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Remake of Bronson's THE MECHANIC gets a new badass!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I'm not too sure what to think of this film. Yes, another remake... this time a Charles Bronson flick called THE MECHANIC, which is being done at Millennium, who seem bound and determined to be the Cannon films of the naughts.
If I remember correctly Sly Stallone was thought to be taking the Bronson role for a while, but it seems that they're moving along with someone else. In a six degrees of Sly Stallone game, they only have one move, going out to fellow Expendable Jason Statham. I like the dude and think he has some of the Bronson machismo, if a bit prettier than Bronson was at this stage in his career.
What I'm not sure about is if they're not going to seem a bit... late... with a story like this. The original flick had Bronson, a hitman, teaching the tools of the trade to the son of one of his marks. I'm sure in 1972 that was a fresh idea, but it's been used and reused a few times over since then.
But knowing the Millennium guys I'm sure this will be a ball of ridiculous hardcore fun, even if it's not the most original thing in the world. Thoughts?
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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I need to mentally adjust...
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Shit, its gonna be AWESOME !
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Imagine him with the same hair as the mom on Roseanne. That would rule.
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Like they were in the original script before the studios edited those parts out and toned down the homosexual subtext?
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Definitely Stallone's successor for action movies. I am gonna watch The Mechanic, but I do hope Statham gets more bad ass roles. He already has 2 immortal characters in Frank Martin and Chev Chelios.
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Wasn't this mentioned a few months ago??
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Not only are you one of those "FIRST" douche bags, but you're also a 6 second loser. Congratulations.
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And starring Chow Yun Fat. That would make an awesome Mechanic movie.
So I'm living in the past. Who cares??
At least I'm not asking for a Ridley Scott/Crowe combo for this. -
(The John Woo thing was a joke/fantasy. I dont know who's directing this Mechanic movie.)
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When I read the headline The Stath was the first person I thought of.
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Wasn't this going to follow RAMBO...then he does THE EXPENDABLES instead. I still would love to see LEGEND OF THE DUELIST with Stallone, Lundgren and Dacascos.
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I hate to be a dick, but it is. Heard this weeks ago
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doesn't Hollywood go for a John Woo/Chow Yun Fat movie?
And why does Dacascos have no action roles in big budget action movies? And no, that dreck Cradle To The Grave doesn't count. -
With Stallone - I love the original... it would have a large resemblance to Assassins though :(
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May 08, 2009 7:23:23 AM CDT
Statham is the hardest working man in Hollywood these days...
by lanemyersclassic
good for him! That's how you get ahead! I really like the original, but Jan Michael Vincent's acting was atrocious.
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This guy needs to work harder. Two or three movies a year is just fucking lazy.
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Statham is too much the "go-to-guy" for this kind of movie. Why not find someone less predictable? Peter Dinklage, perhaps?
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More of the same = boring as hell.
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May 08, 2009 8:16:48 AM CDT
Wrote a screenplay where the gov't drops Bronson & Norris
by hypeendshere
into afghanistan. they solve our problems. it's a comedy.
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..this is also based on an Elmore Leonard book. It's actually pretty good. You always get decent dialogue in Leonard's books. I hope they keep that in mind when making the film..
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IMO... I'd say this could work as a good come-back vehicle for some older action star (kinda would make for people to associate their action film trajectory with the film's storyline), Sly sounds better, or maybe someone like Kurt Russell, Bruce Willis, Ed Harris, Harrison Ford could be odd yet interesting... Etc. Just keep Nick Cage away, didn't work for him in Bangkok Dangerous, he's good for other stuff...
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Didn't you guys see Bangkok Dangerous?
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Well, another B-movie role for Statham. But then I can't think of another leading actor with the physicality and badassery of Statham. Bale and Crowe come to mind. Sad that I can't think of any American actors...
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But he's got that damn babyface.
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That would kick ten kinds of ass. Bring it back Stallone! You can do it.
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Any Statham fan will probably agree. Unless they're a fan of the original, which regretably I am not, having never seen it.
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Any sequels will have to be prequels if they stay true to the originals end.
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The director is Simon West of CON AIR fame. I have not seen a picture of him but I have long believed he is the BASKET CASE style lump brother of Michael Bay. The writer is Shane Salerno of ALIEN VS. PREDATOR VS. PIZZA DELIVERY KIDS. And Millennium produce 90% boring unwatchable garbage, and that is coming from a guy who watches all the DTV movies by Seagal, Van Damme, Lundgren and Snipes (many of them by Millennium).
I don't think the original is perfect, because Jan Michael Vincent is not the greatest in it. But I recommend checking it out, there's a great motorcycle chase and the dialogue-free opening assassination is classic. ( -
I don't think THE MECHANIC is based on an Elmore Leonard book. Or at least it's not credited that way. You might be thinking of the Bronson movie MR. MAJESTYK which was written by Leonard and he later adapted it into a book.
