Remakes - are they ever any good

[phorsenuf]

I liked the remake of Sabrina.

 

[LovetheMouse12302]

We thought the new Karate Kid movie was good.

 

[luvmy3]

The Last House On The Left. It was a disturbing movie, but I thought it was good.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

White Christmas is a remake/re-imagining of Holiday Inn, and is a much better movie.

Some other remakes DW and I like:

The Karate Kid.

Ocean's 11.

The Longest Yard.

Bram Stoker's Dracula.

City of Angels.

Batman Begins.

Love Affair (Beatty & Benning, remake of An Affair to Remember).

The Fly.

Heaven Can Wait.

Homeward Bound.

The Mummy.

The Music Man.

The Preacher's Wife.

The Producers.

Scarface.

The Ten Commandments.

The Thomas Crown Affair.

A Walk in the Clouds.

I agree the new Star Trek and Willy Wonka were good.

If you get into foreign films that were remade:

Vanilla Sky.

The Birdcage.

The Departed.

The Magnificent Seven.

True Lies.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

White Christmas is a remake/re-imagining of Holiday Inn, and is a much better movie.

Some other remakes DW and I like:



The Music Man.


The Producers.


These 2 are remakes.

Somewhere said Maltese Falon was a remake so that is now my favorite

Its the stuff remakes are made of

 

[*BTMRR*]

I was pretty impressed by the Karate Kid. Very pleasantly surprised, actually.
Also liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The remake of Escape to Witch Mountain (was it called Race to Witch Mountain?) was SO not a "great" movie but neither was the original. Our whole family enjoyed it and thought it was a lot of fun.

 

[minniebeth]

I liked the remake of Sabrina.

This is what I was going to post~ even though the remake isn't current much anymore, I love the original and the remake.

 

[bicker]

The remake of Star Trek was pretty good too.

I agree. And it demonstrates a very important aspect of measuring this: You have to be able to excise your personal bias - your sentimentality toward the original - in order to realize and acknowledge the quality of a remake. If you go into the analysis practically already-convinced that nothing could compare, then that will almost surely end up a self-fulfilling prophesy, and you'll at the same time effectively deprive yourself of the opportunity to enjoy something new.

 

[bicker]

Can we just agree that movies such as Star Trek, Casino Royale, and Batman Begins are not remakes, but are reboots?

There is no operational difference between the two.

Oh, I just thought of another great example. The Wizard of Oz in 1939 was indeed a remake, and although I've only read about them, I'm pretty confident that it was better than the original(s).

 

[barkley]

the remake of "the shining" (miniseries for television) is in my opinion FAR superior (and more closely follows the book) than the earlier theatrical version.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I have to say there are many remakes that I love. In fact I think people don't even realize that their favorite movies are remakes already.

 

[Jeafl]

I liked the remake of Sabrina.

I liked it too! Harrison Ford was great!

I also like the Parent Trap remake with Lindsey Lohan, although she has gone downhill since then. I also thought the remake of Miracle on 34th street with Elizabeth Perkins was pretty good.

 

[MiniGirl]

I, too, like many of the remakes mentioned here. The basic story is the same but just updated for current times.

So, what movies (or shows) would you like to see remade?

Could you image a Jaws remake? That movie made people afraid to go in the water. Watching it now, though, it is a bit hokey. Just think how it would be now with the advances in special effects that have been made since the original movie.

Actually, a quick google search shows there is a remake in the works.

 

[luvsJack]

the remake of "the shining" (miniseries for television) is in my opinion FAR superior (and more closely follows the book) than the earlier theatrical version.

I thought so too. I also like "Race to Witch Mountain" and "Walking Tall" .

Edited to add: My favorite remake would be "Karate Kid". Loved the original and love the remake. It is a really well made movie with a very talented young man.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My favorite remakes are probably "Heaven Can Wait", "The Thing", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", and "Star Trek".

While "War of the Worlds" was cool with the special effects, Dakota Fanning screaming and Tim Robbins playing a crazy man ruined it for me to put it as a favorite.

I would like for George Lucas to do a total rewrite with Star Wars and take out Jar Jar.

As far as movies I want remade.....

First are "The DaVinci Code" and "Angels and Demons". No secret here that I hate Tom Hanks in the role. I love Tom Hanks, just not as the character Robert Langdon.

 

[lovesmurfs]

We really enjoyed the Jackie Chan version of "Around the World in 80 Days". It's pretty far flung from the original novel, but, again, putting expectations aside, we like it. It's one we own and watch over again.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I agree with Ocean's 11 and The Last House on the Left.

Of course the remake of Rocky Horror Picture Show will be bad because imo, the original was horrific. I still don't understand why anyone likes it.

 

[ChristaDeVil]

Can we just agree that movies such as Star Trek, Casino Royale, and Batman Begins are not remakes, but are reboots? We can?

Good.

Having said that: Off the top of my head, I can think of at least three remakes that are at least as good as the originals, if not better (and are a damn sight better than the obscenely overrated, Zach Snyder helmed Dawn of the Dead remake): Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Fly, and The Magnificent Seven.

You're right about the reboots. I didn't think about it that way. Good point. The Fly is awesome.

 

[Ilivetogo]

the remake of "the shining" (miniseries for television) is in my opinion FAR superior (and more closely follows the book) than the earlier theatrical version.

Quite true

.

 

[Pikester]

I, too, like many of the remakes mentioned here. The basic story is the same but just updated for current times.

So, what movies (or shows) would you like to see remade?

Could you image a Jaws remake? That movie made people afraid to go in the water. Watching it now, though, it is a bit hokey. Just think how it would be now with the advances in special effects that have been made since the original movie.

Actually, a quick google search shows there is a remake in the works.

This is, like, the sixth sign of the Apocalypse.

Really? You (I'm talking the general "you", of course, and not singling out you, specifically, MiniGirl) really think that remaking a perfect movie just so you can add some (very likely dodgy) updated CGI is an acceptable reason? Really, Stephen Spielberg (who I hear is enthusiastically on board this train wreck of an idea)? Well, then I guess Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull wasn't exactly a fluke, was it?

It wasn't long ago, maybe a couple of months, that we watched a documentary on the Biography channel called Jaws: The inside story. The way the film ended up was not how it was suppose to be shot. What made the film scary and tense was not being able to see "Bruce" for most of the movie. Add in the Da-dum that signaled when he was about to strike and WOW! The mechanical shark kept breaking down and if not for that we could have been talking about a whole different movie.