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Post by Silverbullet on Jan 10, 2009 22:08:22 GMT 2
After reading the remake witch-hunt of last month. I though i'd pitch in with a different take seeing as Curmudgeon & Trashcanman are clearly of the same opinion.
Some of these movies are crying out to be remade.
Robocop directed by Darren Aronofsky, why would you not want to see that movie?
Escape from New York, watch that movie again & tell me with a straight face that the original is a classic. I love John Carpenter, but having seen it recently again, its a grade-A turkey. A good idea though so a remake could be realy good.
Friday the 13th, wouldn't you rather see it remade from scratch rather than, Friday the 13th part 11 - Jason on Mars.
I got really pissed off when Haloween got done so much so that i got dragged to the cinema virtually kicking & screaming. I'm glad i did though as i thought it was a really good horror movie & probably the best american horror for years. People always get annoyed when one of their favourite movies gets the remake treatment. I find these days, going in with an open mind is the best approach as originals are often looked at through rose-tinted glasses.
Just don't get me started on I Am Legend. Those motherfuckers! What were they thinking?
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Post by trashcanman on Jan 11, 2009 13:01:03 GMT 2
That's funny. I actually enjoyed, "I Am Legend". It's an AWFUL remake and adaptation, but it's a good film on it's own merits. Why I was able to give it a pass in spite of my reverence for the original novel and film is a mystery even to me. Read a few more threads and you will find our opinion on the upcoming "Friday the 13th " remake. They already remade "Escape From New York" twice. Once as "Escape From LA" (supposedly a sequel) and recently by a bonafide horror genius as "Doomsday". Neither worked out very well. "Robocop" will be remade and it will be a disaster. Mark my words.
A remake for most any film CAN work, but only in the right hands. The hands of a master who truly values the source material. Good remakes are the exception and never the rule. Wouldn't you rather see Hollywood throw their money at TALENTED and CREATIVE people doing new things rather than paying fucking hacks to destroy classic films that often have no significant flaws just to prove that any premise can be ruined with enough populist bullshit? I would destroy every remake on this planet (save "The Thing", "Bram Stoker's Dracula", and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers") in half a second if it meant Hollywood would start fostering real filmmaking instead of cranking out these pathetic retreads designed to steal our money. I'm not falling for it any more. When they started remaking nearly-flawless films that were only a year or so old, I declared war on this bullshit. Only people like Del-Toro, Jackson, and Tarantino are getting my money for remaking a film.
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Post by pauless on Jan 13, 2009 3:17:56 GMT 2
You gotta remember that most of the movies we now (rightly) regard as classics; the original early 30's Universals, late 50's Hammer etc, were all remakes themselves. Karloff's Frankenstein, Lugosi's Dracula, March's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde blah blah were all remakes of silent movies, while the Hammer flicks added colour and sex to the original brew, but were rehashes nonetheless.
I agree this illustrates your point about talented and creative people Trashie, (James Whale for example, would wipe the fucking floor with any modern genre director) but it makes me think that I'm not against remakes in any way shape or form - only shite ones.
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Post by Benjamin Haines on Jan 13, 2009 5:31:14 GMT 2
The thing is, Dracula, Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were all literary works to begin with. The silent films, Universal films, Hammer films and countless adaptations since then weren't necessarily remakes of one another so much as they were all simply different adaptations of the same source material.
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Post by trashcanman on Jan 13, 2009 10:11:59 GMT 2
Yeah, I am not really anti-remake. I will take a good film in any form, rehash or no. But my problem is that they aren't even trying to make them good anymore! They just roll them out one after another with no regard to quality. That's my main complaint and that's why I am sick to death of them right now.
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Post by Silverbullet on Jan 13, 2009 15:53:16 GMT 2
I heard a rumour (Dont believe it cos i'm just making it up) that Hollywood now plans to purposely make shitty camcorder versions of all of its new movies, likely in places such as Prague & Korea, so that they can 're-make' them again Hollywood style. With remakes being such a cash cow, every 'new' movie released will be now be a remake. Thus the companies have 2 movies to sell instead of one. The masses will lap up the big budget version, where as movie buffs will prefer the lo-fi original. Ka-Ching!
Have none of you seen the Norwegian version of Watchmen? Or how about, the Polish made epic Spider-Man 4, continuing the adventures of Pitor Parkerski.
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Post by The Curmudgeon on Jan 13, 2009 16:15:14 GMT 2
I would totally watch that.
On the subject of remakes, I've often been the anti-remake voice on this site, and it's not some poe-faced "oh, because it'll NEVER be as good as the original" sentiment. It's because they never fucking ARE as good as the original.
Some are decent (the remake of Texas Chainsaw, for example, King Kong wasn't bad, Hills Have Eyes.. there are probably some more if I could be bothered to think of them) but recently its just an excuse to use a famous name. There's no real "love" for the film itself (I was bitterly disappointed Rob Zombie's Halloween wasn't a bigger success than it was), and the flashy, MTV-edit style of these movies can't compete with the grainy, low budget dedication of the original films directors, who tried to create something new, daring and frightening.
Hey, if more remakes were great, I would be excited to hear about them. Now I just roll my eyes. Honestly, will anyone ever capture the sheer glorious, macho stupidity of They Live? No chance.
And the most galling, infuriating thing about remakes is a generation of kids are growing up thinking this is acceptable. Yeah, remakes have always been around, but can you seriously try and compare Hammer Horror remaking Dracula to some dick remaking House of Wax, with the main selling point being "hey, Paris Hilton's in it! And she dies, LOL!" Fuck off.
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