Viewing Thread:
"Films that need a re-make."

I jus**t read that Spawn is going to have a re-make/sequel and to me this sounds like a pretty good idea. The Spawn s**tory is violent and complex and didn't translate well to the terrible kids special-effects film that got made. The re-make is going to be R rated and will concentrate on Spawn as the dark loner (in the same way as Tim Burton's Batman got rid of a whole hos**t of lesser characters). The clown, etc are being dumped in favour of a darker vision that s**ticks closer to Todd McFarlane's original creation.

This got me thinking about re-makes in general. Over recent years we have seen such pointless re-makes as Psycho (what a load of bull sh*t) and Get Carter.

Ring (the Japanese horror movie) has already been re-made in Taiwan as 'The Ring Virus' and looks likely to have a god-awful Hollywood re-make any time soon. This is jus**t not necessary. If more money had been spent marketing the film the firs**t time round it could have had a similar success to, the highes**t grossing subtitled movie of all time, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

I think the only films that need to be re-made are ones that a) didn't live up to expectations the fis**t time round (ie. great plot ideas but bad script, actors or director), b) weren't as good as they could of been due to tough censorship (ie. many gritty 1950s film noirs were toned down at the scripting s**tage due to intense pressure from the Hays Production code) or c) when the director/ scriptwriter is able to put a new spin on things (ie. The Faculty by Robert Rodriguez is esssentially a re-make of The Body Snatchers).

There is absolutly no reason to re-make a film like Psycho that is s**till greaat today and despite it's age s**till captivates millions of viewers. The only reason that someone would remake Psycho is $$$$MONEY$$$$. Luckily though it wasn't a big success so if we're lucky we won't have to endure re-makes of 'Citizen Kane', 'Casablanca' or 'Gone With The Wind'!

Can anyone think of a film that desperately needs a new-improved re-made version?

I'd like to see some films told from a different perspective.. i think if you were to take a good film with a good storyline, it would be interesting to focus on different aspects of the story than the origional first did. This would avoid any hastily slapped together sequel plots that are created purely to ride on the success of the origionals, as the story would basically remain the same. I mean, when we see documentaries its always interesting to focus on un-fathomed aspects of events isn't it? Why watch a documentary on hitler when you can watch one on the idiots that followed him and how they affected people. Here's an example.. take your average war film.. lets say for the sake of arguement its the classic ww2 film. Ordinarily the film will be from a uk or us perspective. If the film is successful, why not remake it with the same basic ideas but from a german or japanese perspective.. therefore not altering the storyline and risking failure, but sticking with the origiional idea that went down well, and just giving new insight on it. I think this would be very interesting and much more valuable than frame by frame re-makes. Of course this wouldnt just apply to war films, thats just my example, i mean.. you could take a hero beats baddie film and remake it through the enemies eyes, giving a whole new film to an audience who know the format is one they can trust.

Thoughts anyone...?

I think maybe Halloween, the original - Although classic it may be it is starting to show its age and a re make could be for the better!! It would have to be John Carpenter though, only he could better what needs bettering if anything!!

Can you name one movie that would be good for a remake?

Or one remake that has suceeded? And I dont mean tv shows, I mean a remake of old movies.

I don't agree that films should never be re-made. You are jumping to the conclusion that they will be bad, big-budget Hollywood movies -but that doesn't have to be true. I think that if a talented director decided to re-make a flawed but promising film it could be successful.

I often hear about a film that sounds amazing but when I see it it's clear that it was made by incompetents. If this is the case then I think it's great if a director can re-interpret the original premise and create something of high quality out of the mess.

It's the kind of idiots that re-make films like Psycho that give re-makes a bad name.

Storys have been re-cycled since the beginning of time -even the Bible is believed to be based on ancient pagan myths. If someone has the guts to take a story that has been badly told in the past then I think that should be applauded.

As for another point that was mentioned, I totally agree that older films should be shown in the cinema more often. There are loads of films I would love to see in 35mm but missed -I'd love to see old horror movies like Psycho (the original!) and The Blob on the big screen but unfortunatly cinemas would rather devote 3 screens to pap like The Mummy Returns than show a few classics.

As easy as it would be to mess up, a complete CG re-make of Transformers: The Movie would make me sweat just from thinking about it. Or, even better, a completely new movie done this way based on the first generation characters and not Beast Wars tat.

Again, read my "Recycle not Remake" thread.

There are so many classic movies that I've never seen at the cinema that I know I'd gladly watch again on 35mm.

I have to agree with Goatboy on this one why bother spending huge budgets on clumsy remakes. Re-release the originals and show people what they missed the first time around.

The films that should be remade shouldn't be classics like Casablanca... or It's a wonderful life...

Episode One should be remade. Perhaps Lucas could write a plot to go along with the three watchable scenes in it.

Why do directors always think that if they remake a classic, that they will automatically get a classic? It's pointless and pathetically lazy. Bringing a film that was terrible back to life, and making it good, would be much more challenging, but no one has got the balls in Hollywood to try it.

That remake of Psycho was a joke!! Nothing could be bettered so why bother?? Its these stupid Hollywood companies making a quick buck of everyone elses success!! It sucks!!

None at all.

See my "Recycle not remake" thread of last week for this argument.