Traffic is a movie about drug trafficking, and this movie was originally released in 2000. Many people think that Traffic's writer wrote an original story for the movie, but he did not; Traffic is actually a remake of the British movie made for TV, Traffik; the movie is a mini series, and it is about 5.5 hours long. Traffic was well received when it was originally released, but the original one, Traffik, is so much better. The followings are some of reasons why.

Reason 1: A good part of Traffik is filmed in Pakistan to tell a story in Pakistan; the story in Pakistan is a story of the production side. Traffik focuses on heroin, and the heroin in Traffik is produced in Pakistan. The production side of the story is a very big part of Traffik, and it enables Traffik to tell a big picture of the drug trafficking. Traffic (remake of Traffik) simply does not cover the production side of the story at all. Traffic (remake of Traffik) tells a story about cocaine, but the movie does not tell how it is produced or where it is produced. Consequently, the movie fails to tell a big picture of the drug trafficking.

Reason 1.2: Traffik highlights three causes of the drug problem; individual's inability to cope with the society at large, the society's inability to create such an environment that everyone wants to live in and participate in and economy, in particular, economy in developing countries where drugs are produced. Traffic (remake of Traffik) primarily focuses on one cause, individual's inability to cope with the society at large. It is certainly a very serious issue, but it is not the only issue. Consequently, the story of Traffic (remake of Traffik) lacks depth.

Reason 1.3: Traffik tells three stories and they are all connected. One story takes place in England, one story takes place in Germany and one story takes place in Pakistan. Drug trafficking is a global activity, and Traffik does a good job of portraying how it works. Traffic (remake of Traffik) tells stories in U.S. and Mexico; two countries are not only geographically connected but also they are closely connected politically and economically. Consequently, the story in Traffic (remake of Traffik) becomes almost domestic. The movie fails to tell that the drug trafficking is a global activity.

Reason 2: Traffik is 5.5 hours long, so the movie covers many stories and many details. Traffic (remake of Traffik) is too short; it does not cover many stories or many details.

Reason 3: Traffic (remake of Traffik) is actually more stylistic, and its cinematography is much cleaner and polished than Traffik. Though Traffik includes good pictures, Traffic (remake of Traffik) is better filmed in terms of cinematography. However, Traffik clearly focuses more on its story and the story is well written. Traffik not only covers a lot of materials but also the movie organizes and connects all events so well; it has good tempo and rhythm so that it captures the audience the whole time. Traffic (remake of Traffik) also has good tempo and rhythm, but the story itself lacks details. It lacks emotions and depth. The movie also looks like that the movie is made to make it look pretty rather than to tell a good compelling story.

Though Traffik is a very long movie, it is a very good one. If you plan to watch a movie this holiday season like during Thanks Giving or Christmas holidays, I highly recommend this movie. If you watched Traffic (remake of Traffik) and enjoyed it, you'd probably enjoy watching Traffik also, and you'd probably find that Traffik is so much better than Traffik.