[jimdgoulding]

Saw Finchers take on Dragon Tattoo yesterday.  Certainly better production than the Swedish version. Liked the soundtrack minus the opening which IMHO was the usual industrial drivel.  Had some subtle humor that the Swedish version did not have or if it did I didn't get it.  Enjoyed the movie quite a bit, wouldn't say its way better that the other.  Their both similar but different,what they add/omit is not the same.

Saw the original, also, and liked it along with the sequel.  Hope to see this one this week.

[Rob Babcock]

For better or worse, I recently read that the second film will substantially to depart from the books to keep The Girl the main character.  Presumably Rooney Mara's performance was well received and there's a perception that American audiences will want her to be the focus of the story.  Again, I haven't read any of the books and have no idea what the overarching storyline is, so I can't comment beyond this- just relaying what the writers & producers have said.

[jimdgoulding]

Whadda ya gonna do.  They got guys sittin around with stats of American buttons.  Probably in Scandinavia, too, tho I think it must pale by comparison.  Where's there's more money, there is more de-evolution.

[Crimson]

I hope that's not the case. But that's Hollywood for you.

[Rob Babcock]

To be frank, if they wanted a Nordic edition they would have simply left it alone.  I actually don't see any problem with releasing works tailored to the audience, provided it's done correctly.  Fans of the book can criticize the original movies for not capturing the books; then the fans of the "original" (I guess I should have just said "first") movies will carp on the new movies not capturing the first set of films.

With no disrespect meant to any posters here, decades of reading books and loving films has convinced me that they're two separate beasts.  Any efforts to link them at the hips is doomed to disappointment.  There are a multitude of reasons for this but first and foremost they're such different art forms that they really do require "translation."  That's where a great producer/writer/director can find the other side of the art.

[ptmconsulting]

From what I've read online about the comparison between the original and the remake, I think it is probably best to just see both. Each seems to have their strengths and weaknesses, at least in the original book 1 movie. I have to say theat the original movies 2 and 3 were not as good as the first one IMO.

[nonoise]

The movie will always be different that the book so I always brace myself, if I'd read the book, before going to see the movie. Fincher did a great job of staying faithful to the first book despite taking some shortcuts towards the end but the it kept the same message and lost nothing in the translation.

If the 2nd movie does veer away from the book I can see where it can be easily done without screwing with the message, now that I have a handle on what Fincher can do with the material. Fincher managed to squeeze in some tidbits of the plot from the 2nd book that led me to believe he might consolidate "The Girl Who Played With Fire" with "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest" and call it a day, but there is so much that happens in the 2nd and 3rd books that would have to be left out that it would disappoint. Lizbeth does carry most of the work in the 2nd book so all Fincher would have to do is touch bases with Blomkvist in a supporting role and all will be well.

I'd love to be a sounding board with Fincher and Zallman on this one.

[drab]

I thought the movie was great. As far as I can tell, Rooney Mara is the perfect woman. Beautiful, talented and she has access to not one but two NFL owners boxes. 

[djkest]

I thought it was a great movie. To me, it seemed like it was really fast-paced, especially for the first hour or so. There was a lot of material to cover. I thought it translated the book to the screen better than the Swedish version. I thought Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara were great. The supporting cast was really good too- I liked Heinrich Vanger and Martin Vanger as casting choices.

I can't wait to see it again, although my wife my never see it at all.

Domestic total will easily top $100 million by next week, and should easily surpass $90 million in foreign markets. Will make some money on Blu-ray sales, Netflix, etc. So given the estimated $90 million budget, I think it can be considered a moderate success. Probably enough to make a 2nd and 3rd movie.

[jimdgoulding]

Finally saw it.  To me, the Swedish version was edgier and more to my liking.  Thought Henrik was very well played by Christopher Plummer. 

[ptmconsulting]

After having read all the books and seen all the Sweedish movies I finally got to see the Hollywood version. I would say that it was a toss up on this first movie. I really enjoyed both versions with some caveats, mostly because both had spots where they couldn't quite bring out the subtleties in the book as clearly as I would have liked. That can be said about any movie though.

Big HOWEVER - - - the second and third Sweedish movies sucked big time IMO. So if Hollywood can keep this level up for the next 2 I think it will be a winning series.

[ratso]

late to this thread, sorry. the whole reason that stieg larsson wrote this series is because he witnessed a girl being raped firsthand and was too scared to get involved. the guilt he felt led him to write these to try to purge himself. the graphic rape scenes are completely justifiable and necessary to the books/films when viewed in this light. i personally loved the fact that they did not in any way try to sugarcoat the violence and ugliness of it.

as an aside, the series was originally meant to be a series of ten books, shame we will never know what direction it would have gone in. the books were never published before his death (as he wrote them for himself) and his girlfriend released them after he died.

[JoshK]

I've only seen the first two in Swedish.  I didn't think the Swedish second one sucked, but it certainly wasn't up to the level of the first.   I look forward to see the English version(s) as well. 

[Don_S]

Interesting comments on the Sweedish movies. I had a different reaction.  I thought the first movie dragged and the second and third were much better paced. I have not seen the American release yet.