Remakes, what is your opinion? [Archive]

dudetheman19

09-23-2005, 07:59 AM

In the last couple of years they have gone crazy remaking movies. Just wanted to hear you opinion on it?

Some movies that have been remade lately:
The Grudge
The Ring 1+2
War of the worlds - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046534/
Alfie
Chainsaw Massacre
Amtiville horror
Assault on precing 13
Dawn of the Dead
Planet of the Apes

Movies to be remade:
King Kong - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360717/
The Fog - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432291/
Police Academy - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418068/
The Fly - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379788/
The Evil Dead - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434020/
The grudge 2
The Hills Have Eyes - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454841/
Logan's Run - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402344/
Scanners - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327129/

Just to mention a few!

Phait

09-23-2005, 08:09 AM

I am inbetween. 9/10 people say the original is better, and I don't argue with that. Some things you just cannot reapproach and do justice.

But I am in the middle, I think great remakes are certaintly possibly to execute, but what is your motive? You need to understand your motive in doing a remake. Is it a homage because you loved the original? Is it an updating that keeps the core plot but introduces twists, and if so - again... what is your motive? Gaining a new audience, or bringing back the old fans, or both?

The good thing about remakes whether they flop or fly, is they can bring attention to the original films, especially if the original went under the radar.

dudetheman19

09-23-2005, 08:15 AM

Some make the remakes to make money ;-)

One remake I loved for sure was the John Carpenter remake of The Thing :-) That movie was amazing.

I'm also looking forward to the remake of King Kong. They have a great director, and the story of king kong really desirves to revived!

I think that remakes fine it they remake old old movies. It was ok with a remake of War of the Worlds. The old one was pretty lame seen from our days. But again, the new one wasnt amazing either.

The lamest thing is when they remake semi ok movies. WHY EVEN remake Police Academy, Amtiville horror and Boogeyman. The originals SUCKED!!!

Opus131

09-23-2005, 08:36 AM

phait said:
But I am in the middle, I think great remakes are certaintly possibly to execute, but what is your motive? You need to understand your motive in doing a remake. Is it a homage because you loved the original? Is it an updating that keeps the core plot but introduces twists, and if so - again... what is your motive? Gaining a new audience, or bringing back the old fans, or both?

Making a quick buck by milking a popular name ?

So far most remakes have been atrocious and shameless cash ins...

Grande 3:16

09-23-2005, 08:53 AM

I liked the remakes of Dawn of the Dead and Planet of the Apes, but I saw the remakes before I saw the originals. If I had seen the originals first, I might not have enjoyed the remakes as much.

Roger

09-23-2005, 09:02 AM

Most of the remakes made recently pale in comparison to the originals, usually because the newer versions feel more urbanized/commercialized.

jimbob

09-23-2005, 10:34 AM

a scanners remake? why, the original if awesome the way it is right now http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

RedSplat

09-23-2005, 11:16 AM

A remake of 'The Fly' !? And The Evil Dead !! http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

There should be a law against remakes of iconic movies.

Dave-ros

09-23-2005, 01:46 PM

What annoys me about remakes these days is they always, always have to have some incredibly smug reference to the original that only sad people like me spot, and that goes completely over the heads of normal people who didn't see the original. To wit:
Planet of the Apes: the ape leader's last words are "damn them, damn them all to hell!", a direct reference to <spoiler> Charlton Heston's last line at the end of the original </spoiler>.
The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: the Marvin robot from the original BBC series was standing in a queue, and just in case you didn't see him, they provided lots of lingering shots!
War of the Worlds: a reporter says of the non-Martian aliens, "Once they start to move, no more news comes out of that area" - if it sounds bizarre, it's because it's a line from the original (spoken by a general of the Martians), which was made in the 1950s!
And of course, in Spider-Man there was that busker singing the theme from the 1960s cartoon series http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif

Any more people want to mention?

And yes, a remake of The Evil Dead would be utterly pointless. If Bruce Campbell were dead, he'd be turning in his grave... http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Kalki

09-23-2005, 01:48 PM

They should remake the shitty films, not the classics. Some like Psycho are meant to be seen forever in black and white.

If you truly liked something, why would you attempt to correct the few flaws that your evolved sensibilities don't quite agree with anymore?

