The Film
There have been many movie remakes that attempt to put new twists and turns into a story to keep the audience guessing. Most of the time the results fall flat -as The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 proved. And then there are those that stay more or less true to the original, but these also can be hit or miss. So it is not too surprising that that Straw Dogs, the new remake of the Sam Peckinpah-directed classic, is such a dud. It follows essentially the same storyline, transplanting the action from rural Cornwall, England to Mississippi. David and Amy come back to her small home town, gradually putting up with a series of escalating events until a riveting third act.
There are enough subtle changes to essentially destroy the tone that helped the original work so well. The biggest change is that David (James Marsden) is now a Hollywood screenwriter rather than a math professor. He's writing a screenplay for a movie set on the Battle of Stalingrad rather than a book, and whereas Dustin Hoffman came off as smug and educated compared to the Cornish locals, Marsden's take is smug, arrogant and at times downright obnoxious. Likewise, too much emphasis is made to make the Mississippi locals seem like red necks - and in a way it is almost a showdown of red state against blue state.
And when the film finally reaches its climax it attempts to outdo Peckinpah's stylistic take on violence, but the result is all of the mayhem with none of the style.
Check out Chris Chiarella's review of the original Straw Dogs on Blu-ray.
The 1080p transfer blows away the original visually. From beginning to end the film is free of any flaws (any visual flaws, as the story is loaded with them), and detail is spectacular. Sony has done a great job with many recent releases and this one brings it to a whole different level. The colors, from the fires in the night sky, to the blues of the sky and greens in the woods, all make it seem like you're there in sweet home Mississippi.
The Sound
The DTS HD-MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack is also excellent, providing just the right levels of musical cues and sound effects. While not a traditional "action film," this one provides a few moments of gun fire and there is the slight rattle and hint of the sonic boom that is heard with an actual gunshot. It makes the sequences all the more tense, while the use of subtle ambient sounds further creates and immersing soundscape.
The Extras
This one isn't light on bonus material, and in addition to some interesting audio commentary from writer/director Rob Lurie, includes the featurettes "Courting Controversy: Remaking a Classic," "They Dynamics of Power: The Ensemble," "Creating the Sumner House: The Production Design," and "Inside the Siege: The Ultimate Showdown." These offer some good background on the film, but apart from the remake segment, all are so promotional driven that they don't really seem all that compelling. Additionally there are previews of other Sony titles, and this is a BD-Live title.
Final Thoughts
There are several points that I can't get past - but those most notable is the fact that David is a screenwriter and never comments that this story is utterly unbelievable even from a screen writing standpoint. But as a Hollywood type maybe he's thinking more of how good this could look and sound on Blu-ray. If that's case than David would be very right in his way of thinking. Personally, I'd rather have seen his take on Stalingrad!
Product Details
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