Us uk

There are major differences between the British and the American film industries, they may work in the same industry, but they work in different way, when it comes to budgets, script writing and marketing. I will be using the British film "Mean Machine" starring Vinnie Jones, and the US remake "The Longest Yard" starring Adam Sandler, in order to present these differences.

British made film will most likely focus on the story and drama rather than the look and style. This is because scripts are generally cheaper compared to the technical and artistic expertise to create a film. Then due to creators focusing on story or drama. They will then not spend large amounts on the look or the quality.

Meaning it may not then interest a large target audience. Then because of poor box office returns, it means that budgets for future films will be limited, meaning the same standard of film will continue to be in production. The government set up the film council, with one of its main aims being to try to stop this cycle that surrounds British Cinema. One of the long term objectives of the Council was to develop the industry and try to encourage investment from elsewhere, but with changes of government, these things are not sustained, so no real change is made so in GB films, ideas such as co-production roles alongside Hollywood are thought of.

In contrast Hollywood used to have a studio system, which was "vertically integrated" meaning you had your own ways to make and sell a product, by controlling production, exhibition and distribution. This was called the Hollywood Studio System.

Companies were told in the late 1940s by the US Government that they could not keep all 3 stages of the production, so companies sold off their cinemas, the exhibition stage of the product. But they also responded by diversifying within different means. You had companies making films, but they would advertise on TV, make cartoons of the film to be shown on TV, release books because they diversified into other media forms within the media industry. Online a company would make a website of the film, and other merchandise would be made, this was under licence so they had the ability to saturate the market with 1 idea in lots of forms.

“Mean Machine” was released in 2001, when football hooliganism was still somewhat rife within the UK, which links to the main themes of football, gambling and violence of course, as the film is set in a prison. The film can almost be seen to be a protest film in some ways, as it shows people coming together in tough circumstances through football, whereas the society in the UK was being spread apart by the football violence.

The circumstances of sport also linked to the making of the Hollywood remake as in 2005, when “The Longest Yard” was released, there are allegations of cheating and match fixing in different sports around the world. The film can show a wider American audience the effects of this maybe happening within American sport, and it can also provoke thought and questions such as “Is this happening in our sports?” & “How many people are doing it and not being caught” It was for both films a relevant cultural issue at the time of production.

The funding for the UK’s “ Mean Machine” came from Paramount Studios, even though it’s a very British film in terms of cast, setting and content. For the Hollywood remake “The Longest Yard” also had funding from Paramount Studios, but there was a major contrast in budgets, “Mean Machine’s budget was an estimated 2.5 million pounds, whereas the “The Longest Yard” budget was a estimated budget of 82 million dollars. There are a variety of different reasons for the difference. For example for the American film, they cast stars, which can then attract bigger audiences. Also the themes of both films are slightly different, as “The Longest Yard” uses American football and the NFL to tell the story, whereas “Mean Machine” uses soccer, which has less of a following in the US, so will not attract a large audience. Also, cast profile will appeal to a wider audience, as “The Longest Yard” does this by having well known actors such as Adam Sandler, but it also stars musicians such as Nelly, and has ex-NFL players in cameo roles to target mainstream audiences, youth audiences and sports fans. In context “Mean Machine” has a more limited cast, with less high profile names with more British well known actors. Vinnie jones is now well known in the USA, but this was one of his first films as an actor, but this will attract an audience in the UK, as the public will know him from his footballing days. It also has Danny Dyer and Jason Statham, Statham went on to do bigger films in the US but this was one of his first films, and was only known at the time as A UK star. The film does also include ex UK footballers, but ex footballers from the lower leagues, not the highest standard.

The “Mean Machine” cast is used to highlight the characters within the film, as the cast of the film are part of a very "niche" film, based on their previous work, very fast paced "geezer" films aimed at men. The main example of this is the main character Meehan, Vinnie Jones, who before his acting career was known as a very hardman footballer. So this seemed the perfect role for him. Also, Jason Statham plays the character of “The Monk”. Statham is well known for being one of the main characters in action films. But he suits the character of “The Monk” very well, as he has to play basically a mentalist, a thug. Finally Danny Dyer, who is also known for starring in hardman films and TV shows, plays the character of Billy, but in this film, quite early in his career, instead of playing a hardman character, he plays a character that in all honestly just seems a bit simple and naive.

