Movies that need a reboot

[Man in the Funny Hat]

"Needs" is such a specific word.

In terms of the fiction - no work ever "needs" a reboot/reimagining/remake.

In terms of commerce - I suppose a movie "needs" a remake when someone owning the rights thinks that such is required to keep interest in the property high enough to keep it in print/available or turning some defined level of profit.

Thus - it could be said that Star Trek rather needed the reboot - as a business, it wasn't doing what the owners wanted it to.

And also thus - Star Wars really doesn't need it. The original films have their fans. The prequels have their fans (believe it or not ). The animated stuff goes apace. There's no real sign that the thing is dying as a business, so no reboot is called for at this time.

Well then ignore the word "needs". What do _I_ care about what it needs? I care about what I want. Besides, if the "franchise" is making X dollars but rebooting the series would mean it makes X+1, or even X+(1*N) what's to object to?

 

[Mallus]

Howabout Earthsea?

Earthsea would be great... but that project would really need the right director. Say like like Alfonso Cuarón.

 

[Dire Bare]

Revenge of the Sith was released 5 years ago and I seriously doubt anyone would object to anything anyone did to any of the prequels. The original Star Wars is now 33 years ago. That's too soon?

Yeah, it is. The story is still active with the Clone Wars animated show and the upcoming live action show.

Stories need at least some time to grow fallow before we pull them out and redo them.

 

[Dausuul]

Howabout Earthsea? Yeah, I know it was a miniseries, but what else is a miniseries but a movie that didn't get a whole bunch of editing?

Mmm... Earthsea... well, I'd love to see a Wizard of Earthsea movie that hewed true to the spirit (if not necessarily the letter) of the original, but translating it to the screen would be tough, and selling it to Hollywood tougher still.

(spoilers follow)

[sblock]The ending especially. The theme of the novel is that Ged can only get out of his dilemma by acknowledging his shadow as a part of himself. It embodies his own capacity for evil, which he can neither run away from nor destroy; only by accepting it can he learn to deal with it. It's a subtle thing and very challenging to convey on screen, and the studio execs would be pushing hard for a standard-issue good-triumphs-over-evil final battle.[/sblock]
Also, being faithful to Ursula LeGuin's vision would require casting almost entirely non-white actors (Ged and most of the people of Earthsea look like Native Americans, Vetch and a few others are black, only the Kargs are white), and outside of the action and comedy genres, that tends to go over like a lead balloon in Hollywood.

...You know, I think this really ought to be an indie movie. Don't know if the special effects fall within the reach of an indie budget, though.

Still, it wouldn't need as much as a traditional fantasy epic; the only scenes requiring major CGI would be the showdown with the dragon and the escape from the Court of the Terrenon. And you'd probably have to cut out at least one of those anyway, for length. The battle with the Kargish barbarians at the start is conveniently shrouded in fog, and everything else is on a fairly personal scale.

 

[Desdichado]

Seriously. It was almost criminal the way the entire series was... betrayed by the prequels.

I know you said seriously and all, but I hope you didn't mean it. That's pretty shrill fanboyism if so.

Not that the prequels weren't pretty bad movies, no doubt, but criminal? Betrayed? C'mon.

That said, rather than a Star Wars reboot, I'd like to see Lucas relinquish some control to some other movie makers. Look at the brilliant stuff that's coming out in the Old Republic video games, for instance. The setting as is still has plenty of legs left in it; it just needs a talented moviemaker to take the helm again.

 

[Knightfall]

Revenge of the Sith was released 5 years ago and I seriously doubt anyone would object to anything anyone did to any of the prequels. The original Star Wars is now 33 years ago. That's too soon?

Yes.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

I know you said seriously and all, but I hope you didn't mean it. That's pretty shrill fanboyism if so.

Fanboyism would be attempting to claim that they weren't that bad. And what kind of fanboy would be CALLING for a reboot?

Not that the prequels weren't pretty bad movies, no doubt, but criminal? Betrayed? C'mon.

Pretty close to it, yes. This is not to say that the prequels lacked any redeeming value. They had their moments. This is also not to say that Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi don't have significant flaws of their own. They do. All the more reason I would not be averse to seeing someone else take a whack at the core tales being told through the 6 films.

That said, rather than a Star Wars reboot, I'd like to see Lucas relinquish some control to some other movie makers. Look at the brilliant stuff that's coming out in the Old Republic video games, for instance. The setting as is still has plenty of legs left in it; it just needs a talented moviemaker to take the helm again.

And should one of those talented filmakers want to start over again from the beginning? Does that not fit the bill just as well?

 

[Plane Sailing]

It's way too soon for that. (star wars)

Heck they are rebooting Spider Man after just a few years, so I'd say there is easily soon enough for a star wars reboot!

Howabout Earthsea? Yeah, I know it was a miniseries, but what else is a miniseries but a movie that didn't get a whole bunch of editing?

I'd love to see an Earthsea movie that was faithful to the original. Although I have to admit that whether reading it as a kid or a grownup I never noticed the racial mix which Ursula considers to be so important to the story. My mental images just had everyone looking basically white european (with variations from nordic to southern mediterranean), probably because the basic social setting fitted in with pseudo-european fantasy constants too.

It was basically just a really great story (although I've liked her sequels increasingly less; they feel to me like revisionist adding in more recent philosophies in quite a heavy handed way)

Cheers

 

[RangerWickett]

I tried to 'reboot' the Star Wars prequels on my own terms. I pitched a D&D cartoon to WotC and Adult Swim, and though it never got past the idea stage, my plan was to have a reckless warrior get kicked out of a paladin order, then be corrupted by a Tharizdun cult, while his best friend -- a half-orc rogue -- actually becomes a paladin (but keeps his Han Solo-esque scoundrel charm) and has to stop the cult's plans to extinguish the sun.

In the end the two friends would battle atop an erupting volcano with magic swords, and after the half-orc lops off his old buddy's leg and drops the guy in the path of oncoming lava, his final words to the man that betrayed him would be, "I hope you burn you black hearted son of a bitch."

(If we got a second season, he'd come back as undead.)

 

[Insight]

One movie that definitely does NOT need a reboot is True Grit (2010)

WHY?