Papillon (2017) [DVD]

Good movie, not better than the original.

Love this movie 10 out of 10.

Great movie

I have this version & the original film. I love both.

My Wife and I were around to see the original Papillon in a local movie theater when it was first released. We also watched the original several times since either on regular TV or video tape. When I found this new remake being offered thru our Amazon Prime subscription I added it to our Watchlist.Last evening I asked my Wife if she would like to watch 15-20 minutes to see if she would like it, she agreed. We both are fans of Rami Malek and really liked the original Papillon movie with McQueen and Hoffman so we began watching. At the 20 minute mark I paused it and asked her if she wanted to finish watching, she agreed that what we had viewed thus far was worth watching to the end. Both Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek, as well as the other actors provide an excellent portrayal of this true story.And, even though there are some similarities to the original, the portrayal had enough of it's own unique content to keep both our interests and for that to happen is a rare occurrence. Not once during the 2 plus hour movie did I have a dozing moment which is extremely rare for me.Some negative reviews are to be expected, most people, including my Wife and I often say "why don't they just let the original stand" but in this instance having seen the original when it was first released in the theaters and several times since, we can honestly say that this is an excellent remake and well worth watching.

This is a great remake! Love the original also!

... to Charriere's memoir, and on top of that, even Charriere said the book was not completely accurate, that it may be something in the 75% range of true, after having looked at the photographs of him before and after, I doubt even that.But I digress. The film is very good, even if substantial artistic license is taken.For the full effect of the differences, I'd say read the memoir, then see the movie. The perspective would be notable.For the quality of the film, rather than Hollywood's version of Charriere's version of what may or may not have happened or what may or may not have been overlooked, I'd say it is worth a look.I see the double billing on the poster, but Charlie Hunnam is not in the same league as Rami Malek. Not even close. Charlie Hunnam is an actor of singular dimension. He plays the same kind of character with the same monotone voice and delivery as anything else. Rami Malek is not bound by any of those things, and his Louis Dega outshone Hunnam's Charriere in almost every scene with the both of them in it, save the last scene together, where Hunnam almost did some acting. Almost.The prison sets are remarkable, the interior scenes are not, the sideshot of 4 escapees in the dingy bobbing about was so poorly done and badly soundstaged it looked as though it was spliced in from another movie. The other inmates on Devil's Island must have been rushed over still in character from a zombie movie on a nearby set. They were not very convincing as resident convicts.The tone of the scenes was set by the lighting, and is was fairly well done, the sound was even, the dialogue was surprisingly good, but far too much time was spent on minutia. For a 2+ hour film, much was left out that should not have been. We went from floating away on coconuts to flying in an airliner back to France in one segue. Several years were missing in that transition from floating to flying that would have added considerable perspective and depth.This film is not nearly the original with McQueen and Hoffman. While Malek's Dega is as good as Hoffman's, the remainder of the cast was lacking. Still, I think it is worth a look for Rami Malek's performance alone.

I listened to this on my way to work for several months and just loved it. Michael Prichard does a superb reading, adopting the rough accent of an ex-con, but reading the French and Spanish parts very capably. The book is a remarkable story of escapes and recaptures during Carriere's years of imprisonment in French Guyana of the 1930s and 40s, and whatever you might think of the truthfulness of it, the story is well-told and often moving. I enjoyed every minute of it.