A question

[ericcoleman]

I posted this on Facebook, but thought I would bring the fun here too

What is a remake of a movie that absolutely needs NOT to be made?

Comments

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Are you looking for a catch-all term, or a (long) list of examples?

[ericcoleman]

I phrased that oddly, what is a movie that does not need a remake ... for whatever reason ...

[ravenclaw-eric.livejournal.com]

I am not fond of remakes in general.

[archiver-tim.livejournal.com]

Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The Day The Earth Stood Still to start the list.

[ericcoleman]

I went to see The Day The Earth Stood Still at the cheap theater that is two blocks from my house ... the popcorn was really good.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Some Like It Hot
Forbidden Planet
The Godfather
The Empire Strikes Back
The Lion in Winter
Duck Soup (or pretty much any of their work)
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (or pretty much any of his early work)
The Great Dictator (or pretty much any of his work)
Safety Last (or pretty much any of his work)

I'd add The Wizard of Oz, but the thought of a remake without that Over the Rainbow song is just too good to rule out.

[shadowcat48li.livejournal.com]

Rocky Horror Picture Show
Barbarella

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

Thinking on this more, I would have once said "The Music Man", but the Matthew Broderick remake for ABC a few years ago was a perfectly serviceable interpretation. I liked MBs take on the character, and enjoyed the living daylights out of it.

It may be my theatre background, but I don't have *reflexive* dislike for remakes. No one ever says "You're doing another version of Hamlet?"

I really need to turn this into a longer essay.

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

And just as I post that, someone points me to this on Twitter:

[barondave.livejournal.com]

I don't mind remakes, as long as you leave the original alone.

The remakes that tend not to work are the ones where the original had a high emotional impact that everyone has already lived through: Miracle on 34th St, Planet of the Apes, and probably a few I haven't bothered to see.

When the original is of a time and place, such as many of the ones listed above, it would be difficult. But not impossible. Basically, you don't remake the movie so much as steal it. Both Sweet Charity and A Fistful of Dollars are better than the originals (in my view), while The Magnificent Seven and Star Wars are good in their own way.

[lisagems.livejournal.com]

Ferris Buehler's Day Off.
The Toxic Avenger (yes, somebody *is* thinking about it.)
Conan (though really, could they *do* a worse job?)
Real Genius
Alien
Flight of the Navigator (why bother?)
F/X (again Y ?)
Gremlins
Heavy Metal
and
An American Werewolf in London (the first was definitive. It does not need redoing)

and yes. Somebody is contemplating each and everyone of these and a Smurf movie.

Oh. And don't touch Stitch. Lilo and Stitch is perfect as it is.

[uberhill.livejournal.com]

Hey now, some geeks in a hot tub once cast a Rocky Horror remake with the Muppets. Just imagine.

[mle292.livejournal.com]

I saw about two minutes of the remake of Psycho and I know that it never needed to be made. Recreated shot by shot, but with actors creating absolutely ridiculous, nonsensical interpretations of characters.

Nightmare on Elm Street looks pretty rotten too, but it's not out yet.

As for future possible movies;

North By Northwest
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
All About Eve
The Blues Brothers

That's all I can come up with off the top of my head. Maybe I'll add more later.

[batyatoon]

Man, The Wizard of Oz needs to be not remade but MADE RIGHT.

Please. Can we please get an adaptation of that book that doesn't make Dorothy a hapless wimp.



... sorry, trigger issue. :)?

[ericcoleman]

I have a several disc set of silent versions, I need to watch them. A lot of folks don't realize that the Oz we know best was a remake.