reeves2002 Review of The Hitcher

The Hitcher (2007)

A bad remake,not even close to being as good as the original!

[3/10 · 4 May 2007]

I saw this when it first came out to the theater and didn't know what to expect because I loved the original.I saw it again on DVD.I hated how this new one added the annoying girlfriend played by Sophia Bush,and Sean Bean wasn't as convincing as the bad guy.I think he's a good actor,but cannot portray someone as menacing,psychotic & creepy the way Rutger could in the original.However then I realized I was glad it was different because copying the original would be difficult and disrespectful. The characters in this remake had no depth or emotion and came across flat and boring and I didn't like the storyline.In the original, C.Thomas Howell,Rutger Hauer, and Jennifer Jason Leigh were interesting,complex,and brought the perfect mood and depth to it and made the characters believable and realistic.In the remake the Jim Halsey character was very badly written and wasn't even a main character anymore.It was all about Jim's girlfriend,and she showed hardly any reaction at all at the end after her boyfriend was ripped apart.Sophia was obviously hired for her looks not talent.One of the reasons this new one wasn't as good is because it just isn't scary with 3 people in the car like it was in the original with just the 2 guys. There wasn't even any thunder or lightning in all that rain which would have added to the movie especially since there was apparently real flashes of it while they were making the movie from what I heard unless this was false.Even so it would have added to the movie.This is one thing I enjoyed about the original Hitcher because it made it more dramatic with John Ryder out in it. This remake just didn't have any atmosphere period, and it was rushed.The store clerk at the gas station got on my nerves with his unintelligent lame remarks.This dialog did nothing for this movie except show how tasteless the writer was for adding such crap. I resented the remark the producer(or directer) Dave Meyers made about the original film in the documentary.He says he decided to remake the hitcher by using only the parts he liked about it and eliminating the parts he didn't like,which in this case is most of the movie.I guess this is why he changed the whole script.As far as i'm concerned he ruined it.He had no respect for the original story and script and he should never have been aloud to remake a masterpiece.I did like the special effects.They were good and a lot of effort was put into them.And I enjoyed one of the bonus features called: the chronicles of a killer.It was unique and very real looking. I hope one day soon the original hitcher will be re-released on DVD with a better transfer.Unfortunately the picture quality isn't very good which is sad for such a terrific film.I was almost sure it was gonna be re-issued since the remake is out now.I am sure it won't be long since there already is a 2 disc special edition of the original Hitcher available in the U.K.