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Conference bookie::movies

Title:Movie Reviews and Discussion
Notice:Please do DIR/TITLE before starting a new topic on a movie!
Moderator:VAXCPU::michaudo.dec.com::tamara::eppes
Created:Thu Jan 28 1993
Last Modified:Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1249
Total number of notes:16012

691.0. "Miracle on 34th Street (1994)" by WMOIS::LYONS_S () Thu Nov 10 1994 14:54

    This looks like a cute remake.  I like the little girl who stars in it. 
    I can't remember her name but she played the youngest daughter on Mrs.
    Doubtfire.
    
    I have seen this advertised a number of times on TV but each time I
    miss the opening date.  Does anyone know what the release date is?
    
    Thank you in advance.
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691.1You will believe...DECWET::HAYNESSat Nov 12 1994 00:554
    Starts November 18th... same day as Star Trek : Generations.
    
    
    Michael
691.2I'll take the first miracle, thank you!SWAM2::SMITH_MAMon Nov 14 1994 14:196
    I don't know about anyone else, but I absolutley _refuse_ to see this
    movie.  I am such a loyal fan of the original that I can not see the
    point of a remake ( and this is the 2nd one they made! ) when the
    orignal translates so well into present time. Anyone agree?
    
    MJ
691.3USCTR1::WOOLNERYour dinner is in the supermarketMon Nov 14 1994 15:5711
    Agree (mostly): my daughter and I saw "The Santa Clause" last night and
    during the preview for "Miracle on 34th Street" I made a deal with her
    that we would ONLY go see the new one if we watched the OLD one first. 
    I only hope that she'll be duly impressed with Natalie Wood (she's seen
    "West Side Story" and "Gypsy", so...).
    
    As for the "Mrs. Doubtfire" child, I *hope* that she's a wonderful
    actress; I think she has an unremarkable face.  The preview for the new
    MO34S is uninspired... we'll go to the cheap seats (1st matinee).
    
    Leslie
691.4Can't touch the originalSWAM1::MILLS_MATo Thine own self be TrueMon Nov 14 1994 17:259
    From what I can see, the only thing they've done is possibly make it
    "politically correct" by having the little girl be deaf and/or dumb.
    
    One of the trailers has Kris Kringle signing to her.
    
    How 90's.......
    
    
    Marilyn
691.5USCTR1::WOOLNERYour dinner is in the supermarketMon Nov 14 1994 18:1711
    Right, but it's not the Natalie Wood character (the lead child).  I
    think that was just a vignette - one child in the department store line
    to sit on Santa's lap - *not* the character we follow through the film.
    
    And as usual in a trailer, they give away much too much of the plot. 
    And (personal gripe) I don't approve of planting the idea (in a trailer
    seen by "G" audiences) that there *might not* be a Santa!  Of course
    there *is*.... but do 4-year-olds need to know there are grinches out
    there who DON'T believe? :-}
    
    Leslie
691.6Not bad, could have done LOTS better.DECWET::HAYNESTue Nov 15 1994 16:578
    I saw the sneak preview. It was OK. I didn't dislike it, but like most
    of the posters here I enjoyed the first verion the best. There were
    several points of the movie I found myself laughing out loud inspite of
    myself...  a lot of the acting however seems forced... 
    
    ** 1/2 out of ****
    
    Michael
691.7Mara WilsonQUARRY::reevesJon Reeves, UNIX compiler groupTue Nov 15 1994 21:183
... is the little girl, who steals the show (well, Richard Attenborough
shares it with her); unfortunately, it's too similar to what she did in
Mrs. Doubtfire (but Robin wouldn't let her steal that one).
691.8REGENT::POWERSWed Nov 16 1994 12:1810
What does this movie offer that the original or the first remake didn't?
(The first remake added color, which has been supplanted when the original
was colorized.)
I've only seen the trailers, but the visuals and the casting seem so much
like the original that I can't see any added value.

(Hmmmm... do we already have a topic that addresses the general remake 
 question: "What does this movie offer that the original didn't?")

