http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31294

Both Knowles and Quint slammed the movie saying it doesn't hold a candle to the original movie which is pretty much what I expected.. I don't know why they chose to remake this movie when the original still holds up very well.. Rutger Hauer is irreplaceable..

I really tried to give the movie a chance but the dialogue is just bad and filled with so many action cliches including Sean Bean strutting away slowly from an explosion. It pretty much takes the remake and fills it with cringe worthy dialogue. The gore even doesnt even substitute the original Hitchers implied violence and gore since the remake makes some of the scenes seem very underwhelming

If anyone seen the original, John Ryder tells Halsey when he has been picked up that he has mutilated people by cutting off their arms,legs and head. While we dont see it in the original, it makes you quesy especially after he kills off a family inside a station wagon and the next scene shows Halsey puking. Strangely none of this has been mentioned in the remake and all he does was slit some of the throats of people. Theres also no real gore to satisfy the blood fans since the infamous truck killing had only a 1 sec glimpse of the body torn but was also masked in silhoutte so those expecting guts will be disappointed.. Also alot of the scenes involving Ryder is very over the top when they make him out to be Rambo and the Terminator where he goes gunning down 4 cop cars and a helicopter. They even have the slow motion background movement in the movie. Theres alot more things I can get into about the movie but I will write it laeter. Lets just say they took out the original's diner scene where C Thomas Howell dines on a finger and the gender change role took away most of the psychology of the movie

Think of it this way, imagine a remake of 7even where they dumbed it down with bad dialogue, took out the psychology of the film, make no mention of the 7even killer and just put alot of dead bodies and spray it with alot of bullets too. Oh and the stuff where they change the scene of Brad Pitt's wife's head is inside a box but have it be Morgan Freeman's head inside instead. Thats where you get the remake of the Hitcher with alot alot of jump scare scenes


F

First F since Alone in the Dark

I've never seen the original, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. I've heard fans of the original are not pleased with the remake while those who have never seen it before are liking this one.

Im not sure how accepting new fans will be of the original since its comparing the production and camera quality of 20 years to now. At the time the original was quite shocking and even though there wasnt really blood shown alot of the scenes and dialogue were quite gruesome in a way. The original as I mentioned has Ryder bonding with Halsey and even jokingly mentioning picking up strangers who are serial killers. Ryder even jokingly mentioning he killed the last guy by cutting off his arms,legs and head which he probably did. It was there that Ryder threatens Halsey at knife point. The scene was more effective since Halsey was sort of a loner drifter too and I believe was on a trip to visit his folks. The new version took away alot of the intensity by not really giving Ryder any dialogue and giving Halsey a companion to travel with him. Also missing is the diner scene where he almost accidently munches on a severed finger . Its also at that point Halsey was framed for murder and the only one believing he was innocent is a waitress named Nash who waitressed for him at the same diner. She too gets kidnapped by Ryder. Its towards the end of the story where Ryder ties Nash up to the big rig truck and gets torn to pieces. The scene was more effective because it makes Halsey feel responsible for dragging a bystander to her death. I would say I would highly recommend the remake for you but it probably wont have the same affect to you as it did to people during 1986 due to the dated material however its better than the music video directed remake


I do admit if there wasnt an original Hitcher and say the remake is the one, I would say it gets around a C- but compared to the original it gets an F

I'm interested in seeing it for sure. The fact that it's dated doesn't bother me in the slightest.

I think I enjoyed this one so much because I was at least entertained and thrilled by it, which is more than I can say for most of the horror films released in 2006 (save for The Descent, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, The Hills Have Eyes and Saw III)

This is just funny to me as the original was a mild hit, if a hit at all. Saying that this one compares to the original is funny since no one has even heard of the original before this was made.

The original is well known over here.

It really boils down to the fact that Rutger Hauer just flat out looks crazy and Bean doesn't.. This movie never should've been remade and makes me wonder if they simply would've released the original Hitcher in theatres today, how much $$$ it would've made cause it still holds up well.. There's nothing dated about that movie..