Me, I'd rather have the recently discussed Transformers and He-man and the Masters of the Universe movies that may not have been made well in the past, even though the source material had promise. They may qualify as risks... but can only get better.

Damien_Azreal

09-23-2005, 02:29 PM

Remakes are the reason movies suck today IMO.

There's nothing new, no originality anymore. They just grab a popular movie and rehash it for todays generationg.

I think remakes suck.

Dr.Dude

09-23-2005, 04:44 PM

It depends on the movie, really. I've noticed the only remakes I've really tended to like in the past are usually remakes of old horror-themed monster/creature movies (usually from the 1950's), where they're able to take the original story and put an interesting new spin on it. The Thing and The Fly are pretty much the standout examples of this.

Ruger

09-23-2005, 04:50 PM

Many remakes are uninspired crap, but there are some good ones. [u]John Carpenter's The Thing was already mentioned. Let me think of a few others that deserve respect:

John Woo's [u]The Killer is supposed to be heavily inspired by Jean-Pierre Melville's [u]Le Samourai.

Personally I thought Walter Hill's [u]Last Man Standing was just as good if not better than Kurosawa's [u]Yojimbo.

The seventies [u]Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake was excellent.

[u]Léon is loosely a remake of the John Cassavetes film [u]Gloria, and is definitely way better than it's inspiration.

I'm sure there's others I'm not thinking of. Don't get me wrong, I've seen a lot of bad remakes too, but I don't think they're bad by definition.

pjohnsonjr

09-23-2005, 04:52 PM

Alot of remakes lack what the original had.

Alot of the originals had to rely on optical tricks and some sort of skill. Now you have something that needs to be non realisitic, you digitally animate it. We're getting better with it, but we're still a ways off before it can top a well designed puppet or some cinema trick.

The old Texas Chainsaw Massacre got me nerved more than the new one, but then again it might be because i used to play pickup football at their weekly wednesday catfish fry with my friend when we were in Jr. High.

Boo Boo Juice

09-23-2005, 05:53 PM

Hm.. I just talked about this with a friend of mine a while ago. He asked his acting coach and scripting teacher about remakes. He explained how he is tired of classics being remade and is kind of bummed that there are no real more original projects being made. I was interested in the answer, and they told him "Well, remakes are big right now. Simply because it is a remake of something that was popular a long time ago, so it makes the majority of the people happy when they see a preview for a newer version. Remakes and sequels are more likely to succeed than an original movie. It's sad, but that is how the industry works here."

I for one, don't mind remakes all that much. It is the stupid remakes that are totally pointless and the tvshow-to-film movies. Those are all just plain terrible (Dukes of Hazzard...).

Now it is starting to bug me that they have nothing else to remake here in america, so they are just going to remake something that was really good in another country.

People say that hollywood has done everything. They have, but that doesn't mean they can't take one of those old formulas and still make something seem fun and original.

I for one am not really for them. There are a few that some people consider remakes, but I don't. Like "War fo the Worlds" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Those were originally books, and people tried to make movies based off of those books. If "War of the Worlds" was a remake of the old movie, then "Lord of the Rings" is just as much of a remake of the old animated series. Thats how I see it.

Other things that are being made that bum me out:
Oldboy remake
JSA Remake (rumored/unconfirmed) - I don't really believe this because this would just be plain terrible. I hear it will take place at the california/mexico border... There is no way it can be true.
Ikiru (another pointless remake)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Prequel
Mostly Martha
The Maid (a horror flick from singapore or malaysia or something)
The Heirloom is supposedly being looked at.
A Bittersweet Life is being looked at for a remake.
Marathon (aka Running Boy) is also in talks.

I think it more the movies that are focused on true events or focused on a real history kind of piss me off (ie. "Marathon" and "JSA").

mysteryperfecta

09-23-2005, 07:33 PM

I'm OK with Hollywood remaking little-seen foreign films. Examples: Vanilla Sky, The Ring, etc.

I'm also not immediately opposed to remaking classic, beloved stories: Peter Pan, Treasure Island, A Christmas Carol, etc. Many new movies are derivitive of classic themes anyway.

Remaking movies would benefit visually from today's effects capabilities is also not something I would discount offhand. Examples: the upcoming King Kong, War of the Worlds, etc.

