"The Island" 2005 a "Parts" rip-off

This topic has been floating around the internet for a while, but I recognized it independently a few weeks back: the new movie "The Island" is in fact a remake of an older (yet crappier) movie called "Parts: The Clonus Horror" (1979). Those of you who are proficient in their Mystery Science Theater 3000 will recognize this as episode 811. The movie basically sets perfect clones of rich people in a utopian society where they are trained to be healthy in case their real-life counterpart needs a new organ. In such a case they are told they have "passed" in life and will be shipped to an "island" as congratulations. The original features one clone who doesn't buy into the whole perfection bit and begins to question his surroundings when he discovers odd things such as an old Milwuakee's Best beer can in a stream.

Frankly I'm surprised this movie hadn't been remade earlier. The topic is completely relevant to our stem cell research advances today and could easily turn into ammunition for anti-stem cell research organizations (i.e. the american government) in their quest to emphasize the farfetched. The idea is entertaining, and it does prove an ethical dilemma which modern ethicists can rage over ad nauseum for some four hundred years. However the movie itself I find to have fallen into a CG trend. Explosions, explosions, explosions. The more action, adventure, and excitement, the more people will like it, right? says Bruckheimer and his followers. The preview shows an exploding helicopter falling from the sky as a large building logo falling along with it and the 'camera' going through the hole in the logo's "R." High speed chases, more explosions, sex, explosions, you must be getting my point by now.

All I can say to this is with all of the technology going into manufacturing particle fire and explosions, what portion is going to exploring style??? I just watched "Superman" (1978) today and considering the enormous expense it took to make, along with state of the art technology, it was still done so well I'd even say it had some timeless camera work in it. The trial on Krypton with the large faces on the wall behind Marlon Brando, this is a feature I haven't seen used in many if any CG laden movies. Looking back further, I reference a Red Skelton movie "Bathing Beauty" (1944) where a trumpet solo on a stage lapses into a dream like sequence featuring members of the band's body spliced and overlayed against the trumpeteer. Hell, look at "Blues Brothers" (1980) when Curtis is on stage scating and his band lapses into a lounge band with white outfits and a comlpete stage set up. Doesn't it look good? Well, I'm running out of patience with my writing so I'll create a point: it's time for the pineal to stop controlling Hollywood. Bring back the ethereal dreamers of yesteryear and arm them with the limitless technology of CG. For their movies, I will gladly shell out $6.50 (student rate of course).