There are few things in cinema worse than a filmmaker who's so clueless that he tries to remake a classic. However, there's one thing almost as bad — a filmmaker who's so clueless he tries to tinker with one of his own classics.
The latest example is Ridley Scott, whose "director's cut" of the 1979 sci-fi/horror film "Alien" opened in theaters last week. The movie has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and as happy as I was to see it on the big screen again, some of Scott's additions and deletions really bothered me.
Probably the worst is the inclusion of the "nest" scene (which can be seen in an even longer form on the laserdisc and DVD that were released four years ago), in which Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) stumbles upon the alien's lair.
There, Ripley finds the bodies of crewmates Dallas (Tom Skerritt) and Brett (Harry Dean Stanton), and is horrified to discover that Dallas is still alive and is slowly being consumed. (Dallas' "kill me" line clearly recalls the original 1958 version of "The Fly.") The scene disrupts the properly hectic flow of the film's finale and weakens the character of Dallas, who is one of the strongest in the film.
That's not the only change for the worse, however. During the confrontation scene between Ripley and the android Ash (Ian Holm), an early moment has been deleted so that Ripley heads to the aft cabin of the ship with a bloody nose — but with no explanation of how she got it.
Fortunately, "Alien" is still a very effective film, filled with dread of the unknown. And it's still worth seeing on the big screen.
This is, of course, not the first time Scott has done this with one of his films. For his "director's cut" of the 1982 science-fiction thriller "Blade Runner," he removed the droning voice-over narration by Harrison Ford (which actually wasn't a bad thing). But he also extended the ending, allowing new questions to be raised about some of the characters, which also took away some of the story's ambiguity (perhaps its strongest attribute).
There's nothing wrong with being a perfectionist. But Scott should remember the old adage about adding one too many strokes to a painting or one too many notes to a composition. Or even those three simple words — leave it alone!
TAKING A CHAINSAW TO THE ORIGINAL: Meanwhile, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" continues to do well at the box office (as of mid-week, the film had already earned $53 million and appears to have at least a shot at cracking the $100 million mark).
However, the remake is one of the most undeserving hits in recent memory. While Daniel Pearl's cinematography is stellar, the filmmakers were completely clueless about why the original 1974 film worked.
The new version is filled with wall-to-wall ugliness and some of the most grotesque acts of violence ever seen onscreen. As much talk as there has been about the over-the-top violence of Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill, Vol. 1," at least that film doesn't relish in sadistic glee like this new "Chainsaw Massacre."
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "His work is by nature controversial and provocative. He wouldn't be him if he didn't leave a few people offended, a few delighted and a few people ecstatic." — Actress Uma Thurman, talking about her "Kill Bill, Vol. 1" director, Quentin Tarantino.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com