Sitting in the movie theater last month I was horrified to see a movie trailer for some movie called “Pirate Radio.” And I was horrified. The movie is not “Pirate Radio” – it’s called “The Boat That Rocked” and it’s been assaulted by the American Movies studios.
Let me preface this by saying that I didn’t think that “The Boat That Rocked” was a particularly awesome movie – it certainly wasn’t as good as Love, Actually or other offerings from writer/director Richard Curtis. However, it was decent enough and I really enjoyed watching it. It will certainly become part of the Anglotopia movie collection.
I haven’t seen the cut-up American version – all I have to go on is the trailer but from what I’ve seen in the trailer, the TV commercials and the online advertising campaign, they are fundamentally altering the details of the movie to sell it to an American audience.
The major difference is that they have decided to focus on the American DJ in the movie played brilliantly by Philip Seymour Hoffman. They’ve made it seen like he’s actually the focus on the movie and is singlehandedly bringing Rock and Roll to Britain. They are making it seem like one American DJ started the Rock and Roll revolution in Britain in the 60′s. Further from the truth, we did not bring Rock and Roll to the UK D-day style. He’s NOT the focus of the movie. They’ve even changed the title to make the movie seem edgier than it actually is.
“The Boat That Rocked” is an ensemble movie – and it’s being marketed as being all about Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s character. However, ensemble movies are difficult to market to American audiences. Americans want a ‘hero’ to focus on. Who knows – it might make the movie even better as one of the weaknesses of the “The Boat That Rocked” was it’s lack of focus.
I just don’t think I’ll be spending my time seeing this travesty. We’ve seen it time and time again – movies from around the world brought over to America and butchered because movie studios think they know what we like. For example – the first Harry Potter movie is actually called ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” in the UK and they actually went to the trouble to film scenes twice so that Americans would only hear ‘sorcerer’s stone’ instead. Even Love, Actually differs from the UK version – we watched the UK version this year for the first time and there are actually subtle differences that we only noticed because it was the 10th time or so we’d seen the film.
They do the same things to British TV shows by remaking them for an American audience. It’s insulting to our intelligence and it’s a waste of money and resources. Just give it to us straight. Don’t assume the worse.
Who knows – they may not have actually cut the movie up and it’s all just typical marketing ploys to get people in the theater. Either way you slice it – it’s dishonest and insulting.
Long live “The Boat that Rocked!”
Original UK Trailer:
American Trailer:
Author Info - Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile with an obsession for Britain that borders on psychosis. He keeps Anglotopia running in his spare time, always dreaming of his next trip to England, wishing he lived there - specifically Dorset - and is always trying to figure out a way to move to England. It will happen one day. Keep up with him on Twitter here. Read more from this author
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Anglotopia was founded by Jonathan and Jackie Thomas for people who love Britain - whether it's British TV, Culture, History or Travel - we cover it all. Anglotopia was started to get us back to the UK for a trip and it did that in 2009. Now, the goal is for Anglotopia to make our dream of living in the UK a reality.
I was in London when the film premiered (saw them putting up the stage in Leicester Square). I liked the title and the poster they used there, are it really summed up the spirit of the time. Also I loved how there it was “with Phillip Seymour Hoffman” and here it’s “STARRING Phillip Seymour Hoffman.”
I personally adored “The Boat That Rocked”, but I’m slightly obsessed with Brit radio anyway. I’ve found this rebranding of the film (and re-editing) offensive. No offense to Hoffman, but the stars of this film are Bill Nighty and Rhys Ifans, both of whom should be fairly well known on their own. Ah well, I recommend the soundtrack for the British version.
I saw this film shortly after it came out, and I thought that it was pretty good. Certainly better than most other films I had seen recently. But until now, I had no idea that it had been renamed and cannibalised accross the pond.