I would like to add that Rutger Hauer did do a much better job than Sean Bean although Sean Bean was probably the only good thing about the Hitcher remake. He just didnt compare to Hauer due to them giving him only about maybe a dozen lines throughout the movie. One scene that the remake doesnt have that stood out on the original was when C Thomas Howell went face to face with Rutger Hauer in the interoggation room (thats when he just got done killing Jennifer Jason Leigh) and then spits on Rutger Haurs face. Haeur than wipes the flem off his face sniffs it and plays with it. Its disgusting stuff like that which builds his character.


Dont get me wrong I loved the original.I give it around a A-/B+ I dont know if it holds up well with today's audience though

Liked this remake. Bloody, dirty, and to the point, the film doesn't mess around. I also liked the scene where Grace is watching The Birds, perhaps an allusion to the fact that Bay is remaking that film.

Grade - B

Well what exactly is today's audience looking for that the original doesn't still have??

I just saw the original for the first time. Rutger Hauer was fucking amazing.

I haven't seen the original, but this was an awsome film. The Highway chase is Bad ass (that Nine Inch Nails song was awsome with the scene), My favorite part of the film. Lots of gore and thriller elements, this is a Fun ride from start to finish.

A-

A fun horror film, straight up. Just a non-stop thrilling ride with some great scenes of gore (the truck scene = wow). B+

However, I just found two scenes laughable - the scene where John Rider successfully takes out all the cops in the police chase (INCLUDING the guy in the helicopter) and when Sophia Bush miraculously survives the truck explosion and breaks down the door like she's the Terminator.

ditto.

Agreed on the laughable scenes, I've never seen the orginal, but this movie just wasn't very good, once we got to luahgable helicoptre scene I was all done. Thumbs down.

Well, it got to me. I didn't think I was liking it until the highway scene with Nine Inch Nails playing and then the film just struck a chord with me. The first half is pretty lazy, but the last third is a very good thriller and although it is not a total thumbs up, I would give it a 6/10.

I too agree about the laughable scenes. The helicopter take out was bs and so was her busting the door down. The killing of an entire police station was silly as well.

Well... talk about completely missing the point of the original. Still, I liked Sean Bean a lot (why did they cut the best scene in the original -- the diner?) and basically just cheered for him to fuck everybody up.

B

I enjoyed this. The original isn't a work of art, but Hauer was effective, Bean doesn't compare. The last act is a complete joke, why would they follow him? Couldn't they have taken Grace another way to Albuquerque. But the bit where Grace gets her comeuppance is one of the most engrossing scenes I've seen in a while.

Is this the worst Movie I've seen this year? Not quite the 20 minutes of Epic Movie take that crown but at points The Hitcher really pushes it close.

I'm not even going to bother with a full review this film infuriated me that much, although I will say after this movie I've seen enough contrived set-ups, ludicrous occurances and piss poor writing to last me a lifetime.

A disgustingly pathetic insult to the horror genre, Rutger Hauer should hunt down whoever was dumb enough to remake the solid original.

F

B-

It's ok.

There's a really good psychological movie stuck somewhere in here with Grace becoming twisted and succumbing to Ryder's words in the end, but for the most part the director seems to occupied in lesser places. It's pretty easy to tell he's a music video director, the atmosphere and attempts at intensity are just crap, what results is 2 hours of mindless chase, run, cry, blood, kill, chase, ... blah.

Bean and Bush do the best they can with their crappy poorly written roles, which unfortunatley isn't much... she has a lot more to prove than this, just pick up some scripts that don't suck already. Zachary Knighton and the sheriff character are embarrasing.

Still, I can't say it was unwatchable, it was mildly entertaining. But overall a disappointment.

Awful, awful remake. Takes everything that was great about the original and fucks it up the arse.

I knew I'd hate it from the opening gratuitous shot of an inordinately large bug splattering against their windshield while a Rascal Flatts-alike song played over the top. Took the terrific original and turned it into a stylish, vacant, OC slasher flick.

Yay!! Perhaps our agreement on this film will make up for our 28 Weeks Later chasm.