Erich
12-30-2003, 08:09 PM
It is possible that when the Japanese movie “Ringu” was released in 1998 few people would have seen how far it would reach. The film adaptation of the novel (written by Suzuki Koji) became an instant success wherever it was played. It did not take long for several sequels and remakes to arrive – “Ring Virus” is the Korean/Japanese co-produced remake. Although it sadly brings nothing new to the front, “Ring Virus” will probably be held highly by Ring-fanatics across the globe.
It is hard to describe the story here for several reasons. First of all, it is nearly a scene-for-scene remake of “Ringu.” It is most likely that most readers here have already seen “Ringu” (or the American movie, “Ring”) and thus already know what the basic plot will be – but for the sake of anyone who has not seen these movies, I can’t go into detail – this entire collection of movies is best if seen with no prior knowledge. I will reiterate that if you have seen “Ringu,” you do not need to see this one. The few changes made are mostly cosmetic – our heroine’s child is now a girl (I believe it was the same in the American remake), and the man who help’s our heroine is now a pompous doctor who has lost his credibility, instead of him being her ex-husband. The only other mentionable change is the movie’s biggest let-down – in order to make it feel different from the Japanese “Ringu” they had to change the feel of the movie – and in order to do this they cut out all of the suspense. Every suspenseful scene from “Ringu” is here, but the subtle-yet-terrifying aspects are always gone, leaving you with little enjoyment. Without a doubt, the American remake is far more effective than this Korean one – which is a real shame, since Korean horror tends to be quite good. I think “Ringu” is too painstakingly remade here – I was hoping that some new twist would appear, but it never did. They did change the past of Eun-Sul/Sadako by giving it a more sexual tone – and this is presumably supposed to explain the unnecessary dialogue about bisexuality near the beginning of the movie – but it winds up feeling out of place. The movie would have succeeded solely on being a remake of “Ringu,” but the lack of both gore and suspense means that is has very little to offer as a horror movie.
The Bitwin dvd is most likely the only available copy out there right now. It is shown in widescreen, and the video is fairly clean. The 5.1 audio track does shine, and uses every speaker well. The English subtitles had some very minor grammatical errors, but they were easy to follow. Sadly there are no special features at all on the disc. To sum the entire movie up; it will please die-hard fans of the collection, but it will bore everyone else. If you have not seen the original yet, be sure to watch it before seeing this one.
Breakdown
Story: 8 / 10
Audio: 5 / 5
Video: 4 / 5
DVD: 2 / 5
Total: 7.2 / 10
**I gave the story an 8/10 - it IS a good story, even if we've all heard it before. I'd yell at it for not being at all original - but it IS a remake, so I suppose that is (possibly) unfair.
It is hard to describe the story here for several reasons. First of all, it is nearly a scene-for-scene remake of “Ringu.” It is most likely that most readers here have already seen “Ringu” (or the American movie, “Ring”) and thus already know what the basic plot will be – but for the sake of anyone who has not seen these movies, I can’t go into detail – this entire collection of movies is best if seen with no prior knowledge. I will reiterate that if you have seen “Ringu,” you do not need to see this one. The few changes made are mostly cosmetic – our heroine’s child is now a girl (I believe it was the same in the American remake), and the man who help’s our heroine is now a pompous doctor who has lost his credibility, instead of him being her ex-husband. The only other mentionable change is the movie’s biggest let-down – in order to make it feel different from the Japanese “Ringu” they had to change the feel of the movie – and in order to do this they cut out all of the suspense. Every suspenseful scene from “Ringu” is here, but the subtle-yet-terrifying aspects are always gone, leaving you with little enjoyment. Without a doubt, the American remake is far more effective than this Korean one – which is a real shame, since Korean horror tends to be quite good. I think “Ringu” is too painstakingly remade here – I was hoping that some new twist would appear, but it never did. They did change the past of Eun-Sul/Sadako by giving it a more sexual tone – and this is presumably supposed to explain the unnecessary dialogue about bisexuality near the beginning of the movie – but it winds up feeling out of place. The movie would have succeeded solely on being a remake of “Ringu,” but the lack of both gore and suspense means that is has very little to offer as a horror movie.
The Bitwin dvd is most likely the only available copy out there right now. It is shown in widescreen, and the video is fairly clean. The 5.1 audio track does shine, and uses every speaker well. The English subtitles had some very minor grammatical errors, but they were easy to follow. Sadly there are no special features at all on the disc. To sum the entire movie up; it will please die-hard fans of the collection, but it will bore everyone else. If you have not seen the original yet, be sure to watch it before seeing this one.
Breakdown
Story: 8 / 10
Audio: 5 / 5
Video: 4 / 5
DVD: 2 / 5
Total: 7.2 / 10
**I gave the story an 8/10 - it IS a good story, even if we've all heard it before. I'd yell at it for not being at all original - but it IS a remake, so I suppose that is (possibly) unfair.