Remakes — we live in a veritable ocean of the them these days. It’s as if they’re aren’t any new ideas, so filmmakers just keep regurgitating the same stories over and over again. Certainly, the movie industry has always remade films. Literally since the beginning. First they started with successful plays and novels, then moved onto copying themselves and the films they’d already made. And so we’ve come to a point where we are now experiencing the exponential result of copying from copies into infinitum. And as with any analogue copy, there is always entropy and the information gets reduced and the result is generally degraded. This is not to say that there aren’t some very clever new takes on old stories, but a great deal of time, they aren’t the same stories. They are similar stores with the same name and have characters that have simply morphed, and/or are completely different, and with that shift the astrology moves with it. And certainly you’ll find that as you go back in time the remakes were more faithful to the original stories.
Here, we will look at how remade movies change or adhere to the original astrology of the story, and see how those changes manifest on-screen. Generally, what I’ve found is that, if they don’t have the same title, you won’t have the same astrology. Somewhere along the way someone decided to change it, make it there own. Kind of like wall-wort, electrical transformer that we use for a multitude of devices in our homes. CAN’T SOMEONE JUST MAKE A STANDARD ONE…OR MAYBE TWO? Everyone of them is different, because some engineer decided to put his spin on it. So your left with a sea of worthless transformers that are only good for the dumpsite. And some remakes fall into this category, and some don’t. But to determine this we must look more closely.
SHERLOCK HOLMES
It’s been said that Sherlock Holmes is the most prolifically exploited fictional character ever written. So where better to start on our journey into the astrological ramifications of remakes. As a matter of fact, it was the current Robert Downey Jr. manifestation that got me thinking about how when a classic character changes on film, that so too, would the sign of the actor who is playing him. As a matter of fact, as I was about to start the research on Holmes, I wrote in my notes that he should be a GEMINI, given that his mental capacities are virtually what every previous rendition of Sherlock Holmes has concentrated on, with the addition of boredom and impatience. These are all aspects of GEMINI, and to some degree VIRGO as it deals with analysis.
Here, we find is a MERCURIAL character who uses his pure metal powers to solve mysteries, and is always on the move. And mysteries are definitely an AIR sign exercise for the mind. They are not emotional like WATER sign films, ACTION oriented like FIRE signs, or simple like EARTH sign films. THEY ARE INTELLECTUAL. Which is why I wasn’t surprised when I found that almost the entirety of prior Sherlock Holmes films are ruled by MERCURY and more specifically most of them are GEMINI. When you have such an iconized character, he remains the same even through the story details change. AND THIS CHARACTER IS A GEMINI…
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who wrote the original novels was born May 22, 1859… GEMINI…
MR. HOLMES made in (2015) stars Ian McKellan as HOLMES…GEMINI! born May 25, 1939.
In THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1959) Holmes is portrayed by Peter Cushing…GEMINI! (May 26, 1913).
In 1943 in SHERLOCK HOLMES FACES DEATH we experience him in the form of Basil Rathbone … GEMINI! (June 13, 1892)
In 1976, Holmes was portrayed in THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION, by Nicol Williamson, although not GEMINI, he’s the next best thing…VIRGO, which is also ruled by MERCURY and is the sign of ANALYSIS. It’s mental. He’s also born on a 5 which is also MERCURY…(September 14, 1936)
In WITHOUT A CLUE (1988) starring Michael Caine who is also a MUTABLE sign, but that of PISCES. (He was born on a 5…March 14, 1933…again MECURY) but more importantly he’s not really Holmes, he’s an actor creating the ILLUSION of Holmes which is a basic tenet of PISCES.
In SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE LEADING LADY it’s GEMINI/Christopher Lee who plays Holmes (May 27th, 1932)
In Billy Wilder’s version THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1970). Wilder is the CUSP of GEMINI (June 22, 1906) and his Holmes is played by CANCER/Robert Stephens (July 14, 1933) who was also born on a 5 (MERCURY). He being a CANCER would also relate well with Wilder.