In context the American version “The Longest Yard” had major A-List actors. For example the massive global comedy star Adam Sandler plays the main character of Paul Crewe, but the role is slightly different, as he has to play a slightly serious character as well. The character of "Caretaker" is played by comedian Chris Rock, which was a good choice as his character has quite lot of short quick lines which are meant to be funny. There was also an interesting choice for one of the characters, when Burt Reynolds was cast as Nate Scarborough, but he also starred in an earlier version of "The longest yard" which was released in 1974, so casting here was to attract previous audiences.

The casting for the movie even stretched to the music world, as musician Nelly was cast for the character of "Megget". The reason for such global stars being

cast is because the budget for this film would be considerably higher than the British original and so they could afford to do so.

There is an obvious gulf in the status of actors between the British and US films, because of budget, which means the Hollywood version can hire big stars, even just for cameo roles. And if a film has so many well-known names, it will most likely be successful, as it will attract a wide-ranging audience. Whereas “Mean Machine” does not have as many well-known actors, meaning it will not be as appealing to the viewing public as “The Longest Yard”, and so the GB film industry cycle continues.

The settings and locations of the films are very similar, but there are small differences, which distinguish them. For example in “The Longest Yard” the setting of the big game is in a big football stadium full of supporters, whereas “Mean Machine’s game is played on the prison grounds. This is again to do with budget as the American film can afford to rent a big stadium, to hire all the extras to be supporters in the crowd, whereas “Mean Machine” being a British production, it will be looking for the lowest cost way to do things due to it’s low budget, but then this can make the film look low quality, meaning it may lose audiences when released into cinema, thus not making a high amount of money at the box office, and continuing the cycle of under-funding for UK cinema, however it can also provide a realism for the UK films that Hollywood just doesn’t have because of it’s writing.

Both films can be described under the same narrative, this is because they both meet the typical classic Hollywood narrative, as both films start with a status quo, in this case in both films, an outsider going into a new environment, and by the end of the film, the outsider is now accepted and a part of the new environment.

And the real obstacles that the character faces to be apart of the environment as a part of the narrative journey. For example in both films the main obstacle is coping with the death of the oldest most trusted prisoner. Also, both films follow a linear line of showing the events of the film, meaning it is shown in chronological order.

The UK’s “Mean Machine” was released in 24 countries in Europe in countries such as Finland, Spain and the Czech Republic. But it was also released across the world in countries such as Kuwait, New Zealand and Australia. This was a good move by the production company as there could be quite a large audience to target in Australia, this is due to the large amount of British people who emigrated to Australia, meaning there will be a large amount of people who will know the themes of the film and understand it. Whereas “The Longest Yard” was initially released in 32 countries, with 3 of these countries, Argentina, Brazil & Finland, releasing it just on DVD, but I believe the production company missed an opportunity by doing this, as 2 of these countries are both situated near to America so it could have attracted quite a wide audience who may understand the themes of the film, thus making more money at the box office, however the choice to make it NFL based could have been a factor here, as these nations are soccer loving areas.

American producers know their films will very likely be successful wherever it’s released if it has a good, well-known cast, which “The Longest Yard” has. It also has a very diverse cast from the worlds of sport, music and film, thus attracting a bigger audience. Due to films in the past making high box office returns, it means that the production company can take “risks” on the release of this film in certain

countries based on previous profits. Whereas the UK’s “Mean Machine” was shown in less countries, perhaps because the budget for the film was small in comparison to “The Longest Yard” budget, so there was less interest, but this can also be because in the past, British films have not done as well in the box office, meaning that future films’ budgets will be limited. Also, the cast for “Mean Machine” was reasonably well known in Britain at the time, but would not have been known in many other countries. Whereas; “The Longest Yard” had stars who are known all around the world internationally.