- tom]
691.9Aaaggghhhh!SWAM2::SMITH_MAWed Nov 16 1994 15:253
    I wholeheartedly agree!  Why can't we share the classics with our
    children?  How 'bout re-releasing the orginial on the theatres?  I'd
    go...twice!
691.10BUSY::FISED::SLABOUNTYThailboat!!Mon Nov 21 1994 11:046
    
    	Siskel and Ebert both liked it, even though they agreed it
    	wasn't as good as the original.
    
    							GTI
    
691.11I liked it.WMOIS::LYONS_SMon Nov 21 1994 15:4518
    
    
    I saw this over the weekend.  I liked it.  I have never seen the
    original and maybe that why I enjoyed this, because I had nothing to
    compare it to.
    
    I also happen to enjoy Mara Wilson unlike a few replies in here.  I
    happen to think the fact that she isn't a "doll" and exceptionally
    beautiful, gives her all the more credibility.  I think her smile is
    genuine and her big bright eyes are very communicative.
    
    I was surprised to see the gentleman playing Brian, since the last
    thing I saw him in he was a real dirtbag (Cowboy Way).
    
    I enjoyed it, and felt the holiday spirit when I left.  It's worth at
    least a matinee.
    
    
691.12Why tamper with perfection?USDEV::HERRINGMon Dec 05 1994 16:1320
    I am a fan of the original Miracle, having seen it many times in both
    black and white and colorized forms, and can say that it is in no
    danger of being superseded as a holiday classic by the 1994 version.
    
    The new Miracle is a beautifully photographed film, with many lush
    scenes making full use of the colors of the season. It is a fine,
    one-time holiday entertainment best appreciated in a theatre. But it
    lacks many essential elements that have made the original the perennial
    family favorite, the most obvious of which is its lack of a sense of
    humor. I missed Mrs. Shellhammer, Mr. Sawyer, Alfred, and the William
    Frawley politico of the court room. When Kris admits that he
    deliberatly flunked the mental competency test, the opportunity is not
    taken for a funny line (Edmund Gwen said in the original, "I told them 
    the first president was Calvin Coolidge!"). Instead of that warm humorous 
    undertone, we get real villains, and a darker scenario, which make the 
    resolutions of the story seem all the more contrived and out of place. 
    
    No, the 1947 original is still champ, and always will be.
    
    Steve H.
691.13Set Mode Cynical (I prefer the original, too.)STRATA::RUDMANAlways the Black KnightWed Dec 07 1994 17:105
    I figure Calvin Coolidge jokes were funnier & more topical in 1934.
    And probably more people knew he wasn't the first president 60 years
    ago than do today.
    
    							Don
691.14RANGER::LINDT::benceUnsticking my myths.Wed Dec 07 1994 18:414
    Gee, I watched the original the other night, and I don't remember a
    reference to Coolidge.  I distinctly heard him answer "George Washington"
    during the mental competency test.
691.15BUSY::BUSY::SLABOUNTYThailboat!!Wed Dec 07 1994 18:517
    
    	Maybe they also touched up the dialogue when they colorized it?
    
    	8^)
    
    							GTI
    
691.16Let's get really topicalSWAM1::MILLS_MATo Thine own self be TrueWed Dec 07 1994 19:085
    Maybe they could touch it up even more for the nineties by having him
    say Hillary Clinton ;^)
    
    
    Marilyn
691.17QETOO::BASQUEFri Dec 09 1994 12:4814
    I just saw this new version of a very fine film.  I don't very often go
    into a movie theater to see a movie, however, i'm on one of the few
    business trips I've taken over the last couple of years and it is
    showing at the local theater.
    
    I agree totally with .12.  This is by no means in the class of the
    original.  It lacks a sort of reality if fantisy.  That's the only way
    I can explain it.  It was OK, but I do not believe it will ever become
    close to a tradition in the way the original movie has.
    
    Just my opion.
    
    Ray