Originally Posted By dagobert Disney released the first trailer of this movie. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlUkOid3TYc&feature=youtu.be">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...youtu.be</a> I don't really care about the movie, but seeing Robert Redford in it makes it a little bit more interesting.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I had been waiting to see a trailer before passing judgement on this film, but now that I've seen it, it looks terrible. Gone are the fun songs, likeable kid, and charming seaside village, and instead we have a feral child running through the wilderness. And why does the dragon look menacing all of a sudden, instead of a goofy outcast? I'm not impressed Much like how all those animated musicals starring humans started to feel the same in the mid/late-90's, I can't help but think this feels exactly like all those other live action remakes that have come out recently. The whole thing just feels so tired and overdone at this point And if the non-Disney-nerds on my Facebook feed are any indication, I'm not the only one who had this reaction
Originally Posted By mawnck Setting aside the fact that it happens to have the same title as an old Disney movie, it looks like a parade of hackneyed movie clichés in search of a movie. Why would ANYBODY want to go see this?
Originally Posted By familyguy "Why would ANYBODY want to go see this?" Because it's a new movie and may be entertaining. I'm interested in it. I grew up on the original Pete's Dragon, and have raised my kid's on it as well. The family loves that classic Disney film. With that said, I'm not opposed to seeing a new take on it. A story inspired by the classic film, but not an exact retelling of the story in the same way. I'm obviously in the minority, but for me, I feel like the story has already been told one way. If we want to see the story told that way, we can put in the DVD and watch it. But the new movie gives us an opportunity to experience something similar to the classic, told in a different way. With characters that may be somewhat based on the original, but are not meant to be copy cats. To me, I didn't see enough of the dragon to conclude that he was menacing. I didn't get to see him interact with Elliot...I only saw the back of him flying away. But if he's a little menacing, is that so different from the original? He seemed to come off as menacing to almost everyone but Elliot, if I remember correctly. Granted, his appearance didn't seem to warrant that, but still. I don't know. I guess I'm not opposed to classic stories being told in new and different ways, and I don't feel as though a new take on an old classic takes anything away from the original if it fails to be anywhere near as impressive as the original story.
Originally Posted By familyguy Sorry...I meant to say that in the trailer I didn't get to see the Dragon (Elliot) interact with Pete. My bad.
Originally Posted By ecdc The trailer feels like an absolute by-the-numbers movie. There's all the same tropes and beats we're used to in trailers ca. 2016. There's nothing whimsical, magical, interesting, or engaging about it.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I don't know if it would work, but what if Disney made a live action/CGI musical? Pete's Dragon or whatever, but instead of turning an old movie into a dark, brooding thing, go ahead and try making something cheerful and fun and light hearted. Clearly, with Frozen, if you get the music right, you hit the jackpot. The original Pete's Dragon wasn't the best movie they ever made, but there was enough there to build upon and refresh. A CGI funny dragon, a cute kid, neat seaside setting, some new songs … it *could* work.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Watching this trailer felt just like watching the trailer for Cinderella last year. Haven't we covered this sort of story an awful lot? All that was missing was some raspy voice singer crooning "Candle on the Water" in a minor key slowly, dreamily, ominously....
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "Watching this trailer felt just like watching the trailer for Cinderella last year." This is a good sign then. Cinderella was terrific.
Originally Posted By familyguy I guess I just feel that this TEASER is much too short to draw any big conclusions about what this movie will end up being like. I do think that if you pretty much dislike most of what Disney does nowadays...at least as it pertains to re-makes and such, then yes, you can probably safely assume you won't like it. Otherwise, if you're pretty open minded to new interpretations of old classics, and tend to not hate ALL of the Disney "re-makes" (although you may not love them all either), then maybe it's too soon to make any judgments just based off of that really short teaser. Maybe we'll get a better idea with the first full trailer.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Another thing that's really confusing to me: instead of being an orphan with a mean/abusive foster family/owners(?), Pete is now a feral child that was raised by the animals of the forest. Given that audiences will be treated to brooding live action remakes of both The Jungle Book (also by Disney) and Tarzan in 2016, doesn't it seem like overkill?
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Sorry, nostalgia buffs. The original 'Pete's Dragon' is a disaster. To try and take the time to remake in any way, shape or form is on par with rebooting 'The Apple Dumpling Gang' or 'One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing.' I think the CGI / 'live' version of 'The Jungle Book' looks terrible too.
Originally Posted By mawnck This isn't an interpretation of anything except cliched movie making. Did you see ANY evidence in that trailer that it bears ANY resemblance to the 1977 film, other than it has a Pete and a dragon?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Well there's also the single woman who can't quite come to grips with becoming an old maid, and her semi-lucid father. But though they're the same basic plot devices, their personalities seem pretty different from the original version, so who knows how similar they will be
Originally Posted By skinnerbox OK, I'll state it outright. I liked the original. I liked the music. I liked the actors. I liked the cartoony dragon and his nonsensical voice (Hey! Charlie Callas!) and the whole upbeat nature of the film. It wasn't serious or heavy. Just a pleasant little flick you could enjoy with your kids. But this thing? They missed the boat. Having a more realistic dragon pushes the remake a bit closer to the realm of Hiccup and Toothless. And that franchise works so well, any other family-friendly dragon will come off as second rate. I have no idea what Disney was thinking with this one. Then again, I'm still trying to understand greenlighting Good Dino.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "Did you see ANY evidence in that trailer that it bears ANY resemblance to the 1977 film, other than it has a Pete and a dragon?" This is a feature, not a bug. That said, the feral child thing does seem too close to Jungle Book.
Originally Posted By ecdc I like the original, but I recognize that as a function of growing up with it as a kid and watching it with my mom. Sentiment trumps quality every time. But does it much matter if it's good or bad? I'm all for studios remaking bad movies into good movies. Or even occasionally remaking good movies into better movies. But the far more common outcome is remaking good movies into bad movies, or good movies into I guess it was okay? movies. The desperation to wring every last nickel out of an existing property is kinda sad.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>The desperation to wring every last nickel out of an existing property is kinda sad.<< It seems especially desperate when the general consensus is that the original movie was cute and charming, but hardly great. As has been repeatedly mentioned, this film has gracefully been forgotten with time (and wasn't an especially huge hit in its day), which makes it seem like an odd choice for a splashy reboot. Seems like it would have been cheaper to just make a new MSEP float for something relevant, rather than try to get kids to be attached to the original film
