Remakes, getting out of hand?
 

Seems every time I look around, some remake is being done.It's really bad for horror movies.Im actually getting a little peeved over it.When they start going after the real classics ( horror or not ) it really gets me.
To me it is like Hollywood has no more originality anymore and just resorts to already written ideas.Like a simple way out.They want to make money, have nothing new, so remake something.
Just seems thats all there is anymore.Like remakes out number originals by 3:1

Does anyone else feel this way ? Am I wrong to assume there is no originality left in Hollywood?

"Remakes, getting out of hand?"

Nope. If it's a remake that interests me, I'll watch it. If not, I'll just watch the original.

It's really no worse than before and the idea that hollywood is running out of ideas is abused like hell. For every remake that turns a profit, it helps sponser and make an original film for a studio. It's a simple matter that each generation wants their own film. You rehash the old films that worked for a quick buck and you can afford to develope those films you normally wouldn't be able to.

Cut and paste the following answer into these sort of omnipresent threads as necessary.

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Remakes/adaptations/sequels are nothing new, are more or less as popular as they ever were, will continue to exist and whatever they're remaking/adapting/sequelizing will still exist too.

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End of discussion! Comes in really handy.

Fantastic.

They should remake bad movies into good ones.

Remakes are nothing new, and sometimes it takes a few tries to get it right.

1931 version

1936 version

1941 version

True, remakes and sequels are nothing new - but the total number of them coming out is higher in recent years than in previous years.

<i>Thread</i> remakes bother me more than <i>movie</i> remakes.

Robin Hood is my favorite example of remakes. Not in a bad way, there have been some really good Robin Hood's over the years... in fact, I liked every one I have seen, from the '22 version, the 38'? version, the Costner vehicle, and even Mel Brook's parody :)

do you have the numbers to prove that or are you just pulling statistics out of thin air?

As others have said, there will always be remakes/sequels/adaptations/so-on-and-so-on. In all honesty, there have been some pretty good remakes in the past few years.

Poseidon might've not had the plot or character development that the original had, but it was a quick 90-minute thrill ride consisting of nothing but death and destruction on a massive scale.

The Hills Have Eyes might've took too long to get out of the gate (the shit doesn't start to hit the fan until nearly an hour in), but the pay-off is one of the best examples of current horror film actually succeeding with blood, guts, and scares.

Dawn of the Dead might've not had the brain the original film had, however, the film works more as a companion piece to the original rather than a straight-up remake. Instead of being a horror film with elements of action and comedy, Snyder and crew make the new version an action film first and foremost with horror coming in second.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory follows the novel more than the original film ever did and it's got some great set design and visual effects.

King Kong and War of the Worlds anyone?

Then of course, you have your shit like:

Fun with Dick and Jane
House of Wax
The Longest Yard
The Omen
The Shaggy Dog
When a Stranger Calls

I don't mind remakes in general. But I do roll my eyes at some of the results. Take this year's Omen, for example.

Two wonderful upgrades are THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE and THE BOURNE IDENTITY.

Peter Jackson's KING KONG can't hold a candle to the original, special effects or not.

Exactly! :up:

I've always thought that. Why not take a film that was especially shitty to begin with and attempt to get it right the second time around...that is if Hollywood is so intent on doing them? Where's the logic in taking a classic film (e.g. "Halloween") and going through the whole process of essentially re-shooting it frame per frame, dumbing it down for today's audiences and adding all the "MTV-style" quick edits? If you got it right the first time around, why fuck with a good thing? It really doesn't matter how good a remake is because it can NEVER live up to the original.

Why not remake "Ishtar"? :p

I think if you can bring an original movie to a new LEVEL, technically, then it's forgivable (THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and KING KONG).



When you have no REASON to re-make something is when I get pissed off: (BAD NEWS BEARS, and especially, for Pete's sakes, THE OMEN).

I've gotten tot he point where I just ignore the remakes.

OTOH, seeing old 60's and 70's tv shows remade as big budget movies with younger, hipper actors still leaves me scratching my nuts in amazement.

I don't have the numbers either, but it sure feels like we see more remakes here lately. If there isn't more than usual, then I wonder why it feels like it.

Just going off memory of a news article from last summer that said the percentage of remakes/sequels was higher last year that in the years from the 1990s on back. And this year doesn't seem much different from last year.

Here are 59 of the remakes that we've seen since 2000 (and a few that are due out in the near future). I put the list together using the Wikipedia site on remakes, my memory, and looking up a few other things. There may be a couple that shouldn't be listed and I'm sure there are a bunch that aren't listed at all:

Alamo
Alfie
The Amityville Horror
Around the World in 80 Days
Assault on Precient 13

Bad News Bears
Bedazzled
The Big Bounce

Cabinet Of Dr Caligari
Chaos
Charlie & The Chocalate Factory
Cheaper By the Dozen

Dark Water
Dawn of the Dead
The Dukes of Hazzard

The Eye
The Evil Dead

Flight of The Phoenix
The Fog
Freaky Friday
Fun with Dick and Jane

Get Carter
Gone in Sixty Seconds
The Grudge
The Grudge 2

Hills Have Eyes
Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy
The Honeymooners
House of Wax

Insomnia
The Italian Job

King Kong

The Ladykillers
The Lake House

Man on Fire
The Manchurian Candidate
Miami Vice
Mr. Deeds

Ned Kelly

Ocean's Eleven
The Omen

The Pink Panther
Planet of the Apes
Poseidon
The Producers
Pulse

Red Dragon
The Ring
The Ring 2

Solaris
The Stepford Wives
Swept Away

Taxi
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Truth About Charlie

Vanilla Sky
The Visiting

When a Stranger Calls
The Wicker Man

Yours, Mine, Ours

At rate Hollywood's going, I wouldn't be suprised if they tried to remake Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, or even The Seven Samurai! Is nothing sacred anymore???

If the movie business not an art gallery.

Depends on what you mean by remake. The term can be pretty broad. For example, King Kong took the basic original story and did it with modern effects. The Italian Job, on the other hand, isn't really all that close to the original in it's plot, but it does have similarities (i.e. thieves, the minis, etc...). The Planet of the Apes remake took the basic concept, but went in a different direction. Miami Vice wasn't even a movie, so the remake is only borrowing the set-up.

These threads about remakes are ridiculous. Remakes have been around and they will always be around. Hollywood has never been big on originality. If you want to complain about remakes, why don't you complain about adapted works? This whole thread just reminds me of some old man going on about the damned kids these days. Personally, I think the only remakes that shouldn't be around are the shot-for-shot kind.

It feels like that anytime any number of remakes show up in a certain time period. This same topic was brought up when Dawn of the Dead came out and just about when every other remake has come out.

Again, there has always been hollywood remakes of films. Sometimes something works and it's a formula you want to repeat because the money they generate pay for the new and original films you see down the line.

It feels like it's more because they are all in a short amount of time and they are focusing on the idea that there's a couple of remakes at a certain time.

Much like if there is a hand full of horror films everyone will jump to the idea of "why is hollywood just making horror films?!?!"

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with a remake as long as the film is done right. Why not use the improved technology to add a new dimension to an older film or improve on an inferior one?

As long as we are entertained, that is what counts.