I was never a fan of re-makes of classic films, but that said, some are better than others, The Richard Thomas re-make of "All Quiet on the Western Front" was quite a good and entertaining, as was the Martin Clunes version of "Goodbye Mr Chips", but this remake of "Brighton Rock" was an abysmal rip off of a classic British film. The lead character, Pinkie, was portrayed to perfection by Richard Attenborough in the original 1947 version of this film, he personified evil, the actor who played Pinkie in this new version was just a pale imitation and not very believable as a psychotic killer. The direction and photography of the newer version just cannot be compared to the 1947 version and the deviation from the original plot seems contrived. I realise that actors such as Richard Attenborough and a director like John Boulting are very hard acts to follow, but this film does not even get near to conveying the sense of menace of men like Pinkie Brown and the atmosphere of the under belly of society that the old black and white version did. The only other remake of a classic film I have seen that is marginally worse than this one is the Tom Hanks version of "The Ladykillers", why do they bother?
Review of Brighton Rock
