Revisiting Spider Man (and how movies are changed)

A couple of threads recently got me thinking about the way filmmakers have changed their films in light of events, changing attitudes, etc.

Simon was convinced that Christopher Nolan hacked up his ending because of Heath Ledger's death (I disagree with that proposition, but that's immaterial to the thread). Ther was mention on the E.T. thread of the changes that Spielberg has made, such as digitally removing the sidearms of police officers. People would be happy to rip George Lucas for many of the changes in the Special Editions of the Star Wars Trilogy.

All of that got me to thinking about the original Spider Man movie, which I absolutely loved when it first came out. However, with the glut of comic book movies to arrive since, it has aged rather poorly, rather quickly.

I think the biggest problem I had with it looking back is the changes made because of Sept. 11. I remember seeing a teaser trailer of a scene where a gang is robbing a bank and they escape in a helicopter. The camera is in the helicopter's cockpit when all of a sudden, the chopper comes to a halt. The camera pulls out and we see the chopper trapped in a spider web slung between the Twin Towers.

I understand removing the scene, but it's too bad, because it was excellent.

But more egregious was the hackneyed scene during the final fight with the Green Goblin when he seemingly was ready to off Spider Man before getting hit by objects thrown from citizens on the bridge. Then came the awful dialogue from the NYC residents, including, "Leave him alone ... You mess with one of us, you mess with ALL of us!"

Even at the time I kind of cringed, but looking back, it seems even worse. It really kills that final scene for me now.

Not sure if this merited a thread, but I just thought it was interesting the way technology has allowed filmmakers to go back and, for better or worse, change their original vision for their films.

 

bigpern, I loved the original Spider-Man movie, but I HATED the scene with the New Yorkers throwing stuff at the Green Goblin. Ridiculous pandering crap.

Same thing with the stuff on the train in Spider-Man 2. I don't care if he did just save all of their lives, you know in the real world there would have been one asshole with a camera phone taking advantage of the situation.

 

C'omn
you believe New Yorkers have really changed that much since Ghostbusters?

 

Meh.. Spidey is probably my number one, so there's really no version that'll make me happy. I was kind of hoping to see what Marvel (Independent films) would do but then hearing the company wouldn't, well I cringed some more.

Maybe Spidey IV will be better...oh wait, probably not.

 

Terrible, terrible scene and I'm a huge fan of the film.

 

I couldn't agree more. And who are you calling an asshole?

 

The "Chopper caught between the Twin Towers" scene was done only for the Spider-Man trailer. It was never intended to be in the movie.

Spider-Man ages just fine. Like most of the better superhero movies, it had good casting and a solid script that was true to the character and which cannibalized the best of the comic stories. The only part of the it that really makes me cringe is Willem Defoe's over-the-top portrayal, but that was bad when the movie was in wide release. Yeah, the New Yorkers throwing stuff at the Goblin is cheesy, but I see it as a snapshot of the time that movie was released.

Of course . . . . many at the time said Spider-Man (and Lord of the Rings) were big hits mainly because "We needed heroes after 9/11!!!!!!!" which is the same overanalytical foolishness as Walter Cronkite saying on the Star wars DVDs that Star Wars was a hit because "The country needed to be uplifted after Watergate." OR . . . they were just entertaining films?

In any event, Spider-Man 3 only made the first two in the series look even better.

Aside from Greedo shooting first, most changes to Star Wars were not too annoying. There at least was a (sometimes flimsy) explanation, even if I personally prefer the original films. Switching guns for walkie-talkies in E.T. was some of the worst pandering Spielberg has done in recent years, and that's saying a lot.

 

Naturally slinging web
-venom
-uncle ben's death
-no gwen stacey till SM3


sigh

 

The greatest part of the first Spider-Man was how it captured the angst of Peter Parker having to protect his secret identity. The final scene where Mary Jane is ready to throw herself at him but he has to lie to her and walk away was masterful and so true to the early Spider-Man stories.

It's not just the movies that have changed since the first SM, but the comics as well. They have become more "real" in the sense of just how would people and governments react if these guys were really out there fighting each other in the streets and destroying property every other day. SM perfectly captures the relationships between the characters, specifically MJ and PP.