Its cast, stunts and higher budget are advantages over the original, but I prefer the attitude of the original.
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Sean Bean can play a pretty convincing bad-assed villain. He has done so in the past, notably in the Harrison Ford film "Patriot Games." Bean is most known for portraying Richard Sharpe in the long running television Sharpe series, having made sixteen films thus far as the character. However, in the remake of the 1986 film of the same name, Bean steps into the shoes first filled by Rutger Hauer commandingly and convincingly. The modern update of the horror classic is good, but it does not surpass the intensity or barren desolation felt in the original film, but on the strength of Bean´s portrayal of the psychopathic hitchhiker, the film succeeds to a length.
The 2007 edition of "The Hitcher" follows the general plotline of the original film. A young man is pursued by a dangerous and murderous hitchhiker and nobody, including the police, is able to stop him. Whereas the first film featured a waitress that worked in a truck stop partnering with the main character, the Dave Meyers directed update adds a long time love interest that is along for the dangerous trip and pursued by the hitchhiker. Some of the names have remained the same, and the newer film features far more hair-raising stunts and less suspense, but this "Hitcher" is certainly one of the better horror remakes out of the recent rash of travesties and less than desirable attempts to remake classic horror films over the past few years.
In the film, Jim Halsey (Zachary Knighton) is traveling with his girlfriend Grace Andrews (Sophia Bush) in his old 442 V8 powered Ford. On a rainy night, they almost run over a hitchhiker standing in the middle of the road and Jim finds himself spinning wildly out of control and nearly crashing. They decide not to pick up the stranger and head down the road to a gas station. There, they meet up with the hitchhiker, John Ryder (Sean Bean) and Jim agrees to take him to a town a few miles down the road to obtain the services of a Pick-Up truck. Very shortly into the trip, Ryder destroys Jim´s cell phone and pulls a knife on the young girl in the back seat. Ryder is not the trustworthy sole that his wedding band suggests and the rainy night is just the beginning of terror for Jim and Grace.
The local police and police Lieutenant Esteridge (Neal McDonough) believe that Jim and Grace are on a murderous rampage and have killed police officers in the station to escape. They do not realize the horrendous deaths caused by Ryder and the horrible fates that await them if they do not believe the teenagers pleas to believe their story about a hitchhiker that has killed an entire family and stalked them since they had given the hitchhiker a ride the night before. Ryder refuses to kill Jim and Grace and seems completely content on torturing them and terrorizing them. His motives are not clear to the two teens, but they are unable to escape his pursuit. The teens come face to face with Ryder at a motel and disastrous results occur that may or may not end Ryder´s reign of terror.
The new "The Hitcher" is a decent horror film. Sean Bean is the story here and he surpasses what the very talented Rutger Hauer was able to do in the original, which is saying quite a lot. Zachary Knighton is a convincing teen and takes over nicely for C. Thomas Howell as Jim. Jennifer Jason Leigh was the love interest/female partner in the first film and the very lovely Sophia Bush supplies the loud and shrill screams in this new film. While the cast may be an improvement over the original film, the more torrid pacing and louder and more explosive stunts take away from the sense of terror and suspense that defined the character of the first movie. This new "Hitcher" features more jump frights and forced shocks to frighten the audience, where the original had an ominous character and persona that kept the audience uneasy. The new film is a product of today´s faster paced Hollywood. Its cast, stunts and higher budget are advantages over the original, but I prefer the attitude of the original. That is my opinion, and it is also my opinion that the remake is not too shabby either.
Video:
This new modern re-invention of "The Hitcher" is visually superior to the original film that had the same desolate and sparse feeling of Steven Spielberg´s "Duel." I had watched "Duel" just the week before and could still see influences in this new Michael Bay produced venture. Bay is known for loud and explosive films and "The Hitcher" is no exception. The HD-DVD release is one of Universal´s Combo-Format releases and features an HD-30 platter on one side and a DVD-9 platter on the flip side. Both transfers are properly formatted in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio of the theatrical production. The High Definition film is mastered in visually appealing VC-1 encoded 1080p resolution. The standard definition title features anamorphic widescreen. Comparing the two shows how strong the high definition transfer is with its golden hues and strong level of detail. The entire film is shot with a color scheme that gives the feeling of a very hot and warm environment. It has a ´baked´ look that nicely augments the action on-screen. Black levels are very strong, and shadow detail holds up during the films darker moments. Detail is where this transfer shines, as every pore on lovely Sophia Bush´s face can be seen. Universal has typically done HD-DVD right and "The Hitcher" is no exception.
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[release]20634[/release]