Ugh, why do Asian movie remakes always have to be PG-13??

[Blueguy]

Ratings board doesn't take indie or foreign films seriously and don't feel pressure from the movie studios for the lower rating. 
See, "This film is not yet rated"

[8BitStar]

The real reason these remakes suck is because there are actually ADULTS in Japan.

Indeed.  No doubt that's the reason for Japan's great love of soiled panty vending machines, and Boong-ga-Boong-ga.

I was sort of being tongue-in-cheek.  Truth is most of Japanese culture I've read about has struck me as literally a nation of people who hit puberty, then stopped growing up altogether.  However, I've never been to Japan, so I'm mostly speaking out of my rectum here.

Ju-On - rated R (The Grudge was PG-13)

Ju-On was rated R?  Seriously?  What the hell was in Ju-On that warranted an R rating?

Maybe the problem is not so much a "dumbing down" of remakes as it is a really crappy job of rating the original Japanese versions.
[/quote]

That and America taking things way too seriously.

Case in point, what kept Battle Royale off of US DVD shelves was that it would be "too controversial."  But... well, I saw the movie via a UK Edition and I didn't see anything controversial about it.  The violence is about as realistic as an episode of Power Rangers and the plot and delivery are full of your usual Japanese goofiness (including a scene where a guy takes about a bazillion machinegun bullets but is still able to get up and answer the phone only moments later as if nothing is wrong).

The movie is really kind of overrated.

However, the book is excellent.

[Cthulhu Bob]

Kairo was rated R? Wha-? I loved the movie to bits and yes it was very creepy but what the holy heck would get it an R? And I heard the remake was total tripe so never bothered to see it.

Battle Royale was damn good but if I am going to see a Hollywood-ized version of it I will wait for the King adaptation of The Long Walk instead.

2 side notes: I just saw The Suicide Club on the weekend and I must say the gore effects were impressive (put me off my curried prawn dinner  ) but the story was soooo incredibly stupid and incomprehensible. I actually was angry and shouting at the screen as the credits rolled  . So don't see it unless you have a thing for J-Pop tween girl groups and their evil ways.

2nd side note: I read a review of One Missed Call on CHUD.com and they mentioned an interview with a Japanese producer. Seems he admitted that the reason that most J-horror doesn't make much sense is all marketing. The filmmakers want the viewing public to think they missed something the first time they see a film so they will go back and see it again...and again to try to figure out what they missed the first time.

[Mr.Nobody]

2nd side note: I read a review of One Missed Call on CHUD.com and they mentioned an interview with a Japanese producer. Seems he admitted that the reason that most J-horror doesn't make much sense is all marketing. The filmmakers want the viewing public to think they missed something the first time they see a film so they will go back and see it again...and again to try to figure out what they missed the first time.

I read that review too.  Certainly not surprising, though usually I don't find most J-Horror interesting enough to warrant a second viewing even if I thought I missed something the first time around.

[Cthulhu Bob]

I would tend to agree with you Mr. Nobody on all J-horror except I still re-watch Kairo (especially on Halloween). Have you checked that one out yet?

[mike5150]

I mean, just look:

A Tale of Two Sisters - rated R (remake might be PG-13)
One Missed Call - rated R (remake is PG-13)
The Eye - rated R (again, remake is PG-13)
Pulse aka Kairo - rated R (the crappy remake was edited for PG-13)
Ju-On - rated R (The Grudge was PG-13)


Why? Why do you have to dumb down remakes to appeal to an audience of idiots(teenagers)? Especially in the cases of A Tale of Two Sisters and One Missed Call. Why bother dumbing these two down?! A Tale of Two Sisters has a huge amount of violence that makes it way scarier, and One Missed Call is a Takashi Miike film! What are we going to expect from a PG-13 remake of a Miike film?!

wow, thats pretty offensive. you must not have any teenagers. I think there would be a huge amount of violence if someone called my daughter an idiot in front of me >:(and your right that would make it way scarier:)   but is taking out violence dumbing it down? If violence makes a movie scary or intelligent.. I'm going to have to go back to fri. the 13th and texas chainsaw to catch the nuances

[Mr.Nobody]

I would tend to agree with you Mr. Nobody on all J-horror except I still re-watch Kairo (especially on Halloween). Have you checked that one out yet?

