Movie Remakes that shouldn't have been

[Desdichado]

I have friends who have worked out there. I'm not being harsh, just honest.

So do I, and I still think you're being harsh. It may be honest on the face of it, but it's ignoring the same levels of cowardice present pretty much everywhere else. I'd put a smily there, but I'm not sure that's actually a very happy thought...

Besides there is a difference between drawing on older stories to make something new and simply retreading the same old thing.

True. But both policies are much, much older than any type of motion pictures.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I am opposed, however, to the Pink Panther remake, even though I think Jean Reno, Steve Martin, and Kevin Kline are excellent actors and I really like their work. Nevertheless, Peter Sellers hit those movies and that role so far out of the park, they still haven't found the ball, and frankly, I don't think it needs to be redone.

Honestly, I think the only person that they could have ever gotten to get anywhere close to Peter Sellers' performace is Steve Martin. I'm cautious about the remake, but will probably see it just out of curiosity.

 

[Desdichado]

Honestly, I think the only person that they could have ever gotten to get anywhere close to Peter Sellers' performace is Steve Martin. I'm cautious about the remake, but will probably see it just out of curiosity.

See, I don't think Steve Martin's style is anything like Peter Sellers, though.

And I don't like Steve Martin's style, to boot. I very rarely think he's funny. I'll probably rent it when it comes out on DVD, but I can't say that I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

God, I love that show.

Warrior Poet

It's great isn't it? As soon as I hear remake I think of those lines.

 

[sniffles]

I tend to despise remakes on principle - I usually don't see them. But on reflection I'm being a bit elitist, I suppose. Many, many films have been remakes; it's not just a feature of current Hollywood. Take Ben-Hur as an example that Joshua Randall mentioned - the familiar version starring Charlton Heston was actually the -third- remake of that story on film. There were versions of Frankenstein before the Karloff film, and versions of Tarzan well before Johnny Weismuller. There are at least 6 different versions of The Three Musketeers. And does anyone think it's funny that while The Magnificent Seven was a re-interpretation of The Seven Samurai, Kurosawa's Ran was a reinterpretation of Shakespeare's King Lear?

I wonder how many of today's audience members under the age of 30 would bother to see the earlier versions of most of these remakes? They'd probably find some of the older films rather funny. The acting style has changed a lot over the years, as have directing and editing, not to mention special effects, of course. It's not so much fear or laziness that encourages remakes, it's a desire to have something new, believe it or not. But why worry about finding a new script to film when you can make a new version of something old - but something that most of your target audience isn't even aware of?

"What has been will be again
"What has been done will be done again,
"There is nothing new under the sun."
Ecclesiastes

 

[Desdichado]

There are at least 6 different versions of The Three Musketeers.

And I'm quite glad that some of those were made; the Michael York and Raquel Welch version is one of my favorite movies of all time. Along with about 50 other movies, of course.

I wonder how many of today's audience members under the age of 30 would bother to see the earlier versions of most of these remakes? They'd probably find some of the older films rather funny. The acting style has changed a lot over the years, as have directing and editing, not to mention special effects, of course. It's not so much fear or laziness that encourages remakes, it's a desire to have something new, believe it or not. But why worry about finding a new script to film when you can make a new version of something old - but something that most of your target audience isn't even aware of?

Exactly the point I was trying to make. That's why songs get covered so often as well.

 

[sniffles]

And I'm quite glad that some of those were made; the Michael York and Raquel Welch version is one of my favorite movies of all time. Along with about 50 other movies, of course.

Exactly the point I was trying to make. That's why songs get covered so often as well.

Ditto about the Three Musketeers. I have a friend who loves the Disney one - I can't figure out what's wrong with him!!!

I guess I'm just an old fuddy-duddy, though - I hate rerecordings of most songs! Especially Beatles songs.

 

[Aeson]

I liked the disney one somewhat and that is hard for me to admit. Oliver Platt is a GOD.

I hear there is a Red Dwarf movie in the works is it a remake or did they get the cast together again to do it?

 

[Desdichado]

I guess I'm just an old fuddy-duddy, though - I hate rerecordings of most songs! Especially Beatles songs.

I don't either, usually, especially if I know the older one first. My daughter really liked the Hillary and Haley Duff remake of "Our Lips Are Sealed" but because I remember, and own the Go-go's original, it's sacriledge to me.

However, if I hear the remake first, I often tend to like it better than the original. Give me Billy Idol's "Mony Mony" over the original any day.

If the style is substantially different, and I prefer the newer style, that's a consideration too. I like U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" pretty well, but I'd still rather hear the Pet Shop Boys version most of the time.

 

[Richards]

To me, the ultimate "movie that shouldn't have been remade" was Godzilla.

Johnathan