Even the SHERLOCK GNOMES was voice by Johnny Depp…GEMINI
THE NEW SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)…THE STAGE IS SET
A dark, horse-drawn police carriage hastily transverses wet cobblestone, rushing toward the fire-lit structures beyond the arch they move through.
Inside the coach, weapons are drawn, locked and loaded in the anticipation of something… An unknown figure, in chase on foot, closes in. A black raven takes to the air.
This sets the stage for the latest incarnation of Sherlock Holmes, now an action film replete with chases, fist fights, fire bombs and CGI set pieces where the villain and the hero slug it out in a life or death struggle to prove who is superior. In short, it is the tale of an intellectual warrior who now is also a physical one. And who better to stride into this MARSIAN role than ARIES/Robert Downey Jr. This portrayal not only displays a change in the normal Sherlock Holmes we’ve come to know, but also in Robert Downey Jr.. For both of them, it’s an opportunity to show their true colors. In fact, Downey is a practitioner of the art of Wing-Chun Kung Fu in real-life, which is the style that he utilizes in the film. We also see a turn in his career starting in 2008 when he played IRON MAN, and quickly assumed the ARIES/WARRIOR archetype that is part of his nature. IRON also being key as it is the metal that rules his sign. ARIES is the IRON-MAN.
I have not read any of the original Arthur Conan Doyle novels, but it is said by many that the drug addicted brawler that we find in the 2009 film is much closer to the original, than that of the intellectual parlor mysteries that have been lurking around British and American cinemas for over 100 years, from everything from Sherlock Holmes BAFFLED (1900) to SHERLOCK GNOMES (2018). Now Hollywood has added Holmes physical, warrior abilities, probably there because Doyle was being influenced by writers like Nietzsche and the super- man principle that was popular at the time. (Only a LIBRA like Nietzsche would come up with the narcissistic concept of a super man.)
Robert Downey Jr. has Holmes using his mind as a weapon as well as his fists. ARIES rules the mind and is also a physical warrior. It is the sign that brings us into the physical world, and initiates it though action. In the film, as it progresses, we find the classic astro-cinematic archetype of ARIES taking comfort in battle, relaxing in it. When Holmes gets depressed he goes into the boxing ring to relax. As strange as that may sound, for ARIES battle is where they are most at home. And this is not necessarily physical, but on film it is where it is most effectively conveyed. The union of the mental and physical during battle, is part of the fun of this production. He we find Holmes narrating his moves before he executes them. I would say that this planning is more of a FIXED sign attribute and as fate would have it, Downey’s MOON sign (emotions) is in TAURUS. And TAURUS is a master planner. Most famous generals and leaders in war are not ARIES, they are planners and strategists (SCORPIO, LEO, TAURUS, and AQUARIUS). ARIES is too impulsive to be a general. That’s why Captain Kirk (ARIES/William Shatner) on STAR TREK would have been destroyed a long time ago if he wasn’t a T.V. show. Impetuously taking all your top ranking military officers into the heart of danger is a really bad strategy. But I digress…Having a TAURUS MOON is where the strategy of these fights comes from. And it works.
The drug addicted aspect of Sherlock Holmes has been alluded to, and even divulged in other versions of the story. But it is this version that brings it directly in the open. ARIES can have drug problems. In my opinion, drug addictions fall into three categories, illusion, escape and excitement. Whereas WATER SIGNS have problems with drugs and alcohol to alter their viewpoint or create an illusion, AIR SIGNS will do drugs to try to escape. FIRE SIGNS tend to do drugs for excitement or to create a character that’s bigger than life or to do more. And here we have Sherlock Holmes doing cocaine or meth of some kind, to try to become super human, to be able to do more than the other guy. To get to the top. This is the current Sherlock, a super intelligent, ass-kicking, drug addict who’s a man’s man and only feels alive when the GAME is afoot. AKA the chase is on. And ARIES loves the chase.
