JPF Home Page Forums Creative Arts Forums Acting, Theater, Film and TV Forum Movie Remakes

So since we have a movie reviews section, I have a question for consideration. How do you feel about remade movies? Sometimes they take a classic and try to update it, or sometimes it was not that great a movie originally so could it be made better the second time around? So what do you think? Can it be done well, or should it be done at all?

I will hold my opinions for now, so I do not lead anyone too much in their thoughts.

Hi Jack
Technology has move so far foward, that they can remake movies and have them LOOK alot cooler. Some of the remakes are great...I would point to Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong...I thought it was awesome.

Herbie

I would have to agree it all depends on who re-makes the darn thing. Personally I look at it as making from book to film angle, if they keep to the original spirit then it will be a great movie. However, I have seen so many directors who have killed off that spirit that it makes so many lousy movies.

Remakes are quite often a bad idea.
A case in point is The Manchurian Candidate.

With Frank Sinatra it's a masterpiece.
In the remake, they couldn't even keep the story straight.

I could go on...

I disagree re-makes are not a bad idea especially if they are based off a book. It really depends on who is directing it, who re-wrote it and who is acting in it. For example, I like how the HBO movie of Frank Herbert's Dune was done which I thought was closer to the book and was clear to understand. The first incarnation of Dune while cool in look confused a lot of people I know and required them to watch it over several times but even then they had questions. Nothing in truth is a bad idea but it is all about how it is carried out.

I have mixed feelings about it, and I do believe that are some really bad ideas out there.

Some movies are ideal for remakes, like King Kong. There have been several versions of that movie and the only one I thought was just bad was the version with Charles Grodin, but he could can turn a crock of gold into a crock any day. I also thought there were a couple of great remakes of A Star Is Born. I believe classic stories, such as Shakespearean dramas show be remade from time to time. It is healthy to revisit classics. However, in recent years there have been really BAD remakes and some of them you have to ask why they even made the original, much less try to redo a bad B movie. They also seem to want to use well-known names of old movies or tv shows they can ride on the coattails of to write cheesy scripts, like Bewitched. I believe we are seeing a dearth of strong story ideas in Hollywood and less willingness to take a gamble on something really original in concept, so they are trying everything they can to come up with something, anyway.