I put off watching this movie for 12 years thinking that it was just a remake of Hardcore from the 70's with George C. Scott and Peter Doyle and the private eye. Hardcore was one of my favorite movies as a kid. Jism Jim and George C. had some great lines in the movie and it was seedy and scummy enough to inspire this 13 year old's imagination.
Fast forward 25 years to last night, my old lady wanted to watch a thriller on the Roku and this one popped up so I caved in and watched it. You know what? This is how a remake should be done. The story is altered enough to make it fresh and new elements are added to boost the juice.
The original Hardcore had the guy's runaway daughter get into drugs and porn and associating with a snuff film producer. George C. Scott takes over from the lame private eye and teams up with a peep show girl to traverse the sex trade underground in search of Rattan, the snuffer, and his daughter. Once he finds her, she is alive and it is over.
In 8mm, Cage is the private dick trying to figure out if the girl on film is really dead and he teams up with a loser who works at an adult book store to traverse the seedy underground of the sex business. Of course the chick really is dead, but Cage finds the film makers and gets revenge for the snuffed teen. Also there is a twist with his client's lawyer being in on it and double crossing Cage. So this movie is similar to Hardcore but darker and with revenge, action and a lame twist thrown in.
I've got to say that Schumacher must've found the scumiest locations in each city to shoot because man he made New York, LA, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh look like the most depressing places on the planet. Great acting by Gandolfini as the seedy and greedy producer and the guy who played Dino Velvet, ever so creepy and deranged.
If you've been putting this off because you're a fan of Hardcore and think that this is just a straight remake, give it a look see. It is different enough from the original to be interesting and has some more elements to it.
As far as the twist. It was lame and almost predictable. A better twist would have been to mimic the old movie and have the girl alive but all strung out and in love Dino and the Machine then having her kill Cage so that her mother never finds out where she is. Now that is a much better twist and in the spirit of the original film. But overall the movie was dark, depressing and good. Give it a chance. AnchovyD
Fast forward 25 years to last night, my old lady wanted to watch a thriller on the Roku and this one popped up so I caved in and watched it. You know what? This is how a remake should be done. The story is altered enough to make it fresh and new elements are added to boost the juice.
The original Hardcore had the guy's runaway daughter get into drugs and porn and associating with a snuff film producer. George C. Scott takes over from the lame private eye and teams up with a peep show girl to traverse the sex trade underground in search of Rattan, the snuffer, and his daughter. Once he finds her, she is alive and it is over.
In 8mm, Cage is the private dick trying to figure out if the girl on film is really dead and he teams up with a loser who works at an adult book store to traverse the seedy underground of the sex business. Of course the chick really is dead, but Cage finds the film makers and gets revenge for the snuffed teen. Also there is a twist with his client's lawyer being in on it and double crossing Cage. So this movie is similar to Hardcore but darker and with revenge, action and a lame twist thrown in.
I've got to say that Schumacher must've found the scumiest locations in each city to shoot because man he made New York, LA, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh look like the most depressing places on the planet. Great acting by Gandolfini as the seedy and greedy producer and the guy who played Dino Velvet, ever so creepy and deranged.
If you've been putting this off because you're a fan of Hardcore and think that this is just a straight remake, give it a look see. It is different enough from the original to be interesting and has some more elements to it.
As far as the twist. It was lame and almost predictable. A better twist would have been to mimic the old movie and have the girl alive but all strung out and in love Dino and the Machine then having her kill Cage so that her mother never finds out where she is. Now that is a much better twist and in the spirit of the original film. But overall the movie was dark, depressing and good. Give it a chance. AnchovyD