Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 8:56am:
A couple weeks ago, I got lucky and found a hell of deal at Barnes & Nobles and picked upThe Razor's Edge and Blacula for $5 or something. Amazing, how could I deny myself?
Anyway, I'd seen the original version of the movie with Tyrone Powers (1946)
and even read the book in my twenties like you're supposed to do, but I had no idea it had been remade in the 80's. Loved the story and Bill Murray is always great in my opinion so it had to be good.
You can find plenty of reviews online already so I won't go into a lot of flowery fucking details about "a man, finding himself, finding his truth, saving himself, by finding nothing, by saving everything..." and blah-blah-blah. But if you haven't read the story or don't know anything about it, I'll summarize: Early 20th century, American guy goes off to WWI, survives, comes back and realizes there's more to life than buying the biggest house you can and a new car every year. Seeks more and finds it, sort of.
Of course, you really should read the novel by W. Somerset Maugham since the movie is an adaptation, but if you're not going to, you'll still enjoy either version. The later version with Bill Murray gets a little bit closer to some of the grittier aspects of the story which movie studios in the 40's may not have been able to touch visually or in dialogue. I'd probably have to watch the earlier version again to give it a fair shake, but I really think that Bill Murray's version may be the better of the two.
Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed to learn that the 1984 version did horribly in the box office. I was disappointed but not the least bit surprised. This is my small personal gripe: American audiences must be a bitch to write for I'd imagine. Even if there is a truly amazing story, American film producers seem hesitant to fund the project unless it meets some magical ratio of titties and explosions per length of movie. Don't get me wrong, I love titties and explosions, always have, but I read that the 1984 Razor's Edge also encountered significant resistance to get off the ground, and then, it only grossed $6.6 million of it's $12 million budget.
That's really unfortunate, but I do hope that Bill Murray and John Byrum know they made one hell of an adaptation. You really should check this one out.
Anyway, I'd seen the original version of the movie with Tyrone Powers (1946)
and even read the book in my twenties like you're supposed to do, but I had no idea it had been remade in the 80's. Loved the story and Bill Murray is always great in my opinion so it had to be good.You can find plenty of reviews online already so I won't go into a lot of flowery fucking details about "a man, finding himself, finding his truth, saving himself, by finding nothing, by saving everything..." and blah-blah-blah. But if you haven't read the story or don't know anything about it, I'll summarize: Early 20th century, American guy goes off to WWI, survives, comes back and realizes there's more to life than buying the biggest house you can and a new car every year. Seeks more and finds it, sort of.
Of course, you really should read the novel by W. Somerset Maugham since the movie is an adaptation, but if you're not going to, you'll still enjoy either version. The later version with Bill Murray gets a little bit closer to some of the grittier aspects of the story which movie studios in the 40's may not have been able to touch visually or in dialogue. I'd probably have to watch the earlier version again to give it a fair shake, but I really think that Bill Murray's version may be the better of the two.
Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed to learn that the 1984 version did horribly in the box office. I was disappointed but not the least bit surprised. This is my small personal gripe: American audiences must be a bitch to write for I'd imagine. Even if there is a truly amazing story, American film producers seem hesitant to fund the project unless it meets some magical ratio of titties and explosions per length of movie. Don't get me wrong, I love titties and explosions, always have, but I read that the 1984 Razor's Edge also encountered significant resistance to get off the ground, and then, it only grossed $6.6 million of it's $12 million budget.
That's really unfortunate, but I do hope that Bill Murray and John Byrum know they made one hell of an adaptation. You really should check this one out.
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