The studio that released "Mean Machine" in the UK was Paramount Pictures, and when the remake was released in the USA under the name "The Longest Yard" it was also released under Paramount Pictures. Who bought the rights to the film, meaning they could release the film under their own preference.

The marketing for the UKs “Mean Machine” would focus on the cast somewhat, but mostly it would try and sell the film on the story itself, the story of someone reaching the lowest point of his life, and how he slowly rises up again, but in the prison environment. It may not be able to sell the film to people on stars alone in most countries, as the cast are not going to be very well known outside the UK. Whereas “The Longest Yard” can be sold on stars alone, due to the magnitude of stars, but it could show it on human emotion & football. Which can attract a much wider audience as people may not know the theme of the film, but may go to watch the film anyway due to the actors in it. This can link back to the Hollywood industry itself as the budget is large enough to make sure that big stars can be cast for films, due to past successful films and their profits. The more successful Hollywood films that are released, the more that can be produced.

The producers would try and sell other products to try and entice people into the film, almost making a whole world revolved around the film. For example, both films released a CD soundtrack which had all the songs used in the film on it.

This is another way to make money from the audience, as if they like the film they may buy the soundtrack, as they will link the songs they like to the film and bring back the memory of how much they enjoyed it.

Even the poster for the UK’s "Mean Machine" can highlight that the film is indeed a British film. It is a small link but the colours of the English flag, red and white, are used throughout the poster. Also, the poster is used to highlight the main characters within the film, but the most poster space is reserved for Vinnie Jones’s character, as he is the main character and the most well known character in the context of the time of the film was produced.

Film posters are also used to show the viewing audience what type of genre the film will be. But with this film poster it can be quite difficult to pinpoint a genre.

From the looks of the facial expressions of the characters on the poster, it can be described as a drama, but this can be counteracted with the tag line, "Not your usual suspects" which suggest it could also be seen by an audience as a comedy film. Also, the characters holding footballs could add to this, by knowing that the footballs, or the idea of football could be a focal point within the story and suggest the idea of a sports movie.

Whereas the poster for "The Longest Yard" seems a lot more of a dramatic poster. For example of the colours used, there is a large amount of red and orange, usually used to symbolise fire, or fear. But then we look at the facial expressions of some of the players; some of them are smiling, almost like they

are staring at something that would make them laugh, whereas some characters have quite a serious facial expression. So maybe the colours are there just to suggest the global stars, the main selling point for this film.

Also the tag line for "Mean Machine" may not 100% associate the film with being a comedy, but the tag line for "The Longest Yard" is "If you can't get out, get even" so from just the tag line you can relatively guess what the film will be about. Not being able to escape, from in this case the guards and prison. And the film can be predicted to be about trying to get even at the guards for how they are treated, The UK’s “Mean Machine” was originally released in 6 screens in the USA and in 313 screens across the UK for the opening weekend of release. Whereas “The Longest Yard” was released in 379 screens in the USA on the opening weekend of release. In the UK the highest amount of screens it was shown on 381, and in the height of its popularity the film was shown on 3,634 screens in the USA. This can highlight the difference between British and US cinema, as the UK highest release was only two screens higher than the lowest in the USA. The original film was not re-released into cinemas but because it was now in the public’s mind, it did mean a slight rise in sales of the DVD of the original UK film. This is a clear indication of the expectation a box office success by Hollywood movies due to the draw of their global stars & high production values and the expectation that UK film will do less well at home and abroad due to audience references for stars for example.

Audience response for the film "Mean Machine" was somewhat mixed. On the review site "Rotten Tomatoes" 74% of audience members said that they enjoyed the film. Audiences described it as "A laugh out loud and gritty action-packed good time." One user highlighted the British humour within the film "The Brit humour in this one is tops!” The acting was also discussed as one user said, "This was a role Footballer turned Actor Vinnie Jones was meant to play". This can be seen to be a success for the British film industry, as with it being a British film, it will have a certain sense of humour that is different to the USA re-make type of humour, UK humour which is more subtle. It can also be described as a success when it comes to the cast, despite the low budget compared to the remake, from comments it seems that picking Vinnie Jones for the lead role was the right decision.

