Rash of RE-Makes abound

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Mar 2, 1999
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Just heard tell that they are going to do a Re-make of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"

That to me seems pretty silly.
And playing in the lead roles;
John Travolta
Tom Cruise

I've not seen yet "The Day the Earth Stood Still" also a new Re-make.

Here are a few more that are getting the nod for Re-make;
Conan
Clash of the Titans
The Karate Kid
Death Wish
Footloose
Red Dawn
The Thing
WestWorld
Logan's Run
All of Me
Highlander
10

I guess it's easier to do re-makes than coming up with new material
less research and stuff, dunno about this trend ;)
G2
 
Red Dawn? Who will the bad guys be? Can't be the Russians anymore... :rolleyes:

A couple of them I'm fine with being redone, but for the most part they just need to leave well-enough alone!

I've heard "The Day the Earth Stood Still" isn't very good... You'd think with the story already made up for them they'd be able to make improvements, pffft. Too much reliance on CGI. :barf:
 
You forgot to mention "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three."

:confused:

Conan - If Arnold isn't in it, why do it?
Clash of the Titans - All they can do is use better FX. Won't measure up to the original.
Logan's Run - See comments for "Clash of the Titans," they apply here as well
Westworld - See comments for "Clash of the Titans," they apply here as well.
Highlander - Fantastic film with one OK sequel, one bad sequel, one horrible sequel, and an 8 year TV series. Leave it alone!
Death Wish - Great movie with three sequels and countless "stand up against the bad guys" ripoffs. Why remake it?
Karate Kid - See "Death wish" above, the comments apply here as well.
The Thing - Great movie, was already re-done by John Carpenter, albiet badly.
Footloose - Let me guess - Zac Efron? As if we're not tired of him?
All of Me - OH GOD WHY? NUKE HOLLYWOOD WHILE WE CAN! :eek:
 
Gary W. Graley said:
Just heard tell that they are going to do a Re-make of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"

That to me seems pretty silly.
And playing in the lead roles;
John Travolta
Tom Cruise
Click to expand...

That is a movie that I'll boycott on general principle. :barf:
 
There are dozens that are being considered or are already in the works
didn't post them all, I guess I was getting upset as it was ;)

Picked up the Day the Earth Stood Still rental and will check that out today, but
my hopes are not too high!

G2
 
Personally, I'd love to see remakes of Westworld and Logan's Run. I thought "I am Legend" was a great remake of The Omega Man.
 
They can be clever, I'll give em' that, but Peter Ustinov made a great old man ;)
G2
 
Kru03 said:
I thought "I am Legend" was a great remake of The Omega Man.
Click to expand...

Actually, "The Omega Man" was a version of "I am Legend."

The Novel "I Am Legend" was written by Richard Matheson in 1954.

"The last Man on Earth" (1964. Black & White) starred Vincent Price. The first screen version of "I am Legend."

"The Omega Man" (1971) was the second film version.

"I am Legend" is the third film version.

"The Last man on Earth" was the closest to the novel. The screenplay was largely written by Matheson. He was dissatisfied with the final cut of the movie, and had his name removed. He is credited as "Logan Swanson."

The story lines of "The Omega Man" and "I am Legend" are very far removed from the Novel. But "The Omega Man" is still my favorite of the three.
 
Kru03 said:
Personally, I'd love to see remakes of Westworld and Logan's Run.
Click to expand...

Gary W. Graley said:
They can be clever, I'll give em' that, but Peter Ustinov made a great old man ;)
G2
Click to expand...

Yes, Peter Ustinov played a great character!

Has anyone read the books "Logan's Run" and it's sequel, "Logan's World"?

Much better than the film version. If it were made closer the book, I'd be very interested to see it.

BTW - I grew up in Culver City, also known as "The Heart of Screenland." MGM headquarters and main production lot was there. My friend's father was a movie pyrotechnician. He designed and built the pistols used by the Sandmen in the movie "Logan's Run."
 
Maybeso said:
Red Dawn? Who will the bad guys be? Can't be the Russians anymore... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It will be the 82nd and 101st dropping in to stalwart 2nd Ammendment states to remove weapons...The Enemy? Our own Government. Communism doesn't always have to attack from the outside.



Paul
 
Conan Without Arnold? That dog won't hunt.
Clash of the Titans The original was the last film with Ray Harryhausen's special effects. Harryhausen was a genius and CotT stands testament to the old ways. Yes, it's cheesy by today's standards, but the new one will be all CGI and still look like shit. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
The Karate Kid They just did a remake. It was called Never Back Down and it sucked snot.
Death Wish Without Bronson? That dog won't hunt either.
Footloose I couldn't care less.
Red Dawn Not that the original was a classic, but it was endearing in a sappy sort of way. What the hell would the plot be for a remake?
The Thing Cult classics should never be remade
WestWorld No comment, haven't seen the original
Logan's Run Don't renew! Don't renew! Seriously, don't remake classic sci-fi movies.
All of Me The Steve Martin/Lily Tomlin classic? WHY? Martin was brilliant as half a woman. Somehow I'm betting that Jim Carrey will get the lead, and somehow I'm betting that it'll suck.
Highlander There should have been only ONE.
10 There were only 2 reasons to watch the original (ok, 4, if you factor in multiplication), and I'm sure they can find 2 more reasons to make another and apply another mediocre plot to it.

But Butch Cassidy and Sundance being played by Dianetic Douchebag Duo? That takes the cake right there.

There should be a Hollywood rule: No remakes of movies rated 3 stars or better or 6.5 or better on IMDB within 40 years of an older version, and no remakes ever of 4 star movies, those on the IMDB top 250, or AFI's top 100 overall or top 10 catagorized.
 