Jonathan- have you heard of a film called Quadrophenia? It’s set in the same era as this, and deals with musical culture, except from the point of view of the Mods and Rockers (gang culture that appeared in England during the 60s), and the Second Battle of Hastings (massive gang fight that took place in Brighton between the mods and rockers). You might enjoy it, because it takes a close look at aspects of English culture and history, and it’s a very English film all around.
Tom
To be honest, the film bombed in Britain & got poor reviews. I wouldn’t have thought that any audience outside of Britain ( or even a British audience ) would either know or care that much about Radio Caroline. I’m not sure why the film was made at all. Given that Curtis has aimed films squarely at a non British audience ( ie. he has taken British themes & somewhat cynically watered them down for mass consumption ) with “Notting Hill”, “Love Actually”, etc., I’d argue that “The Boat That Rocked” was made more as an export British film rather than a homegrown one. In fact, I’d argue that most British films made in the last 20 years were made for export, given that they portrayed British stereotyopes/institutions ( “The Queen” or the Harry Potter series ) or were costume dramas.
The Harry Potter series, for instance, borrows heavily from the US film, “Young Sherlock Holmes”. I think that catering for international audiences, specifically North American, has long been de rigeur for British cinema.
I saw the movie as “Pirate Radio” this week. I LOVED it. I was unaware it was released under a different title months ago in the UK, but was delighted since I’d be able to get a copy of the DVD sooner than I thought (yes, I enjoyed it THAT much). I was disappointed when I saw some of the poor reviews that it had received.
I think the newer cut actually used the criticisms it had originally got to improve the story. I understand how the trailer made it LOOK like they were playing up Hoffman’s role, but the film essentially stayed the same. Just writing this so you, Jonathan, can have your mind at ease. Don’t waste your money seeing the EXACT same movie you already saw (plus or minus a few random scenes), but know that the film was not “assaulted by the American Movies studios.”
This Pirate Radio re branding is just more of the same ….now we have George Clooney voicing Mr Fox in R Dahls classic and ofcourse the evil farmers are all played by English actors.
I’m a Brit living in the States and why are we always The evil genius,the overly bookish weak link or traitorous coward?….I’m surprised my American children put up with me, even kids shows are fixed this way. Take ‘Bob the Builder’ all the original British accents have been changed to stock wholesome American…except ofcourse for ‘spud’(the shows weak link/buffoon)who retains his English accent.
i’m embarrassed for you clued Yanks.. planet America…twirling on the bliss twig of ignorame. Can you imagine us Brits changing the accents in Sesame street or where the wild things are… in the UK even our most uncultured ,uneducated demographics don’t need such sly winking usery.
Well, if you check out the new article that was just published, I do a pretty bare-bones review of the differences between the UK and US versions. Really, the name change was the only change I cared for. After seeing this movie in Rome, drinking the kool-aid, and coming back a total fan of it, I felt like I got tongue-tied every time I said the name. Even if you’re talking about Harry Potter or Star Wars films, you may notice you have a tendency to say “Goblet of Fire” or “Return of the Jedi.” “Pirate Radio” essentially said exactly what the film is about–pirate radio stations. Americans may not know squat about Radio Caroline, but they’ll get what it’s about with that title. It’s just a marketing thing.
Tom–reading over your post I got a flash of Mighty Boosh Series 1. “I am a rocker and he is a mod. We are mortal enemies!” lol
Melissa–if you liked that, you should watch the original.
Dominic–Would you, in fact, argue that Her Majesty has more than one emotional expression?
I already did watch the original, which was why I posted the reply
I just watched it last night with my girlfriend and her roomate and my girl picked it over Twilight if you can believe that. (we’re all in our 40′s)
We really enjoyed it. We loved the music and British wit. I’m glad I didn’t see the watered down American version. I lived in Guernsey for a few mo when I was 4 so I guess you could say I’m fairly pro-British. I grew up on The Beatles and Monty Python’s Flying Circus so I’m a great admirer of UK flicks.
It was great to see Bill Nighy in a non menacing role. Kenneth Branagh and Hoffman were also great. But then they usually are.