Remakes:Not all have to Suck

[hollywood bill]

It seems that making a remake of a classic sci-fi/horror/fantasy movie now a days is pretty much like playing russian roulette.  But there was a time when it was done tastefully and some people may not even be aware that their favorite films was remade from the original.
  Some of the better ones(my opinion, i could be wrong):

The Thing
The Blob
The Fly
Psycho( not all that great, but damn it was remade frame for frame)

If anyone would like to add remakes to the list (good or bad) it might help some geeks in need to get their asses to the store and check out some decent movies they may have been missing for years.  Thanks

[SkullNinja]

I like the Night of the Living Dead remake and appriciated the twists that were introduced.

[Evan3]

Williard was damn good, although I never seen the original one.

Cant think of many others......
Pretty much any comic movie is better than the 70s version.
The Money Pit with Tom Hanks was a damn good remake of Mr. Smith Builds His Dream House.
Uhm, Titanic was a much better film than the old black and white Titanic.
The Ring was damn good, but I have never seen Ringu so.....

Man, it is hard to think of good remakes, stop stretching my mind Hollywood.

[Dr. X, Yyz, Sr. -]

I have to disagree with you on Titanic - IF you're refering to the one with Barbara Stanwyck -  unless you are into Leanardo Decapitate whiney crybaby flicks

[Chadzilla]

My favorites -

Philip Kaufman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers [1978]
John Carpenter's The Thing[1982]
David Cronenberg's The Fly[1986]
Chuck Russell's The Blob[1988]
and
Tom Savini's version Night of the Living Dead [1990?]

I also have a soft spot in my heart for Tobe Hooper's maligned remake of Invaders from Mars. [1986]

[Deej]

Evan3 wrote:

.
> The Money Pit with Tom Hanks was a damn good remake of Mr.
> Smith Builds His Dream House.
>

Mr Smith went to Washington....Mr. Blandings built the dream house...and Mr Deeds..went to town

Scaramouche(1952) is hella better than the silent version.
The new Shaft won't win any awards, but It was better than the original.IMO
Alot of recent remakes like The Getaway, The Thomas Crown Affair and The Four Feathers aren't bad they just don't quite measure up tho the originals.



Post Edited (03-31-03 13:50)

[Cullen]

Among the good remakes should be The Maltese Falcon , Moby Dick , Frankenstein (1931), Horror of Dracula , The Mummy (1959 - admitedly some might disagree with this one).

Sturgeon's Law (more or less - "90% of every thing is crap") applies to remakes as well as every movie made.  Never really understood grumbling over remakes...
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[Vermin Boy]

Agreed on Willard. I also haven't seen the original, but the remake was the most (intended) fun I've had at a wide-release Hollywood movie in years. Generally, the rule of thumb should be that only films that are flawed (in some way other than "It's in black & white") should be remade.

[Deej]

I'd forgotten that The Maltese Falcon was a remake(Actually remade twice once as "Satan Met A Lady") I haven't seen the original or Satan Met a Lady, but I doubt they could top the famous Bogart version.

[Jim H]

I like both versions, but I think the color Little Shop of Horrors is better.

[Evan3]

 Dr. X, Yyz, Sr. - wrote:

> I have to disagree with you on Titanic - IF you're refering
> to the one with Barbara Stanwyck -  unless you are into
> Leanardo Decapitate whiney crybaby flicks

Ah, Dr. My greatest nemesis, why must you always HAVE to disagree with me.(j/k) Yes, the color Titanic was much superior to the Barbara Stanwyck,  If not only the technology but the story was all encompassing. You had people from all classes of the ship featured (primarily the whiny first class passengers who were all mostly saved). Hell, Kate Winslet more than counterbalanced Leo.

Deej, thanks for correcting me on the house movie, one other question, was the title role played by Jimmy Stewart or Cary Grant?

[hollywood bill]

I understand that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is going to be re-made, along with The Omega Man..rumored to be stared by Will Smith.
 Let me start by saying that while nothing wrong with Will Smith's abilites as an actor, he would be completely wrong for that role, just wrong. It needs an older, weathered type, Kurt Russel, perhaps
 And I dont care how cool some people would think the Texas Chainsaw Massacre would be as a remake...it doesnt need to be remade.  Everything Tobe Hooper wanted to say in the film was said, it was gritty, dark, gruesome, and most of all, brutal.  There is a 100%  chance that all the things that made the movie what it was would be lost in the transition, and it would wind up just another "I know what you did last summer".  The same theory would apply if someone wanted to make a remake of "the Exorcist"

Remakes I think that could be done:
-The Omega Man( but re-titled it I am Legend)
-West World- endless possiblites there
-Demon in a Glass Hand( From Outer Limits, orginal)
-Creature From the Black Lagoon(but only if there was as little CGI as possible for the Creature)
-And i somehow get the errie feeling that The Clock Work Orange is going to be made into a Tv mini-series(ouch)

[Deej]

Evan3 wrote:


> Deej, thanks for correcting me on the house movie, one other
> question, was the title role played by Jimmy Stewart or Cary
> Grant?

Mr Blandings was played by Cary Grant, and I swear I wasn't trying to be an ass whn I corrected you, I'm just a Movie-Geek and that's what Movie-Geeks do.

Also, I agree with you about the Titanic, I enjoyed Cameron's Titanic much more than I did the 1953 Barbara(b***h from hell)Stanwyk version or
1958's A Night To Remember. I'll even confess to liking Dicaprio's performance.

[Chris K.]

I really enjoyed John Carpenter's THE THING, but it really isn't nessisarily a remake. Both the original 1951 version and Carpenter's 1982 film are based on the same story "Who Goes There?" with the films slight differences. In the 1951 version, it was based on the story but changed the theme of a shape-shifting alien into that of a Frankenstein-monster like being. Carpenter's film retains the original story with some outraegous gore to spare and a GREAT performance from Kurt Russell. All and all, both versions are acceptable.

However, PSYCHO remake is just terrible to sit through. A shot-by-shot remake that the film is comes across as a rip-off rather than a remake. Terrible, terrible film.

[Squishy]

...and I belong to the Corman side in the "Little Shop of Horrors" debate, why not? Mushnick alone is so much better in the original, I could plotz. And Seymour and Audrey, don't get me started, oy!