Task 2 - Remaking Movies

Footloose the drama/musical/romance was originally directed by Herbert Toss in 1984. The movie focuses on a city boy called Ren McCormack, originally played by Kevin Bacon, who moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned, his goal is to get the town back to how it was and for rock music and dancing to be allowed again. Throughout the movie, Ren tries his best to fit in and ends up falling in love with Reverend Shaw’s daughter, Ariel Moore (Lori Singer). Of course this movie has one of them predicable, feel good ending where the main character is the ‘hero’ and gets everything back to how it should be and then ends up getting the girl and everyone is happy again.

In 2011, another adaption of Footloose was released directed by Craig Brewer. The film followed a young man moving from the city to a small town, who ends up protesting against the towns ban against rock music and dancing. The narrative was exactly the same as the original film the only real difference was that it was a modern day version and the cast were different.

The original Footloose had an estimated budget of $8,200,000 and when released made $8,556,935 (USA) on the opening weekend. Whilst the remake had a budget of $24,000,000 and on the opening weekend made $15,556,113. The 2011 version budget was nearly three times the amount of the original and on the opening weekend didn’t make double what the original did. The 2011 version was more modern and up to date with how society is now and it is probably arguable that appeals to a wider audience. However, I think a lot of people were let down at the fact they were making such a good original film.

I’ve got to admit i did enjoy the remake of the film however if i had to choose out of the remake and the original, without a doubt i would choose the original. Both films give the audience a ‘feel good’ feeling that leaves them with a smile on their face when the movie is finished. They both have amazing dance sequences and great music that keeps the audience entertained and makes them want to get up and dance all the way through. But there’s something about the original that did it for me.

Although, Kenny Wormald (Ren) and Julianne Hough (Ariel) brought a fresh vibe to the film, they lacked the chemistry the characters had from the first film. I felt like the characters from the original movie were more believable and brought more emotion and chemistry to the film.

Overall, both films are very enjoyable to watch and i would recommend them to anyone. The original is by far the best one out of the two however i would still recommend the 2011 version of Footloose to a younger audience as they will be more entertained by it because it is more recent and up to date with what they are like. The films are very similar and the only real difference is the cast everything else is pretty much the same.