Never heard of it.  I"ll add it to my Netflix queue and give it a watch.

[Cthulhu Bob]

I would tend to agree with you Mr. Nobody on all J-horror except I still re-watch Kairo (especially on Halloween). Have you checked that one out yet?

Never heard of it.  I"ll add it to my Netflix queue and give it a watch.

Cool! Let me know what you think. Just don't hate me too much if you don't enjoy it  .

[Taufiq2u]

I mean, just look:

A Tale of Two Sisters - rated R (remake might be PG-13)
One Missed Call - rated R (remake is PG-13)
The Eye - rated R (again, remake is PG-13)
Pulse aka Kairo - rated R (the crappy remake was edited for PG-13)
Ju-On - rated R (The Grudge was PG-13)


Why? Why do you have to dumb down remakes to appeal to an audience of idiots(teenagers)? Especially in the cases of A Tale of Two Sisters and One Missed Call. Why bother dumbing these two down?! A Tale of Two Sisters has a huge amount of violence that makes it way scarier, and One Missed Call is a Takashi Miike film! What are we going to expect from a PG-13 remake of a Miike film?!

wow, thats pretty offensive. you must not have any teenagers. I think there would be a huge amount of violence if someone called my daughter an idiot in front of me >:(and your right that would make it way scarier:)   but is taking out violence dumbing it down? If violence makes a movie scary or intelligent.. I'm going to have to go back to fri. the 13th and texas chainsaw to catch the nuances

Well, actually a teenager myself and i'm sick of my generation. And yes, violence and sex does make some movies intelligent. Oldboy, Shivers, The Last Tango in Paris, Basic Instinct, Robocop, Shortbus, Cannibal Holocaust and Battle Royale portrays violence and sex as our dark side of humanity. Sex is portrayed in these movies as "the Kinsey allure" that makes movies like these feature necessary sexuality, and violence is used because through the violent experience of the filmakers themselves that it's necessary to show violence in order to portray our worst in mankind.

[Cthulhu Bob]

Well, actually a teenager myself and i'm sick of my generation. And yes, violence and sex does make some movies intelligent. Oldboy, Shivers, The Last Tango in Paris, Basic Instinct, Robocop, Shortbus, Cannibal Holocaust and Battle Royale portrays violence and sex as our dark side of humanity. Sex is portrayed in these movies as "the Kinsey allure" that makes movies like these feature necessary sexuality, and violence is used because through the violent experience of the filmakers themselves that it's necessary to show violence in order to portray our worst in mankind.

I have seen every one of the movies you have mentioned there except Oldboy and would agree with your assessment of all but one. Cannibal Holocaust is a disgusting disgusting disgusting waste of film. And did I mention its vile? Any movie that would slaughter real animals for entertainment is not worth a pile of shit. And I have to admit I never got past that point in the film and simply turned it off. {BLECCCH} And then go scrub my top layer of skin off.

[Minnesota]

Cannibal Holocaust is a pretty good movie. But the scene of the turtle getting his head cut off was pretty offensive. Supposedly the animals used in the movie didn't go to waste... still I'm one of those people that wants to eat meat but doesn't want to see it alive before I eat it much less see it get slaughtered. As a side note, if you're on the fence about watching Cannibal Holocaust (a horror classic) the *fake* scenes in the movie are equally shocking.

[esoobaC .T bocaJ]

Hey, the sequel to Battle Royale is called Battle Royale II: Requiem   , maybe that's where "The Brother's Strause" got it from  .

[izatright]

The real question is "Why do Asian movie remakes suck big time, all the time?"

I thought they did a fair job on The Grudge and The Ring.  All the other remakes were crap.  I had high hopes for Pulse because it was a solid film with, perhaps, too much Japanese cultural commentary to really hit home with me (as an American).  I figured the US could alter those bits and get it right.  On hindsight I feel simple, cheap and used.

Don't forget the Thailand horror film Shutter is getting a remake too.  The original was okay - I own it.  I love the idea of ghost movies more than the reality.  No offense to our Thai boardies (anyone?), but that language is very grating.  If they could do a strict redo without the Thai it should be a mild hit.