The worst remakes at present are almost always based on mediocre TV shows. We can stop that anytime, thanks.

Tetsuro

09-23-2005, 08:19 PM

They're also doing a remake of Day of the Dead

Paroxysm

09-23-2005, 08:46 PM

I love some remakes despise most of them. There are two types of good remake. One is the simple dream project. Peter Jacksons King Kong remake comes under this. Frankly I don't give a ***** about the film but it's his dream, I've got no problem with him living it. He adores the source material.

The second (and most worthwhile) type of remake is the cultural translation. Things like the american Ring remake I found extremely good because it was translated to western culture very well I thought while still retaining the same thematic values and respecting the source material.

Most remakes however, although they may be translations of a film into modern western culture are so far removed themeatically and have so little respect for the course material that they have no right using the originals name. Even if the film is fun (see remake of Dawn of the dead) it is a ***** crime to have it share the same name as the original film.

Gatinater

09-23-2005, 10:42 PM

I think remakes are only good & successful when they are mades over a decade after the original release, because there's a new audience of younger people that can relate to an appreciate it more.

Remakes of movies only really work well on new audiences. Very rarely have a positive impact on fans of the previous version.

Remakes only suit video games & songs well. That's what I think.

avatar_58

09-23-2005, 11:29 PM

I liked War of the Worlds, but thats probably because I've never seen the original. Batman Begins could be considered a remake, and in some ways it was better than Burton's version. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Darker.

Dave-ros

09-24-2005, 04:49 AM

Is Peter Jackson going to remake Bad Taste with superior special effects? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hhg.gif

AlienAssKicker

09-25-2005, 07:08 PM

I hate remakes. Especially those of great asian movies (in particular korean ones).

There's going to be a remake of Ikiru? WTF?

Taril

09-25-2005, 07:23 PM

I usualy hate remakes.. But their have been a few good ones.. Those are rare though...

Grande 3:16

09-26-2005, 03:36 AM

But if we didn't have remakes, we also wouldn't get good movies like True Lies (yes, it's a remake).

Kalki said:
They should remake the shitty films, not the classics.

Gone in 60 Seconds, Oceans Eleven...

Boo Boo Juice

09-26-2005, 06:34 AM

AlienAssKicker said:
I hate remakes. Especially those of great asian movies (in particular korean ones).

There's going to be a remake of Ikiru? WTF?

Yeah, that's what I said. Jim Sheridan (who also directed the movie based on 50 Cent's life) is directing it. I hear that Tom Hanks will be in the lead...

Well, look on the bright side. So far they haven't remade any Korean movies. The only one planned is Oldboy. Other than that it doesn't seem any others are going to be done. Even the Oldboy remake seems to be in limbo.

Beelze

09-26-2005, 07:09 AM

avatar_58 said:
I liked War of the Worlds, but thats probably because I've never seen the original. Batman Begins could be considered a remake, and in some ways it was better than Burton's version. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Darker.

Batman Begins is not a remake of any of the previous Batman movies. It's a re-imagining of the character's origin, something Burton skipped entirely. It's not even an adaptation of the graphic novel, Batman: Year One, which depicts said origin.

AlienAssKicker

09-26-2005, 09:54 AM

Boo Boo Juice said:

AlienAssKicker said:
I hate remakes. Especially those of great asian movies (in particular korean ones).

There's going to be a remake of Ikiru? WTF?

Yeah, that's what I said. Jim Sheridan (who also directed the movie based on 50 Cent's life) is directing it. I hear that Tom Hanks will be in the lead...

Well, look on the bright side. So far they haven't remade any Korean movies. The only one planned is Oldboy. Other than that it doesn't seem any others are going to be done. Even the Oldboy remake seems to be in limbo.

Whoa, spooky stuff. The second I read that there was going to be a remake of Ikiru I immediately thought of Tom Hanks as the lead... I'm pretty sure it's because of the lead he played in Philadelphia (The guy dying from aids...)

Michelangelo

09-27-2005, 04:15 AM

Remakes are never as good

There is a fair bit that goes into making films

+ Character development
+ Difference to other material already made
+ Progressive story

Those are only a few but they have to differ and be similar at the same time. IT's a cocktail for disaster

Karthik

09-27-2005, 08:48 AM

Grande 3:16 said:
But if we didn't have remakes, we also wouldn't get good movies like True Lies (yes, it's a remake).

