Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The question, it seems to me, is it possible to improve on the original. Hollywood will keep producing remakes, but can they learn to do it better than the previous one, two, or three versions of the movie?
It is possible to improve on the original. Remakes that were as good as or better than the original:
THE MALTESE FALCON
BEN-HUR (1959)
TRUE LIES
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
KING KONG
THE THING
TRUE GRIT
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
Hitchock's PSYCHO is a classic. Better than the book actually. I don't know that the recent TV show is better than the original, but it still a very good TV show.
Undecided, but if I had to pick a side right now, I'd say the FARGO TV show is better than the movie.
The second thing was more faithful to the original story, "Who Goes There?", so that's a win. "King Kong" suffered a bit from over-CGI, but Jackson evidently had fun. The original IotBS was just boring.
Point Break
Total Recall
Fright Night
The Fog
Nightmare on Elm Street
Friday the 13th
Halloween
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Psycho
When A Stranger Calls
Vacation
I agree with your list.. With the exception of Vacation.. That really fell in the 'quasi-remake' category.. It was sort of a reboot, sort of a remake, sort of a sequel.. And while it wasn't an oscar worthy film by any means.. It was enjoyable.
Someone else mentioned, just because it's a remake doesn't mean it's automatically bad.. The Richard Pryor/John Candy version of Brewster's Millions was quite good, and that was like the 7th remake of that movie.
Although.. I will say that i'm fairly pessimistic when I see a remake being advertised. I pretty much go in expecting to hate it.. And am pleasantly surprised when it's a decent movie. I keep my expectations low.
War of the Worlds is a good example.. That COULD have been a good remake.. 21st century technology applied to a good classic film.. That had potential.. but.. It sucked.
War of the Worlds is a good example.. That COULD have been a good remake.. 21st century technology applied to a good classic film.. That had potential.. but.. It sucked.
Almost everything in that period came out ... diluted ... in some fashion.
If you're going to remake something, don't remake the mistakes, remake the good parts and improve on them.
War of the Worlds is a good example.. That COULD have been a good remake.. 21st century technology applied to a good classic film.. That had potential.. but.. It sucked.
"Sucked" is overstating the case. It wasn't a great movie. But it wasn't a horrible movie. Mostly a rather bland spectacle movie, but it had a few good moments.
"Sucked" is overstating the case. It wasn't a great movie. But it wasn't a horrible movie. Mostly a rather bland spectacle movie, but it had a few good moments.
I probably fall somewhere between don't touch it and wait and see.
Now with IT, my feelings are pretty much NO THANK YOU. I hated IT (book), but then I hate clowns. So this movie is not one I would watch. I did read somewhere about a possible remake of Killer klowns from outer space. Eeek!
I definitely didn't see the need for remakes of:
Point Break
Total Recall
Fright Night
The Fog
Nightmare on Elm Street
Friday the 13th
Halloween
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Psycho
When A Stranger Calls
Vacation
There are definitely movies that you just don't touch. I think there are some fans who would be very upset if movies like the Goonies, Heathers, Gone With the Wind, Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz, ET, It's a Wonderful Life, Casablanca.... ever got remade. I can think of more but man my list would be long.
I agree with everything on your list except Vacation. That was a pretty good movie, and not really a remake. It was more of a thirty years later kind of show.
I went to see Point Break, thinking it looked like it could be better than the original, but it was terrible. It was all stunts, little plot. The original packed a lot of story into those two hours. Plus, the reason behind the robberies was so hokey and unrealistic. I was not sold.
I'm a huge Gone with the Wind fan, but I'd actually love to see a modern reinterpretation. Something a little darker and grittier, with a Scarlet who is still flighty, but a little less "fiddle-dee-dee"
They will never remake that movie. I am surprised people in today's climate don't boycott it or demand the book go out of print. People these days can't deal with the past being the past.
I have to admit that I used to love the book, but the last time I read it I cringed a few times over the story. But it was from a person's perspective who was living at a time when everyone thought that way, written by a person who grew up in a time when everyone around her were romanticizing that period. It was an extremely racist time period. We could not capture that again without social commentary that would ruin the other part of the plot.
To me, the key to me seeing a remake of anything is who is directing it. For example, when I saw the Coen Brothers were directing True Grit - I was there at the theater, and was not disappointed.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