But with every film, it will always have its critics. One film fan described “Mean Machine”, as "The fun is lost in translation", guessing that some US audiences may not understand the humour. And one user said, "Even Vinnie 'HARD MAN' Jones couldn't save this one." This highlights the problems that can arise in the British film industry, poor funding because of past investments means that scripts are the focus and production values are limited.

Despite the large amount of budget for “The Longest Yard”, it still had very mixed reviews as it only received a 31% approval rating on the film rating site “Rotten Tomatoes” One of the main hopeful points of success for this film was the high quality of the cast, but some of the audience did not agree with this and described the cast as “awful” and asked what the point of re-making this film actually was. Also, the film was meant to be a comedy, but by comments such as “What was it? One minute we’re crying, the next we’re laughing,” suggests US audiences don’t appreciate drama with their comedy. Despite the high amount of money spent on production for the film, it still left a small part of the audience

alienated by them asking what genre of film is this really was, which is interesting as this wasn’t a question asked by UK audiences.

With "Mean Machine" having a budget of 2.5 Million pounds, it was shown to be quite successful in the box office; especially in the UK as the opening weekend earnings were just over 1.5 Million pounds, more than half the film’s budget. The total gross for the film in the UK was just over 4.8 Million pounds, and this was over a 5-week stint in cinema. The film was also released within the USA, but it only grossed just over 92 thousand dollars over a 10 week stint in cinemas, but it was never going to really have as much success in the USA as “The Longest Yard”, due to the cast not being well known and a large population of the US not wanting to watch a film with the theme of soccer, as soccer was not big in the USA at this time.

With “The Longest Yard” having a budget of 82 million dollars it was always going to have to take a large amount of money to consider the film a success, but in the opening weekend it made just over 58.5 million dollars in the USA, and made just over 1.2 million pounds in the UK. It went on to make over double its budget with the final box office money being 190 million dollars, with 158 million dollars made just in the USA alone. A high investment spent on the film meant that a high amount of money was made, meaning the profits can be spent on future films, thus adding more to the success of the Hollywood film industry.

“The Longest yard” also received mixed reviews from critics, with one critic saying “A film we could live without, inspired by an original that was anything but essential” Just like with the audience reviews, journalism reviews were also quite mixed. For example one critic wrote of the UK’s “Mean Machine”, for some audiences, the film just won't work.” The idea of Americans not understanding the film also came up within audience reviews due to the difference between American and UK comedy, and different things making different audiences laugh.

Also, one critic discussed the humour, by saying "The humour is hinged on the belief that knees in the crotch, elbows in the face and spit in the eye are inherently funny”, but British audiences will find this funny and British films usually have more hidden and less emphatic humour then Hollywood ones. For example a sly comment can be considered very humorous. One critic says the film "Holds its ground as a mid-budget Hollywood knockoff." Which is truthful in a way, as it was relatively low budget for a cinema shown film, but its no Hollywood knock off.

There was also the comment on “The Longest Yard” of “A film we could live without inspired by an original that was anything but essential”, which is a fair comment, but this can most likely be said about a very high amount of all remakes. One critic made a reference to the type of humour in the film by saying “Yeah, who needs talented actors like Burt Reynolds, Bill Fichtner, and James Cromwell when you can just hit someone in the crotch for 105 minutes?”

This comment slams the film for using simple slapstick humour to try and make the audience laugh, but this is the type of humour that will make a large part of the audience laugh in the US, it’s crude and meant for a younger age but is still humorous.

But Hollywood’s “The Longest Yard” did receive positive reviews from critics, with one saying “Glossy where the original was gritty and raw, silly where the original was scabrous, cartoonish where the original was dangerous and threatening, it aims only to be a lark.” This quote highlights the idea of it being a smooth film

and that has more of a comedic side compared to the UK one, which can be down to he film’s budget, as with a higher budget, it means that high quality locations can be sourced and used and the final production will look glossier while the UK, due to it’s financial position has had to specialise more in gritty, raw realistic settings and narratives.

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