There are so many good books and novellas out there, I can't understand this remake stuff. If they want to make something similar, there are plenty of sources to add a different twist and story line with essentially the same punch.

Rollerball - plain sucked.
3:10 to Yuma - fair, but just not as good as the original.
Omegaman - fair.
Italian Job - sucked.
Day the Earth Stood Still - not good.

Heck, I debate if Bale is as good as Keaton in the role of Batman - but at least these remakes are from totally different and entertaining takes on the character.


The record is pretty clear - these actors and movie makers should create some art of their own instead of attempting to follow some past success.

BTW - Travolta and Cruise as Butch and Sundance? What, are they out of there mind.
 
The only way Logan's Run could be better would be to follow the book a little more closely, IMHO. Otherwise, leave it alone.

thx - cpr

(Richard Jordan, RIP)
 
Hollywood has been remaking and ruining good foreign movies for years, it was only a matter of time before they started ruining good American movies too.
 
Logan's Run was already re-made, sort of, in a 2005 movie called The Island. Wasn't very good - all of the special effects and action sequences were computer generated - it looked like a darn cartoon in large sections.

The recent remake of King Kong sucked. Couldn't even finish it, largely in part to the cartoonish special effects. Which was worse, the Jack Black version or the '70s version? It doesn't matter...

Remake of Le Jette into The Twelve Monkeys was fantastic. See, all remakes don't have to be bad.

None of those on Gary's list seem appealing though. Maybe Westworld?
 
Bob W said:
Logan's Run was already re-made, sort of, in a 2005 movie called The Island. Wasn't very good - all of the special effects and action sequences were computer generated - it looked like a darn cartoon in large sections.
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Actually, "The Island" is a remake of a crappy 70's move "starring" Peter Graves and the second Darrin Stephens from Bewitched called "Parts: The Clonus Horror". The movie was complete crap (making it one of the best MST3K episodes ever), but I always thought it had a very solid plot foundation, and would do well as a big-budget Hollywood remake. Especially with the then-very-recent advances in cloning. When I learned they were doing a remake, I was ecstatic. Something I'd been saying should happen for years was happening. That is, I was ecstatic until I learned Michael Bay (aka, the worst director since Ed Wood) was making the movie.

For years, Bay and Dreamworks denied any copyright infringement, plagiarism, or wrongdoing. Finally, the makers of "Clonus" brought a lawsuit against Dreamworks, but it was settled out of court first for reportedly "seven figures".

http://www.agonybooth.com/articles/interview-with-clonus-screenwriter.aspx

I've still not seen "The Island". If it comes on, I'll watch it, but I ain't renting it. If I spend money on any of these, it'll be for the MST3K episode.
 
Bob W said:
Remake of Le Jette into The Twelve Monkeys was fantastic. See, all remakes don't have to be bad.
Click to expand...

"La jetée" was a completely different thing though. It was a 28 minute narrated slide show. "Twelve Monkeys" didn't just remake it, it went way beyond that.
 
Actually, you probably "hit the nail on the head", as it were.

I didn't know The Twelve Monkeys was a remake and found it good.

Perhaps the issue is that when I see a remake of a movie I saw the original of, I'm already set for s similar experience. When the remake is not as the original, it falls harder since it is falling from the higher expectation level.
 
I actually felt that John Carpenter's The Thing was one of the few remakes that surpassed the original.

Rob Zombie's Halloween remake seemed to be fairly popular, but IMO for all its greater amount of violence, gore and etc., was nowhere near as good as the original.

The Friday the 13th remake sucked. I also did not like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. It seems that Michael Bay specializes in remakes that seek to out-gore the originals but lack the spirit and freshness that made the originals what they were.

The Karate Kid remake is going to be produced by Will Smith and star his son Jaden(sp?). Unfortunately, Jaden Smith seems to come across as generally unlikable onscreen, not to mention his young age compared to the original. Pat Morita's character will be played by Jackie Chan. I think they're going to rename it The Kung Fu Kid. Which would make sense, since they are filming it in China. Karate Kid's basic storyline was not original even when it came out; countless Hong Kong movies in the 1970s featured a weakling who trained under an eccentric old master who uses unconventional methods to teach the hero to defeat a seemingly unbeatable bully/enemy/villain(s), many far better than Karate Kid.

The '90s remake of The Haunting was awful and nowhere near the 1963 original.

The Richard Gere/Jennifer Lopez remake of Shall We Dance was nowhere near the Japanese original.

A Clash of the Titans remake would only feature the typical modern CGI and would not stand out at all. While the original wasn't necessarily great, it was Harryhausen's last film work, and that alone made it special. That old stop-motion animation was a lot of fun IMO, and Harryhausen's sword-wielding skeletons in (I think) Jason and the Argonauts is still amazing to this day.

For a Conan remake, I suspect they will get a pro wrestler to play the lead.

I hear there is also talk of a Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Even if none of the inferior sequels existed, it still stands on its own as original in its time. All I see happening in a remake is an emphasis on Freddy Krueger's abusive childhood, over-emphasis on gore, and none of the fun, humor or suspense of the original. Not to mention Robert Englund *is* Freddy Krueger. I seriously doubt a replacement could portray the character as well.

A big part of movie originals is that they reflect the time period they were made in. Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween, for example, were all '70s, and Nightmare on Elm Street and Karate Kid were flavored by the '80s. This is a huge aspect of a film that identifies it and even if a remake is good, that aspect cannot be recaptured. Same as the cultural aspects that make a film special and unique (Shall We Dance) does not necessarily cross over well when remade into an American film.
Jim
 
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