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All about his first job as newbie hitman for the Syndicate of which his father was a member.
The emphasis of the movie will be on Arthur "The Mechanic" Bishop as a TEEEEEN. He will be a troubled TEEEEN who has problems with his gangster dad.
Maybe they will show Arthur Bishop as a pre-teen almost driving a car off a cliff. -
No dialogue. Just the Mechanic plying his trade. There is no way the new version will replicate that sequence. There's gotta be 'splosion fast.
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Stallone like SCHWARZENEGGER was/is always about BIG ACTION filmmaking --RAMBO, THE EXPENDABLES etc.-- AND IT WAS A SMART DECISION FOR Sly to drop something that has been done to death (he did this better with ASSASSINS back in 1995 anyway). Sly has bigger films to make like RAMBO 5 and possibly EXPENDABLES 2 fully starring him and ARNOLD. I don't even know if I want Sly making DEATH WISH either. Give that to Statham as well. It seems the guy takes Sly's leftovers anyway. NU IMAGE is a good upstart indie company that is luckying to have and international star like STALLONE making BIG films for them.
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I liked Crank, hated the Transporter movies, and really enjoyed The Bank Job. Still, I don't think he's found a role he seriously owns yet. I like him a lot for some reason. He just seems like an all around tough guy and you don't see much of that in Hollywood anymore. For all I know he could be a pussy but on camera he's "as tough as a coffin nail."
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I'm not really attached to the original, I love Statham, and the remake of Death Race 2000 turned out really well despite being written and directed by that PMS Anderson guy everybody hates so much. So sure, if Statham wants to continue to show up in remakes of movies that I was never too attached to, then I back him all the way.
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Crank 3 through 5 and Transporter 4 through 10 would be great thanks.
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May 08, 2009 12:09:33 PM CDT
Simon West wouldnt be my first thought, but could be good
by the_genteel_gentile
My gut instict for this kind of story would automatically go toward a Luc Besson, John Woo or Michael Mann. John McTiernan, Tony Scott, Brian Singer, Andrew Davis, Stephen Hopkins, Antoine Fuqua, F. Gary Gray, Renny Harlin and Roger Donaldson also spring almost immediately to mind as possibly better candidates. I could easily see this in the hands of a a french action director like Florent Siri, Jean Francois-Richet or Louis Letteriere. I'd love to see what someone like Adrian Lyne, Peter Weir, Sam Mendes or Scott Hicks might do with this type of materal. Too bad Stallone wasn't still on board or I'd say bring in Richard Donnor and make this a sequel to his character from Assassins. But Simon West may actually proove to be a good choice, I really liked The General's Daughter, that was a pretty terrific thriller with a fair amount of intelligence. Con Air was all kinds of entertaining as well. Unfortunately pretty much everything I've seen of his since General's Daughter wasn't too good (Tomb Raider, When A Stranger Calls). Unfortunately West made one of the worst career decisions ever when he left Black Hawk Down (which was his idea, and had been developing for himself to direct) in favor of making Tomb Raider. But perhaps this will get him back on the course he seemed to be forging with smarter materal like General's Daughter.
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Bayified. No one is going to wait 10 minutes for the tea kettle murder.
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May 08, 2009 12:27:26 PM CDT
Instead of making the bad heart guy run to death
by grammaton cleric binks
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Statham will just force him into the local 7-11 at gunpoint, and make him microwave a burrito.
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Statham makes fun genre flicks, so I wouldn't mind him starring in a remake. However, he does seem a little too young for the role of Arthur Bishop. It also makes you wonder who will play the Jan Michael Vincent role, and how young he will have to be.
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I like the original. There could be a great remake here. Though Statham probably is too young to play the Bronson role. The dynamic of the old hitman ready to hang it up mentoring the young up-and-comer doesn't really work so well when your old hitman is Statham.
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Jan-Michael Vincent should play the Bronson role. Somebody dig him up.
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the car is rigged to blow. Saved you ten bucks there.
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I won't be going.
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Maybe that's not a bad idea.
It will be Arthur Bishop who has the heart attack, if you catch my drift. -
May 09, 2009 3:07:43 AM CDT
Will there be no dialogue for the first 20 min of the film, for
by gibsonusa returns
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But the remake is bound to be stupid.
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May 09, 2009 2:15:58 PM CDT
Statham is "too young" to play a veteran assassin?
by nasty in the pasty
He's almost 40 (and looks older due to the receeding hairline).
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i hope they keep it. i caught the original on Fox some saturday afternoon when i was a kid. prolly watched it cuz the AirWolf guy was in it, but it turned out to be pretty cool. i remember really likin it. hope they keep the original ending.
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I think Jason's terrific, but this sounds like yet another lazy-ass remake idea. Just for something different.
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-well NO, but you know-why fuckin' bother? there's nothing wrong w/ the original--
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