In many ways his relationship with Watson has changed as well. In most Sherlock Holmes films Watson is a supportive character that acquiesces to Holmes every whim, and looks up to him as if he’s some kind of a God. Not so in this case. Here, Watson is his own man. He’s tough and stands up to Holmes at every turn. If they’re not fighting, they are messing with each other and they are fighting most of the time. And on film CAPRICORN and ARIES are fighting all the time. Two warriors that are in different sexes. Jude Law is CAPRICORN and so we get a RAM AND MOUNTAIN GOAT ARGUING ALL THE TIME IN LONDON. A bromance with the sparks of an astrological SQAURE. Whereas ARIES is impulsive CAPRICORN is down to EARTH, rational and reasonable…measured. But he can kick some ass when he needs to. They allude to a prior gambling problem, but it doesn’t manifest in the film. CAPRICORNS are one of the least addicted signs.
Law’s astro-finance, Kelly Reilly is a CANCER (CAPRICORNS OPPOSITE) and well matched for him and to stand up to Holmes, as she is SQUARED (at odds) to Downey as well.
And finally the ANTAGONISTS which are really three characters. The former lost love, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong and Hans Matheson .
Irene Adler played by McAdams is SCORPIO. She is the feminine warrior, secretive and sneaky, occulted and shares the planet MARS with ARIES. She’s an illusion, violent and aggressive…So it’s no surprise that he’s obsessed with her. He states that she can actually wound him and that she’s strong. And let’s not forget that there is nothing that an ARIES man loves more than a woman wielding a knife. Or at the very least, metaphorically. Her plans and motives are secrets. She’c confident and sexy. Toward the end, while sitting on the ground next to a giant symbol of a reverse pentagram in the center of an astrological solar wheel, she’ sits right on top of the placement of SCORPIO. A giant snake runs through the middle of it. Snake totems are a sign for SCORPIO. It is also interesting that the place where the next murder is supposed to occur is where LEO is placed and that both antagonists are LEOS and are both there.
When they reveal the plan for the murders they say…
“The foot of a lion (LEO), the tail of an ox (TAURUS), the wings of an eagle (SCORPIO) and the head of a man (AQUARIUS)” It’s astrology, just as it is in the four horsemen of the apocalypse in Revelations,…all FIXED SIGNS.
As I said, Lord Henry Blackwood, played by Mark Strong and Lord Coward, played by Hans Matheson are both LEOS. The series stays in keeping with many of the prior SHERLOCK HOLMES films, in that it contains sacrificial and ceremonial imagery that is clearly Egyptian in nature. LEO is the perfect sign for this as the Egyptian society’s most represented group were Atonists and they were SUN worshippers. So all the imagery of the SUN in this film and the GOLDEN ornaments and especially the thrown that Blackwood sits are all purely LEO as LEO is the SUN KING. Even the GOLDEN RAYS placed purposely behind his head are of the SUN. When LEO/Strong finally sits down on the golden thrown the image is complete. The emperor is in place. Here is an actor playing a big, bold and passionate character, who assumes that he is in the superior position to everyone else in the scene. He says “We are giving the weak masses a strong Shepard” “To control the world” Doesn’t get more LEO than that.
He even controls the prison he’s incarcerated in like its his own castle, and his death is a resurrection incorporates the astro-theological theme of the SUN dying and then RISING from the dead three days later. Broken tomb and all! This is the winter solstice, as the SUN disappears for three days and is reborn.
The fact that his enemies are seemingly burned alive, boiled or the attempted burning of Holmes and Watson, are all utilizing the tools of the SUN. They are the fireballs of a SOLAR ruler.
In the end, the LEO ruler is destroyed, hanged by the IRON CHAINS OF MARS.
In my book MOVIE STARS I cover many remakes as well as series of films, BATMAN, SPIDER MAN, SUPERMAN, JAMES BOND, LORD OF THE RINGS etc.
© Ian Boyd 2021 (All Rights Reserved)