Fan Rant: For The Love of the Game -- Leave 'Slap Shot' Alone!
Filed under: Classics, Comedy, Sports, Fandom, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels, Fan Rant
We say it all the time -- "That's a film that should never be remade!" 95% of the time, its true. The latest to go through the remake treatment is the hockey classic Slap Shot -- and it's apparently been buzzed and bitched about since last summer, when Peter Steinfeld took the writing job. But now Variety announces that Dean Parisot will be directing, which means that it will take an act of God or Gordie Howe to stop this atrocity from happening.
First, it ought to be illegal to remake anything that starred Paul Newman. It's as simple as that. He's off limits from Fort Apache the Bronx to The Sting, and everything in between. Secondly, Slap Shot is just one of those perfect pieces of Americana -- one of those grungy comedies that could only be made in the 1970s. It's old time hockey as it doesn't exist anymore -- the days when helmets were "optional" and considered to be for wimps, and when the blood flowed freely, and guys really did wrap their knuckles in foil. You can't go into a hockey locker room to this day without hearing someone quote this film. Not an amateur practice goes by without at least one person sporting a Chiefs jersey. Everyone in and outside of the hockey world can quote it, everyone's got a favorite scene ... or two ... or three. It's a classic.
First, it ought to be illegal to remake anything that starred Paul Newman. It's as simple as that. He's off limits from Fort Apache the Bronx to The Sting, and everything in between. Secondly, Slap Shot is just one of those perfect pieces of Americana -- one of those grungy comedies that could only be made in the 1970s. It's old time hockey as it doesn't exist anymore -- the days when helmets were "optional" and considered to be for wimps, and when the blood flowed freely, and guys really did wrap their knuckles in foil. You can't go into a hockey locker room to this day without hearing someone quote this film. Not an amateur practice goes by without at least one person sporting a Chiefs jersey. Everyone in and outside of the hockey world can quote it, everyone's got a favorite scene ... or two ... or three. It's a classic.
There's no good reason to remake it -- I don't give a crap about "introducing" it to younger generations. There is this thing called "cable," and those young, lost souls can see it there. There's nudity. They'll watch it. Instead, do the unthinkable and give us a new hockey comedy. The sport is rife with hilarity (Psycho goalies! Goons! Spitting chiclets! Weird accents!) and I see no reason it can't be mined. They did it in 1977 -- surely you can do it now?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-03-2009 @ 1:01PM
Dante said...
Right on! Hockey is already severely lacking in the sports movie department (Slap Shot 2 doesn't count). What someone should do is make a period hockey film that takes place in the '50s-'70s when things were really crazy and goalies didn't wear helmets, either.
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2-03-2009 @ 10:17PM
Philly said...
This is tragic! The original is so... original, how could anyone even try this?
Good news though... there's a script written for a biopic based on the Broad Street Bullies' Dave "The Hammer" Schultz. That would be a real hockey movie!!!!
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Puck-Daddy-chats-with-Dave-The-Hammer-Schultz-?urn=nhl,112290
2-03-2009 @ 1:29PM
Jay said...
This is an abomination.
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2-03-2009 @ 2:28PM
Cincinnati Mike said...
Just please tell me Happy Madison has nothing to do with it...
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2-03-2009 @ 2:49PM
Astin said...
They do that, they go to the box, you know. Two minutes, by themselves, you know and they feel shame, you know.
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2-03-2009 @ 3:54PM
Mike D said...
"Parisot, Steinfield, you are totally fucked! You're garbage for remaking a classic!"
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2-03-2009 @ 3:55PM
mcafee_matthew said...
Granted I have very little confidence a remake of Slap Shot would be even close to the same level of excellence, I still never understand the problems with remakes. If the remake does suck, and the majority do...it does not take anything away from the original - it will always be there, its not like remaking a movie instantly makes the original disappear...if anything it brings attention to the original.
Without attempts at remakes we wouldn;t have had Scarface (Pacino, Stone, De Palma version), Against All Odds, Ben-Hur, Cape Fear, The Fly, Heat ...and not to mention remakes of foreign films into english speaking ones like: The Birdcage, The Departed etc.
All I'm saying is even though many remakes these days tend to be crapper than the originals - every now and then a gem comes along, so shouldn't we be encouraging this at least on some level?
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2-03-2009 @ 4:28PM
George McBain said...
Thanks Elisabeth.
I agree with you 100% and I quoted you on my site. Cheers!
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2-03-2009 @ 7:29PM
Julie said...
DAMMIT, Is nothing sacred? Paul Newman is untouchable in the remake world, and the characters created in Slapshot are one of kind, unique and part of not only hockey culture but iconic. Reg Dunlop is as untouchable as Snake Plissken. Let's put on the foil, get back out on that ice and kick some Hollywood butt!
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2-04-2009 @ 8:30AM
harmonov said...
This movie doesn't even translate to today's hockey world. Not even in the minor leagues. There is no equivalent of the Iron League. Fighting has given way to precision skaters. It was bad enough when the Hansons were whored out at every turn.
This makes my head hurt.
This is fucking blasphemy at its highest. Newman isn't even one year gone and this announcement comes out. To anyone involved in this project, may you and your mothers' souls rot.
They clearly aren't serious about the remake or they wouldn't give the helm to someone who is box-office poison (Fun with Dick and Jane, Galaxy Quest, and fucking Home Fries!?!?!?!?!).
This is a joke to me. No real fan will see this and hopefully it will die and slow, torturous death.
2-04-2009 @ 9:17AM
Brandon said...
Better yet, instead of remaking these movies for younger audiences, why not just spend the money on marketing campaigns & just re-release the originals?
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2-07-2009 @ 12:30PM
Kate said...
OH GOD NO! This is the greatest American comedy and they're going to ruin it! They're going to take out all the great dick jokes and fight scenes and replace them with bad dick jokes and fight scenes. This is such a seventies movie too. There's no way you could make this relevant and not have it suck. What are the odds they remake it into a 'Will Ferrell plays another man-baby' pile of crap?
Nancy Dowd wrote an outstanding screenplay and I'm horrified this could happen.
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2-11-2009 @ 11:41AM
Kandarp said...
I completely agree. It would be criminal to re-make this movie. We have already seen with examples like "Psycho", what happens when a masterpiece is re-made.
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