Kalki said:
They should remake the shitty films, not the classics.

Gone in 60 Seconds, Oceans Eleven...

What are you talking about?! Those movies were great back then!

Wamplet

09-27-2005, 02:48 PM

I prefer the original.

There can only be one.

KillerByte

09-27-2005, 02:54 PM

RedSplat said:
A remake of 'The Fly' !? And The Evil Dead !! http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

There should be a law against remakes of iconic movies.

Let's not forget, the David Cronenberg version of 'The Fly' was a remake of an older film of the same name from 1958.

I hate remakes. They usually ruin a perfectly good film with up-to-date special effects and no storyline. Whatever happened to originality?

Grande 3:16

09-29-2005, 09:07 AM

Karthik said:

Grande 3:16 said:
Gone in 60 Seconds, Oceans Eleven...

What are you talking about?! Those movies were great back then!

I haven't seen the original Oceans Eleven but I heard it was bad. Supposedly just an excuse to get the Rat Pack together on screen.

Everyone who slammed the Gone in 60 Seconds remake should be forced by gun point to watch the original. Terrible terrible terrible movie. Half of it is just stock footage of cars with dialogue running during it. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif Even the final car chase isn't interesting.

Ruger

09-29-2005, 07:40 PM

I'd agree the original Gone in 60 Seconds is pretty lame and amateurish when it comes to the storyline and the acting, but I think the final car chase is way better than the remake's chase.

Wamplet

09-29-2005, 10:12 PM

Grande 3:16 said:

Everyone who slammed the Gone in 60 Seconds remake should be forced by gun point to watch the original. Terrible terrible terrible movie. Half of it is just stock footage of cars with dialogue running during it. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif Even the final car chase isn't interesting.

That is probably one of the few exceptions. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I was going to mention that, but I really doubted anyone else saw the original before, so i didn't bother.

Cage = God \o

I thought about buying the DVD of the original and the other movies that sort of went along with it, just because they had the old cars in them and then decided it just wasn't worth it. I have a ton of Antique car magazines that will do just fine. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

LeadBullet

09-29-2005, 11:13 PM

The only real bad thing about remakes are the people that piss and moan about it because their failed mind seems to find the original to be less watchable because of a bad sequel, remake or whatever.

Tedski

09-30-2005, 08:41 PM

LeadBullet said:
The only real bad thing about remakes are the people that piss and moan about it because their failed mind seems to find the original to be less watchable because of a bad sequel, remake or whatever.

If you must remake something, then there's little point in doing it worse than the original is there? The only 'failed minds' that should be mentioned are those responsible for producing sub-standard product - and those who think it's ok .

Lotan

10-01-2005, 02:42 AM

If somebody trying to do a remake then it's better to do it as far different from original as possible. Then there'll be little references with original and we get two different films. Somehow I think it's better.

I also prefer this logic to the making film from the novel. Change novel as far as you want(or do not change otherwise), making your film.

dudetheman19

10-06-2005, 08:06 AM

Anyone going to watch King Kong? Or will you stick to the old one without watching the new one??

jimbob

10-06-2005, 08:09 AM

dudetheman19 said:
Anyone going to watch King Kong? Or will you stick to the old one without watching the new one??

from what i`ve seen so far, i`ll stick to the old one thank you verry much!

dudetheman19

10-06-2005, 02:31 PM

I'll probably watch some though I loved the originals :-)

King Kong
The Fog

They both look pretty good.

Funny how everyone in here hate the remakes, but they watch them anyways http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Mongorian

10-07-2005, 04:55 PM

Plays are "remade". Songs are too. Why not movies? I think in any medium you consider to be art, it is important to retell something. Of course, Hollywood's motives are more selfish than artistically founded. They remake things that will sell (a good recent example being all the movie adaptations of 70's/80's TV shows; People that watched Starsky and Hutch are at that target demographic age).

