyway, I fully expect to be in the minority on this one, but that's my tuppence worth.

[shybearuk]

Well, I'll stick with you LeMarchand. I don't 'get' Japanese films on the whole, so I always prefer the US remakes.

[Elle]

I haven't seen the US remake yet. I saw the Japanese version a few months before the remake came out, so after being blown away by the original, the remake would probably have disappointed me. That's not to say I'll never watch it though. I'd just like to remember it in it's original form a while longer. It had a subtle eerieness about it which you tend not to find so often in the big US blockbusters.

[stephen.hove]

havent seen the remake yet, but as a big fan of ringu im bound to be dissapointed. one of the scariest bits in the film is when sadako crawls out of the tv. what do the americans do? have that bit in the trailer! i will watch it eventually. now i would like to see them try to remake 'audition' ,lol.