My opinion is that film remakes are fine and dandy, but maybe a little too often they are by the books. If you're retelling a story, why not expand on an idea in the original story?

dudetheman19

10-27-2005, 04:41 PM

They are going to remake Predator! WHAT A HORRIBLE IDEA!!!!!

source:
http://www.moviehole.net/news/whats_this_theyre_remaking_pre.html

Grande 3:16

10-28-2005, 05:57 AM

dudetheman19 said:
They are going to remake Predator! WHAT A HORRIBLE IDEA!!!!!

source:
http://www.moviehole.net/news/whats_this_theyre_remaking_pre.html

Why don't they just get him to star in Predator 3 instead? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif

Mblackwell

10-28-2005, 10:46 AM

Grande 3:16 said:

dudetheman19 said:
They are going to remake Predator! WHAT A HORRIBLE IDEA!!!!!

source:
http://www.moviehole.net/news/whats_this_theyre_remaking_pre.html

Why don't they just get him to star in Predator 3 instead? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif

Because predator isn't that popular anymore. This way they can rebuild the fanbase and get a major theatre releae.

Draco

11-02-2005, 04:52 PM

Remakes tend to work a lot better than the diehard fans of the originals like to admit.

By and large, I love remakes. Hell, I tend to like ones that really throw some wrenches into the mix. Not only does it expand the dramatic possibilities - Superman doesn't have to hate Lex Luthor, ya know - but the whole diehard-fan angst is fun.

Boo Boo Juice

11-02-2005, 06:22 PM

Grande 3:16 said:

dudetheman19 said:
They are going to remake Predator! WHAT A HORRIBLE IDEA!!!!!

source:
http://www.moviehole.net/news/whats_this_theyre_remaking_pre.html

Why don't they just get him to star in Predator 3 instead? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif

If they wanted a wrestling star why don't they get the Rock instead of that assclown John Cena.

I've seen this guy on TV at school. I just kept hoping he'd get shot in the face so he'd stop with his whole "ganksta" act. It's so annoying. Well, this is going to be a terrible remake...

Michigan Man

11-02-2005, 06:38 PM

Boo Boo Juice said:

Grande 3:16 said:

dudetheman19 said:
They are going to remake Predator! WHAT A HORRIBLE IDEA!!!!!

source:
http://www.moviehole.net/news/whats_this_theyre_remaking_pre.html

Why don't they just get him to star in Predator 3 instead? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif

If they wanted a wrestling star why don't they get the Rock instead of that assclown John Cena.

I've seen this guy on TV at school. I just kept hoping he'd get shot in the face so he'd stop with his whole "ganksta" act. It's so annoying. Well, this is going to be a terrible remake...

wow is all i have to say. boo boo you relaize the "gangsta" john cena is a character not necessarily his real persona. personally i think it could be a good movie and john cena is just a good of an actor as anyone else. the guy acts every day.

avatar_58

11-02-2005, 06:56 PM

For those who need an image in their heads:

Michigan Man

11-02-2005, 07:01 PM

avatar_58 said:
For those who need an image in their heads:

once again its called a gimmick.

big fat lazy

11-03-2005, 08:18 PM

Samji

11-03-2005, 08:51 PM

The motive is often..... CASH IN! $$$

That being said all films are supposed to make their studio money. And by making more money, they can produce more great films. (Well, its mostly hit and miss I'd say). http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Ruger

11-03-2005, 08:53 PM

big fat lazy said:

Grande 3:16 said:
But if we didn't have remakes, we also wouldn't get good movies like True Lies (yes, it's a remake).

Kalki said:
They should remake the shitty films, not the classics.

Gone in 60 Seconds, Oceans Eleven...

True Lies was a remake of what movie?

La Totale! (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103103/)

Supposed to be a pretty lame french comedy. I never saw it myself.

Grande 3:16

11-04-2005, 07:00 AM

Ruger said:

big fat lazy said:

Grande 3:16 said:
But if we didn't have remakes, we also wouldn't get good movies like True Lies (yes, it's a remake).

Kalki said:
They should remake the shitty films, not the classics.

Gone in 60 Seconds, Oceans Eleven...

True Lies was a remake of what movie?

La Totale! (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103103/)

Supposed to be a pretty lame french comedy. I never saw it myself.

I've seen it. It's pretty ordinary. Basically just a much shorter version of True Lies, but nowhere near as good. The gun tumbling down the stairs is pretty much the end of the movie (no Harrier jets in this one).